I didn't comment on what chessdev was implying about immigration, I commented on whether Chess was attacking Romney for being a Mormon; I didn't see it, but I understand how someone might read it as a covert attack in the guise of being about something else.
But since you ask, I think that Chess was going for a point related to what you dismiss as a “false equivalency”. If Obama's background isn't “American enough” for some folks, will they have the same problem with Romney because of some parallels in their backgrounds? If Romney hews to GOP rhetoric about immigration being bad, does that same logic apply to his own family, which emigrated first to Mexico, then back to the US?
I wouldn't call that looking for a gotcha, exactly. Romney isn't responsible for justifying the actions of his ancestors, or even for commenting on them. But it points to how the poetics of immigration seem to be very different for White vs brown people, which lefties think has a troubling odor.
no subject
But since you ask, I think that Chess was going for a point related to what you dismiss as a “false equivalency”. If Obama's background isn't “American enough” for some folks, will they have the same problem with Romney because of some parallels in their backgrounds? If Romney hews to GOP rhetoric about immigration being bad, does that same logic apply to his own family, which emigrated first to Mexico, then back to the US?
I wouldn't call that looking for a gotcha, exactly. Romney isn't responsible for justifying the actions of his ancestors, or even for commenting on them. But it points to how the poetics of immigration seem to be very different for White vs brown people, which lefties think has a troubling odor.