Zinke Blasted for "Konnichiwa" Comment

[bigtex]

‘Oh, konnichiwa,’ Ryan Zinke tells Japanese-American lawmaker

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday used a Japanese greeting in response to a congresswoman’s question about preserving the history of Japanese-American internment during World War II, drawing rebukes from lawmakers who said his remark was offensive.

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, a fourth-generation American of Japanese ancestry, asked Zinke in a hearing whether he would continue a National Park Service grant program that funds research and preserves confinement sites where the government incarcerated as many as 120,000 people of Japanese descent. She said both of her grandfathers were internees.

‘‘Are you committed to continue the grant programs that are identified, I believe, as the Japanese American Confinement Sites grants program, which were funded in 2017? Will we see them funded again in 2018?’’ Hanabusa asked.

‘‘Oh, konnichiwa,’’ Zinke replied, using a Japanese greeting typically spoken in the afternoon.

After an awkward pause, Hanabusa corrected him.

‘‘I think it’s still ‘ohayo gozaimasu,’ but that’s OK,’’ she said, using the phrase for ‘‘good morning.’’ Then she moved on.

Several of Hanabusa’s colleagues voiced outrage about the exchange after it circulated on social media later in the day, saying Zinke had shown a profound insensitivity toward Asian-Americans.

‘‘Rather than greet her like he would any other Member of Congress, he responded to her as if she did not speak any English,’’ Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said in a statement. ‘‘Whether intentional or not, his comments invoke the offensive stereotype that Asian Americans are perpetual foreigners regardless of how long their families have lived in the United States.’’

Others said it was especially inappropriate coming during a conversation about Japanese internment, under which the government forced innocent citizens into overcrowded and often unsanitary camps, separating families and seizing private property in the process.

Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who was born in Japan, wrote on Twitter:

An Interior Department spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday morning.

Hanabusa said in Thursday’s hearing that one of her grandfathers was born in Hawaii when it was still a territory and was held in an internment camp in there during the Second World War. She didn’t find out about his incarceration until he was in his 80s, she said, because Japanese Americans ‘‘just did not speak about it.’’

‘‘And that’s been the problem that many face,’’ she told Zinke.

President Trump’s proposed 2019 budget doesn’t seek funding — about $2 million in previous years — for the Japanese American Confinement Sites program, the goal of which is to study and preserve internment camps for the benefit of future generations.

Grants issued through the program have ‘‘kept this history alive,’’ Hanabusa said. ‘‘I believe that it is essential that we as a nation recognize our darkest moments so that we don’t have them repeat again.’’

Zinke said funding for the program ‘‘probably got caught up’’ as the Interior Department was considering other budget items such as national park operations.

‘‘I think it was an oversight in the budget,’’ he said. ‘‘I understand the importance of it to American history.’’

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/03/16/konnichiwa-ryan-zinke-tells-japanese-american-lawmaker-discussing-internment-her-grandfathers/1TcWNmVofL9K9vKzsQMn5N/story.html

[olyguy79]

Not a "huge" thing but simply more drama for a post that typically has low drama. During most administrations you couldn't even name who the SOI is, yet Zinke is consistently in the news. On top of that, he's starting to lose support from hunting/fishing groups.

[bearpaw]

I probably wouldn't have said that because I don't speak Japanese. I would imagine Zinke was trying to be friendly and courteous. The left will use/twist whatever they can to try and interfere with the Trump Administration.

Partisan Politics is all that is....

I imagine the Green Decoy sports groups are going wild, they see Obama's land grab legacy being unraveled. 

[bigtex]

I imagine the Green Decoy sports groups are going wild, they see Obama's land grab legacy being unraveled. 

His land grab legacy? You mean the one where one Clinton monument and one Obama monument have been turned into now 5 monuments by Trump? Hunting was allowed before and after monument status, the only thing that stopped was oil/mineral excavation in areas where it hadn't already began before they were monuments.

Love it when people say actions are "land grabs" when the land is already managed by the feds in the first place. Did the feds grab land from the feds? 

[olyguy79]

I imagine the Green Decoy sports groups are going wild, they see Obama's land grab legacy being unraveled. 

His land grab legacy? You mean the one where one Clinton monument and one Obama monument have been turned into now 5 monuments by Trump? Hunting was allowed before and after monument status, the only thing that stopped was oil/mineral excavation in areas where it hadn't already began before they were monuments.

Love it when people say actions are "land grabs" when the land is already managed by the feds in the first place. Did the feds grab land from the feds? 

Come on now Tex, quick telling facts.

We all know Obama took millions of poor people land and created parks/monuments and everything else with it (even though only Congress could do that )

[bearpaw]

I like seeing some oil and gas exploration. If past president would have helped with more of that the middle east countries might not be as rich with American dollars buying their weapons to shoot us and each other.

I spend a lot of time in Utah, many of the people there called it a land grab, just like what it was! There certainly are people who live in other states readily willing to tell Utah what is best for them. 

[olyguy79]

Bearpaw:

Zinke wants a new 130,000 acre monument in Montana. Is that going to be a "land grab"?

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/dec/06/zinke-defends-monument-reductions-supports-badger-/

[olyguy79]

I spend a lot of time in Utah, many of the people there called it a land grab, just like what it was! There certainly are people who live in other states readily willing to tell Utah what is best for them. 

And who exactly did the feds take the land from? Oh that's right the feds.

No state/private land was overnight turned into fed land. The president can only declare monument status on current fed land, or land that will be donated (ie I'll give you 5k acres if you make it a monument). Congress on the other hand can make deals to acquire state/private lands to turn it into a monument.

[bigtex]

Bearpaw:

Zinke wants a new 130,000 acre monument in Montana. Is that going to be a "land grab"?

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/dec/06/zinke-defends-monument-reductions-supports-badger-/

According to the "Utah definition"... yes

[magnanimous_j]

I would imagine Zinke was trying to be friendly and courteous.

[bearpaw]

It's obvious you guys are going to criticize Zinke no matter if he reduces or creates monuments, that tells me this is little more than political badgering regarding Zinke! You criticize the guy no matter what he wants to do! 

I don't know much about the Badger/Two Bears area? Reading info from the story at your link raised a question in my mind regarding what status the land is in currently. Another important poi nt is that Zinke is proposing 112,000 acres, that's a lot different than millions of acres that Obama tied up in Utah. One of my guides lives in MT, I can ask him how local people view the issue. In my opinion that should be one of the determining factors, what do the local people want and what is the land currently used for?

Something that should be pointed out, the Utah monuments were huge, millions of acres, far bigger than they needed to be, that's a land grab! All Zinke and Trump are doing is paring those monuments down to a more reasonable size. They didn't eliminate them! Most people I know in Utah are extremely happy with Trump!

I think you are mixing apples and oranges with your arguments against Zinke! It's appears you will flame him whether he reduces the size of a monument or creates a monument, there is a word for that but I don't think I need to say it!   

[bearpaw]

I would imagine Zinke was trying to be friendly and courteous.

Why would he intentionally act racist in testimony in congress? You guys must be that sharp!
Perhaps his attempt to be courteous was misguided, but I seriously doubt he was being racist! Reality check please! 

[olyguy79]

Most people I know in Utah are extremely happy with Trump!

Well I'd hope so, it's a Republican state. That's like saying the majority of the populace in California are anti-Trump. Duh

[magnanimous_j]

I would imagine Zinke was trying to be friendly and courteous.

Why would he intentionally act racist in testimony in congress? You guys must be that sharp!
Perhaps his attempt to be courteous was misguided, but I seriously doubt he was being racist! Reality check please! 

There is a difference between maliciously racist and racially insensitive. The rep from HI was not Japanese. She is a 4th generation American. There is no conceivable reason to greet her that way. He might as well have asked her if she needed chopsticks when her Caesar salad showed up at lunch.

[bearpaw]

Most people I know in Utah are extremely happy with Trump!

Well I'd hope so, it's a Republican state. That's like saying the majority of the populace in California are anti-Trump. Duh

   I agree with you completely on that. Which is why people in CA wanted the monuments to be huge and people in Uath wanted them reduced!