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Monday, Oct 8, 2012 3:30 PM UTC

Joe Walsh: “I could give a darn” about how foreigners are treated

Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh says that they have no rights, and that he "could give a darn" how they're treated VIDEO

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Topics: Terrorism, National security, Tea Party, Joe Walsh, U.S. Citizens, Civil Liberties,

Joe Walsh: (Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Illinois Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh, once again giving voice to the conservative id, told a crowd in Wood Dale, Ill., this weekend that he doesn’t care about the rights of non-American citizens, and doesn’t care if they’re mistreated in what he sees as a grand struggle between the West and radical Islam. “I’m gonna do whatever I can to beat and kill that ugly, evil, radical strain [of Islam]. I’m not concerned about their rights and their liberties,” Walsh said at a campaign event Saturday.

“People, my friend, those who are not American citizens. I’m not, they are trying to kill me and my kids. They are trying to kill you and your fellow Americans. I’m concerned with protecting Americans. I could give a darn about their rights, or their freedoms, or how we treat them if they are not American citizens,” Walsh added. Video of the event was captured by a tracker from the CREDO super PAC, a liberal outside group connected to the progressive cellphone provider CREDO mobile.

While Walsh’s views may be too common on both the right and left, the Supreme Court has ruled that non-citizen enemy combatants are entitled to many of the rights of American citizens in dealing with the U.S. justice system. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in the landmark 2008 Boumediene v. Bush decision, concluded, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law.”

Walsh may not be long for Congress, as Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth — who knows firsthand about the fight Walsh speaks of — is leading him in polls.

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Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.

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