January 16, 2018 12:31 PM UTC

Child Welfare Hotline Manager Goes Down The "Shithole"

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• by: Colorado Pols

Over the weekend on 9NEWS, local Republican political consultant Kelly Maher caused a bit of a stir when she said on the station’s Balance of Power local politics show that last week’s comments from President Donald Trump regarding what he considers to be “shithole countries” were racist. Though we expect most of our readers will appreciate this unequivocal statement from a local Republican, Maher received some pointed criticism on Facebook from Trump loyalists:

Jack Hilbert: Kelly I was very disappointed about your stance on Trump and his recent remarks about other countries. Frankly I hav been to those countries and his description was correct. [Pols emphasis] It is not what he said that is incorrect, it is the use of harsh words to describe those conditions. That does not make him racist. You fallen into the liberal mantra trap that started the whole PC crap. So if I said I think that typical African is ugly I am a racist. No. I just do not like their clothing and it is an opinion. You need to rethink the term racist, look at the definition and adjust. I cannot repeat what my wife called you but that does not make her anti-feminist. Just an opinion in the moment that is emotionally charged. We slipping backwards into that liberal muck….

The source here is interesting: Jack Hilbert is a former Republican county commissioner from arch-conservative Douglas County. While that helps explain his talk-radio strident political views, it’s somewhat troubling to note that Hilbert now serves as the manager of the Colorado Child Welfare Protection Hotline at the state Department of Human Services.

In other words, a job where you really shouldn’t be validating Trump’s notion of “shithole countries.” We have to think that a public official’s conception of various regions of the world as “shitholes” might adversely affect their judgment, and when their job is protecting the welfare of children across the state of Colorado, that’s a big problem.

Yes, for the President of the United States too. But no less so in this case we’d say.