Quote (inkanddagger @ 25 Mar 2019 01:33)
Look, if a national politician got on TV and said "Alabama and Mississippi are shithole states" there would be a LOT of offended people. So sure, focus on some technical detail e.g. "racism" while ignoring the broader point; a politician shouldn't be speaking this way because it's divisive and enraging. Disputing the technicals of what is or isn't "sexist" is also worthless; the behavior and statements are divisive and unbefitting the dignity of a nationally elected official.
The problem I see is that Dems and Repubs don't necessarily disagree about the real point, they just have technical language disputes. Unfortunately our language is very flawed. Let's try to focus on broader concepts rather than fighting about words.
In the case of the "shithole countries"-comment, his drastic language served to get the real point across: a lot of foreign countries are far below our standards when it comes to economy/wealth, good governance, corruption, democracy, innovation, education, environmental protection, state of law, religious and civil liberties and, last but not least, culture. Trump's crude comment raised the very valid question whether we can really expect people who grew up and were socialized in such countries to - on average - be a net positive for our society. No matter if you call these countries shitholes or find a more polite term, it is a valid question if it'is really in our best interest to allow significant immigration from such countries. A question from which most other politicians and most pundits shy away.