Florida legislator calls illegal aliens...“illegal aliens”!

If dude's not careful, he's gonna get the Imus treatment! From Jacksonville.com:

At least one member of the Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus has demanded a public apology over an e-mail that a fellow Republican lawmaker thought was a funny way to remind people to pay their taxes.

Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, recently forwarded a cartoon from his state e-mail account to his colleagues that read: "Don't forget to pay your taxes ... 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you!"

Brown said Friday he meant the message as a joke, but it was met with a fierce reaction from many other lawmakers. He later sent a follow-up e-mail to apologize.

Brown still needs to make a public apology, said Rep. Juan Carlos "J.C." Planas, a Miami Republican and member of the Hispanic caucus.

"I think he has to specifically state that he understands now that that term, illegal alien, is extremely insulting to many individuals, and I think there has to be something a little bit more public and a little bit more contrite in his apology," Planas said.

"That term, illegal alien, is extremely insulting to many individuals"...such as illegal aliens! Yessiree, if I were an illegal alien, I'd sure as hell hate for someone to remind me of that! If I were Brown, I would have responded to Planas' galling demand for more contrition thusly:

"I represent the good people of DeFuniak Springs, none of whom are, to my knowledge, illegal aliens. Those who are illegal aliens in DeFuniak Springs can simply forget to ask me for their representation. I am disheartened to see my esteemed colleague, J.C. Planas, taking up the cause for illegal aliens in his district and volunteering his services of representation for them. I would like to encourage him to represent his legal constituents as his oath of office compels him to do."

Here's how Imus should have handled the "nappy-headed" flap:

Brown said he's finished with the issue.

"People were offended by it and I have apologized to those who were offended by it," Brown said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm done. Now if they want to elevate it to an entire new debate about illegal aliens, then we can have that debate."

Well done, Brown. Personally, I wouldn't have apologized for it at all, and I'd tell people to go pound sand before getting an apology out of me for stating the obvious (a fact that pro-illegal immigration apologists frequently tune out): illegal aliens impose a cost on society. However, if he is determined to bow at the altar of political correctness, he did so the right way: say it, and be done with it. After all, groveling and perpetual apologies didn't Imus anywhere, now did it?