Sunday, August 26, 2007
Those scary illegal immigrant opponents

It's a common tactic. When some liberals don't like the arguments conservatives make, they label those arguments "hate speech" to silence them.

And so it goes with illegal immigration.

I thought this article on the "illegal immigration backlash" by Dave Montgomery of McClatchy newspapers was particularly priceless (it ran in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today).

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/19043.html


The main point of the article seems to be how scary the illegal immigrant opponents have gotten. So let's get this straight: A truly scary illegal immigrant in Newark allegedly executes college students, and the MSM cite the Newark incident in a story about how scary the illegal immigrant opponents are because they are upset by the scary illegal immigrant. Unbelievable. Only liberals could get away with this stuff.

The only problem is, despite a valiant attempt to toss the KKK and Newt Gingrich into the same story, the writer cites NO examples to back up the premise that illegal immigrant opponents as a group are scary, racist, hatemongering nativists. The best they can come up with is that so-called "nativist extremist" groups have formed (love to know how they define that one) and that senators received venomous emails (you should see George W. Bush's mail. People write venomous emails about lots of things). They also cite local ordinances to restrict illegal immigration, without explaining why they are needed and born out of legitimate concerns. I fail to see how this adds up to a "dark side" that is causing increased "discrimination against Hispanics" and a "xenophobia unseen" for a century. How do they define discrimination? What are the examples of it? The writer never says but cites this contention as fact.

The story reduces the illegal immigrant crime issue to an "argument":


The case revitalized an argument made during the congressional debate that the flow of illegal immigrants, though predominated by job-seekers lured by the prospect of higher wages and better conditions, includes a menacing criminal element.

So illegal immigrant opponents are nativist hate-filled, discriminating xenophobes (the clear point of the article when it's read in totality), but it's an "argument made during the congressional debate" that some illegal immigrants are menacing criminals. Why not just look up the known numbers, Mr. Montgomery? (of course, in many states, like ours, no one really knows how many illegal immigrant criminals there are). Or why not just mention Newark again? Or the man who allegedly shot the cop in Kenosha?

The best the writer comes up with to prove the premise of the story is that the rhetoric has gotten very heated, generating "fears" of a dark side. Talk shows, he quotes one pro illegal immigrant activist, are spewing "hate rhetoric". Of course, no examples are given.

It reminds me of the MSM rhetoric after 9/11 that anti Muslim conservative hatemongerers were going to erupt in violence all over the land. Very few examples of it ever did occur. As far as I can tell, the only violent people in the illegal immigrant debate are the illegal immigrant criminals like the one in Newark.

Taken together, the main evidence seems to be that illegal immigrant opponents are "inflamed" and angry and passionate. In other words, that their rhetoric is too passionate.

Well, illegal immigrant proponents are inflamed, angry and passionate (read the Journal Sentinel editorial page, go to a march), but that's never presented as scary or a negative by the MSM.

Posted by Jessica McBride at 12:09 PM

http://mcbridesmediamatters.blogspot.co ... nents.html