First, an admission of poor reporting on my part. In yesterday’s blog, I took information sent by what appreared to be a reliable source who had vetted the information at face value. It was not correct. A reader Doug Gordon did the work I should have done. If I misled you about being taxed in 2011 on company insurance benefits, I’m sorry. Read Doug’s comments from that blog to get the real facts. You benefits will be reported, that much is fact, but the taxing will not start in 2011. However, one must wonder why the reporting is being done.
We should learn something by looking back on the evolution of the Arizona Immigration Bill #1070.
Before the governor signed the bill, judgments had been made. The Arizona bill was racial profiling at it’s very worst. Local and National media covered the demonstrations and reporters made comments about the unfairness and potential negative impact of the bill.
Then the Governor signed the bill. The volume of protests magnified. The President spoke of taking action against the bill. The Attorney General talked of challenging the bill in court. The President of Mexico spoke against the bill and was echoed by our president.
Other states talked of boycotting Arizona. Other states began to work on a bill like the one Arizona passed. A High School, Highland Park in Illinois cancelled a trip by their women’s basketball team.
So what do all of these outspoken critics of the bill have in common? Click the following link to see.
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So, in this country today, truth means nothing. You, as a journalist, a President, an Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, do not have to do the homework to take a position on an important issue. Just watch TV and see what the talking heads who also didn’t do the homework have to say about the issue.
Most objective legal scholars find the Arizona bill less restrictive than the federal law on immigration. How can a less restrictive law be so evil? A few years ago the Supreme Court actually ruled in favor of a legal challenge allowing officers to request ID in a case where immigration was in question. Amazing.
I understand where free speech in this country allows me to write this blog. But, I do not understand a country where the top officials we elect get their legal positions from the media and the media gets theirs from their ideology.
So, what do we do? Reject 90% of what our President says as media drivel. Reject 100% of what our Attorney General and Director of Homeland Security say recognizing they are just reflecting what they saw on TV last night. Reject all of the mainstream media reporting since they do no real reporting anymore, just spew out their radical views. Even now, with National polls showing 65% of Americans see no problem with the Arizona law, the media attacks the law. Lot’s of Americans have read the bill. Maybe you reporters and politicians should also.
