Posted on 11/11/2006 2:59:31 PM PST by radar101
Whatever happened to investigative journalism? As a young White House staffer in 1974, I saw it bring down a president. In the past month, our lazy journalistic watchdogs couldn't even sniff out the main story between two would-be governors.
Granted, Bill Ritter's victory over Bob Beauprez was so broad and deep that no great difference ultimately resulted from the October storm over plea bargains and leaks. Still, that episode is worth reviewing, not as a rehash of the campaign, but as a case study in media attitudes.
You remember the endless stories about a federal agent with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement who allegedly gave the Beauprez campaign information on a criminal alien who had benefited from a plea bargain allowed by Ritter when he was district attorney. The media compliantly played up the Democrat's attack on his Republican opponent for using the information in an ad. And they had a field day with the FBI leak investigation.
This was grossly hypocritical, because if the leak had come to them, they would have both used it and protected their source. It also revealed an odd lack of interest in the information itself and its relevance to the former district attorney's qualifications for higher office. Why weren't the media energetically digging up this seamy stuff on their own?
Instead of joining one side's "shoot the messenger" ploy against the other, a truly vigilant press would have been (and still should be) probing what other skeletons are buried in the data on illegal alien crime. Try these questions for starters:
What percentage of arrests for DUI offenses in 2005 were illegal aliens? Recall that Justin Goodman of Thornton was killed in 2004 on his motorcycle by an illegal alien driver who had six prior DUI and other driving violations in Boulder and Adams counties. The man had never been referred to ICE for deportation.
Does the Denver city attorney's standing policy of not asking questions in court about the legitimacy of Mexican driver's licenses presented by defendants have any consequences for the law-abiding citizens of Denver? Recall that the man who killed police officer Donnie Young had used an invalid Mexican driver's license to avoid jail in Denver municipal court only three weeks before the slaying.
Why is it that a full year after the Colorado attorney general stated that one- quarter of Colorado's outstanding fugitive homicide warrants are for people who have fled to Mexico, no newspaper has asked how many of the individuals named in the warrants were illegal aliens with prior arrests? (In Los Angeles County, there are more than 400 such fugitive warrants.)
How are sanctuary cities like Durango, Boulder and Denver responding to SB 90, the new state law passed in 2006 to outlaw sanctuary cities? What is ICE doing to respond to SB 90?
If Denver received federal reimbursement for the incarceration of more than 1,100 illegal aliens in 2004, why were only 175 deported when they finished their terms? What subsequent crimes did the other 925 criminal aliens commit?
After the murder of officer Donnie Young in May 2005, the Denver ICE office renewed its routine surveys of the Denver jail population to identify illegal aliens subject to deportation. How many criminal aliens have actually been deported out of the Denver jail since then, compared to prior years when such checks were not being made?
Investigative journalism on these questions would require the cooperation of law enforcement, it's true. But reporters routinely tap those sources (and protect their identities) when pursuing a story. After all, "the public has a right to know."
And don't we also have a right to know the criminal histories of illegal aliens, the consequences of plea bargaining, and the social cost of the special status afforded illegals by the sanctuary policies in Denver and other cities?
John Andrews is a fellow of the Claremont Institute and former president of the Colorado Senate.
The problem with reporting on illegal immigration is just like the article says. We really don't know what percentage of crimes are due to the illegals. Even if we did, Americans seem to have less and less faith in statistics as time goes on (we all know how statistics are often manipulated to fit one's agenda). Also, reporting individual crimes doesn't do much good, because every cause can find exceptions that seem to prove the point.
So, if conservatives are serious about the issue, and I think we are, how do we frame it in a way to get and keep public support for immigration control? Get enough support and our leaders will ultimately listen.
The sooner we bring down MSM, the better off we all are.
How do we do that. No one will report it.
Her`s an actress that was recently murdered by an illegal here in New York city. He was doing construction and she complained about the noise so he killed her then tried to make it look like she committed suicide, which was believed for a while until police looked more into the evidence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Shelly
Get your neighbors to do it too.
You see, for most people, my rule applies:"Statistics don't mean anything until you are one"
Some leaders did listen, they had to.
It is difficult to get agencies to state the status of aliens and as for crime reporting, one observation that I have asked some posters in the past, is show me the crimes (murder, rape, etc) AGAINST aliens by US Citizens. So far, I've found one report, about a year ago by a inner city gang who was robbing aliens and no one has shown me another so far.
Pick any town and day, and you will find such crimes by illegal aliens.
..but the moment an illegal recieves a brusie from law enforcement the media is all over it 24/7.
Except for the poor actress hung with a bedsheet by an illegal construction worker.
The media cannot ignore "the arts" and their patrons.
I am so sorry for this lady and what she had to endure at the hands of someone who doesn't even belong here.
There's only one distinction between prostitutes and members of MSM - most prostitutes have higher ethical standards.
I've posted this on other threads:
I personally consider the MSM to be the closest thing to the anti-christ there is in our world today.
We need to begin an organized, concentrated effort to call them out, boycott their sponsors, and help fund and promote alternative media venues.
I don't have the where with all to accomplish this, but I sure as heck am willing to help in any way possible.
I despise our paper here in Indy. Owned by Gannett now. The Indy star, was owned by the Quayle family and quite conservative. I no longer even listen to the "Fair and Balanced" Fox. Even they are veering left. My whole family does the same. Our message never gets out. Did the MSM ever mention that conservatives are really quite conservative? No they mentioned a few Dems that are pretender conservatives who we know will end up voting liberal. Who will point that out?
I'm with ya. We need to start our own reporting unit. Something of a grass roots thing like the Minutemen did.
Find TV station call letters, they often report things that print media doesn't. I just googled a county in Nevada and got this item. Pick any place any time, you'll find illegal alien crime.
Man Jailed On Suspicion Of Sexually Assaulting Reno Girl Nov 9, 2006 05:25 PM Reno police have arrested an illegal alien accused of sexually abusing a Reno girl and infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease. Authorities say the 14-year-old girl's mother reportedly walked in on Ismael Castillo as he was assaulting the girl, who said the abuse had occurred since 1999. The mother reported it to police but Castillo couldn't be found. Detectives say they received a tip months later that Castillo was working at a restaurant in California.
According to a police, Castillo admitted during an interview to having sex with the girl and infecting her with the Herpes virus. He was arrested and booked into the Washoe County Jail on suspicion of sexual assault of a child. He is also being held without bail on a hold from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5659628&nav=8faO
A lot of anchor babies are already voting. The real downside is that a lot of these anchor babies' parents were granted amnesty years ago. The past 20 years worth of anchor babies are getting ready to vote and when the scamnesty goes through, we will be done. They will all be legal and elligible to vote. The republican party is a hollow shell. It's there just for looks, like the foam on a beer, it is all fluff and no substance. It's beginning to look like the entire government is to blame.
With the increase of illegals 4.4% (average) and 7% unemployment in some areas, I'm not sure how the government thinks they will be able to create jobs for everyone.
It is also discriminatory of other nations whose people try to immigrate lawfully and it disenfranchises American citizens that could be doing those jobs. Let's face it, if we didn't have 20-30% of our paychecks going to taxes, we too could afford to work for lesser wages.
What happens when scamnesty goes through? Does the government really think that the illegals WANT to keep those jobs? No. They don't really want those jobs either, but, just like American citizens that used to do those before they were taken by illegals, those jobs are for people that are in between jobs, or even new to the work force like teenagers, or people that are just traveling through. Some people still like to drift around and 'find themselves'.
At any rate, once legalized the newly legal immigrants are going to *gasp* want to get better jobs and being legal they will need to start paying taxes and OH MY that paycheck is going to dwindle and not be enough. They will need better paying jobs, like the 4-7% of already unemployed citizens.
So, the newly legal immigrants move up and another flood of illegals start to poor over the border to fill the openings left in 'jobs that Americans won't do BS' category.
It's time to end the cycle.
We need a good Constitutional lawyer. If we can present a reasonable case outlining various ways that the government (all branches) is abandoning its constitutional duties, the court could stop the bill long enough for more organized resistance to develop against it.
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion." Article IV Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.
File a discrimination suit against the federal government for allowing illegals to steal identities. The average citizens would be arrested and jailed.
They are. I will tell you to be careful. There are a lot of libs masquerading on this site. When I find one, I expose their subtle innuendo. Some of them contact you by the mail , instead of posting for all to read. Mainly, because they are disguising themselves and are gutless. Call them out on this site, watch for characteristics of liberals, they are there if you look. How long would I "get on" at the Huffpo without revealing myself. Not too long.
How are the Minutemen treated by the media ? They are treated like kooks because they care about this country and our laws. The media has always treated them that way. Funny, people who would like the country to enforce the law are considered nuts and right wingers.
"We need to start our own reporting unit."
Here is a stopgap. Just point people here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=crimaliens
KEYWORD: CRIMALIENS
Better hurry, cause they'll all be citizens soon!!!
And if anyone reads them tells you that's a "bigoted" thread, point them
articles about deporting Nazis and non-Mexicans (the latter mentioned in
the article from Charlotte, NC)
Why is it that there are no conservative broadcast networks? There's certainly enough money out there to have one. I'm very puzzled on this one. What would it take to get one?
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