Somethin's Happenin' Here.....

OK, time for a little political rant.  I know, I know, shouldn't talk religion or politics among family or friends but this is increasingly worrisome to me.  So here goes!

I won't say it is some big conspiracy, orchestrated by individuals with evil intent.  However, what is happening within the main stream "free press" of America threatens our country, and our freedom.  Yeah, how can that be?  The free press is the insturment of protection for a free society against tyranny!  Yes, I agree that was our founders intent.  But, in the words of the immortal rock band "Buffalo Springfield": somethin's happenin' here...

I have observed for quite a few years the liberal bias in America's media.  I first noticed it when I read stories that were twisted and skewed about my employer, the US Forest Service.  I guess my first real "ah-ha moment" was when a colleague of mine and I received some very nasty letters from a class of 4th grade children in Danville CA.  The letters were heart breaking and accusatory.  They were based on a newspaper account (San Francisco Chronicle) of a difficult situation we were dealing with on the Klamath National Forest in the late eighties.  We had seen the "report" in the newspaper but it didn't really impact us until we received the horrendous letters from these 4th graders and their well meaning teacher.  They had trusted the "free press" to inform them as citizens on important issues that they should be concerned with.  Their teacher, in the spirit of promoting good citizenship, had them express their opinions of the "horrible" things we were doing in letters to us.  My colleague and I took the time to arrange a meeting with the class, travel to Danville, and personally explain the whole story.  A big part of what we worked hard to convey was to be skeptical of news reports that presented one side of any story.  We taught them that there were always two sides to any story, and they needed to work to always get the "other side" before they made up their minds.

Well, over the years I observed this phenomenon get worse and worse with biased reporting on "environmental atrocities" committed by the Forest Service.  The best treatment I ever got was a reporter who characterized the particular story he was working on as a "he said she said" story.  Bull hockey!!  If he had done his job, and really dug into the facts, the story would have come out very different indeed.  Digging into the facts however takes more effort and energy.  Why do that when you already know the story you want to write?  Why go to a lot of work when what you find might not fit the popular "narrative?"

Recently the most shameless example of this "bias" has created a firestorm around the new immigration law passed by the Arizona legislature.  Thousands of well meaning citizens have taken to the streets to defend the civil rights of Americans protesting this "Nazi-like" and "racist law".  There has even been violence at some of these protests.  The protests are based primarily on the complete and utter misrepresentation of this law in the media.

I looked up this statute on the internet to see for myself if it was as characterized by most mainstream media outlets, and all far-left media.  It is not even close.  The law specifically prohibits racial profiling, and does not empower police to contact people and "demand their papers" to prove they are here legally.  It does allow them to make a "reasonable attempt to determine a person's immigration status" if they have contacted them during the normal course of their duties AND have probable cause to believe they may be here illegally.  By definition probable cause does not include racial profiling.  So, the law does not change anything relative to promoting racial profiling.  Currently, state and local police, during the course of their normal law enforcement activities, do not have any jurisdiction to inquire about immigration status.  So, no matter what circumstances might lead them to believe that the person they have pulled over for speeding is in the country illegally, they cannot even make a reasonable attempt to determine their status.  How many criminal aliens have been let go to commit further crimes because of this lack of jurisdiction?

In San Francisco, (leading a boycott effort against Arizona) an illegal who was arrested and not turned over to federal authorities was later released and ended up murdering a family!  Which brings up another facet of this law.  It would make "sanctuary cities" illegal!  In other words, the murdered family in San Francisco would still be alive and together because San Francisco authorities would have been required to hand this felon over to I.C.E. or the Border Patrol.

Here is the bottom line of the law that you won't hear in the "free press".

1. State or local authorities are prohibited from implementing policies that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants.
2. When state and local cops, during a lawful contact, have reasonable suspicion that a person is here illegally, they may make a "reasonable attempt, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person."  (Sound racist to you?)
3. If an illegal alien is convicted of a crime and is released from jail, or pays their fine, they must be turned over to I.C.E. or C.B.P.  (would have saved that family in San Francisco, and probably many more)
4. State and local cops can transport illegals to federal custody.
5. State and local cops can share immigration information for lawful purposes.
6. The entire statute must be implemented "consistent with federal law protecting the civil rights of all persons".

This law, upon reading, is more common sense than "racism", yet thousands of citizens are out protesting as I write.  If the media is going to function as the protector of freedom and liberty as our founders intended, then news must be informative in a way that allows the citizens of this great free country to form opinions, and make decisions based on truth.  Whether those decisions are at the voting booth or at a street protest, they are critical to the direction this country moves.  They will affect all of our lives, and even more importantly they will shape the nation we leave to our children.

That's All