Quote:
Originally Posted by donquixote99
And old legal aphorism states that 'hard cases make bad law.' It means that cases way outside the norm lead one to stretch or break the principles that serve well normally.
Apply to the case of journalism and Donald Trump.
Normally, when a candidate grossly insults a strong minority group, the newspapers would say "Look what Donald Trump just said about Mexicans," and that would be the end of Donald Trump.
That's not how it went this year. Repeat 40 times or so, and the journalists finally catch on that the 'normal' journalism is just feeding the beast. The journalists feel used, among other things. They become self-critical and cast about for the right thing to do in a very unusual situation.
One thing they do is provided fodder for you. That doesn't make the news false, and you have actually just put up yet another FAKE ARGUMENT.
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Speaking of fake arguments, thank you for reminding me of the Mexican comment fake news.
Here's the
text of those comments that you're referring to:
Thank you. It's true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people.
It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably -- probably -- from the Middle East. But we don't know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don't know what's happening. And it's got to stop and it's got to stop fast.
So, did Trump say anything that was factually incorrect? Particularly the most inflammatory allegations about "drugs, crime and rapists"?
Trump made these comments in 2015. At that time,
2014 data was available from ICE. ICE's Enforcement Report suggests that removal of such illegal aliens is a top priority. It also states that the top country of origin for removals was, and has been for years, Mexico. ICE's data also indicates that removal of individuals with criminal convictions was a top priority:
"On November 20, 2014, Secretary Johnson issued a memorandum directing ICE to discontinue the Secure
Communities program and replace it with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) to more effectively identify and facilitate the removal of criminal aliens in the custody of state and local law enforcement agencies."
Data from the Congressional Research Service shows the population of US prisons - both citizens and non-citizens. It certainly shows that a significant number of non citizens are currently in federal prisons for drug crimes and violent crimes including rape and murder.
Then you have the anecdotal evidence. For instance:
Man who was deported 10 times since 2010 faces rape charge in Kansas
The sad story of
Jamiel Shaw. Shaw's killer - Pedro Espinoza - was an illegal immigrant who had just been released from jail.
Then, of course,
there were reports that 80% of the young women and girls crossing the border in the US were victims of rape.
Rape can be perpetrated by anyone along the way, including guides, fellow migrants, bandits or government officials, according to Fusion. Sometimes sex is used as a form of payment, when women and girls don’t have money to pay bribes.
However, its also a crime that the traditional media misrepresetned Trump's quote and turned it into FAKE NEWS. Its the same fake news that you were obviously influenced by based on your comments above. Here's a
great article - from a person who describes himself as a " liberal, Puerto Rican professor" and a Bernie Sanders supporter. It specifically sites examples of the FAKE NEWS created by the traditional media who misrepresented Trumps comments. From the article:
Compare such words with Trump’s words. Which is worse? Writers excerpted the phrase: “they’re rapists,” as if it were about all Mexican unauthorized immigrants, or worse, about all Mexican immigrants, or even worst, about all Mexicans. But that’s not what he said. That’s not what he meant. It was just a remark about some of the criminals crossing the border.
The trick for misrepresenting Trump’s words can be used against anyone.
And contrary to your assertions the other day that print journalists who disseminate false don't last long in their jobs, I'd wager that most if not all of the authors of the articles cited in the Salon piece quoted above are still employed.