The media and illegal immigration. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."
We did a little experiment this morning and selected 10 newspapers across the country which editorialized on the alien controversy. No surprise, none of them support the tough House bill and none of them have a solution to the porous border.
The New York Times favors the long legalization path proposed by the Senate committee. The Atlanta Journal Constitution is the most radical; no surprise again, it favors amnesty for all illegal aliens.
The Denver Post favors legalization, The Boston Globe favors legalization. The Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News are vague about what they favor. The Los Angeles Times favors giving illegals work permits and condemns any punitive action against them. The Washington Post also rejects punitive action but is vague on solutions. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is vague across the board -- I didn't know what they were talking about.
And finally, The Houston Chronicle surprised me. The liberal editorial page was the only one which called for "serious enforcement muscle," but then the paper got back to its reality, totally rejecting the detention of illegal aliens as a violation of due process.
Somebody tell The Houston Chronicle due process can include detention. Any person in America can be held without bail.
Anyway, it is clear the American print media -- including the conservative Wall Street Journal ---- has no stomach for tough measures that would secure the border and discourage millions of other foreign nationals from coming here illegally. Thus, the illegal alien problem will not be solved. I hate to say it, but if you don't secure the border, the alien merry-go-round will continue no matter how many work permits you issue.
The politicians and the press know that but they don't care. They feel good about a humane approach to illegal immigration. So America is facing two things: A profound shift in demographics. Hispanics will continue to rise in numbers and power and the very real possibility of terrorists exploiting our porous borders and doing great harm.
If that happens, then you'll see the military on the border but not before that.
Tonight President Bush travels to Mexico to meet with President Fox and the rhetoric will be "tough." Both presidents will promise to cooperate to make the border more secure.
Meantime, the Mexican drug dealers and people smugglers will sit down to lavish dinners, grin and plan their next lawbreaking ventures.
These guys love the American press. They love the Senate and the two presidents. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Perhaps we should all stock up on fiddles.
That's "The Memo."
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
You may remember that we reported [recently] that the St. Paul, Minnesota, Director of Human Rights removed a picture of the Easter bunny from the workspace of a secretary. Tyrone Terrill thought the bunny might offend non-Christians or maybe aliens from outer space. Who knows?
Anyway, there's now guerilla warfare at the St. Paul city hall, with people leaving chick-shaped Peeps and marshmallow rabbits all over the place. Of course, this is quite offensive, is it not? Look at -- [videotape] oh, I'm just outraged. How dare these people try to impose Easter candy on politicians? Where's the ACLU when we need them?
Ridiculous? Oh, no. Guerilla warfare in St. Paul, putting little bunnies around ... Perfect.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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