EDITOR

I don’t usually read Andy Heller, but the title of his July 3rd op-ed, “Distinguishing News from Opinion”, caught my eye. The Newsweek article cited in Heller’s piece, “Trump Administration Argues Detained Migrant Children Don’t Need Toothbrush, Soap”, illustrates how the Big Left media blurs that line.

The headline is misleading because the case being argued is an appeal of a 2017 ruling concerning a violation that occurred during the Obama administration. The hearing had nothing to do with anything that happened on President Trump’s watch. The DOJ lawyer, an Obama appointee, wasn’t arguing that kids should be deprived, but that the specifics-free nature of the rule may have been meant to allow for flexibility, for shorter-term detentions, in these difficult times. President Obama faced the same difficulties but without the same outraged scrutiny.

Clicking on the article, you get a video showing congresswoman Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, accusing border agents of purposeful cruelty and inhumanity. Scrolling down, you see a photo of a migrant child laying on a hard floor. Further down, under “Related Stories”, you get the title “As a Rabbi, I Agree with AOC: Trump Running Concentration Camps”. Atmosphere must count for a fact-based article.

Mainstream media never uses the term “illegal alien”. Headlines in 2018 claimed that Trump called all illegal immigrants animals when they knew he was talking about MS-13 gangs. Photos of migrant children held in cages during Obama’s tenure were used against Trump. The permanent separation of Kate Steinle from her parents (her last words were “help me, Dad”) by a five-times-deported illegal alien was given light coverage because it didn’t fit the Big Left narrative. “77 Media Mistakes in the Trump Era”, an article by investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, lays out the shameful facts. The biased editors who approved the 77 “mistakes” are the same ones who helped feed the biggest lie of this generation; that Trump worked with Russians to steal the Presidency.

Attkisson was spied on by the Obama administration. The mainstream media reacted with a collective shrug, but then, they spent eight years batting their lashes at Barack Obama. Imagine the howling from the Big Left if Trump ever spied on reporters.

Walter Cronkite was a trusted, almost revered figure. Some say his 1968 commentary (opinion) on the Tet Offensive effectively ended the Vietnam War. Today’s Big Left media, indoctrinated as Democrats rather than educated as journalists, can only dream about that level of trust (power?). Hannity didn’t steal their reputations. Brian Williams did.

Today’s conservative outlets provide balance for consumers. With that, I pledge to check out Reuters and AP (although AP shot itself in the foot in February 2017, when it erroneously reported that Trump had threatened Mexico with invasion). In return I wonder if Mr. Heller might check out Fox’s Media Buzz (analysis of that weeks media coverage, 11 a.m. Sunday) and Special Report (40 minutes of news, 20 minutes of opinion, 6 p.m. weekdays).

Kenneth LaMarche

Escanaba