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The American Spectator goes into the depths
In an article on Tom Tancredo by the anonymous “Washington Prowler,” The American Spectator has sunk itself to the level of the Soviet-like Opinion Journal, trafficking in pure ad hominem slurs in order to discredit immigration restrictionists. Indeed, the Spectator relies on Opinion Journal and its smearer-in-chief, Jason Riley, who has previously written such gems as that the Center for Immigration Studies is a “repugnant” organization. (See this and this and this.) The article’s “argument,” which has been recycled so many times in so many publications that I’ve lost count, is as follows (are you ready?): Bad Immigration Restrictionist (in this case Tom Tancredo) has received donations from John Tanton, and John Tanton is the Devil. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. The article also mentions that Tanton is the founder of FAIR, which it describes as having “extreme and repugnant” (there’s the Riley-ites’ favorite word again) policies, with which Tancredo is supposedly in agreement. Not a single example is given of these extreme and repugnant policies or what makes them extreme and repugnant. Can one imagine that in any area other than immigration a magazine such as TAS would feel licensed to throw around adjectives like “repugnant,” completely unsupported by any facts or arguments? Such is the mindless moral arrogance that subscription to open immigration induces. Right-liberal organs such as The American Spectator will continue to feel licensed to engage in outrageous smear tactics like this until enough people push back at them and shake them up. As a starter, here is TAS’s address and phone number:
The American Spectator The only e-mail address is for letters to the editor: editor@spectator.org This page lists the main personnel: http://spectator.org/dsp_brass.asp
Gintas J. writes:
Goes into the depths? Last I saw it was prowling about in the Marianas Trench, looking for another Bill Clinton scandal.LA replies:
Yes, but in that case it was searching for facts… Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 16, 2007 05:58 PM | Send Email entry |