ABC News Boob Times Two

ABC News apparently felt that having one boob reporter/pundit was insufficient and decided to borrow another from Fox News, the virulently xenophobic Laura Ingraham. And she has already begun to shine as a beacon of right-wing hateful bile, reminding us that the conservative takeover of media is almost complete (NBC appears to be the only standout left). The infamous crusader against “illegal immigration” has found a new fight, arguing that the thousands of refugee children crossing the borders from Central America are a plight that will continue the decline of America. She calls this humanitarian crisis an “invasion facilitated by our own government”(Media Matters) blaming politicians in both parties (though all aside from Obama and the hated “mavericks” McCain and Graham, are had either Hispanic or Jewish last names).

In claiming her next stop was to campaign against Eric Cantor, she proclaimed: “Oh no you won’t. This is our country… Our borders matter to us. Our way of life and our culture matter to us. Our jobs and our wages matter to us. No you won’t.” Why would she pick a fight against defenseless children who would probably otherwise die? Well, obviously these little runts are going to ruin our culture and way of life in the future, by restoring some semblance of empathy to the country, I suppose? To Ingraham, the government is “trafficking illegal immigrants from one part of the country to another part of the country to further erode American wages and further forward their goal of ultimate amnesty and changing the electoral and cultural landscape of the United States forever.” Notice the Realpolitik implications underneath the crusade to “save jobs” and “raise wages” – together with the barely cloaked fear of the other and call to purify the American “race” (based on some mythical past where there was no slavery, no immigrants and no Native Americans, I guess).

In her book Power to the People she is even more explicit, “Our national power and identity comes in part from our shared American culture and language. This power will continue to be eaten away if we don’t stop the double-talk and defend our borders.” Oddly, Ingraham is a Catholic who very ostentatiously converted in 2003 and is herself the mother of three adopted children, two from Russia and one from Guatemala. You would think this would evoke some sympathy for the kids, but conservatives are quite good at separating their private lives from their fundamentalist right-wing beliefs, whenever expediency demands. The great irony is that her church operates one of the largest social service organizations in the world for kids like these. In fact, it would appear that Ingraham’s church is actively helping to facilitate this “invasion” and is hell-bent on helping a few of the wretched of the earth.

The real question, of course, is why ABC News feels comfortable paying someone to spew this xenophobic garbage and, more importantly, why this is even news at all?