OPINION:
For the past couple of weeks, aside from bashing President Trump over tariffs, the media have been fixated on an illegal immigrant deported to El Salvador.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, is reputedly a member of the MS-13 gang, a U.S. government-designated foreign terrorist organization. He was summarily shipped off to his home country. Cue the outrage.
The Democratic Party and the media, in lockstep, have made this the case of the century. All that’s missing is a white Bronco speeding around the Beltway.
Questions remain about how the government has handled Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case, and due process is no small thing, but the amount of selective outrage is stunning.
What about when hundreds of Americans arrested for the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol languished in the D.C. Jail without trial for up to two years?
Oh, right. Those were Trump supporters.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, actually flew to El Salvador to meet with Mr. Abrego Garcia and argue for his return. So did several Democratic House members. So far, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele says he has no plans to send anyone back. Too bad he wasn’t talking about the congressional delegation.
Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, who had filed complaints of physical abuse but says she wants him back, has become a darling of the media, which begins every report by using the terms “wrongly deported” or “mistakenly deported.”
Analyses by the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters show the media’s obsession. Between them, CNN and MSNBC referred to Mr. Abrego Garcia 506 times as a “Maryland man,” with only about 30 references to his being an illegal alien.
During April’s first three weeks, ABC, CBS and NBC devoted more than 143 minutes of their evening and morning shows to Mr. Abrego Garcia.
“Over that same time period, another Maryland illegal immigration case — the trial and April 14 conviction of the murderer of Rachel Morin — was almost completely ignored by the networks.”
A mother of five, Ms. Morin was raped and beaten to death near a trail in Harford County, Maryland, on Aug. 5, 2023. An illegal immigrant from El Salvador, Victor Martinez Hernandez, was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder on April 15. The networks gave this case a whopping 12 seconds of coverage. Two of them ignored it completely.
Needless to say, no congressional delegations have done photo-ops with Morin’s family, even after her mother admonished the White House press corps to their faces.
Meanwhile, in other news, Hades may have frozen over: The Washington Post editorial board on Thursday came down on the side of a group of parents who sued a public school system for indoctrinating children with LGBTQ materials with no opt-outs.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on April 22 in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a lawsuit brought by Montgomery County, Maryland, parents who want to opt their children out of a language arts curriculum featuring books that “affirm LGBTQ+ identities.”
The district initially allowed parents to opt their children out of the reading sessions but then reversed course, saying, in effect, “Tough. We know what’s best for your kids, so butt out.”
This triggered large protests by Christian and Muslim parents.
“Certainly, the district’s motives were good,” The Post said, a disputable presumption. “It was trying to make sure that Montgomery County schools welcome all the children in its diverse student body, including gay and trans children. But religious diversity is also important — so much so that it is enshrined in the First Amendment.”
Well, Rome was not built in a day. The Post, like the rest of the legacy media, still clings to the absurdly dangerous notion of “gay and trans children,” as if they were born that way. However, the paper’s acknowledgment that people with faith-based values also have rights is a welcome shift.
Call me a cynic, but I think the editorial writers are trying to pull their movement back from the edge of the cliffs of insanity.
The transgender issue, especially males in female sports, is a massive loser for liberals. The Trump campaign tied this anvil to Kamala Harris with a highly effective ad blitz.
The trans mania, as with illegal immigration, is a glaring way to differentiate Republicans from Democrats, the latter of whom show no signs of waking up and smelling the coffee.
In every other section of The Post, as with The New York Times and the major TV networks, the left’s favorite causes are blared daily. These include climate hysteria, LGBTQ propaganda, race-baiting, anti-Trump syndrome and an absurdly selective concern about due process for 10 million or more illegal aliens.
Let’s end with the uplifting notion that someone at The Post has at last displayed common sense. Perhaps owner Jeff Bezos’ order for more balance has had an effect, even if the news pages remain to the left of Leon Trotsky.
The editorial’s summary was succinct: “Forcing children to read books that contravene their family’s faith suppresses diversity in the name of saving it.”
That’s helpful, but diversity and parental prerogatives are not the core issues.
It’s about right versus wrong, about stopping the people in raincoats with pockets full of candy who are corrupting children.
• Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times. His website is roberthknight.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.