Following the issues where or how?
Skeptic Ginger, you have at least twice told me how I arrive at my opinions and you've been wrong both times. Please stop.
Here's how I have followed the issues: For about 8 years I was a newspaper editor overseeing coverage of the border and immigration. I assigned and/or edited perhaps hundreds of news stories, many involving DACA, going back to about 2002. I've also done a fair amount of commentary (with attendant research). Since 2010 I've been been working in schools, some literally 98 percent Latino. I've seen a 14-year-old sobbing in a teacher's arms because he missed his father and grandparents, but couldn't visit Mexico because he might not get back into the U.S. In 2011 I did extensive interviews as part of research for a documentary (it has never been released), talking to human-rights activists and finding a family that felt secure enough to appear in the film. I edited stories about a 19-year-old U.S. soldier who finally earned his citizenship after he was killed in combat.
Throughout, I have tried to inform the public by taking those mainstream media stories, including those from the AP, and making them more concrete and detailed. I slash the phrase "tough new immigration law" in favor of a paragraph summarizing what the bill would do.
At least once before, you have invented motives for my posts - your theory that I am "falling for" Republican talking points, or that my views on Iran are based on media-driven stereotypes. I won't go into length about my qualifications on Iran, but they are based on talking to a wide variety of Iranians both inside and outside of Iran; extensive reading (not just MSM) and slipping into the Islamic Republic of Iran as a "proofreader" because I was afraid if I put "journalist" or even "editor" on my visa application they wouldn't let me in. None of that makes me an expert, but I'm reasonably well-informed.
Let's look at the issues. It is Trump's fault because he cancelled Obama's DACA executive order in the first place.
Yep.
Yes, and the question is, why are the Democrats responsible for this?
I didn't say they were. I was talking about my frustration with Congress as a whole over the years. For better or worse I haven't even been paying attention to who's doing what right now. But I absolutely have not been influenced by Trump/GOP talking points on this issue. I watch virtually no television and haven't been on CNN's site in days.
When I say you bought the GOP talking point, I'm talking about you believing the Democrats were holding the spending bill hostage without noticing how that POV has been so manipulated.
I'm talking about what has happened with this bill over the years. I didn't watch any Pence speeches. I don't listen to anything Sarah Huckabee Sanders says. I didn't even know the GOP was blaming Democrats for the holdup. I plead ignorance, but please be aware that I am not someone who is easily manipulated by the media. I've spent a good deal of time demolishing talking points by insisting on adding perspective to stories, filling in gaping holes and sometimes asking awkward questions. I had huge leeway to do this and was highly trusted.
If I was still doing my old job I would be following these machinations closely but right now I'm ignoring it. Too crazy-making. I know I'm not falling for any GOP finger-pointing. You can draw your own conclusions.
