Stating the problem without stating the problem

Back in March of last year, I blogged about an article in the Sacramento Bee that danced around the fact that the rise in cases of Tuberculosis in California is due to immigration, and especially, illegal immigration. I see that a year later, the Bee has yet to grow a backbone and call a spade a spade. Today's edition of the Bee has yet another article on page A3 that mentions that even though cases of TB are down in California, the majority of cases in the state are attributed to people who were, as the Bee puts it, "born abroad." In fact, here is the money quote from the article:

The vast majority - 77 percent - of all TB patients in California were born outside of the United States, where TB is widespread. Gaps in immigration policies, which may allow people with active disease into the country, and latent infections among immigrants who become ill after settling in the United States contribute to its spread.

Do you see what the Bee is doing here? They can't get around mentioning the overwhelming contribution of immigrants to our TB problem, so they try to minimize it as best they can with dry and meaningless language. "Gaps" in immigration policies? That is Bee-speak for the fact that we don't medically screen legal immigrants anymore like we did once upon a time on Ellis Island in the east and Angel Island in the west. The other "gaps" of which the Bee speaks would be President Bush's and the Congress' almost non-existent protection of the border, and the ensuing invasion of illegal aliens that are a consequence of our federal government's inaction. Since the editorial board of the Bee is favor of immigrants - both legal and illegal - overrunning our country, it stands to reason that they will do their best to not let their beliefs be put into a bad light. As the old quote goes, the first thing a person will do in defense of his beliefs is lie. Although, technically, the Bee doesn't exactly lie in this article, they omit crucial information and dryly word the article in a way that minimizes the negative aspects of the position that they hold. But really, can you expect anything different from, yes, the bias of the leftist media?

Good Day to You, Sir