The titular quote is from Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief political strategist concerning Arnold's recent remarks about illegal immigration. A survey of MSM articles about Arnold's remarks reveals that to be a correct observation. And, most of the commentary about Arnold's remarks assumes that the reader isn't going to have heard the original interview, and reporters and others seem to have offered their own "interpretations" of his remarks. You can read a transcript of the interview here.

Further, many of those articles seem to be reading from the same script. Of all the articles described below, all but two point out that president Bush called the MMP volunteers "vigilantes." And, three of the articles include quotes from the Chairman of the California Democratic Party, Art Torres. Here's an older quote from Torres:

...power is not given to you -- you have to take it. Remember: [proposition] 187 is the last gasp of white America in California. Understand that. And people say to me on the Senate floor when I was in the Senate, 'Why do you fight so hard for affirmative action programs?' And I tell my white colleagues, 'because you're going to need them.'

The fact that Torres (Chairman of the California Democratic Party) once referred to "the last gasp of white America in California" seems to have escaped the notice of those papers that recently quoted him.

The SacBee's "Governor: No political aim in border remarks" includes quotes from Torres and mentions Bush's remark. It also includes the thoughts of Lenard Liberman of KRCA.

Please suggest that the SacBee should have put Torres' and Liberman's quotes in their proper context: ombud *at* sacbee.com

The PC industry returns in AP's "After praising border patrols, Schwarzenegger claims title, 'champion of immigrants'". The title is presumably meant to be ironic, as if legal immigrants should somehow support illegal immigration. Sorry, we know better. That article points out Bush's stance and includes quotes from Art Torres, as well as the thoughts of the SoCal chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU's press release is here. If you needed any more proof that, at least on immigration matters, the ACLU is a self-discrediting organization, compare their lies about Arnold's statements to the transcript.

The AP's May 2 report "Citizens Focus on Arnold's Comments" from Tom Chorneau mentions Bush's opposition to the MMP and includes this:

On Friday, Schwarzenegger clarified that he wanted to be a "champion of immigrants," but one of his aides also said the governor would welcome the Minuteman in California.

Please ask the AP to give more background on those it quotes, and also educate them about there not being a conflict between supporting the MMP and being a "champion of immigrants": feedback *at* ap.org

The L.A. Times editorial "Easy Target, Cheap Politics" is sleazy even by LAT standards. There's more here.

The S.F. Chronicle editorial "Governor's borderline ideas" is childlike in its innocent "liberalism." There are massive downsides to massive illegal immigration, and there are even a few upsides. Yet, the Chronicle justs wants to see all those millions of illegal immigrants as cheap janitors without paying any attention to the downsides. It also mentions Bush's opposition to the MMP.

Please consider writing a Letter to the Editors of the LAT and the Chronicle.

The SDUT's "Schwarzenegger, lagging in polls, may have overplayed his hand" only mentions Arnold's immigration-related comments in passing. Yet, it also manages to work in Bush's opposition to the MMP.

The article "Cinco de Mayo festival draws thousands" includes this highly misleading comment from Dolores Huerta: "...the governor is demeaning immigration and supporting vigilantism..." It also describes an official parade participant wearing a Nazi armband as an anti-Arnold symbol. Shades of the LAT Editorial Board.

John Wildermuth and Mark Martin of the Scripps Howard News Service try to compare and contrast Arnold with Pete Wilson in "Schwarzenegger pushes immigrant hot button". In addition to other errors, the fact that they don't seem to see a difference between a legal immigrant like Arnold and massive illegal immigration means that their analysis is highly flawed.

Please ask Peter Copeland, SH's Editor and general manager, to do a better job: copelandp *at* shns.com

The NYT's "Schwarzenegger's Star Dipping as Californians Feel Its Singe" continues reading from the script by pointing out Bush's anti-MMP stance and including the thoughts of Art Torres.

Please ask the NYT to give more background on those whom it quotes: public *at* nytimes.com