Rohrabacher getting death threats; Spanish TV to blame?

U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher apparently received a number of death threats after Spanish language newscasts targeted him because of a bill he wrote that would reduce payments to hospitals for illnesses and other maladies suffered by undocumented residents, as reported in major newspapers this week. I am not surprised. Spanish language news outlets, on TV and on the radio, tend to be sensationalist. They are often irresponsible and they seem to get a kick out of scaring their constituents. I remember seeing billboards last year in the L.A. area that depicted what appeared to be Mexican immigrant workers being arrested, under a caption that said something to the effect of “watch our news or this could happen to you.”

That the scare-mongering of the Spanish language media contributed, possibly, to the death threats received by Rohrabacher is dreadful and a shame. I hope that the producers of these programs will think twice about what they are doing. Rather than fanning the fears of the illegals amongst us, they should educate them and give them the whole story. The big news today was that a major hospital chain in Southern California is selling its assetts, because it cannot pay for services mandated by the State of California. The unwritten subtext is that paying thousands of dollars for services provided to folks who cannot pay for said services is a bad business model. I don’t have any answers for this, but Rohrabacher’s bill is at least forcing us to consider the issue. Rohrabacher certainly does not deserve to be targeted for death.

The irony of all this is that Rohrabacher is now facing a primary challenge from retired Congressman Bob Dornan, who himeslf was accused of being anti-Latino by the dimwit (Loretta Sanchez) who replaced him. Now Rohrabacher is being attacked by the same people that rose up against Dornan. You would think that Dornan might feel bad for the guy, but the word on the street is that Dornan is running for office again so that his family can profit from running the campaign. I hope that isn’t true, but his family has indeed profited from his past efforts.

I also hope that the government will provide protection to Rohrabacher and his wife, who is expecting triplets. I would hate to see some gangbanger go after them after being prodded by Spanish telecasts and the likes of Nativo Lopez. The latter is now facing the possibility of lawsuits stemming from the illegal immigrant strike that he organized a few weeks ago. That action cost school districts thousands of dollars as many students stayed home from school, costing the school districts a lot of money that they would have otherwise received from the state.