Wave Maker

I'm a little late to the dance with this story in which the Boston Globe goes to enormous lengths to disclose that **GASP** Governor Romney's lanscape maintenance vendor **GASP** employed ***GASP** illegal aliens ENTIRELY WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE!!!!

Read the story end to end several times, and answer the following multiple choice question (opponents of MCAS are disqualified from participating):

QUESTION: WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT OF THIS STORY?

A. The owner of Community Lawn Services With a Heart doesn't check the immigration status of its employees; or

B. Mitt Romney's wife is kind to the lowliest of service workers; or

C. Illegal aliens are all around us (even ardent anti-immigrant politicians) without our knowledge; or

D. The Boston Globe does not want Mitt Romney to be President of the United States.

(answer below)
_______________

Here's what my perusal shows (all quotes directly from news article):

1. The Globe "received a tip in July alleging that Romney was using illegal immigrants to landscape his property."

2. Acting on this tip, the Globe assigned THREE reporters to investigate ("This story was reported by Jonathan Saltzman and Maria Cramer of the Globe staff and by Globe correspondent Connie Paige and was written by Saltzman").

3. Reporters staked out Romney's house and "observed the lawn service workers outside Romney's house more than a dozen times, sometimes as frequently as twice a week." (WOW, his grass grows so fast!!)

4. The Globe reporters "tracked down four current and former employees of the company at their homes in Chelsea and in Guatemala." All but one admitted they had been (or were) in the country illegally.

5. These workers said that although he had occasionally greeted them with a "buenos dias," Romney "had never expressed any curiosity about their status."

6. Two of Bill Clinton's nominees for attorney general were forced to withdraw when it was discovered that each had employed illegal aliens as nannies, and Michael Huffington lost his U. S. Senate race after making a similar admission.

7. "Ann Romney was friendly and brought [the workers] water on one particularly hot day."

8. Mitt Romney supports efforts to crack down on illegal aliens in this country.

9. When confronted at the Republican Governor's Association meeting in Florida (now why would they chose that venue to confront him??), Romney said "Aw jeez," and walked away.

I think the gist of this explosive blockbuster story is the following:

"The situation underscores the extent to which illegal immigrants permeate the US economy. Even as Romney travels the country, vowing to curb the flood of low-skilled illegal immigrants into the United States, some of those workers maintain his own yard, cutting grass, pruning shrubs, and mulching trees."

And there you have it. The Globe assigned three reporters to run down a tip iinvolving Romney. They spent weeks and weeks staking out Romney's home, tracking the arrival and departure of numerous hispanic-looking workers. They obtained these workers' identities, hunted them down in their homes -- even traveling to Guatemala to interview them. They assembled the "story" (such as it is) over a course of four months, and traveled to Florida to confront Romney at the Republican Governor's Association conference (his last as Chairman).

The previous post has to do with the subject of cynicism IN the media and cynicism OF the media.

It's an understatement that his story does nothing to abate the latter.

(Answer: C. If you are employed by the Boston Globe, the answwer is D.)