Tell Us Something We Didn't Know

Remember when Mark Bellowing used his ethnic slur against Mexicans. It took a lot of pressure to just get the radio station to acknowledge it was inappropriate and suspend Bellowing for a week. And there is the obvious current issues regarding the COEXIST bumper sticker, which turns out to be based on artwork in a museum in Jerusalem.

This type of vitriol appears to be an unfortunate trend going on across the country. In this morning's MSJ, there is a story regarding illegal immigrants and the way the pundits are treating this issue. Here are a few excerpts from the article:

The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center has produced reports on anti-Latino rhetoric, and the Anti-Defamation League, founded to expose anti-Semitism, issued a report in October called, "Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves Into the Mainstream."

Rational debate over immigration has been drowned out by the noise of unfounded accusations that illegal immigrants are the driving force behind problems such as identity theft and rising health insurance costs.

and a little closer to home:

Mark Potok, a lead researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said, "One of the most obnoxious elements out there are mainstream media talk show hosts perfectly willing to popularize ideas that have no basis in reality."

One could hope that are local right-wing media pundits would read this and reflect how their behaviors fit this report, and forgo their childish rants. But the sad reality, unfortunately, is they'll just turn around and attack the report and the people that produced it.

UPDATE: Milwaukee Rising offers their own take on this issue as well.