L.A. Times Interviews a Plant

See UPDATE below: L.A. Times replies
Michelle Malkin has a post on a L.A. Times story that highlights sloppy, lazy journalism or worse. The story's online headline is, "A Job Americans Won't Do, Even at $34 an Hour." I think I'm smelling an agenda.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times ran a piece of open-borders propaganda masquerading as journalism, which featured a Riverside, Calif., landscaper named Cyndi Smallwood who claims she can't find workers to dig ditches even at $34 an hour.

The claim seems preposterous, but the Times assures us that Smallwood has no ideological ax to grind. She is "ambivalent on immigration reform," the Times reports. Just an ordinary landscaper, you know.

Malkin got a tip from Beyond Borders Blog which challengs the Times assertion that Smallwood has "no ideological ax to grind."

With just a few seconds of internet searching Beyond Borders Blog discovered that

Smallwood is president of the Orange County chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association, and is a member of the association's "Immigration Task Force." The activist group opposes the "Punitive Immigration Reform Bill Proposed by Rep. Sensenbrenner."

Looks like maybe a Times reporter and a couple of other fact checkers should get out a little more often. Maybe they should apply for a job with Smallwood.

Beyond Borders Blog goes on to say:

Wow! If traveling to Washington DC to lobby for a trade association, planting pro-guest worker program quotes in multiple press outlets and backing a specific faction in the immigration reform debate is considered ambivalence on immigration reform I’d like to see the Times version of an activist!

I followed Malkin's link to e-mail the L.A. Times reader's rep.

It's no wonder your paper's fortunes are sliding, and taking journalism's standards with it. Bloggers spent 30 seconds debunking Streitfeld's claim that Smallwood's "ambivalent on immigration reform."

Was this laziness and incompetence on the part of the reporter and editors? Will you go back and let readers know the full picture of who this woman is? I'd really like to know as my local paper uses LATimes WaPost copy often and I want to know how much of it is a lie.

This is just another facet of agenda journalism that arises from a class of journalists who truly believe they are smarter, wiser and better-intentioned than the average citizen. Debating perspectives has never worked in the newsrooms I've been in. Pointing out serious lapses of journalistic ethics has. Click the link and tell the L.A. Times what you think.


UPDATE: L.A. Times replies
Kudos to the L.A. Times reader representative Jamie Gold. He sent this very prompt reply.

Thanks for your comments about yesterday's L.A. Times article that reported how difficult it is in at least some fields to find individuals to do work even for $34 an hour. I understand that you think the article was incomplete in describing one of the main individuals interviewed.

The Times story, which I've pasted in below, said this about Cyndi Smallwood:

Smallwood is ambivalent on immigration reform, saying demands for immediate citizenship by those who entered the country illegally are offensive. But without a guest worker program, she says, her company probably will not survive.

It also reports this about Smallwood:


Smallwood has two signed photos of Bush on the wall of her office, one of them thanking her for contributing to the Republican National Committee.
Will she be making another contribution to the Republicans anytime soon?
"Not hardly."
That's due in large measure to her anger at her congressman, Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-Diamond Bar), who does not favor a guest worker program.
In January, Smallwood had a contentious meeting with Miller at his district office in Brea. She said Miller twice challenged her assertion that she couldn't find workers for $34 an hour, saying his son would work for that wage and offering to send him over.

I think the article makes it clear that Smallwood has very strong opinions on the subject -- she is for a guest-worker program (but against granting immediate citizenship) -- and more precisely, the article reports why she has those strong opinions. While "ambivalent," out of context and without any other facts about the person, might not be the best word, I think the article as a whole makes it clear what Smallwood wants in the way of immigration reform, and why she wants it.


Thanks again for taking the time to write to us about this.

Jamie Gold
Readers' Representative

My reply:

Jamie,
Smallwood's opinions may be expressed but her affiliations and activism for the cause isn't even mentioned. Your reporter mentioned Bush's photos on her wall and her current dissatisfaction with the GOP (good for emphasizing the negatives on Bush and the GOP) but not her activism. Isn't that a bit one-sided? She's not just another average citizen.

Did you read the blog link I e-mailed? It's pretty clear and includes links to Smallwood's connections which are not mentioned in your paper's article. Here's the link again in case you missed it. http://langamp.com/borderblog/?p=2519

Your paper's code of ethics doesn't address this situation directly but, in the section on anonymous sources, says:

... a source’s point of view and potential biases should be disclosed as fully as possible. For instance, “an advisor to Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee” is preferable to “a Congressional source.”

Does this type of disclosure only apply when someone is not named?

Ingratitude and Conspiracies

Peggy Noonan looks at how Bush and the creators of "DaVinci Code" are out of touch. I think there are a lot of other people out of touch too when it comes to this bit of truth in Noonan's column:

There is a God. Or, as a sophisticated Christian pointed out yesterday, there is an Evil One, and this may be proof he was an uncredited co-producer. The devil loves the common, the stale. He can't use beauty; it undermines him. "Banality is his calling card."

Talk about vast conspiracies! Why do so many people, incuding those who profess a faith in God, deny the conspiracies of Satan?

Noonan looks further into the creators of "DaVinci Code" to find the answer, ingratitude.

I do not understand the thinking of a studio that would make, for the amusement of a nation 85% to 90% of whose people identify themselves as Christian, a major movie aimed at attacking the central tenets of that faith, and insulting as poor fools its gulled adherents. Why would Tom Hanks lend his prestige to such a film? Why would Ron Howard? They're both already rich and relevant. A desire to seem fresh and in the middle of a big national conversation? But they don't seem young, they seem immature and destructive. And ungracious. They've been given so much by their country and era, such rich rewards and adulation throughout their long careers. This was no way to say thanks.

Semper Fi? Not Murtha.

Semper Fidelis. Always faithful. It's the U.S. Marine Corps motto and, perhaps better than any other two word pronouncement, defines what a Marine is.

I have known many Marines. I traveled with them on 'Gator Freighters in the Pacific and Indian oceans. I dodged tanks and LVTPs on Asian beaches with them, practically swam through Scaviola brush with them on an Indian Ocean island and invited many to share my home for a while. And I have never known a true Marine to be anything but faithful.

Yes, there are bad bad people wearing the Marine uniform, but usually not for long. They are not Marines by definition. They are not faithful to their creed, their fellow Marines, their country or their honor.

A columnist I work with was surprised when I called Rep. John Murtha a traitor after his cut and run speech last year. According to Marines I know there's only one worse name than traitor to be applied to a Marine and that's calling him an ex-Marine. Marines will adamantly tell you there's no such thing as an ex-Marine. I think Rep. John Murtha has changed that.

Captain's Quarters has a good summary:

Rep. John Murtha has decided to skip the investigation and leapt directly to conclusions regarding allegations that US Marines shot and tossed grenades at Iraqi civilians in revenge for an ambush suffered by their unit in Haditha.

Expose the Left has the video. There's a good roundup of reactions to his latest treachery and faithlessness at Blue Crab Boulevard.

If Marines killed civilians in cold blood in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, they don't deserve the honor of being Marines.

There's no IF in Murtha's actions. He was an honorable Marine during long years of service. But he has broken faith with his fellow Marines. He has broken faith with the judicial system. He has broken faith with his responsibilities as a Congressman of a country he once swore to protect and preserve, a country now at war.

Evidently Iraq isn't the first instance of Murtha calling for cut and run. He got Clinton's ear in 1993 on Somalia.

The Marine Corps motto isn't just about faith in the past. It's about faith always.

Polling, Truth or Fiction?

Beware of incessant polls touted by the Mainstream Media as indicators of deep, possibly even fatal, flaws in the GOP. Ankle Biting Pundits has a closer look at a Washington Post poll reporting new lows for the GOP and President Bush. It seems the Post didn't report some of the background to the data and analysis. The poll heavily under-sampled Republicans and other key demographics favorable to the party and under-reported those factors.

. . . you really have to wonder why the MSM puts out these polls that bear no resemblance to who will turn out to vote, yet they write stories about the doom about to befall the GOP based on a poll that is given no context in the accompanying stories.

A wise editor I once worked for had a strong predisposition against such polls from wire services, which is how the Post's and other MSM polls get to most Americans. He recognized they were easy to get wrong and hard to verify on deadline with the limited staff of a smaller paper.

There are certainly significant problems in the GOP right now and more than a few disaffected among the party faithful. So why doesn't the MSM conduct a poll to accurately gauge the mood of potential voters? Maybe it's not negative enough for them.

Doing Our Part

So much is in turmoil right now, both in my personal life and the world in general, that I have a hard time even cataloging what's going on. It's times like this when there's great temptation to simply withdraw into an isolationist shell and take a breather. Some of my favorite bloggers have done so recently and I did for a bit while marveling at the birth of my daughter's first child.

But this is not the time for withdrawal. Al Qaeda, though on the ropes, is not gone. Radical islamists still seek to destroy what they don't understand. U.S. troops are taking the fight to the enemy with valor and determination in spite of very taxing deployment schedules and imminent personal danger. Opportunities for major successes and failures loom close.

So, what's a person to do? Pitch in with whatever you can offer.

Check your local media for stories about service members from your area. If they run stories call or write the managing editor with comments on the story. If they don't, call and ask why not. Your comments make a difference.

This blog has carried a link to AnySoldier.com almost since it's launch. I highly recommend you go there and read some of the e-mails from soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines thanking ordinary citizens for expressing their support in care packages and letters. Read the e-mails and pick a person to write or send a package to.

I promise it'll feel great and it'll make a difference.

In the Arms of a Loving Father

Union Mentality

My first real job in mainstream journalism included an education in union realities. A couple of weeks after starting my job at a large newspaper I received a post card from the Guild advising me that I had one week to join the union or I'd be fired. A couple of quick phone calls verified several key points: My employer would have to fire me by union agreement if I didn't join the union. Michigan didn't protect the right of workers to not be represented by a union. I had to pay union dues even though I had independently negotiated my pay outside and well above union minimums.

Don't get me wrong, unions served, and may some day again serve, an important purpose. But today a video at UnionFacts.com speaks well for me and lots of other workers.

Faces of Aaron

Aaron has a very expressive face, even while he's sleeping.

Aaron Comes Home

Aaron came home today. Mom checks out his photos online while his dad films blissful sleep. Jeremy and I spent about an hour just watching him sleep. It's amazing what little babies can get grown men to do.

Milestones of Life

Over the last day it's struck me how significant an event it is for my child to have a child of her own. The milestones of a child's life on the way to adulthood mostly mark a path to independence – graduating high school, first car, first job, marriage, home ownership.

But this is different. My child is now a parent. It's part acknowledgement that she's arrived at a new plane where she can find her full potential. It's also about being part of something very special, a family. She and her husband now have their own child who will grow along those same steps of independence and some day, hopefully and with lots of prayers from his parents, hold his own child.

Aaron David

Aaron David Yenser arrived on May 3, 2006 at 8:05 p.m. at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas. He's 20 inches long and eight pounds, two ounces. Mom, Dad and Aaron are doing just fine.


Totally adorable. I can say that as a proud grandfather.


He's 20 inches long and, did I mention, totally adorable.

UPDATE 5/4/06 12:10 p.m.: Jeremy reports that Aaron did well his first night and that he and Meg even got some sleep. He's eating well and the other end of the food pipe works equally well. And, I'll add, he's still totally adorable. More photos will be posted later today.

On Immigration

A good friend alerted me to the following letter sent by a retired Border Patrol officer to Sen. Frist. It seems appropriate to reproduce it on the day illegal immigrants are demonstrating. Count it part of my counter protest. My wife postponed her usual Friday grocery shopping to today as part of her counter protest. Here's the letter:

Dear Senator Frist:

There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.

1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.

2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent wage.

3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children.

4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.

5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another.

6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.

8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848 Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico. Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole California, Arizona, new Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their schoolchildren.

9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life. When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a better life a good reason to trash another nation?

10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.

11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price?

For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and the interest will be high. There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S.citizens or to offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of those who don't even have the right to remain here?

There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this year, again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.

We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators and thieves.

David J. Stoddard
U.S.Border Patrol (RET)
Hereford, Arizona
Semper Fidelis,

Previous posts on immigration are found here, here and, on a personal note, here.