Both Geraldo Rivera and Bill O'Reilly make conclusive arguments for the two extreme sides. One good point brought up by O'Reilly is, the man who killed the girl was an illegal immigrant who had broken the law previously before, yet remained in the United States. Yet the only thing O'Reilly is doing is screaming to get his point across, which is getting him no where.
One point Rivera brings up is that the story is getting covered by news channels because the man who killed the girl is an illegal immigrant. Would the story still get as much coverage if it was just a citizen who was drunk driving?
What REALLY is the issue in this situation, is it drunk driving or illegal immigration, or maybe it is both?
I'll let yall watch and decide for yourself.
Whew! Bill O-Reilly annoyed me already, and this kind of clinched it. I agree with Bill that this man should've been deported after his initial arrest, but that's where the illegal issue stops. The issue with this little girl's death isn't immigration, it's drunk driving, two very separate issues. Bill should know better, since he's apparently master of the "no spin zone", than to exploit this tragedy for political purposes. This is just another reminder like those we've received from liberals and conservatives alike, to talk facts about the issues rather than scream emotions.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Bill O'Reilly that Ramos should have been deported after his first DUI, but I am torn with the question if this is an issue of drunk driving or illegal aliens? My first reaction would be that it is a case of drunk driving; but, if I was the family who's daughter died in a car wreck, because of a drunk illegal immigrant I couldn't help but think would this have happened if Ramos was deported after his first arrest?
ReplyDeleteI think this situation has to be both an issue of drunk driving and illegal immigrants. Both the drunk driving and illegal alien situation could have been prevented. You can't really separate the two. Had Ramos been deported after his first DUI, it is possible to say that the accident wouldn't have occurred. Had Ramos stopped driving drunk after his first DUI, it is also safe to say that maybe the accident wouldn't have occurred.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think, if you look at this from the view of the family whose daughter was killed, you would be more upset knowing that the man who killed her was not only drunk, but he was an illegal immigrant who shouldn't have been in this situation to begin with.
I think both drunk driving and illegal immigration need to be looked at, not one over the other. In any situation where a fatality occurs because of a drunk driving accident, it is painful to understand because drunk driving can be prevented. And like this case, it becomes even more difficult because, not only was Ramos drunk, he was an illegal immigrant who had been charged with a DUI previously.
I agree with Kelsey on this. This issue is not one that can be separated. I don't even really see the need to separate it. Just as Kelsey said, if he had been deported after the first offense, the others wouldn't have happened. If he had been incarcerated after the first offense, the others wouldn't have happened. So, I would say that in both cases, the legal system is just too lax about the issues and more ought to be done about it.
ReplyDeleteI also disapprove with bashing O'Reilly for becoming angry and emotional over the subject. Geraldo Rivera is a rather infuriating person to talk to, and if you'll notice in the beginning, it's O'Reilly that's trying to have a reasonable conversation. Rivera rather rudely continues to interrupt him, and O'Reilly loses his cool over it. I think that he was more angered by Rivera than the topic at hand, and I can't honestly claim that I wouldn't be also. Anyone who has ever tried to converse or debate with someone who won't let you make a point, knows the frustration of what I'm talking about. I agree that O'Reilly should have kept it together, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, Rivera wasn't any better.
I personally disagree with Rivera that all crimes should be separated from illegal immigration. Let's say, there is an illegal immigrant who is a murderer. You have two ways to prevent this particular murder from happening: 1. Prevent the murder itself, or 2. Prevent the illegal immigration of the murderer. If prevention of either occurs, then the murder ceases to exist. So I agree that all crimes need to be cracked down on, I definitely agree with that. But at the same time, when there are two preventable causes of the murder, I say prevent one or the other so long as the murder is prevented. I don't think that a citizen has any more right to commit a crime than an illegal immigrant, but we can't kick out citizens that are criminals (unfortunately); however we can with illegal immigrants. So why not?
O'Reily has reason to be fired up about this issue. Rivera provokes tension, and O'Reily is only responding to Rivera's explosive arguments in a similar manner. Rivera brings irrelevant facts into his arguments. He accurately states that immigrants, legal or not, have a lower crime rate than native residents, but that statistic has no relevance to this case. Yes, hundreds of other drunk driving accidents occur in VA each year, but this story was covered more heavily by national media because multiple issues were involved.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of illegal immigration can not be separated from this drunk driving case. This man should have been deported after his first offense with the law. It is always a tragedy when one or more lose their lives because of another makes careless behavior choice. In drunk driving accidents, the drunk driver must always be held accountable. In this particular instance, however, Mayor Oberndorf and the police chief should be held accountable as well. It is embarrassing and alarming that the local government and police department failed in this instance to do their job to protect their citizens.
I don't think it was O'Reily's intention to cover this story to add to negative stereotypes of Hispanic immigrants. He covered the issue to bring the law enforcement flaw to the attention of the public. It is a responsibility of the media to cover such issues to demand law enforcement and provoke needed policy change.
I too agree that Ramos should have been deported after his DUI, but O'Reilly went ballistic in his interview. There were two issues, immigration and Drunk driving. Wow O'Reilly.
ReplyDelete