… the caravan hysteria is no accident: creating a climate of hatred is how Republicans avoid talking about health care. What we’re seeing in this election is a kind of culmination of the strategy the right has been using for decades: distract working-class voters from policies that hurt them by promoting culture war….
The caravan is the last thing I fret about these days but I like to stay informed, so I went on Fox News yesterday on purpose to see how the caravan was covered.
It’s true that Fox covers it relentlessly, obsessively, and hysterically. It’s also obvious that it’s a ploy to rile up the voters before the midterm. But that’s not the whole truth. What Krugman says in the quote above is either uninformed or dishonest, and I believe it’s the latter since I found out what’s really going on by simply switching the channel.
The caravan is being discussed on Fox News first and foremost in terms of what it (and similar movements) represents for healthcare. The question that is being asked regarding the caravan, obsessively and relentlessly, is what a massive influx of illegal immigrants will do to Medicaid and how it’s possible even to begin to talk about single-payer when you haven’t decided who is entitled to free medical care. Only citizens? And then what, you just stare at people who are sick and let them die? That doesn’t sound like a great idea. Everybody? And who’s going to pay for that exactly?
One could argue that the Fox reporters don’t care a blip about healthcare for illegal immigrants, and I’m sure one would be right. But that’s beyond the point. Those who pretend that these questions don’t exist or don’t matter can just as easily be accused of distracting voters from relevant questions surrounding healthcare.
P.S. And I just found a good article on the caravan on – of all places – The National Review.
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