RUSH: You want another example of journalism as it exists today? Stand by for this. Greetings. Welcome back. El Rushbo on the EIB Network and the distinguished and prestigious Limbaugh Institute for Anti-Left Studies — Advanced Anti-Left Studies. (laughing) The telephone… (laughing) The telephone number is 800-282-2882 if you want to be on the program. The email address, ElRushbo@eibnet.us. The Washington Post has a very, very long story today. It is chock-full of charts. It has big charts, little charts, graphs. It’s got all of the visual aides.
The headline: “Immigrants Are Now Canceling Their Food Stamps for Fear that Trump Will Deport Them.” Now, wait. (laughing) Nobody even questions why illegals should get food stamps in the first place. The assumption here is that it’s entirely reasonable, it’s understandable — and, of course, it’s natural — that illegals would get food stamps. Otherwise, why would there be any outrage over immigrants canceling their food stamps? So that’s the first thing. The assumption is that, “Hey, you want to get on welfare?
Come on in! That’s what we’re here for. You want food stamps? Get across the border and voila! Your dreams have come true. But wait. This gets even better. I mean, this is chump change compared to what’s coming. It’s a long story — page after page after page, chart after chart after chart, graph after graph after graph — and then there’s this quote: “The evidence is still anecdotal — and The Washington Post was unable to speak directly with immigrants who chose to cancel their [food stamp] benefits.”
There’s no proof! They have no proof it’s happening, yet the headline: “Immigrants Are Now Canceling Their Food Stamps for Fear that Trump Will Deport Them.” They are relying on people at illegal immigration think tanks and places like the centers for immigrant law and places like this, and they’re just telling the reporters (impression), “This Trump! This Trump! This guy, he’s so mean. People are so afraid of this guy. Illegals are canceling their food stamps so there’s no record of them in the country, ’cause they’re afraid Trump’s gonna deport them (stammering) and — and — and — and they’re going hungry.
“They’re starving! People in America are starving ’cause they’re afraid of Trump.” But they have no proof. Quote, “The evidence is still anecdotal — and The Washington Post was unable to speak directly with immigrants who chose to cancel their [food stamp] benefits.” So how does this begin? “Luisa Fortin sometimes sits up at night, wondering what her clients are eating. She is the SNAP Outreach Coordinator for the Chattanooga Food Bank — but lately she has done less outreaching. Her families, working immigrants in northwest Georgia, are spooked by the political climate, Fortin said.
“Increasingly, she’s being asked to explain how food stamps may impact immigration status, if not to outright cancel family food benefits. Since mid-January, five of Fortin’s families have withdrawn from the [food stamp] program. One, the single mother of three citizen daughters, had fled to Georgia to escape an abusive husband.” Of course. There’s always gotta be a rotgut man involved in stories like this. “Another, two green-card holders with four young children, were thinking of taking on third jobs to compensate for the lost [food stamps].
“These families represent a small fraction of Fortin’s caseload — she estimates she has signed 200 immigrant families up for [food stamps] over the past six months,” as though she’s signing athletes to contracts. I’ve sign ’em up! Yep! I’ve signed up 200 immigrant families for food stamps in the last six months. “[B]ut based on the calls she gets from other clients, she fears more cancellations are imminent.” In other words, she’s the source, and people like her are the source. The Washington Post has not yet reached a single immigrant who’s complained about this.
It’s guaranteed to be these wacko, leftist activists creating a panic here where there may not be one. But, again, it’s built on presumption that an illegal immigrant is entitled to American welfare benefits. “‘I get calls from concerned parents all the time: “should I take my kids out of the [food stamp] program?”‘ Fortin said. ‘They’re risking hunger out of fear … and my heart just breaks for them.'” So, “They’re risking hunger out of fear…” They’re deciding it’s safer to not eat and not be on some food stamp registry than it is to eat and get the food stamps because Trump may be looking.
And if Trump spots your name on a food stamp list, Trump’s coming for you under cover… Much like Reagan was said to have walked over to Lafayette Park under cover of darkness and steal cans of pork ‘n’ beans from the homeless there and take them back to the White House and eat them himself. It’s amazing how the stories don’t change, just the players, just the subject matter. “Chattanooga is not an outlier here, either. In the two months since President Trump’s inauguration, food banks and hunger advocates…” Who advocates for hunger?
“Little Johnny, you’re sitting there playing with GI Joe. What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be an advocate for hunger, Mr. Limbaugh! I want to be an advocate for hunger.”
“That’s very nice, Little Johnny. What does an ‘advocate for hunger’ do?”
“Well, I think it’s somebody that advocates for people, uh, to be hungry.”
“Exactly right. That’s exactly what it sounds like to me, too, Little Johnny. Why would you want to advocate for somebody to be hungry?”
“I don’t know, but it sounds good. It makes it seem like I would care.”
There you go, and Little Johnny’s future is assured. So “food banks and hunger advocates around the country…” Shouldn’t it be anti-hunger advocates? Who is advocating for hunger? And what about the thirsty? You note how they’re always left out. And yet climate change is destroying the clean water supply. I don’t mean to divert myself. Let me continue. This just a little bit more, just to give you a flavor. This is what modern journalism is. They haven’t talked to a single person that’s given up food stamps.
They haven’t interviewed a single person, and they admit it, that all of this is anecdotal. I mean, by definition, it’s not journalism. “Their fear, advocates say, is that participation could draw the eye of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or hurt their chances of attaining citizenship. Without federal nutrition benefits, many are resorting to food pantries and soup kitchens to feed themselves and their children,” and here it comes: “The evidence is still anecdotal — and The Washington Post was unable to speak directly with immigrants who chose to cancel their [food stamp] benefits.”
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: All right. The Washington Post changed its headline it looks like here. The headline was “Immigrants Are Now Canceling Food Stamps for Fear that Trump Will Deport Them.” The headline now is: “Immigrants Are Going Hungry so Trump Won’t Deport Them.”
Well, I don’t know when they changed it. Keith from up at the website just sent this to me. I don’t know the timing of it. But obviously they changed the headline because they don’t have any evidence that people canceling — they’ve not talked to any of these people who have canceled their food stamps, only these hacktivists. So immigrants are going hungry rather than people canceling food stamps.