Geraldo, I Commend Thee
Patrick Carlock
April 09, 2007
Rafael Ramirez Perez, an illegal alien, hit and killed Amy Kortlang in a drunk driving accident.
That Rafael Perez, killed Amy Kortlang while driving drunk is a tragedy.
I watched the on-air verbal fight between Geraldo and O'Reilly, and I'm one of those in the undoubtedly more unpopular camp in that I sided with Geraldo.
Now, of course, one could argue that had he been deported, he would not have killed Amy. However, he just might have killed another person in Mexico, given that his history shows that he wasn't likely to quit driving while drunk, any time soon.
Does it matter whether or not the person he killed lives in America, or Mexico? Is the American's life more valuable than a Mexican's?
Yes, illegal immigration is a problem, but what does it have to do with drunk driving? It is the drunkenness of the person who killed Amy that should outrage us, not the fact that he is not a US Citizen. The illegality of his immigration status might be grounds to be annoyed, bothered, perhaps, but hate? No. Drunkenness? Yes, that should outrage us, no question there. The only point Geraldo was trying to make is that to use the tragedy of Amy Kortlang's death by a drunk driver, who happens to be an illegal immigrant, as an immigration issue to spew hate-mongering against that group is morally wrong.
If one points to statistics which show that illegals commit a disproportionate amount of crimes compared to US citizens (regardless if it is true or not), it is no more of a justification to hate illegals as a whole group for the serious misdeeds of a few than if such a comparison were made of one race over another. In other words, you don't hate a whole group for the misdeeds of the few in that group, regardless of proportionalities
What O'Reilly was doing was using a separate issue, drunk driving, to foment hate against a group that does not deserve to be hated, and I think that is the only point Geraldo was trying to make.
Geraldo supports the idea of cleaning up the immigration problem, but in a fair way, not in a way that is motivated by hate.
For that, I commend Geraldo.
That Rafael Perez, killed Amy Kortlang while driving drunk is a tragedy.
I watched the on-air verbal fight between Geraldo and O'Reilly, and I'm one of those in the undoubtedly more unpopular camp in that I sided with Geraldo.
Now, of course, one could argue that had he been deported, he would not have killed Amy. However, he just might have killed another person in Mexico, given that his history shows that he wasn't likely to quit driving while drunk, any time soon.
Does it matter whether or not the person he killed lives in America, or Mexico? Is the American's life more valuable than a Mexican's?
Yes, illegal immigration is a problem, but what does it have to do with drunk driving? It is the drunkenness of the person who killed Amy that should outrage us, not the fact that he is not a US Citizen. The illegality of his immigration status might be grounds to be annoyed, bothered, perhaps, but hate? No. Drunkenness? Yes, that should outrage us, no question there. The only point Geraldo was trying to make is that to use the tragedy of Amy Kortlang's death by a drunk driver, who happens to be an illegal immigrant, as an immigration issue to spew hate-mongering against that group is morally wrong.
If one points to statistics which show that illegals commit a disproportionate amount of crimes compared to US citizens (regardless if it is true or not), it is no more of a justification to hate illegals as a whole group for the serious misdeeds of a few than if such a comparison were made of one race over another. In other words, you don't hate a whole group for the misdeeds of the few in that group, regardless of proportionalities
What O'Reilly was doing was using a separate issue, drunk driving, to foment hate against a group that does not deserve to be hated, and I think that is the only point Geraldo was trying to make.
Geraldo supports the idea of cleaning up the immigration problem, but in a fair way, not in a way that is motivated by hate.
For that, I commend Geraldo.
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