Harry Reid Blames Talk Radio For Public’s View on Illegal Immigration

With all the carping and whining about conservative talk radio these days, I’m beginning to wonder if this is indeed a larger cause of all the planet’s woes than global warming.

In fact, if you hadn’t noticed, there are a number of high-ranking political officials who believe the public’s opinion of illegal immigration emanates directly from radio talk show hosts that are enflaming the citizenry concerning this important issue.

Regardless of the sudden frequency of such publicly-aired sentiments, or their inanity, to hear them expressed on the floor of the Senate by the Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) Thursday was nevertheless entertaining (video available here courtesy of Allah at Hot Air):

The same day, Mr. President, yesterday, I got my mail from Searchlight. I have a, [unintelligible] sends me my mail. It comes addressed to me in Searchlight. Letter was addressed to me, and said among other things, “You probably should go into the witness protection program because of your work on this immigration issue.” That’s from Searchlight, Nevada, Mr. President. This doesn’t take into consideration the letters and the calls at my offices in Reno and Las Vegas and here in Washington get filled with hate.

[…]

Talk radio has had a field day. These generators of simplicity. Now, Mr. President, I want everyone to know, I want the record spread. I do not believe that anyone who is a United States senator that votes against this motion to proceed is filled with prejudice, filled with hatred, with venom as we get in our phone calls and our mail. I don’t believe that.

Hmmm. So, if a senator votes against this bill, he or she is not filled with prejudice, hatred, or venom. However, if a citizen voices his or her displeasure with this same bill, he or she is indeed filled with such negative and virulent sentiments, likely because he or she listens to talk radio.

And this is the second most powerful person in the Democrat party expressing such a view on the floor of the Senate.

Amazing.

Yet, there's a larger issue here of greater concern: the more liberals castigate talk radio, the more such sentiments will be aired on television and reprinted in newspapers and magazines. And, much as they are doing with global warming by continually asserting the presence of a scientific consensus that doesn't exist, the more talk radio is blamed for problems in the society, the more people will begin to believe it.

This could unfortunately lead to an easier path to killing talk radio as we know it.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.