Another View: Editorial criticizing newspaper is itself guilty of obscuring facts

By Bill Harnsberger

Walter Eno might want to check his facts before he complains about how The Portland Press Herald needs to check its facts.

In his June 23 editorial (Another View, "Newspaper observes a code of silence regarding Democrats"), Mr. Eno asserts that the Press Herald failed to point to a September assertion by President Obama that he didn't have the authority to sign an executive order on immigration.

The president did indeed say that his executive authority was limited on immigration. But he also said this in the same interview:

"What we can do is to prioritize enforcement, since there are limited enforcement resources, and say we're not going to go chasing after this young man or anybody else who's been acting responsibly and would otherwise qualify for legal status if the DREAM Act passed."

President Obama's executive order prioritizes enforcement -- the exact thing that he said he has the authority to control.

And thus, Mr. Eno's entire argument goes up in smoke. In accusing The Portland Press Herald of editing information to score left-leaning ideological points, Mr. Eno edits information to try and score right-leaning ideological points.

I think conservatives should just stop trying to pretend they know what facts are anymore or how to use them. It's like putting fireworks and matches into the hands of toddlers.

Here are two facts about immigration that Mr. Eno might find interesting: The Democratic president has stepped up border enforcement to levels that not even George W. Bush accomplished, and the DREAM Act would have been signed into law by the Democratic president if Republican senators hadn't killed the bill in 2010.

Oh, and a bonus fact Mr. Eno may find inconvenient: The DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001. By Republicans. Ouch.

Bill Harnsberger is a resident of Portland.

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