John King of CNN asks David Axelrod puffball immigration reform question

On today's "State of the Union", John King of CNN - the replacement for Lou Dobbs - asked David Axelrod about plans for comprehensive immigration reform (transcript here, excerpts below). While Dobbs - the "advocacy journalist" per CNN president Jon Klein - might have pressed Axelrod on some of the downsides of amnesty, King simply asked a milquetoast question about process, allowing Axelrod to give a stock speech. The Obama administration wants to give amnesty to 12+ million illegal aliens, something that would have vast impacts on the U.S. And, all CNN's self-styled journalist can do is ask a question about process.

And, instead of calling him on all of the downsides of the proposal or asking him a question like this or otherwise forcing him to respond to critics, King just moved on to the next question. Whether intentionally or unintentionally (probably the first), King is not "speaking truth to power". He's not holding politicians accountable, and he's not doing a public service.

Partial transcript follows:

(KING:)The Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says you will early next year come forward with a plan for comprehensive immigration reform that would have a plan in it, a path in it, for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country to have a pathway to status, to legal status. Will you make the political commitment that no matter what the politics of January and February the administration will go forward with this early next year?

AXELROD: John, what the president has said is, and he said it to both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, who have worked on this issue. It is come to him, let's come together around something that both parties, or at least elements of both parties say they can agree on, so we don't reach the same impasse we have reached before. Then he will be willing to go forward on it. I think some good work is being done on both sides of the aisle to achieve that. Secretary Napolitano is getting that done.

But what we want is a system that holds everybody responsible and everyone accountable. We have to have better security at our borders and we are developing that, thanks to Secretary Napolitano. We have to have better enforcement on employers who abuse the system by hiring undocumented workers in order to undercut the labor market. And we have to hold accountable and responsible the 12 million people who are here illegally. And they have to pay a fine, and a penalty and have to meet certain requirements in order to get in the line to earn citizenship.

And if they don't want to do that, they need to leave.

And that is the president's position. If we can get a group together to give it the momentum to pass in Congress then we are going to push forward with it.

King then just moved on to the next question.

Comments

Well Yes! its all about getting 100 million third world people here WHIT IN 10 years or less. "Look people", its about time to stop the BS And get your ass in line for the fight for freedom against total third world Red/Fascism and total mass murder inside the FORMER USA, Its up to you. stop listening to your enemy start to plan for the coming fight. Buy Guns.

In the end it won't matter much what either of those idiots thinks. Democrats are not blind -- they saw what happened in the recent elections for governor in VA and NJ. With unemployment above 10% a push for 'reform' (people are getting pretty tired of the bullshit euphemisms as well) is unlikely.

Eh, You make valid points & I hope you're right. With the highest unemployment rate in decades, Napolitano thinks we're going to buy her nonsense that amnestying 12-20 million illegals, increasing H1Bs etc. is just what we need??! I think there will be a push, as Obama has committed to this publicly and the OBL has spent a lot of $ -- but we'll see how far it goes. We have to start pushing back now, and the nationwide grass roots anti-amnesty protests yesterday were a decent start.

They know they are losing support. so they need to import voters in order to keep this takeover going..... it's going to get really ugly!

'And if they don't want to do that, they need to leave.' BWAHAHA!!! I wish I could see that on video to see how straight he could keep his face.

EH - Many think the Democrats will back away from amnesty out of sheer self-preservation. I wouldn't be so sure. Pelosi, Reid, and Obama do not care about the short term effect of an unpopular piece of legislation, and may even be willing to take a hit in the short term. Their calculation is that enough of the amnestied illegals will be eligble and voting soon enough that the Dems will be out of power two election cycles at most, and maybe even return to power before Obama's second term is ovcr. By then the Dems will have such a huge edge that the the GOP will be effectively neutered, and the USA will be for all practical purposes a one-party state.

Not JUST a one party state ....a third world country.