Commentary by H.G. Listiak

Wednesday 11/6/2003

Welcome to my world. Looking at this morning's Arizona Republic, or El Republico, one would think that Mexican President Vicente Fox was the Messiah. I mean Jesus coming back could not have been afforded the coverage Fox received in our biased doorstep dweller, the front page and four photo filled pages of his face in the A section. He was here to talk trade but was all over illegal immigration at every juncture. Governor Jan was right there with him on the issues but painfully behind in photo ops. Meanwhile the fact that Fox can't keep his people at home, nor does he want to, turned deadly. In a small corner of the front page and on page 2, came the story of a running gun battle on I-10 between rival coyotes, smugglers who deal in humans much like the drug cartels deal in dope. People were killed and maimed, but more than that, American citizens were endangered by the weapons used in the rolling firefight, some of them capable of killing up to 2 1/2 miles away. Illegal alien smugglers are now killing more people than the drug dealers. And don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing Mexicans. I'm criticizing illegal activities and those officials and publications who turn their backs on the activities. The Arizona Republic is one of only a few big city newspapers in large growth areas to actually lose subscribers this past year. Despite the growth in our valley, they dropped 3.7%. The problem? Why they still print in English. They have gone so far to the left, they are going South, maybe all the way to Sonora, as I see it ... I'm H.G. Listiak.