Thursday, June 23, 2011

Jose Vargas

Haven't blogged here for a while but had to say something about Jose Vargas's moving account of his life as an undocumented alien.

In all evidence, Vargas is a massively talented, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who anguished over the secret of being an illegal alien for 18 years -- what a story! His simple, straightforward account deserves another Pulitzer in a category that doesn't exist.

A sidebar is how the pusillanimous Post once again failed itself and failed journalism in spiking the story. I'm glad I already canceled my subscription (and earlier this week rejected another desperate call to re-subscribe for pennies an issue). Graham should retire and Brauchli should be fired. Once again, the New York Times proved itself virtually the sole hope for the future of daily journalism in this country.

But the main story, and hopefully the main impact, is to address this burning issue and to find a political solution. The government faces the choice of deporting Vargas, not likely to be a very popular move, or proposing a solution to illegal immigration. We'll see what happens.