September Editorial Winner

Pet-eating flap will never be set right

By Kim Poindexter, Tahlequah Daily Press

The continuing flap over whether Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, offers yet another stark example of the width of the philosophical chasm that divides Americans these days — and sadly, no end is in sight.

Vice presidential contender J.D. Vance was the first to advance the rumor, saying he’d seen it “somewhere” and later admitting while it might be false, he had to listen to Ohio residents because “Kamala Harris won’t.” Former President Trump, looking to reclaim the White House, picked up on the falsehood and repeated it during the recent debate.

Journalists and social media influencers, looking to track down the source of the fib, finally found it in Erika Lee, a 35-year-old Springfield resident who copped to it. She told NBC News she didn’t mean for it to happen, but had posted it on some Facebook page designed to spread information about crimes. That should sound familiar to Cherokee County residents, because several of those rumor mills exist here, too. Indeed, at least one of them has been successfully sued for posting lies or defamatory material.

As for Lee, her information was from a neighbor, who heard it from somewhere else. It calls to mind the old “Telephone” game, wherein players eventually warp information past the point of recognition. Imagine Lee’s surprise when it was amplified to an audience of 67 million people.

Despite Lee’s forthright confession and the repeated statements from Springfield officials and law enforcement personnel, the slurs against the Haitian community continue, even in Cherokee County, where fans of Trump and Vance — and more than a few Harris and Tim Walz voters — refuse to accept the truth.

More than once, people have posted on TDP’s own Facebook page that they “know for a fact” the Haitians are eating pets; they don’t really care what the cops in Springfield say. As one “reader” claimed, “The Sprgindfeld police are lygin as part of a covrup.” We didn’t edit the comment, and why bother? It’s clear people have already taken their own corners in this fight, and no amount of evidence from officials — even if they are solid Republicans — will shut them down.

What the pets-for-food false flag fronters won’t say is that most of the Haitians are there legally; they have green cards and are working for a new plant in that city. The rumor-mongers also seem to care nothing for the plight of the Haitians who are now being subjected to threats by understandably worried pet owners. The people who continue to insist on the veracity of the tale are, at the same time, touting themselves as Christians. We suggest they read Matthew 25 if they wonder how their Lord feels about these immigrants.

If fear of immigrants, legal or otherwise, is all these people have to hang their hats on in terms of whom they’ll vote for come November, they are a sorry lot. Demonizing an entire group of people for political purposes is well past sorry; it’s evil.

It’s well past time for Congress to take action to stem the tide of “illegal” immigration, but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon. Sen. James Lankford tried, and was kicked in the teeth for it – by Trump, who wants action delayed until he returns to office and can take credit. That might happen, but no one seems ready to answer the question of who will accept the unsavory jobs American citizens don’t want — or how the inability to find such employees will affect the cost of our food and so many other things.

But even if nothing gets accomplished, those who supported the politicians who claimed they’d fix the problem will insist the work was done. As a people, we’ve lost touch with reality. That’s the scariest part.