"Fairly Legal" turns unfairly PC

The USA Network cranks out good, entertaining TV shows--often more entertaining then the broadcast channels put out.

But they're not immune to the siren song of preachiness. The last episode, "Coming Home" a returned soldier needs Kate's help when it turns out she's an illegal alien.

Of course nothing is her fault. Her parents brought her here when she was a child. The guy who sold her her Social Security number said it was from a dead person, and she'd only bought it so she could serve "her" country. She was in fact a combat veteran and a hero to boot. She was pretty. She spoke good middle class English. She was responsible, committed to making whole the woman whose social security number she'd taken. She was hardworking and responsible. She had PTSD from her combat experiences, but not so much as to make her a burden on society.

In contrast to this saintly illegal immigrant, the woman who owned the Social Security number didn't want her money back--she wanted revenge and didn't care about Saint Sergeant's service. The ICE official--ditto. The rules are the rules. When she goes to a hearing she's arrested and publicly humiliated by jackbooted INS agents.

And so it goes.

Now I'm sure there really are people like Saint Sergeant. But that's all we see on TV shows--the Saint Sergeants. We don't see MS13 gangbangers, human traffickers, drunk drivers, rapists, etc. etc. etc.  We don't see victims of illegal aliens treated as victims and not, somehow, as the bad guys themselves, as this show did. There are ICE people who are good. Honest.

But we never see them in fictional shows. Instead it's the saints come marching in.

Propaganda doesn't have to lie per se--all it has to do is stick to presenting only one side of the story, and present it anecdotally, with the implication that it's presenting the whole story.

I don't like right wing propaganda.

Well, guess what? I don't like left wing propaganda any more.