Borderline Blogosphere Zaniness

A story that appeared in the OC Weekly a few weeks ago called "On the Borderline" has caused quite a stir in the past week in the blogosphere, resulting in several local blog contributors calling for the removal of Santa Ana Library Board member Lupe Moreno.

According to the bloggers, who cited my article as a source, Moreno referred to illegal aliens as—gasp!—"subhuman, pod people." How could Moreno make such a ghastly comment, you ask? Well, she didn't. I did.

Let's scrutinize the passage from the article:

The immigrants are actually subhuman, pod people, explains Lupe (which everyone pronounces “loopy”) Moreno. They are not “undocumented workers” looking for a better life, but rather an “alien invasion” who “don’t want to become Americans; they want to replace Americans!”

The words subhuman and pod people are not in quotation marks within the passage. That's because Moreno never said them. She referred to "aliens" who want to "replace Americans."

I took it upon myself to reference "pod people," villains from the classic sci-fi films Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the book they were based on.

The Wikipedia says the plot of the tale involves "Earth being invaded by seeds which have drifted to Earth from space. The seeds take over human bodies and replace them with simulations grown from plantlike pods, perfect physical duplicates who kill and dispose of their human victims."

So Moreno never actually said "pod people"; she just sort of implied it.

Photo: Lupe Moreno