History could temper today’s controversies

President Obama’s extending a caring hand to young foreign-born residents has a historical counterpoint. In 1986, President Reagan signed an amnesty bill titled the Immigration Reform and Control Act. His loving GOP followers did not vote him down then.

For every “here and now” news event in our life, there is an analogous “there and then” happening. If this had been reported in the news along with President Obama’s executive order, some of the negative wind might have been taken out of the opposition’s sail. Doesn’t the Fourth Estate have any sense of history any more? Maybe the Daily Herald could have a historical fact-checking desk to help reporters present a fuller “there and then” perspective to the “here and now.”

Cal Claus

Arlington Heights