The drive-by media shoots hard and fast (and falsely) *UPDATED*

Here’s the AP headline on the DREAM Act’s failure: “Republicans block youth immigration bill.”

Those evil Republicans, who are, of course, a minority in the lame duck Senate.

Let me just mention here that quite a few Democrats voted against the bill too:

On the Democrat side, Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pyror of Arkansas, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina voted against the bill.

UPDATE: Forgot to note that Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — who faces another election in 2012, and won this year by positioning himself to the right of many Democrats  (including running an ad in which he shot the cap-and-trade legislation) — also voted against the DREAM Act.

Apparently those Democrat “nay” votes made no difference in the AP calculus.

Are the American people really stupid enough to fall for this kind of reporting again and again and again?  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

UPDATEIn a comment, Danny Lemieux points out the irony in this media attack, which is that more Americans than not are probably impressed, not disgusted, by the Republican party taking this stand.  They can spin it as a cruel Republican party destroying innocent youth, but Americans might read it as smart Republicans preserving America’s sovereignty.