TV Blamed for Fear of Mexico

Recently, my daughter, Pauline, tangled with a famous television talk-show host on the question of tourism to Mexico - and held her own.

If you will go to www.crooksandliars.com and search for the term "Mexico" in the upper-right-hand corner of the site, you'll find an item asking why the cable networks are attempting to scare tourists away from Mexico. And there you can find a five-minute debate raging between my daughter, Pauline, and a famed television talk-show host who customarily hogs the entire discussion, talks endlessly and without letup, and scarcely allows his guests to utter a single word.

The subject: Whether it is safe for American students (and logically, any American of any age) to vacation in Mexico.

For the past several weeks, many cable networks have devoted segments to hyping the alleged dangers of vacationing in Mexico.