Tattoo removal is the new marsh mouse

By GottaLaff

Did you know that an anti-crime program that saves lives and increases employment for reformed gang members is pork? Speaking of pig derivatives, Hannity and Drudge are trying to frame it that way:

Conservatives are hammering the House’s new $410 billion spending bill because it contains $200,000 for what they’re derisively referring to as “tattoo removal.” Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Drudge, and at least one GOP official on MSNBC, among others, have been all over this today.

But a little reporting reveals that that this “tattoo removal” program is an anti-crime program in the San Fernando Valley that re-integrates reformed gang members and makes it easier for them to find jobs. Two Los Angeles law enforcement officials I just spoke to — one who identified himself as a “conservative Republican” — swore by the program for reducing crime and saving lives.

Leave it to Hannity to turn something positive into a bald-faced lie:

Fox’s Hannity then jumped on the tattoo tale, flashing on the screen a list of what Fox dubbed “pure pork” and describing the tattoo money as merely being $200,000 for “tattoo removal,” with no explanation. Hannity blasted the pork as “outrageous.”

Here's what the program, which is run out of the Providence Holy Cross hospital in San Fernando Valley, actually entails:

“It helps people who want to get out of the gang life,” [Robert Ordelheide, chief of San Fernando Police Department] said, adding that the program was “important.”

“It reduces attacks” and causes a “reduction in gang rivalry,” he added. “$200,000 is a good investment if we can save lives.”

Harold Gold, a probation officer with a local specialized gang unit:

“It can get the kids jobs — if you have gang tattoos, you can’t get a job,” Gold said. “This program is one of the best life-saving and life-changing programs out here. I am about as right wing a conservative as you would ever find.”

Drudge and Hannity are the real crime. If only we could have them removed.

H/t: TPM