I used to have the utmost respect for Mr. Dobbs and his daily (here in the Western Time Zone) CNN newscast. He seemed to be very bi-partisan in his attempt at television journalism. I watched because he was giving honest commentary on things that I really get lathered up over: Immigration, politics in general and the overall “screwing” of the almost-non-existent middle class.
Please keep in mind that I’ve never been a “journalist” or network news “talking head”. But I have had my share of broadcast experience as a reporter, news anchor and disc jockey. And I think I have a pretty darn good “BullSh*t Meter”. Most of the time, I can smell it a mile away and this buzzer goes off and my family runs for cover. But I digress…..
Dobbs has had several chances in weeks past to clear himself of a “distinct odor” on my meter when I’ve caught him, on occasion, contradicting himself. But I’ll let that slide for now. That’s a different opinion article all together.
But Lou’s May 17th interview with Bay Buchanan on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” made big stink in my living room.
Bay is promoting her new book: “The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton.” I have read that the book is VERY anti-Clinton.
Ms. Buchanan, almost immediately after being introduced, made sure it was known immediately that the book is, by all means, non-partisan. Yeah, right. And I am lead tenor at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Bay Buchanan is a long time Republican, the sister of political wishy-washy nutcase Pat Buchanan, and managed Pat’s three campaigns for President of the United States.
So this means we are to believe that Ms. Buchanan has written a non-partisan book, during a Presidential election campaign about a Democratic front runner?
To make matters worse in this interview Dobbs never once mentioned the fact that Bay Buchanan was/is a Republican, or the sister of Pat Buchanan (I guess we’re all supposed to know that), and, by gosh, she now works as a senior adviser to Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo (CO).
It was only near the end of the interview that on’screen text identified Buchanan as “Rep. Tancredo’s campaign manager,” without identifying Tancredo’s party or the fact that Tancredo is seeking the same office as Hillary Clinton.
Dobbs never once mentioned a word about this during the course of the interview. In my opinion, as a journalist who is not supposed to have any bias, he really screwed up.
Of course, I’ll never get the chance to ask Lou Dobbs about why he never mentioned this in the interview, but I’m beginning to think his answer to my question would be “I don’t recall”, which seems to be the “in vogue” answer to any meaningful question these days.
The good folks at Faith in Public Life catch Lou Dobbs in action vs. the Rev. Derrick Harkins, pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, and a member of the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform coalition put together through Jim Wallis’ Sojourners.
[..]t’s amazing to see Dobbs jabbing again and again at Harkins, searching for something to pounce on. Dobbs just can’t get his head around the idea that immigrants deserve compassion, and he thinks Harkins is clearly arrogant to disagree with him.[..]
That’s odd. Dobbs didn’t exactly breathe fire when those noted Christians Gary Bauer and Deal Hudson came out in opposition to immigration reform.
He’s practically dripping with condescension and hostility. He cannot understand that someone like Harkins would have an agenda that extended beyond the boundaries of the individual soul, and it really pisses him off to find that he won’t back away from it. He clearly has no concept that “saving one’s soul” might have something to do with the search for social justice, or that Christian ethics might involve something more than reading public opinion polls. Harkins tries to show him that doing the right thing is in this case doing the popular thing, but he’s having none of it.
Lou Dobbs Stands By His Immigrants-With-Leprosy “Facts”
After being called out by Lesley Stahl last week on “60 Minutes” about his bogus report on immigrants carrying leprosy into this country, Lou Dobbs and CNN Correspondent Christine Romans still stand by their original claim. See a montage from the “60 Minutes” interview and his defense on CNN the other day right here
Where did Dobbs get his numbers? Unsurprisingly, from a far-right nutcase named Madeleine Cosman:
In addition to writing about the prevalence of leprosy, Cosman, who died in March 2006, told an anti-immigrant conference in 2005 that “most” Latino immigrant men “molest girls under 12, although some specialize in boys, and some in nuns,” a variation on a speech she has given elsewhere. […]
… Madeleine Cosman’s false claim that there were 7,000 cases of leprosy diagnosed in the United States from 2001 to 2004 was included in her article, “Illegal Aliens and American Medicine.” More than once, “Lou Dobbs Tonight” reporter Romans repeated Cosman’s statistic, saying, “Suddenly, in the past three years, America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy.”
Who are you gonna believe: A “right-wing nutcase” or the Department of Health and Human Services? An “advocacy journalist” with an anti-illegal immigration agenda or “60 Minutes”? The choice is yours (and obvious).
If you view Lou Dobbs as a republican hack, then he’s usually much less that in his CNN postings. But not today. Lou seems to think at least half the blame for all the mess and trouble our country is in can be placed squarely on the backs of democrats.
“This is the same Democratic-controlled Congress that millions of voters thought would be so vastly different from the last gaggle of partisan buffoons in the Republican-led 109th Congress. With almost 30,000 young Americans killed or wounded in Iraq, with a half-trillion dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this Congress can do no better than publicly fulminate in futility and bray endlessly without effect on the course and conduct of the war in Iraq. Is there no sense of proportion and higher purpose anywhere in Washington?”
You’re truly aces, Lou! (You wouldn’t be after Tony Snow’s job, would you?)
—The ascension of the so-called Lou Dobbs Democrats in the November election gave hope to many that our representatives and senators were awakening to the need to represent the largest single group of voters in the country, 150 million working men and women and their families. The reality is, however, corporate America and special interests still dominate our legislative and electoral process.
—Corporate America will fight as hard to control the Democratic agenda as it has to control the Republican agenda in Washington. Of great service to their efforts will be the “think tanks” bent on preserving the status quo and the all-but-absolute domination of corporate America over our political process.
—About one-third of the families in this country bring in less than $35,000 of income each year, according to the Census Bureau, a figure that’s nowhere close to ensuring the quality of life and standard of living to which many Americans have grown accustomed. I fear the American Dream may finally become the American Pipe Dream.
Lou Dobbs reports on White House deleting text of Climate Change Reports This is nothing new in that science is not science anymore but rather a tool for the White House to promote whatever agenda it wishes. These scientists are under oath as they discuss their reports being altered by political operatives to downplay the threat of Global Warming.
H/T Joe for this post!
Has anybody seen Colin Powell lately? He was the darling of the build up to the Iraq War. He gave the convicting and convincing speech to the UN. The facts that led us to Iraq esentially melted like a candle in the light of day and then he was moved from front and center to the back row in the Bush Administration. He has been invisible as of late. Lou Dobbs said it well in that he could have been President if he would have said he wanted it. Paging Colin Powell…
H/T to JoeWo for this video and commentary!
Sharon DeYoung is the author of Soldier, The Life of Colin Powell. You can purchase the book here
—The ascension of the so-called Lou Dobbs Democrats in the November election gave hope to many that our representatives and senators were awakening to the need to represent the largest single group of voters in the country, 150 million working men and women and their families. The reality is, however, corporate America and special interests still dominate our legislative and electoral process.
