Oh, oh! Dobbs birther antics has the Southern Poverty Law Center calling for his FIRING!

[wndycty]

CNN may not take action but they can't ignore the Southern Poverty Law Center!

SPLC President Calls on CNN to Remove Lou Dobbs from Air, Cites Newsman's Support for Extremist-Inspired 'Birther' Claims




The following is a letter from SPLC President Richard Cohen to CNN President Jonathan Klein.

July 24, 2009

Jonathan Klein
President
CNN/U.S.
1 Time Warner Center
New York, N.Y. 10019-6038

Dear Mr. Klein,

As an important and respected news organization, CNN has a special responsibility to ensure the accuracy of its reporting. We have written to you before about our concern that Lou Dobbs repeatedly fails to live up to this standard in his reporting on immigration. Now, Mr. Dobbs is again trading in falsehoods and racist conspiracy theories, questioning President Obama's American citizenship.

On the July 15 edition of "Lou Dobbs Tonight," Mr. Dobbs questioned the official certificate provided by the president and the State of Hawaii and complained that President Obama has not made public the "original document." On his radio program, Mr. Dobbs has repeatedly questioned the president's fitness for office, demanding he "show the documents" and, at one point, jokingly suggesting President Obama may be "undocumented."

The truth about the president's birth is not in dispute. It has been verified by Factcheck.org, among many other serious news organizations, and his official birth documents have been made public. CNN itself has repeatedly reported on the falsity of the claims of the "birthers," and the network's esteemed legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, recently called those claims "a joke." As you know, even Mr. Dobbs' frequent fill-in anchor, Kitty Pilgrim, debunked the birthers on the July 17 edition of Mr. Dobbs' own CNN show. The fact that Mr. Dobbs suggests otherwise on CNN — while real CNN reporters tell the truth — is both deplorable and an embarrassment to all serious journalists.

As he has in several other instances, Mr. Dobbs, in taking up the birthers' claims, is adopting an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that originated on the radical racist right. As Gawker.com has reported, this particular conspiracy theory was first developed by an open anti-Semite and circulated by right-wing extremists who cannot accept the fact that a black man has been elected president of the United States. Among its adherents was neo-Nazi James von Brunn, the alleged murderer of a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this June. Von Brunn had helped spread the birthers' claims on the Internet and attacked the "dishonest & conspiratorial Media" for not taking them up.

This is not the first time Mr. Dobbs has pushed racist conspiracy theories or defamatory falsehoods about immigrants. We wrote you in 2007 to bring to your attention his utterly false claim that 7,000 new cases of leprosy had appeared in the United States in a recent three-year period, due at least in part to immigrants. (The real number, according to official statistics, was about 400. Mr. Dobbs took his spurious information from the late right-wing extremist, Madeleine Cosman.) In addition, Mr. Dobbs has reported as fact the so-called Aztlan conspiracy, which claims that undocumented Mexican immigrants are part of a plot to "reconquer" the American Southwest. He has suggested there is something to a related conspiracy theory that claims the governments of Mexico, the United States and Canada are secretly planning to merge into the "North American Union." He has falsely claimed that "illegal aliens" fill one third of American prison and jail cells. And Mr. Dobbs has routinely disparaged, on CNN's air, those who have had the integrity to point out the falsity of these and similar claims.

Respectable news organizations should not employ reporters willing to peddle racist conspiracy theories and false propaganda. It's time for CNN to remove Mr. Dobbs from the airwaves.

Sincerely,
J. Richard Cohen
President

http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=390

[wryter2000]

1. The SPLC doesn't mess around

They've bankrupted some Klan cells and taken over their clubhouses.

[HopeOverFear]

10. Damn right. That's why I'm going to keep giving money to them

they do good work.

[wryter2000]

11. Me, too

I've fallen behind in my contributions, but I have to find some money for them.

[I Have A Dream]

39. Me too! I'm proud to be a monthly contributor.

They do really important work that nobody else does, and they risk their lives to do it.

[tomreedtoon]

32. Oh, I bet CNN is shaking in their boots. NOT.

If Lou Dobbs were to bite the head off a live chicken during his show, he wouldn't be fired. He'd be praised as a newsman who is fearless and courageous, far more than Olbelmann or Colbert or anyone else. They're not going to fire Dobbs because a 1960's civil-rights-era organization, dying on the vine, is making a complaint.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. SPLC is anything but "dying on the vine." They are doing some excellent work

tracking hate groups and putting them out of business. I contribute to them regularly and I'd advise anyone who cares about the damage these groups do, to do likewise.

[morillon]

38. You're confusing them with the SCLC.

The SPLC was founded in the 70s and is very active against hate groups.

[pocoloco]

47. You would be the dipfuck shaking in your boots

if you had to walk a couple of days in Morris Dees' shoes!

[anneboleyn]

53. I seriously think that something is wrong with Dobbs -- in addition to the fact that he is insane

He has gone so far over the rational edge that I wonder...

[chascarrillo]

52. Oh fuck off.

[Cha]

2. WTF is wrong with that

slimey ol mediawhore? Did someone beat him as a child?

[tblue37]

18. Someone should now. nt

[Hutzpa]

28. Nope, Worse

got dropped on his head as a baby.....:evilgrin:

[rvablue]

3. K&R. n/t

[NanceGreggs]

4. K & R !!! n/t

[Undercurrent]

5. Good for them!

Get Dobbs off CNN. His sorry ass would be right at home on Fux.

[SeaLyons]

6. K&R

[S_E_Fudd]

7. Unfortunately, in this day and age...there is absolutely no penalty for CNN...

To ignore this...

[Spazito]

17. It seems the actions of the SPLC has had a definite impact..

"CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein told staffers at the cable news network Thursday night that the supposed controversy regarding the legitimacy of President Obama’s birth certificate is a “dead” story after anchor Lou Dobbs drew attention for raising the issue repeatedly on his radio program.

The website TVNewser reported today that Klein sent an e-mail to staffers of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” just as the program went to air, informing them that CNN researchers had determined that Hawaiian officials discarded all paper documents in 2001. A long-form birth certificate with details about the doctor who delivered Obama no longer exists, they reported. The shorter Certificate of Live Birth noting Obama’s birth on Aug. 4, 1961, that has been made public is the official record."

Link to DU thread with this info, thanks to wndycty:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8550422

[progressoid]

8. I beg to differ.

CNN CAN ignore the Southern Poverty Law Center. And probably will.

[HopeOverFear]

9. I just received the SPLC newsletter

those people are on their JOBS.

[TokenQueer]

12. K&R!

[monmouth]

13. I have no doubt if Ted Turner was still in charge ole Lou would be out the door...n/t

[Name removed]

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[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. The SLPC has had Lou Dobbs in its sights for awhile now, back from his "Mexicans are bringing

"leprosy" segments. Im glad that more people see him for what he really is now.

[gauguin57]

73. How can Lou's Mexican-American wife stand to be married to that asshole?

Lou's Mexican-American in-laws also live with them on their farm in New Jersey.

I mean ... if your husband was dissing your people on the air all the time, wouldn't you just want to punch his lights out?

[pink-o]

82. It's called "self-hating". See Michelle Malkin or Condi Rice or Clarence Thomas.

These people think if they act white enough, allow themselves to be tokens and jettison their pride and gag reflex to play the minstrels, they'll get some crumbs from the Big Table. It's a sad and sorry tale, but unfortunately all too common.

[Number23]

15. Go get 'em. Rec'd

[CitizenLeft]

16. awesome!

:applause:

[johnaries]

19. Woo-hoo! I love the SPLC!

K&R!

[jimlup]

20. Dobb's really shouldn't be given platform

We should push hard for his firing at every opportunity that we get. That he is even given a platform on CNN shows that it is a network strongly biased to the right.

[Name removed]

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[TheKentuckian]

21. Go get him. Get that asshole relocated to FAUX

[ecstatic]

22. Lou crossed the line into full blown racism and should be fired

Your time is up, Lou! Where do I go to support the SPLC?

[PSzymeczek]

40. Here's the URL

www.splcenter.org

[madmax]

23. I think he should be committed.

His views and commentary are very erratic. He has no convictions or principles. I had watched him a few years back and he was just too right wing for me then he moved somewhat to the center and I started up again. Now I see he's back to psycho talk.

Speaking of psycho talk - I LOVE ED?? :woohoo:

[kenny blankenship]

24. Good.

Where do I add my name to the splc complaint?

[depakid]

25. Many of us have been saying this since the leprosy deal happened

But, the corporate media, he said/she said "journalism" and the Republican party have created a culture of lies in this country where widespread dishonesty is not only tolerated- but rewarded and expected. So fat chance.

Part and parcel the America's continuing decline toward idiocracy and third world status.

[Flying Dream Blues]

26. K&R and donated to SPLC...they are a great organization! nt

[Hutzpa]

27. K&R

about time CNN restore it's credibility as a news agency.

This is one apple that can change folks opinion about CNN.


:kick:

[mnhtnbb]

29. K & R

[izzybeans]

30. All it took was some funny type-set to get Dan Rather fired. Dobbs should never

be able to get a job again. Either that or he should be forced to work on E! and cover the Latin grammy's every year.

[democracy1st]

31. thats what i'm talking about fight fire with fire

[JFKfanforever]

33. Scarey, old Lou didn't know he had touched the third rail...

Whatever happened to free speech?

Basically, Camille Paglia posited the very same questions
Dobbs did months ago!  Hope he survives the sharks who are
circling him; otherwise it is truly a sad day for the Fifth
Estate.

JFK and BHO dedicated fan forever (despite this tempest in a
teapot)

[mr1956]

42. Whatever happened to journalistic integrity?

Free speech, my ass. More like slanderous innuendo. He should join the likes of commentators like Limbaugh and Beck.

[Name removed]

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[Celebration]

65. this has nothing to do with free speech

It has to do with journalistic responsibility. CNN obviously agrees--otherwise they would not have written the memo to Dobbs staffers, saying that the birther question had been officially put to rest by the state of Hawaii.

Reporting incorrect information, such as saying a long form of the birth certificate should be produced, when there IS no such long form, is completely irresponsible. This has to do with getting the facts straight, and has nothing to do with free speech.

[Bluenorthwest]

66. That's the Forth Estate

not the fifth. And your thinking is about as accurate as you lexicon.

[RaleighNCDUer]

79. Fourth estate -- fifth column. It's a natural mistake. nt

[Flaneur]

80. Well, if Camille Paglia said it, too...

then we can be doubly certain it's a load of rightist crap.

This is not a free speech issue. Dobbs is free to spout his racist and conspiratorial claptrap whenever he feels like it. But CNN is not obligated to continue to employ him to do so. It would be a free speech issue if the government were shutting him up, but that's not the case.

Finally, the press is the Fourth Estate, not the Fifth Estate (that's an anarchist rag out of Detroit).

[jonestonesusa]

34. Dobbs needs to get a pink slip

or the organization can change the title to "Cable Non-News."

The lack of closure on topics like this has cost us dearly - going back to the souped up claims of Iraqi WMD. We waste time, lives, and public intelligence with the cowardly unwillingness of mainstream journalism today to determine and report the facts - and challenge what is unproven or spurious.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. The SPLC is a wonderful organization. They have been tracking hate groups

(and suing them successfully) for some years now, and they know haters when they see them. I'm glad to see that they have called for Lou Dobbs' head -- having a so-called "respectable" guy like that on CNN lends undeserved legitimacy to some of the worst racism and xenophobia. He's gone off the deep end by supporting the birfers and it's time for him to pack up his pointy hood and his jackboots and go the hell away.

[Name removed]

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[stlsaxman]

37. Yaaayyyyy!

[sonias]

41. Fine by me - Dobbs is a moran

He feeds the hate.


:grr:


Sonia

[scentopine]

43. A first rate organization - worth a donation. Visit their site.

[KoKo]

44. Good News....Dobbs crossed the line way back...that's he still out there

pushing idiocy means he thinks he can get away with it.

[Chakab]

45. Good

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CY0y52bcowY/SM06aWuL3mI/AAAAAAAAAw4/BsracQR0r7c/s400/obama+waffles+lou+dobbs.JPG

[Richd506]

46. I like that southern poverty law center

[XemaSab]

48. We donate to the SPLC

My mom and I donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center and she is leaving money to them in her will.

They are on top of violent right wing/white supremacist organizations throughout the country. In return for a small donation, they will send you their quarterly magazine and bi-monthly paper, which make for very sobering reading.

We don't watch CNN but if SPLC says Dobbs needs to go, he needs to be gone.

[Fendius]

49. Doesn't matter

NOT ONE msm news agency will "fire" ratings... People, we can try, which we should, to make news agency credible and "investigative".. But unfortunately this boils down to one thing just like every issue in America boils down to.. Money... Faux is setting the bar for what they can get away with just by looking at they're ratings.. Dobbs gets ratings and even if he is (oh and he is) full of shit.. Circus acts attract attention, attention brings in the sponsors.. Thus capitalism wins again and we have shit... Our only option is to leave them out of discussion, turn them off, and set that trend in motion.. Otherwise we feed the fire..

[ericgtr]

81. Dobbs' ratings have been tanking

It's been going down for a while now... http://www.observer.com/2009/media/dobbs-ratings-dip-down

[greyghost]

50. The key to removing anyone from the airwaves is a direct...

attack on their shows sponsors. Make it clear to their Madison Ave. representatives that you are taking your money to their competitors.
Gut the money and the show (any show) will fall.

The most recent example is the MSNBC Imus dust up. Once Sharpton and Jackson pointed their cannons toward Madison Ave. old Don didn't have a prayer.

[Name removed]

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[Douglas Carpenter]

51. kick and recommended even if the whole issue is insane

[workinclasszero]

54. Birthers are the new KKK

Because every white republican POS knows that a black man or any other person of color can't be a "real" american.

Look at the republican racial attacks on Sotomayor for instance. The thought of these racist haters ever gaining control of the government again ought to send a chill up the spine of every decent american citizen.

[Name removed]

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[JDPriestly]

55. Only a very ignorant person would believe that a white woman

would travel to Kenya in 1961 while pregnant enough that she might give birth in that country.

1956: The Mau Mau warriors kills more Africans loyal to the British than white people. Around 50,000 British soldiers are set in against the rebellion. They burn down villages and carry out bomb attacks from airplanes. When the rebellion is finally put down a total of app. 12,000 Africans are killed -and only about 30 Europeans. 100,000 Africans are imprisoned.

. . . .

1959: Kenyatta is transferred from jail to house arrest. Formation of political parties are now allowed and African politicians are invited for negotiations in London.
. . . .

1960: Britain gives in to the pressure and starts preparing Kenya for independence. Estimated 60,000 Europeans now live in Kenya.

. . . .

1961: House arrest ends for Kenyatta and he becomes leader of the political party KANU.
Independence

. . . .

December 12, 1963: : Kenyan independence day.

http://crawfurd.dk/africa/kenya_timeline.htm

Mau Mau: AD 1952-1960

In October 1952 there is a sudden outbreak of sabotage and assassination in Kenya. The terrorists are Kikuyu, and their ritual oaths of loyalty to their secret organization reflect the customs of Jomo Kenyatta's political group, the Kikuyu Central Association. But the meaning of their name for themselves, Mau Mau, is at the time and remains today a mystery.

The colonial government reacts rapidly, declaring a state of emergency and arresting Jomo Kenyatta. Charged with planning the Mau Mau uprising, he is sentenced in March 1953 to seven years' imprisonment. But his absence in British custody does nothing to lessen the campaign of terror.
. . . .

The loss of European life is relatively slight (about 100 people). The main victims of Mau Mau violence are other Kikuyu who refuse to support the cause and are killed as collaborators. These number perhaps 2000. Among the Mau Mau themselves as many as 11,000 die in encounters with British forces.

The worst of the violence is over by 1956, though the state of emergency is not lifted until 1960. By this time the only effective response to the Mau Mau rebellion is under way. A conference in London in 1960 gives Africans the majority of seats in the legislative council. Kenya's first African parties are formed to take part in the developing political process.

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad21

Read more: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad21#ixzz0MFoejx8p

Not quite a place to go if you are in late pregnancy. The idea is absurd, absolutely absurd.

[Name removed]

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[davidpdx]

56. Poor Lou

:sarcasm:

At least we know Fox News will hire him. He'll fit in over there really well.

[DFW]

57. Dobbs is the real-world Howard Beale

A formerly respected newscaster who has gone off the deep end and gone completely insane.

We need a massive write-in to CNN letting them know that Dobbs is loony as hell, and we'd prefer not to take him any more.

[Bluenorthwest]

67. SPLC is a great organization and they have been on top

of so many things the last few months. They are great Americans. CNN and the White House should both be listening to their advice on many groups and individuals in the hate business.

[graywarrior]

68. Here's a group I can scratch up some money to donate to

[Libertas1776]

69. FIRE HIS PASTY WHITE ASS

[Tarc]

70. Only a matter of time before he flees to Fox News

The sooner Lou is reunited with his soulmate Glenn Beck, the better.

[47of74]

72. Faux News would be the perfect place for Dobbs

He would join other crackpots such as Bill-O, the Mannity, and Harold Hill.

[Christa]

71. K & R

I waited for this for a very long time. Dobbs has been digging his own grave for years now.

[scarface2004]

74. dobss is an asshole!

no one watches his idiot show....time for him to go!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

75. Excellent letter

and I'm happy to see other examples of Dobbs' outrageousness were included.

[MellowDem]

76. I think his coverage of it....

proves he's trying to reach out to his bigoted fan boys. The only surprise was that he's not on Fox News. CNN may actually listen to critics as they try to be the "moderate" news voice.

[DirtyDawg]

77. The sooner...

...Time/Warner (or whatever it calls itself these days) decides that they no longer need to have studios in Atlanta and shuts it hell down, the better for our town. The pride that we once held for this organization has long since, 'gone with the wind(bags)'...and this fat prick is the worst of all. There's nobody left that could even have carried the jock-straps of those that first launched Ted Turner's dream of a worldwide, 24-hour news organization, and their attempts to 'out faux, FauxNuz' have left CNN a pathetic shell of its former self.

Get him, Dobbs, out of town soon, cause I refuse to be responsible for my actions should I run into him on the street...or in a restaurant...or on a golf course with a five-iron in my hand...or, well you get it. Then again, for the most part Georgia is about as 'red' as they come, so I doubt if there are that many down this way that share my feelings for the rat-fink turds.

[TankLV]

78. GOOD! It's LONG overdue...

and to think I ever agreed with anything that idiot ever said...

[Best_man23]

83. Just have this to say

Why hasn't SPLC called for the same thing for Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, etc?

While they're at it, they should classify Faux Nation as a hate website.

[Dinger]

84. K & R : )

:)