Truth, Fiction and Lou Dobbs

[mcscajun]

The article uses a recent flap over his distortions on a supposed connection between leprosy (the statistics on it wildly overstated and never corrected by Dobbs) and illegal immigrants (one of his favorite topics) as a springboard to de-construct "populist" Lou Dobbs. Much more at the link (below). :hi:

Truth, Fiction and Lou Dobbs

-snip-

Over the last few years, Lou Dobbs has transformed himself into arguably this country’s foremost populist. It’s an odd role, given that he spent the 1980s and ’90s buttering up chief executives on CNN, but he’s now playing it very successfully. He has become a voice for the real economic anxiety felt by many Americans.

-snip-

Mr. Dobbs argues that the middle class has many enemies: corporate lobbyists, greedy executives, wimpy journalists, corrupt politicians. But none play a bigger role than illegal immigrants. As he sees it, they are stealing our jobs, depressing our wages and even endangering our lives.

-snip-

For one thing, Mr. Dobbs has a somewhat flexible relationship with reality. He has said, for example, that one-third of the inmates in the federal prison system are illegal immigrants. That’s wrong, too. According to the Justice Department, 6 percent of prisoners in this country are noncitizens (compared with 7 percent of the population). For a variety of reasons, the crime rate is actually lower among immigrants than natives.

-snip-

The most common complaint about him, at least from other journalists, is that his program combines factual reporting with editorializing. But I think this misses the point. Americans, as a rule, are smart enough to handle a program that mixes opinion and facts. The problem with Mr. Dobbs is that he mixes opinion and untruths. He is the heir to the nativist tradition that has long used fiction and conspiracy theories as a weapon against the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews and, now, the Mexicans.

There is no denying that this country’s immigration system is broken. But it defies belief — and a whole lot of economic research — to suggest that the problems of the middle class stem from illegal immigrants. Those immigrants, remember, are largely non-English speakers without a high school diploma. They have probably hurt the wages of native-born high school dropouts and made everyone else better off.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/business/30leonhardt.html

[brentspeak]

1. David Leonhardt is a neoliberal toady

It's not surprising he'd try to discredit Lou Dobbs. Here's Leonhardt's clueless take on Jim Webb's rebuttal comments to Bush's State Of The Union address. Leonhardt is under the delusion that the majority of Americans are experiencing "good economic times":

It was the sort of speech that one might have expected during a deep economic slump. Yet it came instead as most workers have started receiving significant pay increases for the first time in years and as polls show that most Americans think the economy has grown stronger.

This contrast was arguably the most significant part of the speech. As they plan their strategy on Capitol Hill and begin the 2008 presidential campaign, the leaders of the Democratic Party are betting that the temporary swings of the economic cycle no longer have the political power they once did.

Instead, they say, the economic shocks of recent years — technological change, globalization, the decline of labor unions and business icons like Ford Motor Company — have left many swing voters feeling anxious and insecure about the future.

After years of fighting losing battles against tax cuts, Democrats argue that this economic anxiety has altered the political landscape, making swing voters open to a new role for government — a form of what Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois has called "suburban populism."

With issues like energy policy, immigration and health care having gone largely unaddressed in recent years, Democrats see a way to define themselves as the party that can help Americans survive the 21st-century economy.

An unanswered question, though, is whether suburban populism can still have appeal during good economic times.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/27/174013/159

[fasttense]

2. Lou Dobbs had the courage to criticize the pResident

two years before Keith Olbermann had Countdown. Dobbs was warning people about the "free trade" agenda before Air America ever went on the radio. I will always respect him for being the first, nightly television news show to stand up to this corrupt administration and to rail against corporatists when all others were happily extolling the bushes corporate policies. He was brave, he had foresight.

[qdemn7]

3. Sorry, but I agree with Dobbs

Before we worry about the welfare of X million illegal immigrants, we need to take care of Americans first.

[TankLV]

8. agree totally - key word here is "illegal"...

aparently lost on too many here...

[depakid]

21. What seems to be lost on many is that things like disease

spread among rich and poor- undocumented and documented alike. Denying people health care (or other basic services) is just cutting off one's nose to spite one's self righteous face.

[Captain Hilts]

10. People in the trades are having a hard time ...

in part because of the surge in labor supply from immigrants - both legal and illegal. Dobbs understands this.

[LBJDemocrat]

24. Me too!

Lou Dobbs is my favorite news media personality, hands down.

He's right about trade, and he's mostly right on immigration.

[Mist]

4. Re: Dobbs and illegal immigrants--In the past, there were concerns

about Chinese, Jews, Italians, even Irish, "diluting" what was referred to as the "native American" populace (the term applying to those of Northern European descent). However, there was enormous industrial expansion taking place for many decades, and labor was needed. Today, illegal aliens are in fact impacting the blue collar workers, just because business owners and corporations don't want to pay decent wages to Americans. Dobbs is right to point to this as a big problem.

[a kennedy]

5. I just hate the term "illegal aliens".

THEY AREN'T FROM ANOTHER PLANET!!!! Can't we come up with a more accurate description or word???

[TankLV]

9. key word being "illegal" - the "aliens" part is not as important...

they are breaking the law - line jumpers...

[VP505]

6. Quite frankly

IMO, Mr DAVID LEONHARDT is full of crap. I am glad Mr Dobbs is addressing the issue of illegal immigration and how fair trade are affecting the middle class and working people.

[TankLV]

7. I thought I misheard something - now I know this guy is nuts...

:shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Racisim and xenophobia in a suit and tie. Like the White Citizens Councils were.

Using the same fear tactics as his predecessors.

[AzDar]

13. Racist and xenophobic because he wants the laws to be enforced, huh?

Wow.

[EFerrari]

14. Yes, racist and xenophobic and using the same arguments

they used to try to stop integration.

[AzDar]

15. Can you point to ANY remarks made by Lou Dobbs that are indeed, racist?

Or would this be just another attempt to subvert the argument by calling names?

[EFerrari]

16. Did you read the OP?

[AzDar]

17. I did. And as many have noted here, the 'source' is dubious.

Also, there are no racist remarks in the OP; the author challenges Mr. Dobbs facts, he isn't pointing to any racist remarks.
Unless, of course, you consider the term 'illegal' racist, then I'd guess that's your problem....
Again, can YOU point out any racist remarks by Lou Dobbs?

[AzDar]

12. While Mr. Dobbs can seem pompous at times, he has been WAY

ahead of the rest of the MSM regarding 'free-trade' and illegal immigration.
I also am fond of the way he fairly spits when he has to refer to 'President Bush', as though it pains him to say it.

[depakid]

22. So that gives him a license to lie?

Dobbs is disgusting- he lacks any journalistic integrity (which, incidentally, makes him a fine fit for CNN).

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Syphilis is a Jewish disease.

Jews started syphilis, and they're the ones that go spreading it around.

At least according to Mein Kampf.

Which apparently, is what Lou Dobbs is lifting his ideas straight out of.

[qdemn7]

19. Well that didn't take long

Only 18 posts and someone is bringing up Hitler. :banghead: :puke:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. Hey, blame Dobbs.

He's the one complaining about minorities spreading diseases.

[KharmaTrain]

20. Doobies Just Does The "I'm Only Kidding, Folks" Defense

His report attempts to whitewash this whole thing as a "media" plot...painting himself as a "centrist" constantly under attack by both "Radical" right and left wing "media" as if this somehow means he's "fair and balanced". Bullshit!!

He then attempts to muddle the reporting and reports and either say that the facts stated in the NYT piece was either "misquoted" or that it was an "off the cuff remark" as if those aren't the most revealing? That somehow when one of his reporters, on his own broadcast jump the fence between reporting and opinion and he brushes that off like it's some silly joke. Bullshit!!!

Doobies is the new BillO...the faux populist who pretends to be the "sensible middle" and anyone who disagrees is some kind of "radical"...despite his quoting "statistics" manufactured by right wing hate groups. I'dput the Southern Poverty Law Center's long and credible history up against Lou's and his "crack team of stenographers" in a heartbeat!

[LBJDemocrat]

25. "Doobies" happened to help the Democrats get elected last year

Unlike BillO.