For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession
of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than
the citizens of America.
In his long (since 1980) on-again, off-again career on CNN,
Lou Dobbs has filled out a niche of controversy for himself that lands him
somewhere between
Pat Buchanan and Michael Bloomberg, although leaning heavily toward the Buchanan
side.
One of the key Dobbs' passions is decrying "illegal" immigration
as part of his odd brand of populism that often veers back and forth into
a xenophobic fear of people with a different skin color.
So, it wasn't surprising that the arrogant multi-millionaire "populist" caught
himself recently as he was revealing his true prejudices on-air.
According to the Web
site Think Progress:
Referring to Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) recent speech on race
while speaking with a group of journalists last week, Secretary of State
Condoleezza
Rice said the U.S. "still has trouble dealing with race because of a
national 'birth defect' that denied black Americans the opportunities given
to whites at the country's very founding." Rice added that this "birth
defect" makes it "hard for us to talk about it, and hard for
us to realize that it has continuing relevance for who we are today."
When asked to respond to Rice's remarks on the Situation Room last Friday,
CNN host Lou Dobbs became agitated. TPM's Josh Marshall noted that Dobbs
explained "how he's sick of 'cotton pickin' black leaders telling
him how he can and can't talk about race (he catches himself at the last
minute
-- sorta)."
While it appears that Dobbs was about to say "cotton picking" (often
used as a racially charged slur) in reference to Rice, he caught himself,
only uttering the word "cotton."
Maybe Lou Dobbs should use the slogan that you can take xenophobic populism
out of race, but you can't take the racist out of populism.
Lou Dobbs apparently has pronounced, "I don't think that we should have
any flag flying in this country except the flag of the United States," and "I
don't think there should be a St. Patrick's Day. I don't care who you are.
I think we ought to be celebrating what is common about this country, what
we enjoy as similarities as people."
Dobbs posits himself as a champion of the middle class, but there are demagogic
overtones to his nightly commentary. Often, he's more bluster than accurate,
and supports groups such as the Minuteman Project to "patrol our borders."
Lou Dobbs is entitled to his opinions, but it's the swirling brew of nationalistic
pandering that makes him the BuzzFlash Media Putz of the Week.
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