CNN Ought to ‘Confine’ Lou Dobbs
Is CNN’s Lou Dobbs an, “insolent man who uses xenophobic, protectionist, anti-immigrant messages against Latin American countries to affirm his vulgar patriotism?” According to this op-ed article from Colombia’s El Tiempo, “CNN should confine Dobbs to a program called The Hour of Chauvinism, because this would help all of us distinguish between reason and its absence.”
“My aim is to present the facts so that you can decide what seems more idiotic, Spitzer’s proposal or the diatribe of Lou Dobbs? I have no doubts.”
By Sergio Muñoz Bata
Translated By Virginia Gillenwater
October 30, 2007
Colombia – El Tiempo – Original Article (Spanish)
More or less a month ago, the governor of the State of New York, Eliot Spitzer, announced that for reasons of public safety, he would permit the one million undocumented workers living there to apply for a driver license.
Furious about Spitzer’s announcement, CNN news announcer Lou Dobbs – whose anti-immigrant phobia seems to have no bounds – began a ferocious daily campaign against the governor’s proposal. The confrontation turned personal when forgetting himself, Dobbs called Spitzer an “idiot,†and invited him to a debate.
The governor’s office issued a terse statement declining the invitation, writing that Dobbs “has demonstrated quite clearly that he isn’t interested in serious debate.†A more than reasonable response given the bellicose nature of the TV broadcaster.
The issue, however, is not the insolence of a man who uses xenophobic, protectionist, anti-immigrant messages against Latin American countries to affirm his vulgar patriotism. The issue is the strength of Spitzer’s argument that denying a driver’s license to undocumented immigrants is an affront to public safety.
Your first consideration is that in New York State, there are over a million people that can’t obtain a driver’s license because they’re in the U.S. illegally. And yet they drive from their homes to work and back every day. What’s more, the federal government hasn’t the capacity to deport them nor will they leave voluntarily. If anything, the numbers illegal immigrants will continue to rise due to the increasing demand for their services.
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5 Responses to “CNN Ought to ‘Confine’ Lou Dobbs”
Still this topic on licensing illegals seems to wrap up the situation we have let occur in this country by not enforcing immigration laws.
If we give them licenses we are basically admitting that we are not going to enforce immigration laws. If we enforce those laws, the huge number of illegals that do menial labor thats important to thousands of businesses disappear and those businesses suffer. But we don’t want that to happen so we take this middle road.
However, if we “register” them we are basically saying we know there are people living here being used specifically because their employers wish to violate labor laws to employ them and therefore we are condoning that as well. We will literally have a registered underclass of people whose presence we allow strictly so we can use them in violation of the laws we made ourselves to protect the working class. I mean, we do that already, but now its going to actually be publicly acknowledged by the gov’t and in a way, regulation of law breaking will be under way.
Did I get that right?
Sam-
No, you don’t have it right.
You and and Lou Dobbs would be of more help in sorting this out, if you came up with a reasonble solution instead of holding out for fences and the disappeace of the millions of illegals who are here.
Would you really round up and deport the million s who are here, and, if so,, how much in extra taxes would you be willing to pay to get that done?
Would you pay for the thousands and thousand of additional staff needed to police the illegals walking and working here?
The fence is a joke. Just look at the length of the fence, and then compare it to the length of our borders. The money is better spent on labor saving detection technology.
The point is, they are here. As long as they are, we’re better off if they register someplace, somehow, so we have an idea of who they are.
They are not only here, they are diring cars without licenses and without insurance. They get into accidents, and having no insurance, the cost is divied up among legal drivers who are insured.
These are limited use licences, mainly for those who dirve to work, and can’t be used for air plane travel or other purposes.
That the immigration system is broken is more than obvious. No one is willing to compromise with reality, and instead, hold out for conditions impossible to bring about.
It would be a help if, instead, we focused on dealing with the situation as it is and on reforming immigration laws to make it less likely for this to recur. Making legal immigration faster and easier would be a helpful first step.
While we’re looking for the perfect solution, why not change the economy so that it is not dependent on cheap labor for wages that often rresult in 19-12 people living in one room?
Lou Dobbs is a windbag, IMO, crying away like a baby who won’t eat unless he’s served manna from heaven. I don’t believe manna will be on the menu any time soon. We need to do what can be done while we’re waiting for it to materialize.
I don’t think I mentioned a fence anywhere doma, and don’t throw me in with Lou Dobbs thank you very much. I was pointing out the rediculousness of the situation. I myself am 3rd generation and don’t espouse hypocrisy towards recent immigrants while comfortably ignoring my own family’s history.
The situation just seems silly to me, thats all.
Sam Said..
Absolutely. Think about it for a bit and wonder, why now?
And then if becomes clear.
Sam,
I got carried away while letting off steam about Lou Dbbbs. He gets my ogat on so meany levels.
First, it’ just isn’t right that what he does is passed off as being news. He’s just another raving ‘personality’ like Limbaugh or Oberman..
At the same time, I can’t dismiss the matter of illegal alien as just being silly. While a perfect solution would involve revising our economy and Mexico’s economy, I think it’s vital that we capture as much of the existing situation as possible into a seystem of laws..If we can’t control it, at least we could try to manage it.
I get very frunstrated with people who won’t deal with it on a pragmatic, realistic level. I get especially frustrated with blowhards like Dobbs who are in Congress.
I get scared when I think about the number of people influenced by the Dobbse,s Limbaughs and Obermans of the world. Very scared.