The Problem With Lou Dobbs

The Problem With Lou Dobbs

From the Fat Lady Sings Blog

May 10, 2006

The Problem With Lou Dobbs

Where to begin? You see – I don’t really know what to make of the man. On the one hand, his daily harangues against illegal immigration have escalated to the point of absurdity. And it’s always exclusively ‘Mexican’ illegal immigration. You rarely hear him talk about the huge number of Polish or Irish immigrants who enter America sans invitation. Nor do you hear him rail against the paucity of INS agents along the much larger border with Canada. No – he really seems to have a jones for Hispanics, and that levels a charge of bigotry that would seem to have some basis in fact. He even advocated INS agents infiltrating the immigration marches and rally’s that swept through our country last week. That’s so Richard Nixon! I mean – please! So – I think I have him pegged - then he turns around and, quite rightly in my opinion, points out our enormous trade deficit (most especially with China – and I’ll get to that in a moment), excoriates Bush on his ham-handed handling of the nations economy (and just about everything else) and stands up for the ever pressured, now dwindling middle class. It’s as if he’s two completely different people – one who would seem at home attending a meeting of the John Birch society; and another who understands how fucking hard it is out here to make ends meet and is on our side. So what’s the truth? Who is Lou Dobbs, really?

I watched his show last night. He fairly quivered with righteous fury at having the ‘racist’ label hurled at him. I’ve heard him tack this direction before. Mention partiality or bigotry of any kind and he fair fly’s to the moon – his jaws clicking in frustration; intent on defending his besmirched ‘honor’. But is that charge true? Here’s where that wicket gets mighty sticky. He’s concerned about how easily transversed our borders are. Check. He thinks we need more agents to patrol said borders. Check. He blames Vincente Fox for not lifting a finger to stem the tide of Mexican citizens heading north in search of a better life for them and their families. Check. Now we get into murky territory. Lou Dobbs endorses the vigilante ‘Minutemen’ group. He often has their founder on his show promoting the Minutemen and saluting the ‘job’ they are doing. Now – Jim Gilchrist, the Minutemen’s founder has been definitively linked to white supremacist groups. I found that out by using Google and my finger. So I don’t buy that Dobbs would be unfamiliar with this tidbit; and if he was he should have grilled the man on it. I knew the Minutemen were bigots the moment I saw several of their number flying the Stars & Bars. I’m sorry – but the battle flag of the Civil War south only stands for one thing – and everyone who has half a brain knows it. So why give these people a platform if you don’t agree with EVERYTHING they stand for?

Yet – Dobbs seems really sincere in his support for working class America. It was from him I learned that the last textile manufacturing plant in the US had closed – a dreadful circumstance. He constantly harps on the porous nature of our port facilities, and brings up the inequities that have arisen from our burgeoning debt and out of control and ever rising trade deficit. Which brings me around to China. Lou seems China obsessed. Yes, our deficit with China is greater than that of any other trading partner; but they are not isolated in this. Canada is also a problem. So is Mexico and Japan; but Lou harps on China as if they alone stood between American workers and the middle class lifestyle that is the backbone of both our democracy and economy. Could it be the Chinese people themselves he dislikes with an almost mock ferocity? Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer to that question; and because I don’t, I have to question the mans motives. I have learned over time and with a great deal of experience to beware those who sound ‘reasonable’ while stating edgy opinions. Often that ‘reason’ is merely a cover for the snake oil they are trying to slip in under the radar. I always hold off, tempering my good opinion with at least a modicum of good sense while playing the ‘wait and see’ game. Well – I’ve waited, and I’ve seen, and I’m afraid that Mr. Dobbs harbors some deep-seated dislikes of certain ethnicities. What makes this all the more sad is his much appreciated support of and for everyday Americans. I agree with him on many things – but his unquestioning support for the obviously racist Minutemen renders the rest of his opinions suspect.

Now how can someone be reasonable and believable on the one hand; and a stone cold bigot on the other? It is possible. Just look around at your family, your friends, your neighbors. You know someone like this – we all do. I used to try and pick this question apart. It puzzled me to no end; how someone ‘nice’ could also be racist. The two just seemed antithetical. But they’re not. I know and have known people in my life who cared about the environment, donated time and funds to local charitable causes, decried cruelty to any living creature and yet would turn around and use the word ‘nigger’ to my face. A man whom I called friend recently emailed me a terrible, racist, anti-Hispanic joke that just about took my breath away. It was his Cinco de Mayo ‘gift’. And he knew better. He knows me. He is well aware of my views on the subject. And he did it anyway; essentially ending any possibility of a meaningful relationship between us. And he didn’t think he was being a bigot, by the way. He didn’t see that it was bad or wrong. He actually thought it was funny and was taken aback by my fury. This man is not some knuckle-dragging, sheet wearing Nazi fanatic. He’s quite ordinary. Quite normal. Much like Lou Dobbs. So I’m betting Mr. Dobbs doesn’t see it either; this connection between what he promotes and being a bigot. I’m sure were he to read this essay he would take great umbrage. But that doesn’t change the facts. I’m sorry for you, Lou. Your good idea; namely protecting our borders and controlling immigration - is getting lost in the attached undercurrent of ethnic separatism. You have gotten in the way of your own message.