Lou Dobbs Sucks Live
I don't have cable, so the only way to catch the latest edition of Lou Dobbs' appalling series "The War Within" was to attend a live filming at George Washington University. The value of actually being there was limited, although it was comforting knowing I could disrupt the live broadcast if I felt I had to.
To be fair, tonight's episode was a bit less offensive than previous installments. The focus was on addiction, and despite periodic outlandish Dobbsisms about "winning the drug war" and so forth, there were many valid concerns raised. Still, for a show that promises "News, Debate, Opinion," Lou Dobbs entirely failed to provide any debate. He brought out recovering addicts and school administrators, but his primary expert guests were Nora Volkow (NIDA), Joseph Califano (CASA), and Terry Klein (SAMHSA). As far as I can tell, these people completely agree on everything from public health policy to pizza toppings.
Having just discovered that the drug war isn't working, Dobbs would do well to consult some of the experts who've been predicting failure for decades. Califano offered the startling statistic that the U.S. has 4% of the world's population, but consumes 2/3 of the world's drugs. It is of course mind-boggling to contemplate how such an observation doesn’t lead to an immediate referendum on the policies that have gotten us here.
Thus, Lou Dobbs has become a curious and increasingly common character in the drug policy discussion. He can see that nothing's changed. He wants to talk about "how to win," yet he insists on having that conversation with people who haven’t had an original idea about drug policy in their wildest dreams. Bizarrely, he interrupts the discussion of treatment to complain that our interdiction efforts are ineffective and under-funded, quickly snuffing out my faint hope that Dobbs' newfound interest in treatment would lead him to question the value of buying more helicopters to chase speedboats across the Gulf of Mexico.
Dobbs' insistence that the drug war is failing stands in stark contrast to recent ONDCP propaganda about how "America's drug problem is getting smaller," thus it's interesting to consider how a John Walters appearance on the "The War Within" would play out. If Walters could get over any potential objections to the premise of the program, he and Dobbs might have a blast plotting how to double our drug war losses.
Lou Dobbs, self-proclaimed champion of the middle-class, seems to think the solution to drug abuse is inside the wallets of American taxpayers. Guess he's got a "war within" going on right up there in his giant, ignorant head.
Niiiiiice
My personal favorite part of the show was in between live portions of the broadcast when the stage manager told one of the young people from AA to "just tuck it in your pants" (referring to his tie) to which Lou replied "I know that trick" [kid tucks it into his pants] "Niiiiiiiice!"
Priceless.
Panel Debate Disgrace
Lou Dobbs seems to want to explore issues surrounding the drug war with one group of people. The people that benefit from the status quo of continuing to fight the war. If he wants to do the subject justice, he'll have to include reformers in the discussion. Every DRCNet member ought to E-mail the Lou Dobbs show insisting a more balanced approach to the drug war debate. I can't think of anything more boring and self-congradualating than the panel he had assembled yesterday.
I don't know how long Dobbs has been running "The War Within" but he apparently doesn't appear interested that it's a war on minorities as well. The statistics prove it and while Dobbs is big on stats, I doubt he'll be quoting the Sentencing Project anytime soon.
dobbs is stupid
this dobbs is the most biased tv journalist in the history of journalism.
narrow minded prick, with fascistic, anti minority, isolationist mentality. sometimes i wonder what kind of education he has, because, that kind of world view doesn't mix with university level education.
XX
THE WORST JOURNASLIST IN THE HISTORY OF JOURNALISM
EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lou Dobbs Becomes Lifetime Member Of Hispanic Journalists Association
An article in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa today notes that the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) has accepted CNN host Lou Dobbs as a national lifetime member. A lifetime membership costs $1,000; Dobbs donated $5,000. NAHJ president Rafael Olmeda tried to justify Dobbs’s membership:
“We cannot pretend that illegal immigration is not part of the story. Lou Dobbs, in my opinion, tells this story in an incomplete, not constructive, way. But he has the right to disagree with me,” reaffirmed Olmeda in writing after a 36-minute conversation on Friday afternoon. (trans.)
Dobbs’s reports are more than just “incomplete” and “not constructive.” They often contain inaccurate, biased, and misleading information.
Last night, CBS’s 60 Minutes caught Dobbs in one of these lies. Following “a report on illegals carrying diseases into the U.S.,” his show reported that there were 7,000 cases of leprosy in the United States in the last three years. CBS found out that there were actually 7,000 cases in the past 30 years, and “nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants.” When host Lesley Stahl confronted him on this error, Dobbs simply replied, “If we reported it, it’s a fact.” Watch it:
Last year, the NAHJ put out a statement condemning the phrase “illegal immigrant,” noting it “can often be used pejoratively in common parlance and can pack a powerful emotional wallop for those on the receiving end.” Dobbs continues to use that term.
Digg It!
Transcript:
STAHL: Well, here’s what they say about you. That you distort the figures, that you exaggerate, and you aim to inflame just to get ratings.
DOBBS: Oh, really?
STAHL: Yes, really.
DOBBS: That’s fascinating, because what I can’t understand is why other journalists would not take on the issues of free trade, illegal immigration, outsourcing, all of these rather sexy topics… (CROSSTALK)
STAHL: I’ll tell — I’ll tell you why.
DOBBS: … which I’ve been covering for years.
STAHL: Reporters don’t take on issues, reporters report issues, and there’s a big difference there.
Do you think you’re a journalist?
DOBBS: Absolutely. I may be an advocacy journalist, but I’m a journalist.
STAHL (voice-over): One of the issues he tackles relentlessly is illegal immigration. And on that, his critics say, his advocacy can get in the way of the facts.
DOBBS: Tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria?
STAHL: Following a report on illegals carrying diseases into the U.S., one of the correspondents on his show, Christine Romans, told Dobbs that there have been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the U.S. in the past three years.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leprosy. In this country.
DOBBS: Incredible.
STAHL: We checked that and found a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying 7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three. And nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants.
(on camera): Now we went to try and check that number — 7,000. We can’t.
DOBBS: Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it’s a fact.
STAHL: You can’t tell me that. You did report it.
DOBBS: Well no, I just did.
STAHL: How can you guarantee that to me?
DOBBS: Because I’m the managing editor. And that’s the way we do business. We don’t make up numbers, Lesley, do we?
STAHL: I’m sitting here saying to myself, this man runs a news show?
L. DOBBS: I do.
STAHL: And you can just tell me you don’t like the president. Whoo.
L. DOBBS: I, matter of fact, insist that the audience know where I come from.
STAHL: What about fair and balanced?
L. DOBBS: I’ve never, Lesley, found the truth to be fair and balanced. I’ve found it to be…
STAHL: But, that’s — but wait, what’s the definition of journalism? That — that’s in there. That has to be part of what a journalist is, is fair and balanced.
L. DOBBS: I truly believe there’s a non-partisan independent reality…
(CROSSTALK)
STAHL: But it’s your reality.
L. DOBBS: It is my reality.
STAHL: But it’s not the reality.
L. DOBBS: Well, how so?
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I am 86 years old, live alone with my small 8 yr old dog. Do my own House work, cooking And cleaning. Don'have any debts. Still drive my car.I have very little trust in our gov. But I AM A 100% behind L.Dobbs.
John Hall
Seffner, Fl
worse than Bill O
Lou Dobbs is an asshole.....worse than BillO the Clown!!!!!
he needs to get off the air.
I think that he really tries to tie in mexico with the so called "war on drugs" as an enemy that floods in drugs. well, I think he would agree with me, (as an economist) that mexico is not doing anything wrong in the war on drugs. if anything they are only trying to fill a need. its not mexico's fault that the u.s. has such a high demand in the drug market. that shows how "moral" america is. lou dobbs is a prick and needs to get in touch with the times. we will never, ever defeat drugs. might as well go with the flow.
CNN should dump Lou Dobbs
I can't believe CNN airs Lou 'the Republican brown noser' Dobbs. He behaves so naive and always complains. Never does he have anything positive to provide. I come back from work and listen to this grumpy old man complain over and over. He is so anti Obama and anti-democrat, that I change channels whenever I see Lou Dobbs. This man is disgusting. CNN - Please move Lou Dobbs to 2am slot or better yet, kick him out of CNN. Hopefully FOX will be happy to absorb him
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