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Today's Top News
11.13.09 - 1:19 PM
Back Where He Belongs
Acting on anonymous tips from the Hispanic-American community, U.S. border officials deported Luis Miguel Salvador Aguila Dominguez, who for the last 48 years had been living here illegally, with his 17 children, under the name Lou Dobbs. Officers said Dominguez/Dobbs pulled a knife, swore in Spanish and spit on them, "like they will," before they grabbed him by the serape. From the Onion.
CNN sources said they knew nothing about Dobbs' past: "All we knew was that he was willing to take the job most American newscasters didn't want – namely, speaking out hysterically against immigration at every turn to help us gain ratings points against Fox News."
Dominguez/Dobbs' family
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97 Comments so far
Show AllGod I love satire.
Same here. It would be fine to watch Lou ranting from jail. Of course, Faux Noise would probably get a lot of money from its zombie audience to bail out Dobbs and be another twerpy talk show host ala O'Reilly and Hannity. Dobbs used to be sort of liberal but appears to have gotten nastier with immigrants.
Talk about hiding in plain sight.
For a minute I thought I read "ranting points"...
Poor Lou: outed at last! The Onion Rules.
And where are the Lou Dobbs DEMs when he needs them most?
The Onion does great satire and you have to love it! I read another one about a year or so ago that called him Lou Dubbs. Very funny!
These self-hating Hispanics go beyond the pale.
An Hispanic Pale-what a hoot!
All I can say is thank god for the leaders in investigative journalism; the Onion and Jon Stewart, of course.
"Cowardly liars and fools..."
In a contest of who is the most ignorant, right wing-nuts claim Obama's insurance company bailout is a "government takeover of health care," and left-wing sheep claim Lou Dobbs is an anti-immigrant racist. And the winner is ... a tie! The two fact-free groups finish in a tie!
________________________________________________
Dobbs: The Truth About Immigration
Nov-13-2009
Ethnocentric special interest groups often mischaracterize Lou's position on illegal immigration. The left routinely ignores the context of everything Lou has said about illegal immigrants. So here's the truth about what the left does not want you to hear: Listen to Lou's record on illegal immigration and illegal immigrants.
[Audio at Google's cache of LouDobbs.com]
A few examples [quoted statements are actual recordings from his broadcasts]:
"I've said for some time that the only rational actor in this entire immigration crisis, illegal immigration crisis, is the illegal alien, trying to benefit himself, herself and better their lives. But illegal employer is acting against the national interests, acting against the law in every respect. How can we get to the employer who is so shamelessly exploiting the illegal alien and so shamelessly flaunting U.S. law?"
"I have great respect for the people who make up the preponderance of the illegal alien population in our country, that is Mexican migrant workers."
"I'm absolutely one of the most passionate opponents of illegal immigration, but I've also made it very clear I'm also one of those who respects most the illegal aliens, I've described them on numerous occasions as the only rational actor in this crisis."
"For the record, I am absolutely supportive of legal immigration. In fact, I favor even higher levels of legal immigration when it suits public policy. Let me repeat -- we are the most welcoming nation in the world for immigrants and I've consistently called for an increase in legal immigration when warranted."
"I think I'm the only one on this panel who's actually worked with migrant workers in the fields, with beans, potatoes, hay in my youth. I know them to be good and decent people."
"You've heard me say time and time again that the only rational actor in this is the illegal alien trying to improve his or her life. You've heard me say time and time again that the illegal employer of the illegal alien deserves the greatest sanctions in this mess."
"The broadcast has repeatedly stressed the need to solve this nation's massive illegal alien crisis. It has always, this broadcast, been a strong supporter of legal, fair, humane immigration policies."
Isn't it funny how cowardly liars and fools leave out all of these statements over the past six years ... as they attack me. If you have any doubt that we are in a struggle for the soul of this nation, a day's reading of those left-wing activists' blogs and statements will show you who's really fanning the flames of hate.
_________________________________________________________________
I actually don't know much about Lou Dobbs.I don't watch TV.However, I do see his ugly mug on billboards from time to time, and I know his reputation.What I have read of him and his rants doesn't lead to to believe that he's anything more than just another right wing bloviator, who doesn't deserve to be taken as seriously as some people apparently do.And I enjoy a good send-up of a guy like this.But you're right about one thing: there is no shortage of nut balls on both end of the political spectrum. I would be interested to find out what you mean by "soul of the nation." Are we talking spiritual essence here? What might that be?
You are correct, you don't actually know much about Dobbs, but are condemning him based on hearsay. He spoke against Bush and Bush policies quite a lot. He also spoke against NAFTA when most conservatives were praising it. That said, I did not like his program after Obama got elected.
Thanks. It's not often that I'm correct twice on the same day.Re the rest of it-some one else has already dug up some comments by Dobbs which directly contradict the ones you've found on Google.I'm sure we could bat that ball around until the cows come home.He talks a lot-therefore he contradicts himself, and don't we all.It will be interesting to see where he surfaces next.There's another angle on this, which is that if huge numbers of 'conservatives' hear a racist/ nativist message in what Lou Dobbs says,then that message must be there. Or maybe they're making that up?
Perhaps people hear what they want to hear, no? And slapping a derogatory label on someone does not necessarily make it so, especially when there're interest groups with a different agenda. I grant you that it's often hard to extract the truth from the spin. Naturally was the one who cited the quotes, not me. I used to watch Dobbs a lot during the time when Bush was in power, mostly for information on NAFTA and trade policy. I actually liked Christine Romans better than Dobbs though.
"Soul of the nation," and everything else between the two horizontal lines, are Dobbs' words, not mine.
For my opinions, see my November 13th, 2009 3:24pm post at http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/12-12.
I suppose because it's more fun to demonize Dobbs by misrepresentation. That said, I do not agree with everything he stands for. But overall I do not see progressives 'fanning the flames of hate,' like making such an assertion does. Progressives are more for 'equality' in general than the right-wing fear mongers, who maintain some people are just more deserving than others, even when it come to basic needs.
The term progressive itself is misleading because it covers a whole umbrella of stands on issues that not all self-proclaimed 'progressives' support. There are many shades of gray, and it seems that some progressives are quick to attack their would-be allies because of disagreement with one issue, regardless of how big or small.
The right does seem to have an advantage in this regard, even if what they unite around is destructive.
Naturally, are you "One Old Veteran" that runs the site that you got that cut and past from?
Along with those Lou Dobbs cherries, I decided to go after a few of his lemons.
http://mediamatters.org/research/200605240011
"Dobbs's immigration reporting marked by misinformation, extreme rhetoric, attacks on Mexican president, and data from organization linked to white supremacists."
No I'm not. I don't know that site. I cut-and-pasted the transcript from the Google cache of (November 13, 2009) LouDobbs.com.
I found the article at LouDobbs.com and it contains an embedded Youtube video of him speaking on illegal and legal immigration, while being a little over 5 minutes in length.
"Dobbs: The Truth About Immigration", Nov 13, 2009
http://www.loudobbs.com/blog?action=viewBlog&blogID=-744737085256637687
The video is the following one for the direct link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh_Dum-_IMA
Listen carefully to his words, because he's playing with them; evidently not being straight-forward truthful. He says the illegal immigrants, the migrants, are the most rational of everyone in all of this, but also says he's against illegal immigration several times and that he's for strengthening border controls. He says he's for the legal kind, but emphasises that this is only if it suits "public policy", and this is seriously playing with the wording, for these words of his hide a fact, which is that it'll suit "public policy" only when it profits the ruling corporatocracy and their "friends" in Corporate America. He doesn't admit to having come to and remained in the U.S. illegally, and his words otherwise are or certainly seem to be of the kind intending a deception.
I agree that the "illegal immigrants" are acting rationally, to try to save their lives and those of their family members who remain in extreme poverty. It's Americans who are inhumane towards these "illegals" who are irrational; irrational, greedy, etcetera. But the rest of what Dobbs says in the above video uses what definitely seems to arguably be deceptive language.
The H-1B program has been used to displace many U.S. hi-tech professionals from our jobs and potential future possibilities of work, but I don't hate any H-1Bs for this, while hating the fact that they refuse to respect the right of U.S. citizens to be able to have a fair chance of obtaining fair employment in our own country. The H-1Bs mostly come from India, not a country that the U.S. corporatocracy has harmed or certainly nowhere near the extent that it has done in Mexico and Central America. So I have certainly more sympathy for the "illegals" from down south, but without hating H-1Bs. The problem is not race; it's U.S. corporatocracy and a gangster U.S. government that are the PROBLEM and the USA's greatest enemies of all history, past, present, and in the making, future.
Of course that doesn't justify Dobbs playing with words in what evidently is a deceptive way. After all, the U.S. does NOT have any real record of fair, humane, just policy-making. If he thinks otherwise, then maybe he didn't mean to be seeming like he's playing with words, but there's no excuse for someone in his position to be ignorant of what real U.S. policy-making is truly like. Hence, his words end up smelling of deception while being wrapped in feel-good words. A lot of Americans and probably foreigners would be easily fooled by the "feel-good" words he employed in this piece or compilation of his past statements, but alert people don't get fooled with such wording. Instead, they think [critically], follow every word, and analyse everything said.
I read the May 2006 report from MediaMatters that you reference. It gives no examples of any racist or anti-immigrant statements that Dobbs has made.
The Yes Men wouldn't be behind this would they?
I am glad they finally caught him.
Nobody is above the law.
Luis Miguel Salvador Aguila Dominguez..
or as he is known in his village "El Pendejo Grosso"
Funny stuff, it reminds me of the satire that Alberto Gonzalez was fired because he was an illegal Irish Immigrant:
http://www.satireandcomment.com/0807bertie.html
Did you see the photo of his family above!
They live in poverty!
Dobbs made millions at CNN and never sent a cent back home!
IDIOT!
Like Hitler being ashamed of his Jewish ancestors, Lou Dobbs is ashamed of being a Latino through and through. Has he even admitted that he was never circumcised?
Pig.
Forty or fifty years ago, lots of non-Jews got circumcised. It was the 'scientific' thing to do.It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing. Not exactly relevant, but what the hell.
Ah yes, satire, parody, it is entertaining. And now for a dose of reality.
Here’s a link: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/vc/murders/vc_murders.htm
Here are only a few of the surnames of murderers in the Chicago area, a majority of who happen to be latino. Oh, let's not forget the more than 100 young Latinas murdered and dumped outside Juarez, Mexico (aka $hithole) over the past 10 years or the dozen recently found in Abq:
Padron
Rodriquez
Tinajero
De Oca
Rivera
Monarrez
Martinez
Gonzales
Garcai
Lopez
Molina
Brizuela
Alcaraz
Alberran
Enchutequi
Etc, etc, Latino/Latina ad nauseam
Check out the surnames on this site: http://www.fugitivehunter.org/index.html
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you; be careful what you wish for.
Wake up people; Lou Dobbs is the least of your worries.
And here's a list of 43 white guys and one black guy that have pretty much all had their own pet wars and/or genocides.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/
Hey vato, as much as I might wish the "white guys" were on the most wanted list, they're not, it's only your primos that are of interest.
Hopefully at least one of them will be somewhere, soon.
I can only guess that you and ricardohead are either La Raza, Southern Poverty Law Center or neoliberal operatives. Ever notice that Commondreams never seems to have a fundraising problem while Counterpunch struggles. Counterpunch seldom brings up the immigration issue and when they do it is usually much more in-depth than the emotional race-baiting that Zimet provides. The truth, my friend, is that Commondreams has been co-opted. The crowd I've grown up with, white, brown and red, are pretty much live and let live types especially here in my native New Mexico, but things have changed with the influx of these mojados. They're violent, greedy, ignorant, insular and irresponsible. There is a limit to tolerance and a physical limit to resources, don't fool yourself. All races participate.
Heh, I did once think as a neoliberal when it came to national security, but that's about it. No, I work at a progressive media watchdog, and in my off time I'm an environmental activist.
Huh, neoliberal re: economics, cheap labor and all of that.
Environmental activist huh, well back in the day I spent a fair amount of time driving around in Mexico, lots of broken glass beaches, robbed at gunpoint, bribing Federales (malta) and all that, handmade boots from Casas Grandes, sold tractor parts out of Deming to blue-eyed German-Mexicans. Never bought or smuggled drugs but would hide a case of Modelo under the seat when crossing the border at Agua Fria or Palomas.
I think I know what I'm talking about.
Neolibs also tend to be hawkish, that's what I was getting at.
And that sounds like a hell of a time, looking back at it.
As stated further above, the serious problems in Mexico are, "Thanks to Uncle Sam", while, this time, I'll add the ruling U.S. corporatocracy. This doesn't make violent criminals anywhere innocent, but the problems in Mexico nevertheless are due to U.S. "War is a Racket", that is, "War a-la Racket", and it doesn't always involve the U.S. military, albeit that has been very present in 20th century Mexican and Central American history, as well as into the 21st and continuing in it.
If the ruling corporatocracy which controls the government of the USA hadn't done the extreme damage they have done and caused in these countries of MUCH poverty, then conditions there would be very, starkly different from what they are today.
"Thanks to Uncle Sam" and the ruling corporatocracy of the USA. Note, NOT Zionism.
It's too easy of an out to blame all the problems in Mexico on the US. It's a false justification for pillage and murder, if that is the point you are trying to make. It is also an insult to those individuals there who come here and are above board. These people rushing across the border are neither saints nor villains, but they are desperate individuals out to obtain what they believe they so desperately need. And many individuals do things in desperation that they would not ordinarily do. Predatory businesses prey off that need for their own ends. They do not care the least little bit for those they exploit; they are simply a means to an end, pawns to be played and used. If you believe that this status quo is fine and dandy, then just say so. Not addressing this issue or avoiding discussing it, amounts to a kind of subterfuge in and of itself.
FALSE, in several respects. The only part you're right about is the "desperation" of these extremely poor people in Mexico and Central American countries.
It's very much the fault of the US and its corporatocracy. Otherwise, the situation in these poor countries would be tremendously better. And what I posted definitely is NO insult to the people who "illegally" come to the U.S. to try to get [needed] income for themselves and the families back home. Anyone who thinks what I posted is an insult to these people is very weak in terms of critical thought; or simply likes to superficially demonise others, which is common in the USA.
And it took compliant leaders in those countries for the U.S. and its corporatocrats to be able to achieve the pillage they attained there; often having strategically needed to make sure to replace good leaders with despots. But this only happened because the U.S. government and its corporatocrats were behind this pillagin from the start, to ... the not yet end. In some cases, it's not that the leaders were or are despots, they're sometimes just too weak; like, f.e., in Honduras, where the government, prior to the military coup in June, kept refusing to prosecute Canadian-based GoldCorp's executives, for the extremely criminal poisoning of an area of the country.
Again, this history of pillaging by the U.S. and its corporatocracy doesn't justify the violent Mexicans, but there most likely wouldn't be this violence if it hadn't been for the destruction of the economies and the corruption of the governments in Latin America, committed by the U.S. and its corporatocracy. The "law and order" there would surely have been much better, etcetera.
And who are the violent actors anyway, and, really, why do they commit this violence? What is the purpose, what do they gain from this? Could the U.S., like in many other horrible situations, be behind these violent actors, at all?
Disagree, if you wish, but it's possible for the U.S. to be really behind these violent crimes in Mexico; like the U.S. is behind a lot of extreme criminality, globally, while we just don't have this happening in overt terms; and, overt or not, there's always U.S. corporate media cover-up and propaganda of deceit. The U.S. does a lot of hellish covert ops that are then used by the U.S. political "leadership" to try to fool us into supporting the USA's (once, formerly) secret goal of expanding empire, globally. These violent crimes in Mexico are used by the U.S. to try to buttress its faux drug war, which only serves U.S. hegemony and the criminal U.S. militarised presence and covert ops in Latin American countries. www.narconews.com struck me as a fine resource for this topic.
A peaceful Mexico, f.e., would not be good for promoting the faux U.S. drug war and empire efforts down South. If drugs were being trafficked, but without any violence, conditions would be entirely (or nearly so) peaceful, then this would not be a good reality when trying to promote the faux drug war which is about or related U.S. empire expansionism (and bigotry or stupidity). It could also cause people who haven't been involved in growing the related crops and in trafficking to want to also get involved, to try to derive needed income; therefore, while the U.S. could be very much behind the violent actors of today there, they could also be wanting to frighten other people of their country from also wanting to enter the drug business. That's something the U.S. covert ops could try to brainwash those people to believe and then violently act. After all, efforts to brainwash people in hellish ways is part of modus operandi of the U.S. government and its corporatocracy.
The U.S., during the GW Bush-Cheney admin. wanted to send military forces to Mexico because, they claimed, of these very violent crimes in Mexico against innocent Mexicans. Voila, again; "opportunity" for U.S. empire.
Etcetera.
In no way is this an insult to the poverty-stricken people who migrate to the U.S. in search of jobs that will provide little compensation, but enough that these people can manage to get by with less poverty for themselves and also send some money back to families desperately needing financial help. Au contraire, they are [victims] and like I've always left very clear for my own perspective, their desperation is understandable and deserves humane compassion on our part.
You read like an thoughtless individual, therefore. And you don't explain anything more than the most superficial aspect(s) of the whole reality. Meanwhile, and without being an expert on much of anything, I try to avoid being superficial and the above is all reflective of evil ways that we [know] that the U.S. government and its corporatocrats have long been acting, globally; including in Europe, with the notorious Operation Gladio that the U.S. covertly conducted there.
The U.S. empire [is] a Beast, globally.
It's very much the fault of the US and its corporatocracy. Otherwise, the situation in these poor countries would be tremendously better.
-------------------------------
Then why has it always been so awful in India? The US is hardly involved there at all, yet in every century throughout historical time there's been at least one major famine and often more. We can blame the UK for famines during the 200 years of the Raj, but what about the ones before and since? What about the endemic, steady-state conditions of poverty and famine-like near-starvation?
I think we really must accept that not all foreign scum are puppets.
"You read like an thoughtless individual, therefore. And you don't explain anything more than the most superficial aspect(s) of the whole reality."
Wow, didn't realize you were such an expert on the whole of reality. I bow in deference to you and you're projection of me, superficial as I am.
A comment on jobs, H1 visas, outsourcing and insourcing. All three are working together to increase corporate profits and lower pay across the board. Insourcing has two prongs:
1) H1 visas, i.e., importing workers from overseas into the country to fill mostly high-tech positions and
2) Illegal immigration, which amounts to looking the other way as multitudes of low-skilled, low-wage workers cross the border to be exploited by service, construction, and other industries, and in some cases, servants for elite estates.
Regardless of the motives, all 3 prongs serve to place a downward pressure on wages, and increase unemployment. In essence our economy has been gutted. Dobbs had been addressing these issues in his program while everyone else was singing their praises. Dobbs gave them a voice too; you know, those who said how much we all were benefiting from the low prices, cheap labor, etc, etc.
Paul Craig Roberts has written some excellent articles about these issues as well (see www.counterpunch.com )
True, but Mexico is a fucked up country, and the Mexicans themselves are at least partially responsible for the situation. It ain't all the fault of the Big Bad El Norte.I'll quote Charles Bukofsky again-from his series "Notes of a Dirty Old Man:
"Mexico isn't a bad place just because its people are oppressed.
It's just a bad place."
Mexico is not a bad place. It does have its slime balls. The Federales are not so nice, and the oligarchy which rules Mexico is just as bad or worse than ours. Mexico does have a cast system, however, with the Indians on the bottom. The Mestizos who are of mixed decent generally lord it over the Indians, and resent the 'pure' people of Spanish descent. I knew some pure Mayans in Compeche who were amongst the elite of that town in so far as social status was concerned. They claimed descent from the ancient rulers.
Mexico is a complicated country, but I've always found the people very friendly. You just have to lose that American air of superiority. It also helps if you at least try and speak their language. And it's no secret in Mexico that many of its problems are caused by corporate America and our drug wars. Hell, it's no secret anywhere in Latin America. They aren't stupid you know.
I haven't been to Mexico since 1967. Maybe it's improved a lot since then, but signs point to no.I spoke decent Spanish, having studied it in college, and I'd spent some time in Spain.It was interesting to compare the two countries: Spain was somewhat backward, European-poor, and suffering from an odious dictatorship-but it was a paradise compared to Mexico, where I encountered poverty that was truly frightening, of the kill that goat, hack it up and eat it now, because you don't know where the next meal is coming from variety.This in a bogus 'revolutionary' context: Electricidad al Campesino painted on rocks in the desert-but no electricidad, and plenty of campesinos.Radio commercials extoling the virtues of "Gusano de Oro, El Mescal Nacional" and so on.It was a fucked up place, but as you noted, the people were kindly and polite, and I was invited into modest homes.A year later, the Mexican government butchered several hundred student protesters.I'm sticking with the observations of Bukovsky.
Everything you say about Mexico is true for the United States as well, including butchering student protesters. We just do it neater and cleaner. We are, after all, gringos. And the kind people are a bit fewer and further between.
When I was in often in Mexico (back in the 70s), I was invited into homes that were hovels and homes that were pretty grand. That hacked up goat was always shared, along with a few beans and tortillas. And the gentry was just as ignorant as the gentry here, but they were still very warm and hospitable. I remember a few parties in Compeche around carnival time that were pretty outrageous. I'll never forget that party food. Yum! And these people were not rich, by any means.
I'm sticking with the observations I made with my own eyes.
I think we're in basic agreement on a lot of this stuff.And I agree that we're a little slicker about how the government here goes about doing in political opponents-although some of the Black Panter Party assassinations were certainly worthy of Mexico.I gave up on The Mexican Dream a long time ago.All in all, I'd rather be in Spain-especially now, but it's unfortunately not an option for me at the moment.There's a country that's come a long way in a relatively short time.Maybe I'm naive, but the Spaniards give me hope.
I began the above post by saying, "As stated further above, the serious problems in Mexico are, ...", but that's while I loaded reader comments "newest first", instead of "oldest first", that is, in the order that they were posted. Now that I'm switching to loading them in the latter and therefore chronological order, the above post would read, "As stated further below, ..."
Funny, my months and months of time spent in Mexico have been completely different than yours. Are you sure we have the same country?
I think you are both 'right' and 'wrong' from your personal perspectives. Perhaps you visited some regions and avoided others, such as the more rural regions. Nevertheless, according to 'crime statistics,' Mexico ranks 6th highest in murders, while the US ranks 24th in murders per capita:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
Thom Hartman believes that there can be a direct correlation drawn between how 'unequal' a region is and the crime rate. I've always believed this to be true.