Calling All Hatewatchers: Introducing the Dobbsy
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Today on CNN, Lou Dobbs kicks off his “Independent Convention” — his answer to the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions of the past two weeks.
We figured this would be a great time to introduce a new tongue-in-cheek award, to be given to “mainstream” figures — politicians, pundits, preachers and pedants — who make utterly false or misleading statements that have the effect of denigrating or defaming an entire group of people.
Naturally, we’re calling it the Dobbsy.
After all, who has made this kind of mainstream defamation more infamous than the man who insisted, despite a huge mountain of evidence to the contrary, that 7,000 new cases of leprosy had appeared in a recent three-year span, thanks largely to immigrants? Dobbs, of course. He even told Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes”: “If we reported it, it’s a fact.”
Dobbs did report it. But it wasn’t a fact.
Even though “60 Minutes,” The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Columbia Journalism Review, Media Matters for America, and others showed that his numbers were inflated (by a factor of about 17), he declined to retract the claim. Demonstrating that his source was an extreme-right migrant-hater with no expertise in immigration or disease failed to budge the host of “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” either. In round after media round, Dobbs refused to admit he had been wrong.
Dobbs isn’t alone, of course, in spreading misinformation in the media. That’s why we are launching the Dobbsy — because some exaggerations and falsehoods uttered by mainstream figures are simply so outrageous that they demand special recognition.
We’d like to ask our readers to join us in the search for these propagandists. Please send us your nominations, along with any links or other supporting evidence for what they said and why they’re factually wrong. We will occasionally select one of these for a Dobbsy citation and write-up, and at some point, we’ll have a grand competition in which we’ll ask readers for their help in selecting a “winner.”
To get us into the spirit of things, we reprint here a short but unforgettable extract of Dobbs’ interview with Lesley Stahl (full disclosure: I criticized Dobbs in that same “60 Minutes” segment”), which aired on May 6, 2007:
STAHL: We checked 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 involved immigrants. Now we went to try and check that number, 7,000. We can’t. Just so you know…
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?
I think that gives our intrepid readers an idea of what we’re looking for. Go out, be fruitful, and send us your findings. It won’t be long before we award the first Dobbsy. They say they don’t make up numbers. But do they?
on September 8th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I wouldn’t necessarily questioned the insanity of Lou Dobbs(even though we all seem to agree this man`s is a nut!), I would question the sanity of those who actually believe him..
He is entertaining to the point of being a called laughing stock, in my opinion.
You should definately regard him as nothing more than a demogogery king of exaggeration for the masses of xenophobes.
on September 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Before he got onto the “illegal immigrant” racist bandwagon, Lou was good at dealing with controversial issues. Now he’s probably the darling of the hate groups, so your new Dobbsy award is entirely appropriate. Thanks for being here.
on September 9th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Ethnic vehement aspersions by a well known media nutbar, must not go ignored. But instead, when questioned by prominent journalists on illegal immigration–the best thing Lou Dobbs can ever do is simply–
Run and hide…
And this is the coward the Nativists seemed so inclined to lap up to? I figured there will be a new meaning for a Dobbsy Award.
on September 10th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
So glad someone thought of us! We recently did a piece for the Huffington Post on his participation in immigrant hate group–FAIR’s–lobby days. Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....25250.html
on September 10th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I won’t take a political stand on immigration, but I do know that some day borders will be irrelevant as the world community realizes it must unite in order for peace to prevail. This is the antithesis of what many Americans believe, but if you look at history, and if you look into the future, we have a choice: unite or be destroyed. It is morally wrong to use a bully pulpit to beat down a group of people. I will say that. It’s called scapegoating and it’s something I learned well from my study of Nazism. I’m not saying Dobbs is a Nazi by any means; however, I am saying that scapegoating on a group of people has the potential to do great harm.
on September 10th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Now if Lou Dobbs is all about reporting “facts”, then surely the goof would already know that the health report given by the Dept. of Health and Human Services is accurate and a “fact” concerning leprosy in the last 30 years. None of which, nobody seems to know how many involved illegal aliens. But instead, he plays head games with Stahl by distorting the arguement which makes it so annoying to even continue listening to his shrill nonsense. So the goofball is all about hype and but no real reporting???
How dumb of Dobbs.
on September 11th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Dear Glenn Franco Simmons,
The racial/ethnic group of people that gets beaten down and scapegoated from the bully pulpit are Whites. You remember the Duke University rape case; nonsense about “White Privilege”; Obama’s remarks; Harold Myerson’s recent remark in the Washington Post; Noel Ignatiev of Harvard. The list is endless.
Wake up!
on September 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I wonder if that hypocrite Lou Dobbs is using his wife as a guise to cover up his racist demagogues???
His wife is an immigrant of Latin American descent. It makes me wonder how she could possibly fathom the derogatories her baby-faced hubby regurgitates frequently about her people, the Latin Americans???
on September 11th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Glenn Beck deserves it for his Fusion magazine cover. While I usually like Beck, he has gone too far on this one. I would not recommend buying this tripe rag because the cover is so offensive. For a self-described commentator who usually beats up on politicians and their handlers for sliming each other, this hypocrite, which we all are because none of us are perfect, has issued one of the slimiest and stinkiest hit pieces of this campaign. Before you nutty racists accuse me of Obama worship, I don’t care who becomes president. I care about human rights, including the rights of the unborn, and to make real change, hearts and minds need to be changed. Laws only go so far because laws do not change attitudes. They help, but we have to reach the hearts and minds, to change perspectives. Sometimes, it has to be confrontational because confronting issues like racism and anti-Semitism means that you have to pull out the armor.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Good point Glenn Franco. Speaking of Glenn Beck, the nut was still jabbing at Edwards from his secret affair which was uncovered by the National Enquirer and he still can’t seem to let bygones be bygones. That crap is old news and he still gloats about it.
Now what we have here is a Sarah Palin style political hypocrisies sure to make the “Oil and Sex Scandal” of the current Republitoon adminstration look “cheap”.
The stuff about Sarah Palin is getting better and better as we are getting more informed about who and what this once unknown Gov. from Alaska really is. Glenn Franco if you “care about human rights” as you mentioned. Sarah Palin`s approach on human rights concerning the Alaskan Natives is quite appalling and contradictory. I posted a link in another forum regarding this in “White Extremists infillitrating the military.” Which also I talked about how Sarah Palin tried to use her religious beliefs to garner censorship on the public library. Not much Freedom and “Human Rights” under Sarah Palin.
Who cares about John Edwards, the guy was not invited to speak at the DNC, so? The friggin spotlight should be on Palin and her hypocritical approach in politics. It is something crucial America needs to be aware of. Not John Edwards personal life, with whom Glenn Beck can’t seem to get over with. What a wackjob.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Yeah, I’ll wake up, Johnathan, funny guy. Guy who thinks racism is a self-contrived “white people’s” issue. Funny guy. You should be a comedian, Johnathan, because you are so funny. However, your comments reveal an intellectual weakness that must come from an inadequacy of proper education and relevant experience. I suggest reading a bit about history and seeing how the sinews of our racist legacies affect our contemporary society. However, I don’t expect you to be able to discern what you read, so why did I even mention it? I guess, Jonathan, because hope is eternal, even for fools like you. Funny guy.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Johnathan, remember Sarah Smith who used a racial stereotypical profile of a “crazed black kidnapper”? Well, that doesn’t mean all white people are racist. That you bring up the red herring of Duke is hilarious. Yes, you are correct, Johnathan, racism can go both ways, indeed, but in this country, it has overwhelmingly been racism against PEOPLE OF COLOR that has been the tradition. I have yet to find out about one white man who was strung up from a tree because of his color. Funny guy, Johnathan. Funny guy. You really should consider an appearance on Jay Leno. Your intellectual weakness is showing, Jon. I suggest “Critical Thinking for Dummies.”
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Great Southern Trend Kill: I won’t engage in political disputes about the presidential candidates or their running mates. I also do not remember mentioning I’ve endorsed any political party or candidates. I don’t know why you are directing Sarah Palin questions at me, unless it’s because I’m a conservative blogging here, which shows prejudicial ridicule on your part, which is repugnant. Why would you assume I even know a trifle of info about her? I really don’t because I am not following the presidential race closely. However, I do not condone any type of discrimination or prejudice. If you have determined, with facts, that a candidate has been such, then you should bring that out. I have not looked into yet, so I cannot comment on it. I will try to find what you wrote about.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Great Southern, I also do not condone the character assasination of any politicians for making mistakes, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. This is a part of media that I dislike and I should know: I’ve been in journalism since 1986.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I made a mistake. Susan Smith.
on September 11th, 2008 at 11:58 am
oh, Great Southern, I can’t read every single thing you write, and I can’t take on every single cause of human rights. Just go to Human Rights Watch, my friend, and see how many HR issues there are in the world. You are tied into the political thing, which I refuse to get trapped into. Really, check out Amnesty International or HRW. Both are listed on my blog, if you need a reference. I don’t hold you in disdain for calling out politicians who have poor human rights records, if that’s the case, which, as I said, I wouldn’t know, because I could care less about the presidential race. So don’t try pilfering your political involvement on to me, my friend. We are both fighting for human rights in our own way. That I don’t share your political fire is not a justification to mock. Nor should it be a reason I have to read all your information, especially when I believe there are so many other important HR issues throughout the world. Again, check out AI or HRW. You may be able to broaden your “human rights” horizon.