On Lou Dobbs & CNN

The Hispanic Institute (Washington, D.C.) has called for a national boycott of CNN because of commentator Lou Dobbs.

Good for the Hispanic Institute. (If I were in favor of deportations, I would put Dobbs on my list somewhere between Bush-Cheney and Fox's Bill O'Reilly.)

For a long time, I have been convinced (and have stated publicly) that the raving Dobbs is a racist xenophobe. He has spread fierce lies on his CNN program. He has avoided revealing the racist backgrounds of some of his guests and their organizations. In many an interview and many a rant, his body language and flustered tone have have made me cringe. (Good grief, the guy even wants to get rid of St. Patrick's Day. I am not kidding!)

Dobbs slices the baloney faster than any butcher in the land. He labels undocumented migrants as responsible for high crime rates, even though their rate is lower than the national average. He spreads cockeyed misinformation about the financial burdens of immigration. He has long supported and loudly praised various types of border vigilantes. And sometimes he -- ye gods, I'm actually going to quote Ronald Reagan here -- goes "Looney Tunes" by fomenting the preposterous idea that Mexico is conspiring to "re-conquer" the Southwest. In a similar vein, his program once blamed migrants for bringing leprosy into the US. (The Wikipedia article on Dobbs says that he compared the critics of his leprosy piece to "commies" and "fascists." Eventually he did disclaim the leprosy stuff.)

For abundant details on Dobbs' feverish crusading, go to the web site of the Southern Poverty Law Center: At the top right of the home page, click on "Search" and then type "Lou Dobbs" where it says "keywords."

I take no joy in promoting a boycott of CNN. They have some truly great people on the air. (One is them is a good friend of many years.) But maybe a boycott can get the CNN honchos to dump Dobbs. For his new job, he could go to Yuma as one of those citizens he calls for to replace the migrants who are picking lettuce in triple-digit weather. (There would be benefits for you, Lou -- the job doesn't require a coat and tie.)

VIVA EL BOICOTEO!