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Lou Dobbs: Friend Of Illegal Immigrants Everywhere?
Lou Dobbs
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Lou Dobbs is looking at any number of possibilities for a political career, such as running for Senator from New Jersey, or even the presidency. And he would of course be running on a signature issue of...his great friendship with the Latino community, and support for amnesty for illegal immigrants, and a path to citizenship???
This does seem quite odd, for a man who made his career denouncing illegal immigrants for several years on his CNN show. But as the Wall Street Journal points out:
In a little-noticed interview Friday, Mr. Dobbs told Spanish-language network Telemundo he now supports a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair "amnesty."
"Whatever you have thought of me in the past, I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together," he said in a live interview with Telemundo's Maria Celeste.
"I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest."
Mr. Dobbs twice mentioned a possible legalization plan for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., saying at one point that "we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions."
Who is this impostor that has replaced the Lou Dobbs we all know and love -- and how much cheaper is he working?
As this video shows, however, Telemundo host Maria Celeste wasn't buying it from Dobbs, and repeatedly challenged him on a false claim that his show had made years ago, accusing illegal immigrants of spreading leprosy:
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agostage
November 25, 2009 11:23 AM
That was refreshing to watch Maria, well done.
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LonewackoDotCom3
November 25, 2009 1:49 PM in reply to agostage
Actually, Dobbs showed that Maria is a liar: she falsely claimed that Arpaio had committed civil rights violations when all that's happening now is a DOJ fishing expedition with no charges filed.
And, the WSJ isn't telling the whole truth about what Dobbs said. See the quote in context, and ask yourself why Eric Kleefeld didn't tell you that.
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LuxVeritas
November 25, 2009 11:30 AM
I figured CNN was holding his right-wing rhetoric back. This seems counter-intuitive. Somehow I doubt this new Dobbs will last. It is probably some kind of damage control to obscure how reactionary and bigoted he is.
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jenzinoh
November 25, 2009 12:17 PM in reply to LuxVeritas
It will end as soon as he decides whether or not to run for office. He's probably thinking two things: If he runs, he might need a portion of the latino vote and/or He's Lou freakin' Dobbs, it's not like this is the first time he's had foot-in-mouth desease, so this quote will get lost in the crush of all the others.
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DonDavis
November 25, 2009 11:35 AM
Lou Dobbs to Run for Prez, Address Latinos in Pig Latin
http://satiricalpolitical.com/2009/11/25/lou-dobbs-run-president-appeal-latinos/
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mattstan
November 25, 2009 12:09 PM in reply to DonDavis
Spam.
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Overreach THIS!
November 26, 2009 3:44 AM in reply to DonDavis
Spam.
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The Decider
November 25, 2009 11:40 AM
Whatever you thought of my positions in the past I can tell you that I am a left-leaning empath whose only purpose in life is to correct injustices caused by the powerful. I'm thinking of running as a democrat. --W
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CityGuy
November 26, 2009 2:00 PM in reply to The Decider
Does this mean that I can't despise you anymore? Or any less?
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dal20402
November 25, 2009 12:10 PM
Oops. Now he's done it. He still won't have any standing with the Hispanic community, and now the teabaggers won't trust him either. What a spectacle of public self-destruction.
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Savannah Evans
November 25, 2009 12:14 PM
Let me get this straight. In order to watch a buffoon like Lou Dobbs be held accountable, I have two options:
A) Watch John Stewart on a comedy channel.
B) Learn Spanish and watch Telemundo.
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jzap
November 25, 2009 12:24 PM in reply to Savannah Evans
Maybe Jon Stewart got to him? Might as well savor the moment before it wears off.
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MKSinSA
November 25, 2009 12:59 PM in reply to Savannah Evans
What we witnessed is all that old school journalism. The modern stuff that's all the rage is all holograms, Twitter and double-talking punditry.
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CN
November 25, 2009 1:57 PM in reply to Savannah Evans
Here's hoping that Maria Celeste will emigrate to the U.S. and take the job of Chuck Todd. Or Sean Hannity. Or any number of MSM wankers.
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Jen R
November 25, 2009 2:24 PM in reply to Savannah Evans
C) Listen to Democracy Now!
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midnight rambler
November 26, 2009 2:53 AM in reply to Jen R
DN is the same kind of Fox-style "advocacy journalism", except from the left. Yes there's lots of stuff that should get reported but doesn't, but there's also a lot of fearmongering and straight-up BS, which is never corrected.
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Xantar
November 25, 2009 5:11 PM in reply to Savannah Evans
Once again, Spanish-speaking people are doing the work that English-speaking Americans don't want to do.
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GregorZap
November 26, 2009 2:27 AM in reply to Xantar
PERFECT!!!
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GregorZap
November 26, 2009 2:28 AM in reply to Xantar
PERFECT!!!
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East Coast Aussie
November 26, 2009 9:03 PM in reply to Xantar
You sir, are full of win.
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slb
November 26, 2009 2:25 AM in reply to Savannah Evans
Well; Bob Garfield did a pretty good job of confronting him on things like this (in fact, that bit about the inflated leprosy numbers was one of the things that came up) in an interview that aired on NPR's "On The Media" a couple of years ago. They aired part of it again recently, after the announcement that Dobbs would be leaving CNN. Unfortunately, the program's web site seems to be down at the moment, or I would give you a link to a transcript or to the audio.
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GayIthacan
November 25, 2009 12:14 PM
I can assure that I now and have always held whatever position is required to get me enough votes to assume some position of power.
Honest!!!!
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jweb271
November 25, 2009 12:20 PM
Wow. Go Maria. That's what it sounds like when a journalist is personally offended by someone else's lies. Great stuff. Wish there were like her, taking this stuff personally instead of treating it all as some great tit for tat ratings game.
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Mr.E.
November 25, 2009 12:26 PM
Apparently Lou Dobbs has forgotten how good Jon Stewart is at hitting the tough curves, low balls and outsiders out of the park, so he invited him to play T-ball with this statement.
And it's ooooouuutttaaaheeere!
Oh wait. Stewart's on vacation this week. You tell me, a coincidence? Just like Sarah Palin rushed to announced her resignation the first day of Stewart's summer vacation, or the feds released the torture memos the first day of Stewart's vacation, or the Senate schedules its vote on health bill during Stewart's Thanksgiving vacation.
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slb
November 26, 2009 2:28 AM in reply to Mr.E.
Obviously, the scheduling of Jon Stewart's vacations needs to be made a matter of the highest level of classification!
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DancingBear
November 25, 2009 12:29 PM
No surprise here, but of course he's lying:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200705110004
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tpmgary
November 25, 2009 12:54 PM in reply to DancingBear
thanks for the link.
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tchamp77
November 25, 2009 12:31 PM
Lou's looking really small here...tired and frail.
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Lndsnark
November 25, 2009 12:33 PM
Who is this impostor that has replaced the Lou Dobbs we all know and love -- and how much cheaper is he working?
Eric: once again, you've out-snarked everyone!
... and how much did Lou pay for that new can of PR agents who told him to change his brand image? "Don't worry, those little brown people are too dumb to know what you've been saying all along."
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GregorZap
November 26, 2009 2:31 AM in reply to Lndsnark
There is so much canned crap that has spewed from his mouth, he has no chance at all, unless 26% can lead one to victory.
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LisB
November 26, 2009 2:33 AM in reply to GregorZap
26% still have a chance at recovery.
That is my fervent hope, anyway.
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LisB
November 26, 2009 2:35 AM in reply to LisB
Okay, one quarter of that 26 to 29% still have a chance at recovery...
Which gives us....um....
Oh, fuck it all.
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anonononomyous
November 25, 2009 12:41 PM
In unrelated news, Dick Cheney is opening up a war orphans children's hospital and donating the bulk of his fortune to Amnesty International
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nerox3
November 25, 2009 1:20 PM
I haven't watched Lou Dobbs in a long time but when I watched his show he always was railing against illegals not latinos in general, so I wouldn't call Lou bigoted. You can also square his current statements with previous statements if he makes the case that the backdoor route to citizenship needs to be closed by making sure illegals can't take jobs in America but that in order to not disrupt business and communities, in conjunction with a new law to stop businesses from hiring illegals there needs to be a pathway that the illegals who have put down roots here to quickly gain citizenship and enter the regular mainstream. I'm not saying he has ennunciated that distinction, and I am no apologist for his demonization of illegals (eg. leprosy)
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richard f
November 25, 2009 3:33 PM in reply to nerox3
I haven't watched Lou Dobbs in a long time but when I watched his show he always was railing against illegals not latinos in general, so I wouldn't call Lou bigoted.
Dobbs railed against all illegals (trying to be "fair" by saying he opposed any "ethnic" celebration including St. Patrick's Day) but he spent most of his air time talking about the threat from Mexico including disparaging the president of Mexico, claiming that the drug wars would spread to major American cities and, of course, making (or at least airing and agreeing) with the nonsensical leprosy claim. He is truly hated in the Latino community. My wife, born in Mexico, opened a bottle of champagne, when informed he was leaving CNN
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neesy08
November 25, 2009 1:25 PM
he is just saying that to get their votes. he must think latino's are as stupid as the people who think palin is ready to be prez
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GTFOOH
November 25, 2009 1:38 PM
Who does he think he is? Mitt Romney?
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Doc Magnus
November 25, 2009 2:02 PM
All I can say is...
VHAT???!
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Knothead Jake
November 25, 2009 2:05 PM
Well if Lou wanted to test the waters and see what initial reactions to a run for office would be like, he couldn't have picked a tougher audience than Jon Stewart and Maria Celeste. Jon made fat old Lou" play the fool" and Maria wasn't going to sit there and have Lou just flat out lie. I'm glad Maria gave him a ticket on the" Clue Train" as to his image in the Latino community. Enemy Numero Uno. Got that Lou? Numero Uno. Now Lou can go on Fox and blubber about how mean everybody is. Take your 8 Mil and retire. Is that so bad? Cranky old Fart.
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pbres
November 25, 2009 2:18 PM
Lou Dobbs: the perpetuation of idiocy in American politics.
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BronxInTN
November 25, 2009 2:26 PM
People here should give Lou Dobbs some credit. Do you think that at his age and with his physique that it is easy to do somersaults on live TV?
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ilovebacon
November 25, 2009 3:22 PM
Lou Dobbs looks like an over-thawed sausage.
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Gregwardo
November 25, 2009 4:00 PM
I met Lou at CNN when I was doing some press stuff there for work. I can fully describe him in two words:
Arrogant Tool.
That's pretty much it.
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theWalrus
November 25, 2009 5:00 PM
It too late! Dobbs has be deported...
http://tinyurl.com/ye4fmvt
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jchaus
November 25, 2009 6:16 PM
The fact that Lou Dobbs thinks of himself as presidential timber is absurd. Being on TV gives exposure, attention, status, and money. It also apparently also led Dobbs to have an exceedingly high opinion of himself. Dobbs has been a practitioner of advocate journalism. He was continuously condescending and dismissive to those who disagreed with him. I doubt he ever really engaged in entertaining the views of his opposition. He talks all day long . . . on the radio and previously on T.V. But I doubt he ever took time to really think. Any yet, this celebrity qualifies him, in his own mind, as a leader. Goodness.
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planetsean
November 25, 2009 9:05 PM
Lou, he's a less tumored McCain!
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turdbloom
November 25, 2009 9:48 PM
Dobbs's anti-immigration rant on CNN was all about ratings, and his so-called "switch" is all about votes. What a jerk!
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slb
November 26, 2009 2:40 AM in reply to turdbloom
If he would prostitute himself like that for television, what does that say about the kind of politician he would be?
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LisB
November 26, 2009 2:38 AM
I don't care what the man has to say anymore...
...he STILL looks like an Oompa Loompa, and always will.
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ubeeno
November 26, 2009 8:54 AM
Seems to me this Dobbs dude is WAY full of himself!
RT
www.complete-privacy.se.tc
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SqueakyRat
November 26, 2009 10:24 AM
Lou Dobbs looks like he won't live to the next election.
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BoogAlou
November 27, 2009 12:46 AM
Kudos to Telemundo! They show that you can have attractive young announcers who are also intelligent and have a grasp of the facts!
Most of our pretty young talking heads only have a vacuum between the ears and don't appear to have even a cursory knowledge of the subject they are covering.
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