Dobbs: I'm a populist, deal with it

[William769]

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Democratic victory last week has our political elites in both parties and in the national media squealing like stuck pigs. Way to go, America, we may be on the way.

It seems nothing frightens our free trade and pro-illegal immigration orthodoxies more than putting the common good and the national interest above dominant special interests, corporate America and, of course, our darling elites in both political parties and the media.

The Bush administration long ago took polemics and false choices to a high art form. On the issue of the war in Iraq, this administration has starkly defined our choices, until recently, as "stay the course" or "cut and run." Any critic of our conduct of this war, like me, has been declared unpatriotic. Any critic of this administration's faith-based economic policies that drive its free-trade agenda, like me, has been labeled an economic isolationist.

But now the name-calling and labeling is reaching a new level, and from all quarters. The political, business and media elites have called me a "table-thumping protectionist" because I want balanced and mutual trade, because I want this country to export as much as it imports. They've called me a racist, nativist xenophobe because, in order to win the war on terror, the war on drugs and to stop illegal immigration, I want our borders and ports secured.

Over the past week, pundits and savants of both the left and the right have been trying to simultaneously define me and the newly elected Democratic victors in the Senate and the House by accusing us of being populists. What a dirty little word. Horrifying.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/14/Dobbs.Nov15/index.html

With the left and the right hating him, he must be doing something right!

[madrchsod]

1. after reading parts of the populist speech my grandfather

gave in the western iowa farm country in early 20`s, i`d say dobbs would have fit right in.. some issues never change and there are issues now that he would have never dreamed of.

[GymGeekAus]

2. Populist my eye.

A centrist maybe. Which means 'devoid of actual political philosophy.'

There is another thread on this topic. Full of info.

[goodhue]

3. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2722920&mesg_id=2722920

[William769]

4. Thanks for the link. I missed it.

[MazeRat7]

5. A populist with a 6 figure income....hummmm thats special.

[ProgressiveFool]

6. What an ego!

Lou Dobbs Democrats indeed! :eyes:

Lou Dobbs makes an occaisional point, but he's way too full with his own self-importance to be of any real use to anybody.

[Idioteque]

7. Good for him. He's also wrong on immigration and wrong on trade liberalization.

If by "populist" he means "xenophobe" and "protectionist", then yes, he fits the bill.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Hey Lou Doobies...Gonna Sell Your Stocks???

Divest of your beloved Wall Street and stop being their water carrier? It's sure easier to blame them brown-skinned people than to call your corporate masters to task for exploiting the cheap labor and then whipping up xenophobia to cover your corporate master's greedy tracks.

Lou Doobies is a "populaist" as much as pyrite is gold. It looks it, feels it, but do the anaylsis and you see how phony it is.

Hey Lou, whatever happened to your "corruption scoreboard". That sure vanished in a hurry when your buddy Bernie Ebbers got convicted. Seems like there isn't a shread of corporate corruption going on at all...ya know, all swept under the rug real nice and lumpy. And how to keep it under that rug? Find a diversion...feign outrage and milk it for ratings. Hell, it works for Faux. Then have your "reporters" ape what you say to create a "validation" for your "populism", which is nothing more than yellow journalism that doesn't show integrity, it shows bias. But enough people are fooled, including many on DU, so the game goes on.

How we forget that Lou Doobies was the biggest cheerleader of the run-up of stocks and IPOs in the late 90's...an active participant in the fleecing of billions from duped and purposely misinformed viewers who jumped on IPOs that were nothing more than ponzi schemes for brokerage houses...waiving the "you can get rich on internet stocks" bullshit to lure money in on corporations that formed overnight on paper and were doomed to fail. He helped snooker many into these speculative games that wiped out not just those who invested, but all but killed the growing tech sector. Good going Lou.

Lou's got one hell of a good act here...and he'll keep snookering.

[quickesst]

9. Kind of funny.......

that if a thread starts out with praise for something Dobbs did that benefits the left, the thread is dominated by defenders of Dobbs. When the thread starts out in a confrontational bent, it is dominated by haters of Dobbs. Or maybe, just maybe, it's dominated by the side that lands the first punch. Hmmm. Just a simple observation and casual fan of the game. Thanks.
quickesst

[KharmaTrain]

10. Doobies Benefits The Left?

I'd like to know where his xenophobia does that.

He's claimed to be a "populist" in a way similar to what O'Reilly did. He starts out getting a few buzzwords out that gets people all churned up, but to disguise his true agenda.

Sorry, the term "populist" isn't one that is self-annointed on a spokeperson for Wall Street.

I'd agree with your observation if Doobies didn't have a history of being a corporate shill, but this is a deception that created cover for the large corporates who made Doobies a rich man and buys the commercials on his network. He's giving cover to the exploitation of the very middle class he claims he champions. You don't hear him calling out the corporations that gladly hire the "illegals" or the companies that bypass our labor laws and outsource to foreign countries to purposely screw the American worker.

Watching Doobies, I have yet to see a story on the illegal Poles or Russians or Koreans or Chinese that are in this country...in his world the only illegals are Mexicans and Hispanics.

Sadly, he and his corporate media toadies are the ones playing a game...some of us here are wise to it.

Cheers...

[William769]

11. Maybe because

illegal Poles or Russians or Koreans or Chinese that are in this country are not coming in by the hundreds of thousands.

[quickesst]

14. You must be participating ....

only in the "hate Lou Dobbs" threads. I have seen numerous posts by, yes, DU members praising Dobbs on his stand for many issues. My observation stands, regardless of whether you are aware of the posts of praise or not. Thanks.
quickesst

"Watching Doobies, I have yet to see a story on the illegal Poles or Russians or Koreans or Chinese that are in this country...in his world the only illegals are Mexicans and Hispanics."

Unless you haven't noticed, there is a difference between walking from one room to another, and swimming across a lake to get to the same room. You might actually have a point if those countries were connected physically to the US and the people of those countries were flooding by the thousands across our border. As far as I know, there are no Irish, Korean, Russian, or Poles marching in the citie's streets waving the flags of their respective countries. Being a dem and somewhat of a lefty is a great feeling. I only wish common sense and logic were a little more prevalent among the left.

[KharmaTrain]

16. Drive The Northwest Side Of Chicago On Polish Independence Day

You'll see Polish flags on everything...and nary a stich of English spoken.

For many years I worked with many ethnic groups...all hard working people who came here to find economic opportunity they couldn't in their homeland. In the late 80's and early 90's, Chicago became a magnet for thousands of Poles who headed to the U.S. in the wake of the fall of Communism. I knew many who came on temporary visas and over stayed them. In one operation I was associated with more than half the employees were undocumented Polish people who resented having to speak or learn English.

Several years ago, I had to look for home care for my aging parents. I went through various agencies who sent primarily Polish, Russian and Philipino women. I hired one woman who asked me to pay her in cash and freely admitted she was on an expired visa. Aftewards I asked the agency only to send documented workers...they never could seem to find one. I ended up working with a hospice, but I knew many who gladly paid cash under the table rather to watch over their parents or to work as handimen to avoid paying taxes.

You obviously miss the point as to the problem not being the people who come here, it's those who hire them. Without the jobs, they wouldn't have the incentive to come here...especially Mexicans who risk their lives crossing the border just to take orders at a fast food restaurant, pick the fruits and vegetables, work in the meat packing plants, mow the lawns or clean the latrines and living in the shadows while their bosses earn greater and greater profits.

[quickesst]

17. Well...

I fail to see the comparison between a celebration and a protest. You're trying to sell a crate of oranges for apples. And you are right when you say they need to go after the employers who hire them at slave wages. Something by the way that Lou Dobbs covered last night, and many evenings prior. To compare our situation with Mexico to our situation with the other countries you named is not going to pass the smell test if one uses what I have suggested before. Logic and common sense. Thanks.
quickesst

[KharmaTrain]

19. Has Doobs Cited Companies The Hire Illegals?

I mean citing them by name? Listing farms or factories or retailers who hire these people? Has he advocated huge fines on these companies if they're caught with undocumented workers or are they slapped on the hands and it's "back to business"?

The OP here was how Doobies claims he's a populist. Sorry, he's as corporate as it comes and any fight he's doing for the "middle class" is with the bottom line in mind.

Regarding that protest...there were many LEGAL American citizens participating in those protests. Also celebration or protest it means nothing...illegals are illegals and I see you now have backed off the from your original assumption that its only Mexicans who are illegals.

This is a problem, but it's also a political football. We are't hearing Doobies talk about how we could improve the conditions inside Mexico if his beloved corporates would offer the same wages and benefits to workers there than they would an American worker. There's no mention of taxing the large corproations on those off shore profits with the money going to offset the costs they claim are incurring.

Picking on Mexicans or demonizing them is an old chestnut in this country's racist past. Singling out one group of people while ignoring others is also unfair discrimination. It's bad enough Doobies calls the People's Republic of China "Red China"...a name I thought that was relegated to the cold war ash heep.

Don't attempt to condsecend with that "logic and common sense" nonsense. Seems more like you're into playing strawman games rather than discuss. I've cited specific instances I've experienced. Not something fed to me off a TV show that glorifies corporate America and uses this to cover up the real mess these corporations have done to our country through their greed. Lou Doobies is no populist...he only plays one...and a self-proclaimed one.

Peace...

[stepnw1f]

21. Exactly (nt)

[LoZoccolo]

23. I've seen this dynamic with lots of topics.

I think it's often that one side doesn't see the point in trying to convince the other.

[donsu]

12. his first thoughts are to keeping his well paid job, which means he

talks about and features subjects that will garner the most watchers and comments

he hides his misogyny

[GymGeekAus]

13. He should have said "I'm a Careerist, deal with it!"

'nuff said.

[quickesst]

15. Watched Dobbs .....

last night, and I can tell you that any one of the Dobbs haters here wouldn't stand a chance in a debate on immigration with him, which by the way, he covered last night, including cracking down on employers that hire illegal aliens. Gee, he makes a decent salary. Well, so does KO, so he must be hiding his true nature in his broadcasts. Amusing. Thanks.
quickesst

[T Town Jake]

18. Excellent post.

:thumbsup:

[Shakespeare]

22. Oh, I'm a "Dobbs hater" because I can spot a bigot when I see one?

I don't think so. It's possible to have an intelligent debate on immigration without villifying people of other races. Dobbs is as nasty as they come:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/eviatar

[Shakespeare]

20. Dobbs is a bigot and a xenophobe.

And that makes him despicable in my book.