November 1, 2007
Lou Dobbs vs. Gov. Spitzer: Driver's Licenses
Faithful CNN viewers like myself are pondering what's up with Lou Dobbs. At one time he was a pretty good reporter/commentator on CNN. Nowadays he's turned into what looks like a modern version of a fire-breathing, totally irrational 19th century nativist.
The man has become a single-issue polemicist. Nobody escapes him. He used to spend his airtime dealing with a variety of issues. Now he spends a good part of every show yapping and complaining about the horrors of illegal immigration.
A favorite phrase of his is "cracking down." Dobbs complains almost every day, that no one is "cracking down" on illegal immigration. Which is basically a lie. The ICE conducts raids and arrests illegal immigrants every day. But somehow Lou Dobbs' never gets the message. Or if he does get it, it doesn't register. To Dobbs, no matter what any government agency is doing or had done, it's never enough, if it was ever anything at all.
To say Dobbs is opposed to illegal immigration is an understatement. He loathes illegal immigrants; he hates them with a passion. He doesn't just oppose illegal immigration, he comes close to giving himself a heart attack on live TV when he even attempts a rational discussion about the issue. In his daily catalogue of immigration villainies, no one escapes, not ever his own reporting staff.
Discussions with his guests rapidly degenerate into insane rants. It gets so bad, that half the time nobody can make out what Dobbs is actually saying. He literally loses the ability to speak. And when that fails, personal attacks follow. Typical of what happens on his show is what happened the other day. Gov. Elliot Spitzer of New York has proposed granting driver's license to immigrants, not withstanding their status. This was all Dobbs needed. He immediately careened into his red zone. He wound up calling Spitzer every name he could safely mention on CNN. Some he could not think of because he had literally tied himself in knots. The unfortunate guest defending the governor looked visibly shaken. Dobbs got so angry he became literally speechless. It was a jaw-dropping performance.
It’s true that Gov. Spitzer wants to give DLs to immigrants regardless of status, but there’s a very good reason for that. New York state has a legitimate interest in having its drivers licensed and insured. It is better to have licensed, insured driver’s on the road than not. As it stands now. immigrants who do not have licenses drive anyway. This puts New Yorkers in danger. What Gov. Spitzer is proposing is a way to deal with that issue. There’s a reason for the policy, it’s a health and safety measure and the governor has a legitimate right to put forward that policy. But to Dobbs, to Dobbs it’s not a health and safety issue, it’s an immigration issue another sign that somehow or another illegal immigrants are not suffering enough. Dobbs is turning all every issue into an immigration one and that's totally inappropriate. At the very least, Dobbs needs a basic course in civics. States and localities have no authority over immigrants. That is a federal responsibility. Dobbs apparently has no understanding of the constitution and how it separates powers. States have the right to issue driver’s license to whomever they please. If the voters don’t like things, they can change it next election-time.Going nativist and engaging in personal attacks on Elliot Spitzer accomplishing nothing. What is needed is rational discourse and Dobbs just isn’t supplying any.
Posted 10:00 AM
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