The SPLC Writes a Letter to CNN's Lou Dobbs

So, MikeC, your point seems to be that it is ok to be a fear-mongering racist if the people who call you on it are charlatans. Sorry, I may not agree with the tactics used by many special interest groups (conservative and liberal alike), but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let bigots like Dobbs and Horowitz off the hook.

My point is simply that I wouldn't take anything the SPLC says as gospel truth and I most certainly wouldn't put any more cash into Morris Dees' bank account.

Do you guys actually know anything about illegal immigration? Have you ever researched the impact of immigration on American society? Check the next thread. I asked a few questions. How about addressing a few of the legitimate concerns about immigration instead of just calling people names all the time or looking for the occasional, inevitable factual slip-up from media pundits like Dobbs? My goodness, you guys whine about the low quality of the debate you see at places like the Free Republic but I'm not seeing much more impressive results here.

I suggest VDare as a generally excellent and informative anti-immigration site:
http://www.vdare.com/

I also suggest Steve Sailer and ParaPundit:
http://isteve.com/
http://www.parapundit.com/

Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble distinguishing CNN from Fox News these days?

Interesting that the SPLC is on this, given their work on behalf of African Americans. Blacks have traditionally been one of the most anti-immigration groups, out of the (correct) belief that immigration lowers wages for people near the bottom of the income ladder.

Lou Dobbs is indulging in scaremongering. Leprosy is one of the least communicable infectious diseases. It requires prolonged close personal contact between people so it almost always is spread to family members, not the general public. It is also readily treatable, and does not produce the horrible disfigurements unless it is untreated over years. Unfortunately, leprosy still carries a social stigma, making it an easy way to whip up anti-immigrant fears.
It's too bad, he seems to have had credibility before he got into this nonsense. Good for the SPLC.

Income is irrelevant to this discussion. The point is that a news organization should get the facts right, and if they make a mistake, correct the mistake.

No one is saying that communicable diseases are the only issue, or even the most important issue. Yes, there are many other issues, and economic issues are somewhere in the mix of things to consider.

It is a fact that if you listen to Lou Dobbs your ears will fall off.

The SPLC is NOT an African-American advocacy group. It is an tolerance advocacy group. Yes, racism is a large part of their work, because, sadly, racism still exists. But they are involved in all forms of the problem, including hatred directed towards immigrants and gays.

But the point here is that Lou Dobbs is supposed to be a newsman.

Commentators are generally given a lot of leeway in what they say, but CNN, as a news organization, needs to step up and report the facts when one of their commentators gets them so wrong.

I think CNN does often slant the news, but not nearly as badly as does FOX, and there is hope as long as they have stuff like this: pundits clueless

I love SPLC; they are on top of every injustice.

Lou Dobbs may be wrong (7,000 cases of leprosy?), but Morris Dees is a con-artist and an opportunist, as was exposed by Harpers, in an article entitled "The Church of Morris Dees," a few years back. Here is an article from FrontPage on the SPLC worth reading.

Another good article on the SPLC.

On the other hand, the link between illegals and TB is very well documented.

Well, MikeC, I'd take your "good articles" with a grain of salt: Front Page is the publication of David Horowitz, who some consider a bigot himself. In fact, Horowitz seems to have a running battle with SPLC: SPLC "identified Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture as one of 17 right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." In response, Horowitz has been trying to discredit SPLC. Even if SPLC doesn't do everything the right way, Horowitz is the pot calling the kettle black. It appears to me that Horowitz is in the same boat as Dobbs: they are both fear-mongering bigots.

As for the "link" between TB and "illegals" - there doesn't seem to be much on pubmed (a more balanced take on the matter than the right-wing blog you cite). What I did find suggested that the sorts of restrictions favored by the likes of Dobbs and Horowitz are actually a cause of higher incidence: fear of being reported prevents illegal immigrants from seeking care in a timely fashion and increases risk of transmission. So, one could say Dobbs and Horowitz are causing more TB by creating a climate of fear.

Well, MikeC, I'd take your "good articles" with a grain of salt: Front Page is the publication of David Horowitz, who some consider a bigot himself. In fact, Horowitz seems to have a running battle with SPLC: SPLC "identified Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture as one of 17 right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." In response, Horowitz has been trying to discredit SPLC. Even if SPLC doesn't do everything the right way, Horowitz is the pot calling the kettle black. It appears to me that Horowitz is in the same boat as Dobbs: they are both fear-mongering bigots.

You don't have to take FrontPage's word for it. I would invite you to seek out the previously mentioned Harpers article. Morris Dees is a charlatan.

So, MikeC, your point seems to be that it is ok to be a fear-mongering racist if the people who call you on it are charlatans. Sorry, I may not agree with the tactics used by many special interest groups (conservative and liberal alike), but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let bigots like Dobbs and Horowitz off the hook.

thanks