Last week’s CNN “Latinos in America” special provided a thought-provoking look into Latino culture in the U.S. Nevertheless, the network has drawn intense criticism over the rhetoric of political commentator Lou Dobbs. (Perhaps this is why any mention of him was excluded from the “Latinos in America” program).
Latino groups have been especially critical of Dobbs yet he has also been recently blasted by a pair of commentators from the rival Fox networks. Rumor has it that Dobbs is a “potential hire for the Fox Business Network”, yet one of the channel’s reporters- John Stossel- said that he would not “subscribe to the ‘Lou Dobbs-kind of rants about immigrants wrecking America.’” (Dobbs’ reply was to deny the allegations and call Stossel a “self-important ass”).
The latest missive came from Fox News host Geraldo Rivera who criticed Dobbs and the “inflammatory” rhetoric of anti-immigration pundits:
Dobbs retaliated yesterday against Rivera’s words but he also appears to be cracking under the increased pressure and lashed out against all his detractors:
I’m just still fuming over something that Geraldo Rivera said. I shouldn’t let — This guy is nothing but a fiction of his own imagination and a figment of whatever he sees in the mirror. But, I gotta tell you — the guy is so annoying. I should not let people get to me like this, but you know what? I’m starting to get short of patience with them. – [ed. Emphasis mine]Dobbs’ supporters may claim that he’s being unfairly targeted but he has often fallen in the trap of exaggeration, misinformation, and distortions that other commentators on both sides of the political spectrum have also done. Regardless of one’s ideological and political perspectives, should those aspects be allowed in a commentator as prominent as Dobbs?
What do you think?
Online Sources- CBS News, Think Progress, YouTube, New York Times, Fox Business Network, LAHT
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