Hispanic Congressmen Demand Corporate Action Against CNN Host

The anti-immigration views of CNN host Lou Dobbs have made him a darling in the ratings but a nemesis among US Latinos, whose frustration has risen to the Washington corridors of power.

After their requests for a meeting with the chief executive of CNN’s parent company were rebuffed, Latino members of Congress condemned the TV network for failing to recognise the “potentially dangerous” consequences of Dobbs’s “divisive commentary”.

Dobbs has become a sensation thanks to his populist outbursts against undocumented immigrants, whom he calls “aliens” and accuses of “invading” America to steal jobs.

The TV host also has targeted the Democratic presidential candidates, naming one segment “Hillary’s hypocrisy” and describing Barack Obama’s endorsement by Latino governor and former Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson as “pandering to ethnocentric special interests”.

Joe Baca, the chairman of the congressional Hispanic caucus, told the Guardian that CNN’s parent company should be held accountable for the content of programmes the network airs.

“Words matter and words have power. One-sided rhetoric can lead other programs to cite opinions as fact and adopt polarising word choices as the standard,” Baca, whose caucus is influential within the Democratic party, said.

Baca and Latino senator Robert Menendez, a close ally of Hillary Clinton, said they were “deeply offended” by the lack of response from Time Warner, which owns CNN, to their criticism of Dobbs.

“It is additionally offensive that you [failed to respond] on a topic as important and sensitive as your company’s treatment and portrayal of Latinos in this country,” the two members of Congress wrote to Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes last week.

Despite its political clout, the Hispanic caucus is unlikely to succeed in reining in the popular Dobbs. The president of CNN offered Baca and Menendez a meeting but noted that Time Warner “never interferes with the editorial decision-making of its news operations”.

Earlier this month, Dobbs’s televised criticism of Pope Benedict XVI for urging the US to adopt a compassionate immigration policy - which the host dubbed “bad manners” - sparked the ire of Catholic groups on both the left and right but brought no ramifications.

La Raza, a grassroots Latino group, also launched a campaign earlier this year called We Can Stop the Hate, attempting to curb anti-immigration TV hosts’ misinformation and aggression.

However, the Hispanic caucus has a record of successfully pressing for greater deference to their concerns in the media. Filmmaker Ken Burns agreed to add recognition of Latino soldiers to his World War II documentary, The War, after meeting with Hispanic members of Congress last year.

– Elana Schor

Popularity: 1% [?]

Freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is guaranteed to all Americans. Since 1920.

If it wasn’t for strong-willed men like Lou Dobbs (CNN) Americans would be pushed to the back of the line, to the high priorities that illegal aliens get from our tainted politicians. The globalist open border, free traders have already corrupted both parties, including the destruction of soverign nations in the European Union. There ominous agenda of the free marketeers, the free movement of cheap labor throughout the North American Continent.

Without Mr. Dobbs a three thinker and Independant populist, his broadcasts have warned the unaware American public of the illegal occupation of our nation. The unfair, badly negotiated free trade treaties, that have been a one sided affair with massive consequences on the US economy.

We have the agenda of the globalist, open border, free traders pushing for the free movement of cheap labor throughout the North American Continent Padlocks on closed premises reveal that thousands of American industries have closed down, because they cannot compete with cheap labor in other countries, because of this ugly treaty called NAFTA. The only people who appreciate the one-sided outcome of the free trade agreements are the wealthy, its not the hundreds of thousands of US citizen workers unemployed. Fair and harmonious free trade is good for the country, but not when this nation is paying 15% percent duty on importing goods into Mexico. Our country has been inundated with imported cheap labor of the illegal alien variety, that is not taking just unskilled jobs, but now have upgraded to more skilled work. This it is because its cheaper to hire illegal labor, no questions asked; no consequences at this time. Millions of good paying jobs have been sent to third world countries, where cheap labor are exploited and American laws have no influence. Whereas the cheap good are returned to our nation of poor quality, incomparable to American manufactured goods.

The explosive rise in our nation’s trade deficit is another fundamental menace to this country and our economy. The trade deficit through the first 11 months of last year came in at $662 billion dollars, on pace to jump 17 percent from 2004’s record deficit. In fact, the trade deficit has nearly doubled since the president Bush took office.

First we need to get our own citizens hired, instead of the 12 to 30 million foreign nationals that is catastrophic to our economy. Now right now, we need THE SAVE ACT. We need to remove by deportation or ATTRITION people who broke our immigration laws. Originally laughed at the super Mexican-Canadian highway was envisioned as a conspiracy theory. Ask the Texas land owners who have been holding town hall meetings and demonstrations against TXDOT. The NAFTA highway is to streamline goods across America, for Communist Chinese institutions like Walmart to speed their 18 wheelers of cheap inferior goods.

I have watched and listened to these south of the border aliens and their tongues are tied in the middle and loose at both ends. I agree with Lou Dobbs and I suggest the aliens take their rear end back where they came from.