Dobbs: Raising hackles and a sense

of outrage across the United States

El Tiempo, Colombia

CNN Ought to 'Confine' Lou Dobbs

"My aim is to present the facts so that you can decide what seems more idiotic, Spitzer’s proposal or the diatribe of Lou Dobbs? I have no doubts."

By Sergio Muñoz Bata

Translated By Virginia Gillenwater

October 30, 2007

Colombia - El Tiempo - Original Article (Spanish)

More or less a month ago, the governor of the State of New York, Eliot Spitzer, announced that for reasons of public safety, he would permit the one million undocumented workers living there to apply for a driver license.

Furious about Spitzer’s announcement, CNN news announcer Lou Dobbs - whose anti-immigrant phobia seems to have no bounds - began a ferocious daily campaign against the governor’s proposal. The confrontation turned personal when forgetting himself, Dobbs called Spitzer an “idiot,” and invited him to a debate.

The governor’s office issued a terse statement declining the invitation, writing that Dobbs “has demonstrated quite clearly that he isn't interested in serious debate.” A more than reasonable response given the bellicose nature of the TV broadcaster.

The issue, however, is not the insolence of a man who uses xenophobic, protectionist, anti-immigrant messages against Latin American countries to affirm his vulgar patriotism. The issue is the strength of Spitzer's argument that denying a driver's license to undocumented immigrants is an affront to public safety.

Your first consideration is that in New York State, there are over a million people that can't obtain a driver’s license because they're in the U.S. illegally. And yet they drive from their homes to work and back every day. What's more, the federal government hasn’t the capacity to deport them nor will they leave voluntarily. If anything, the numbers illegal immigrants will continue to rise due to the increasing demand for their services.

Confronting this situation, Spitzer asked the question: What should the authorities do? Will it help to discuss whether it's good or bad that they’re here? Or is the real problem that a million people are prevented from learning the rules of the road, passing a written exam and driver's test and taking out car insurance? Wouldn’t it be more prudent in terms of public safety, to photograph them, know where they live and what they do?

This week, Spitzer announced that in addition to continuing with his plan to license the undocumented, he will adopt federal government recommendations to issue another license to serve as an identity card and a third card, which would allow the holder to cross the Canadian border.

In California, State Senator Gil Cedillo - who has for many years been an attorney for the cause - has drafted a bill similar to Spitzer’s proposal, but easier. He proposes issuing a license that meets federal ID requirements and another that could be another color, which would serve only as a driver's license.

The virtue of Cedilla's proposal is that opting for the driver's license won't include information about the migratory status of the applicant. A citizen with valid ID, for example a passport, could opt for this driver's license, although it wouldn't serve as form of identification.

As one can appreciate, the subject has many levels and can be seen from many angles. In any case, my aim is to present the facts so that you can decide what seems more idiotic, Spitzer’s proposal or the diatribe of Lou Dobbs? I have no doubts.

What I find unacceptable is that CNN permits an obsessed man like Lou Dobbs to participate in news coverage that demands impartial, objective, non-partisan journalists, as do for example, elections. CNN should confine Dobbs to a program called The Hour of Chauvinism, because this would help us all distinguish between reason and its absence.

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