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Tonight I was working out and my gym was showing CNN on a monitor. Lou Dobbs' nightly rant was showing and I didn't need to actually hear the first story to be appalled. Just the title was enough. I could tell from the video that the story was on Elvira Arellano and her speaking out to the Mexican parliament regarding the US government's deportation of her. Dobb's title for the story - "Mexico's Chutzpah."
Chutzpah is a Yiddish term and there's a bit of irony in the xenophobic Dobbs show using the term. First, it means audacity, gumption, nerve, etc. It often refers to someone who does something wrong and is non-apologetic about it. Which described Dobbs to a tee. Here was a guy who built his career as a business reporter, but then was washed up in the ratings. So he re-invented himself as a populist to get ratings and acts every night like he's had these beliefs all his life.
There is also irony in choosing a Yiddish word at all. Yiddish is a language created by Jewish immigrants in central and eastern Europe and is a mixture of German, Hebrew and other languages. It was the first language of millions of Jewish immigrants to the United States at the turn of the last century. And the people who used the language were constantly attacked for their failure to learn English and speak it as their primary language. If you could transport yourself to the Lower East Side in New York 100 years ago, you would have seen Yiddish signs everywhere and heard Yiddish all around you. It was the Spanish of its day.
My other favorite thing about tonight's broadcast, by the way, was the poll at the end. Dobbs usually runs an unscientific viewer poll that is ridiculously biased in the way it is worded. And the people who are in to this show enough to bother to respond are the hardcore anti-immigrants. So the polls usually reflect results that would have made Saddam Hussein blush.
Tonight's question: "Are you outraged that the Mexican Senate supports Elvira Arellano's
claim that the United States is to blame for her deportation?" The response: 94% yes, 6% no. And the results are like this every night.
It's embarrassing. CNN used to be all about being the leading broadcast journalism organization in the country. And then it started to get whooped in the ratings by Fox and it's opinion shows. So CNN decided to blur all the lines of what is journalism and run Dobbs' nightly propaganda show. Any CNN reporter who appears on this show should really be ashamed of themselves.
Anyway, a few weeks back I started paying attention to who I was seeing
on CNN everyday and started to notice a lot of folks that appeared to
be immigrants. And I thought - "How ironic?" CNN runs the most
anti-immigrant news show on television, hosted by Mr. Dobbs. If Mr.
Dobbs really kept to his rhetoric, why is he not railing against these
immigrant job stealers?. Based on his views, shouldn't CNN insist on
hiring only American-born journalists? I feel bad for these
journalists. They probably have to be very careful about criticizing
Dobbs lest they risk the wrath of the big CNN ratings leader.
So I've decided to honor 14 CNN reporters who are part of CNN's American network and have to put up with Mr. Dobbs. There may be more, but here are folks that I've confirmed were born in other countries. They need our pity -
Christiane Amanpour - British/Iranian
Guillermo Arduino - Argentina
Matthew Chance - England
Kiran Chetry - Nepal
Michael Holmes - Australia
Lola Martinez - Spain
Octavia Nasr - Lebanon
Paula Newton - Canada
Betty Nguyen - Vietnam
Atika Shubert - Indonesia
Abbi Tatton - England
Ali Velshi - Canada
Zain Verjee - Kenya/India
Michael Ware - Australia
Harris Whitbeck - Guatemala
Rick Sanchez - Cuba
'So he re-invented himself as a populist to get ratings.'
Yeah, he couldn't possibly believe what he says. It has to be an act. You're just speculating but phrase it as a statement (which makes you look biased, even desperate). Do you even believe your statement or just think it somehow discredits Mr. Dobbs? Dobbs must be a heck of an actor if you are right!
Turnabout is fair play. In terms of profit motive, couldn't someone just as easily say that you invented yourself as a believer in open borders as part of the role of a immigration lawyer? That you say what you do just to make money? You're not exactly speaking from a position of objectivity but that doesn't stop you from accusing others of bias--or 'anti-immigrant'. Would you like to be characterized as 'anti-American worker' or a 'cheap labor hustler'?
'Mr. Siskind practices all areas of immigration law, specializing in immigration matters of the health care and technology industries.'
I don't know much else about you, but let me guess: you favor big increases in H-1B visas? If someone for limited immigration wrote an article about you, would it be fair for for them to write, 'Obviously, the reason Siskind promotes open borders is that his clients profit from imported labor. Thus, he smears anyone who even questions an unchecked policy of that kind.'
People came to Americas seeking freedom from cruel nature of european politics and society. Thereafter, the same europeans brought blacks from Africa, chinese from China and really dehumanized people of other races in the past. Later in years Americas imported knowledge. Inticed people of higher intelects to come to USA and practice. Now that even an average, but hard working people want to come to US, US citizens who are not of RED INDIAN heritage have problems dealing with it. If you go to hospitals there are masses of "foreign" doctors and nurses who will take care of you. Ohhh and there are still shortage of healthcare workers. Many of these people are children of people who came to US for better lives. One can bark at one direction and think your being a big bully and threatening at the gate. It is the same people who are watching your back when you need someone the most!!!