Lou Dobbs - The Minister of 'Propaganda and Enlightenment'

Before we proceed further we need to define the word: "Propaganda."

According to WikiPedia.com -- Propaganda is a type of message aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people. Often, instead of impartially providing information, propaganda can be deliberately misleading, or use fallacies, which, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid.

Propaganda techniques include -- patriotic flag-waving, glittering generalities, intentional vagueness, over simplification of complex issues, rationalization, introducing unrelated red herring issues, using appealing, simple slogans, stereotyping, testimonials from authority figures or celebrities, unstated assumptions, and encouraging readers or viewers to "jump on the bandwagon" of a particular ideology.

With that in mind, please read on.

Recently, Lou Dobbs, the anchor and managing editor of CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," held another of his so called "Broken Borders" town hall meetings, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

As expected, Mr. Dobbs, hosted a deviously choreographed meeting, in which he hand picked a "powerful" lineup of "anti-immigrant professionals," as participants -- armed with distorted "economic estimates" and monstrous fabrications, as opposed to a pittance of representation from the pro-immigration lobby -- a few Hispanic Americans, who even though well-meaning, could hardly express themselves with a level of sophistication matching that of Lou's hired right-wing "distortionists."

To ensure that the pro-immigrant participants never fully put their points across, Mr. Dobbs, on numerous occasions, cleverly cut to commercials every time a strong point was raised.

This meeting, as all the others Lou has conducted, and including his daily TV show(s), was tedious and loaded with malicious distortions and un-substantiated claims against immigrants.

"We are protecting English!," screamed Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta -- "I am doing what my community elected me to do!" "The people that are in this country illegally are draining the resources and draining budgets that are meant to be used to provide services for those that are here legally and paying taxes," said Mr. Barletta, without bothering to mention -- the fact that a big chunk of these "illegal immigrants" are paying taxes like everybody else and are also contributing to a social security system [and Medicare Insurance] that they will never benefit from as long as they stay "illegal."

One hired "expert" from the Heritage Foundation, an organization that spends much of it's money pushing "right-wing" ideas in the media, proclaimed to the gathering that legalizing 12 million "illegal immigrants" would bankrupt the United States.

Now, this is an outright lie, and by the definition of propaganda above -- this is a deliberate distortion by an "authority figure," selected, sanctioned and assigned by the "Minister" himself -- Dr. Lou Dobbs.

The United States government has spent almost five hundred billion dollars to date -- at the rate of approximately 6 billion dollars a week this year, fighting the war in Iraq ...and guess what, the most powerful economy in the world is getting even better, and actually thriving.

The so called expert from right-wing Heritage foundation never bothered to illustrate how the legalization of 12 million immigrants is going to bankrupt America, instead he resorted to spouting misleading figures, using fallacies, with which to convince the audience that his lies and distortions are factual.

"Immigrants are leaving my town in the middle of the night!," gloated Barletta, amid wild cheers by a large section of the crowd -- most likely a bunch of blood thirsty right-wingers choking with racism and bigotry. Note: The city of Hazleton is one of a couple dozen in the United States to enact racist anti-immigrant ordinances.

There was one comical moment when a thoroughly mis-informed (probably paid by Lou Dobbs) 82 year old black man, resplendently bedecked with military medals, jumped onto the stage claiming that immigrants have "stolen jobs" from his two sons in New Jersey.

For a black man, who must have experienced racial intolerance at its worst, in his early life, to stoop so low -- is hypocritical and very disturbing indeed. The causes of Black America's prolonged economic hit is not rooted in immigrants. Bill Fletcher, Jr., a long-time labor and international activist, and writer clarifies: "The emotional and hallucinatory appeal of attacking immigrants as a means of saving the Black worker is not only morally bankrupt, but it is also politically bankrupt." Read his article: "Anti Immigrant In Black Face," for more information.

To underscore the fact that Lou Dobbs is a man obsessed with the Mexican border and illegal immigration, I counted the words "illegal" and "alien" at least 30 times in his introductory speech, during which his approximation of the number of "undocumented immigrants" rose dramatically from 12 million to a "certain" 20+ million. Again and again Lou Dobbs asserted that illegal aliens are sending back to Mexico more than $20 billion in remittances per year, without equally mentioning the multi-billions of profit dollars US companies operating abroad repatriate back home by exploiting cheap labor in Mexico and the rest of the world for that matter, thus enabling U.S. consumers to purchase products and services at super-low prices.

Also, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S unemployment rate stands at 4.5% (Apr. 2007 Estimates) -- a record low in recent years, rivalling the Clinton "prosperity years," during which unemployment dropped from 7.5% to 4%.

Therefore it makes me wonder what jobs immigrants are stealing from Americans.

Although it must not be construed to constitute a valid reason to gate-crash the borders of the United States, I must note that this country is what it is -- an economic giant, to a large extent because of years of aggressive economic exploitation and extortion of the rest of the world through it's huge and greedy multi-national companies, and the tactical use of arm twisting tools like the World Bank, among many others.

Practically every third world nation has been touched by western imperialism in one way or another -- western governments have colluded with corrupt third world leaders to exploit natural resources, and have looked the other way, whenever these thieving leaders have pocketed profits, and "invested" the money back into western banks, rendering their citizens poor and helpless.

First world greed, coupled with the inability of third world nations to govern themselves effectively and the need for cheap labor[skilled and unskilled] in an aging first world population -- are a combination of factors that will always promote migration to developed nations. These excerpts from the book: If You Love This Planet, by Helen Caldicott, gives a very clear picture about how "predatory" some developed countries are to the third world.

The war in Iraq is primarily not about the "fear of terrorism," but about economic dominance -- had their been no oil in the middle east, there would never have been a war. The notion that: "We are fighting them in Iraq so that we don't fight them here," is just a propagandist "chant," meant to provide cover for what is really going on in Iraq -- "Massive Theft," and "Wanton Killing."

Over the years, every wave of immigration into the United States has faced fear and hostility, especially during times of economic hardship, political turmoil, or war:

In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of America's first immigration laws, to keep out all people of Chinese origin.

During the "Red Scare" of the 1920's, thousands of foreign-born people suspected of political radicalism were arrested and brutalized; many were deported without a hearing.

In 1942, 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were interned in camps until the end of World War II.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership," and beginning in 1990, the government paid reparations to surviving internees.

Today, immigrants especially those of Latino descent are being lambasted and labeled as thieves, crooks and illegal "disease carriers."

Even more disturbing is that some black Americans have joined the bandwagon of "Dixie White America" in incessantly using fear and misinformation, which instigates hate crimes against immigrants, especially Latinos.

The "immigrant" is almost as frightened as was the "Negro" during the peak years of racial segregation in America. Police raids are sending ripples of fear throughout immigrant communities all over the United States. Vigilantism by racist groups like the "Minutemen," is on the rise. Families are being torn apart haphazardly, and futures are being destroyed indiscriminately.

This anti-immigrant campaign is very similar to that conducted against Jews by Dr. Joseph Goebbels — "Minister for Public Enlightenment & Propaganda in Nazi Germany."

Consider the following scenarios:

1. In Nazi Germany Jews were scapegoated as the source of Germany's economic woes. In the United States, Lou Dobbs has insinuated repeatedly that the economic troubles of the "middle class" is a direct result of U.S. jobs being exported overseas and by extension -- immigrants are either stealing jobs from "middle class" directly and/or driving down wages. There is an element of truth in this assertion, but without bothering to explain the "mechanics" of this claim, Lou's over simplification results in "uninformed" contempt by his viewers of immigrants in general.

2. In Nazi Germany, audiences were continually reminded of the struggle of the Nazi Party and Germany against foreign enemies and internal enemies, especially Jews. In the present United States, Lou Dobbs always reminds his audience, that millions of foreigners and criminal illegal immigrants are running rampant in the United States, quite contrary to official statistics. He often invites "white-supremacists" and demagogue politicians from racially intolerant constituencies, as analysts and commentators in his shows -- while denouncing civil rights groups such as the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center as "despicable" and "reprehensible." The few pro-immigrant guests invited to Mr. Dobbs' shows are routinely scolded and lambasted for their stance. To stir the pot further, Mr. Dobbs' always ends his TV shows with un-scientific impromptu polls, that are always skewed and probably doctored -- maliciously presented as the view of the majority.

3. Propagandists lauded Germany as the sole defender of what they called "Western European culture" against the "Bolshevist hordes(Russians)." In this town hall meeting and as in previous ones, the issue of English as an official language came up -- the fear that English will be "replaced," by the Spanish language [...a subliminal insinuation that the white Anglo-Saxon culture in being contaminated] has been used repeatedly by Lou Dobbs and co., to drive fear up the spines of Americans.

4. Jews in Nazi Germany were branded as disease carriers, contaminants of the pure German race -- recently Lou Dobbs and despite being confronted with undisputed evidence to the contrary, maintained his claim that there have been 7,000 new cases of leprosy in the U.S. in recent years attributing the increase to "unscreened illegal immigrants." Such irresponsible utterances in mainstream media, only help to embolden hate groups -- who gather often to keep the 'Cradle of the Confederacy' safe from leprosy, pedophiles, Spanish and rampant godlessness.

In 2007, history is repeating itself.

Lou Dobbs together with a swarm of "Hyena" right-wing pundits, buoyed by evil politicians like Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Duncan Hunter of California, are playing a major role in fomenting anti-immigrant hysteria -- stroking the fires of racist extremism and fueling a dramatic growth in hate groups.

This YouTube.com video illustrates how inflammatory speech on public airwaves fosters hate and intolerance.

In the 1920's Nazi Science had just invented the "Magneto phone," the first tape recorder, which meant that their propaganda could be time-delayed, enabling them to tailor their message of hate for local consumption -- 87 years later, Lou Dobbs has access to CNN's state of art propaganda equipment -- I bet Dr. Goebbels is turning in his grave with admiration.

As far as I am concerned, any person who has lived in the United States for several years, has participated fully in the system, and has no felonious mis-deeds, belongs here and ought to be treated with some respect -- the firm stand -- "depot them all," "we are a nation of laws" -- is just a smokescreen for -- "we wish this good old USA was 100% lily white." ...a convenient tool for extortion. It is not only inhuman but also bigoted to the core.

The vicious and racist history of this country refers.

The U.S. Constitution does not give foreigners the right to enter the U.S. But once here, it protects them from discrimination based on race and national origin and from arbitrary treatment by the government.

Immigrants work and pay taxes; legal immigrants are subject to the military draft. Many immigrants have lived in this country for decades, married U.S. citizens, and raised their U.S.-citizen children. Laws that punish them violate their fundamental right to fair and equal treatment.

By "stroking and massaging" the dormant "hate genes" residing within the "nativists," Lou Dobbs and other right-wing demagogues are making the process of legislating the immigration issue immensely torturous, if not impossible.

It is therefore my opinion that, Lou Dobbs is a tactical propagandist worse than Dr. Joseph Goebbels — "Minister for Public Enlightenment & Propaganda in Nazi Germany."

The two Lous' - Dobbs and Barletta, are just two of the many "America is for us and only us" white bigots who will stop at nothing short of mass deportation of everyone who doesn't look like them, for when they fail to mention the "positives" and instead inflame and distort the "negatives," they are criminally inciting a largely "TV Educated" population, that is totally incapable of a high level of information synthesis -- they take in the lies and distortions -- hook, line and sinker!

In a country where racism is held back in check by a cordon of laws (which are not always uniformly and fairly applied), I submit that this "distortionist" adventure which CNN and Lou Dobbs are engaged in, is not only dangerous but thoroughly unfair.

This "town hall" gathering as far as I am concerned, was a "sanctioned hate meeting" -- cleverly woven into the fabric of mainstream media for profit and to promote white supremacy -- a trend perfected by Fox News, the "UnFair and Totally UnBalanced" garbage news channel.

How about getting them out of the woodwork and finding out who is who? Scaring them will drive them further underground -- making it harder to find and track the "imaginary terrorists" you fear so much!

There is a need to look at this issue intelligently, humanely and with fairness, for no one wants to be hit by Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts -- secure the borders [build a 60ft wall if that's what pleases you], but let all those who have been living in the shadows come out and be counted. You can bet the criminal ones will continue hiding, but the hard working immigrants who have roots in this country must be allowed to fulfill their dreams.

America is a nation of immigrants. Obviously, the flow of immigrants must be controlled and regulated, but we must not allow the issue to be hijacked and used to transport the racist agenda of "propagandist extortionists" like Lou Dobbs and the hateful, right wing political demagogues and bigots.

The United States Senate has taken a bold first step, and I applaud them. Hopefully a reasoned and lasting comprehensive solution will be arrived at in due course.

Reference: Just as Governor Wilson's anti-immigrant policies turned California into the bluest of Blue States, the angry, racist and xenophobic rhetoric emanating from the Republican right is turning the fastest-growing voting bloc in America against the GOP -- Writes Eleanor Clift.