Lou Dobbs and Howard Beale
Is it just me, or does anyone else sense that, after years of being moderately normal on the air, someone took Lou Dobbs into the back room a few years ago and changed his outlook on life in a manner similar to Arthur Jensen taking Howard Beale aside in the movie Network? He really seems to have turned into the first prophet of the secular religion of xenophobia and racial purity, much the same way that Howard Beale spread the religion of corporate feudalism before the network finally had to "take him out" for poor ratings.
Ironman:
You're not alone, although I would more describe Dobbs' transition as being something more like a strategically oriented repositioning - the kind of change in direction you get after doing a SWOT-style analysis in a mediocre MBA program. Probably needed to fit back in at CNN given the erosion of the conservative and independent members of its audience while he was off running Space.com and the vacuum left behind by Pat Buchanan after he stopped being a CNN regular.
Then again, I promoted him to President earlier today in a satirical piece.
April 24, 2007, 9:52 pmRex Pjesky:
I happened to watch Lou last night for five minutes and became so filled with rage you would have thought my alma mater was losing a football game.
Lou Dobbs is the primary conspirator in the "middle class crunch" notion.
April 25, 2007, 5:00 amIronman:
It would seem that I'm not the only one who sees the Dobbs-Buchanan "philosophical" connection - the Skeptical Optimist has picked up on it as well.
April 25, 2007, 6:37 amMike Hunt:
I was going to state the same thing as Rex. After the urging of a friend I attempted to read War on the Middle Class. I got 1/8th of the way through it before I couldn't take anymore. I've never read such a contradicting, un-substantiated BS puff-piece before in my life. And I've read the KKK newsletters they deposit in my neighborhood before.
April 25, 2007, 11:43 amJames:
I agree also. Most of these talking heads on television just annoy me (even Rush Limbaugh is merely an irritant). But Lou Dobbs enrages me. In part that's becaus my students (I'm a college prof) keep repeating this "the middle class is losing ground as the American economy continues to decline" mantra.
When I point out that (a) my children have far more toys and clothes than I did as a kid because those things are so much cheaper now, and (b) as of April 2007 the U.S. unemployment rate was about 4%, they just don't get it.
Because Lou sounds so damn sincere! He cares so damn much! For some reason doom-and-gloom is always more compelling than good news (e.g., read the headlines in the paper), and Lou Dobbs has clearly realized this.
May 10, 2007, 11:12 am