Lou Dobbs, "Advocacy" Journalist?

Lesley Stahl Interviews The Outspoken CNN Anchor On "60 Minutes"

(CBS)  Dobbs says he's actually for immigration, and that his focus—almost every night—is on illegals and how the government isn't securing our borders.

"Let me ask you about repeating the same topics over and over. Do you does your audience ever get tired of it?" Stahl asks.

"It's interesting you say repeating it," Dobbs remarks.

"Yeah. Over and over," Stahl says.

"I consider it thorough and on-going," Dobbs replies.

It does appear he is hitting a nerve. Dobbs gets 2,000 e-mails a day. He’s a new kind of anchorman, less Walter Cronkite than Bill O'Reilly.

Dobbs has described himself as a populist. Asked what he means by that, he says, "An anti-elitist."

Dobbs grew up as far from the centers of power as you can get: in rural Texas and Idaho. He says the family was poor; he picked beans alongside migrant workers in the summers. But he did well in school and ended up going to Harvard University.

"That must've been culture shock, to say the very least. Did the kids make fun of your accent?" Stahl asks.

"I wore cowboy boots, I wore my jeans, I was going to be who the hell I was and as a result, some folks made fun of me," Dobbs recalls.

One day in class a professor asked him where he was from. "And the professor said, 'Idaho?' And he lifted his eyebrows and said, 'Mr. Dobbs, that's the cultural wasteland of America,'" Dobbs remembers. "And the truth of the matter is, he had me pretty well pegged, but he didn't have to say it out loud. You know."

One thing's for sure: Dobbs never left that farm-boy behind. He lives on a 300 acre farm in New Jersey and commutes three hours a day—every day—to and from CNN in New York.

"Are you a gentleman farmer? Is that the right expression?" Stahl asks Dobbs, during a walk on his farm.

"Well, the word would be half-ass farmer," Dobbs says.

The farm is sort of a compound. He lives there with 25 horses, four dogs, a cat, his wife, his 97-year-old mother, and his wife’s parents, the in-laws.

Dobbs met his wife Debi at CNN when she was a sportscaster; they've been married 25 years. "He’s a small-town boy, country boy. He used to say he was a country boy who's been to the big city," she says.

Dobbs' wife acknowledges her husband is an incredibly tough debater. Asked if she ever wins arguments with her husband, she tells Stahl, "Do I ever win? Of course, Lesley. … Most of ‘em."

But she says she tends to agree with what Lou says on his show.

"You never watch him and call him on the phone or wait till he gets home and say, 'Now Lou, tonight you just went too far?'" Stahl asks.

"We do discuss the show. But in terms of going too far, no. Usually, I'll say, 'You didn't go far enough,'" Debi Dobbs says.

There are many who do think Dobbs goes too far. He has become such a scold on the subject of illegal immigration, comedians like Stephen Colbert have teased him about it.

"How do you like our fence?" Colbert asked Dobbs during an appearance on "The Colbert Report," while showing off a prop fence.

"It's very impressive. And better than some of the fence along our border now," Dobbs replied.

"I'm a border fence fan," Colbert said. "I just think we haven’t done enough. …Flaming trenches filled with fire-proof... No. No. No. Lou."

But there's little humor on Dobbs' show, with his assaults on the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, who he says are endangering the American way of life.

"Several states are trying to restrict illegal immigration by curtailing access to social services," Stahl remarks.

"I happen to think that it is necessary, given the fact that the federal government won’t control immigration and won’t control our borders," Dobbs says.

"But if you cut off the social, health services, things like that, education … for the kids, do you create a whole other crisis if you do that?" Stahl asks.

"Medical services, no one wants to end," Dobbs says. "But going to food stamps, should taxpayers be paying for food stamps? Should taxpayers be burdened with schools that are overcrowded? Their children therefore are being denied education. Those are very serious issues."

[bbbobbbb]

Every year 36000 people in the USA die from the flue so why is the news media tring to panic the people??????

[santeeca]

Dear ACJohne5
Back in the day, it wasn't that easy and they waited years to come here. As I said it would never had occured to them to break our laws to obtain the dream they held so long.

All I know is we cannot absorb everyone who wish to come here. We need to be more discriminate to those that wish to come as does Canada, England, and Australia. I know that amnesty was given before for the same excuses given today. What happened when amnesty was given - it encouraged more for illegal immigration. And with anmnesty the illegals and their supporters are demanding that the whole family be allowed to come here. Not just husband, wife, children, but grandparents, cousins, inlaws etc. Now how absurd is that?

Our ERs and our schools are overcrowded, our children are being cheated when the teachers must make allowances for those that do not speak English, millions spent on "Spanish" ballots and most everything having to do with government services.

Give amnesty now - when will it stop? More will come and in a year or two amnesty will be demanded again.

One other thing, there was a report from a city in Texas saying the citizens of the border towns in Mexico are sending their children to our schools. Just another example of their lack of respect for our country and their feeling of entitlement to the benefits of this country.

No, I am sorry. Enough is enough.

[santeeca]

Dear ACJohne5
Back in the day, it wasn't that easy and they waited years to come here. As I said it would never had occured to them to break our laws to obtain the dream they held so long.

All I know is we cannot absorb everyone who wish to come here. We need to be more discriminate to those that wish to come as does Canada, England, and Australia. I know that amnesty was given before for the same excuses given today. What happened when amnesty was given - it encouraged more for illegal immigration. And with anmnesty the illegals and their supporters are demanding that the whole family be allowed to come here. Not just husband, wife, children, but grandparents, cousins, inlaws etc. Now how absurd is that?

Our ERs and our schools are overcrowded, our children are being cheated when the teachers must make allowances for those that do not speak English, millions spent on "Spanish" ballots and most everything having to do with government services.

Give amnesty now - when will it stop? More will come and in a year or two amnesty will be demanded again.

One other thing, there was a report from a city in Texas saying the citizens of the border towns in Mexico are sending their children to our schools. Just another example of their lack of respect for our country and their feeling of entitlement to the benefits of this country.

No, I am sorry. Enough is enough.

[mrged]

I BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE TENS OF MILLIONS WHO WATCH THE LOU DOBBS SHOW WHO EITHER NEED THE GED OR WHOSE CHILDREN OR NEIGHBORS CHILDREN NEED THE GED AND LOU DOBBS IS NOT HELPING THEM. THERE ARE EVEN A MILLION OR MORE OF THOSE PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE CLASS, TOO, WHO MUST WONDER WHY THERE IS NO HELP FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND NEIGHBORS.

MARTIN N. DANENBERG
7 BLAZER DRIVE
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK 11749
631-348-1341
[e-mail]
www.ahorre.com/ged
www.geocities.com/gedhotline




Profesor Martin Dane

[bren4824]

The US cannot take in the world. These people are not starving refugees, they are opportunists. There are millions of people throughout the world who are trying to come into this country through the proper, legal process. The illegals should NOT be rewarded for coming here illegally, while those who are trying to come in through the proper process are sent to the back of the line!!

We need to lift the welcome mats so that the illegals leave on their own and continue with the arrests and deportations. We don't want to break up families, so it is very important that the illegals take their children with them---or leave them with legal family members or friends. If a US citizen commits a crime, what happens to their children--there are no exceptions or special accommodations made for these people. The illegals put their children in this situation, not the US or US citizens. They knew that there was a chance that this day would come, but it did not seem to matter to them.

[bren4824]

acjohne:

if we had 12 million more taxpayers would'nt it be better .also if we had them pay fines."

These people will NEVER pay more into the system than they take out. Most have only an 8th grade education and continue to live here as they did in their native lands such as Mexico and other Latino/Hispanic nations (over 75% of the illegals are coming from those countries, with over 57% coming from Mexico alone)---having 3-10 kids that they cannot afford. The IRS will be sending them Earned Income Credit checks based on their income and family size, they will not be paying into the system.

If the 20+ million illegals are given amnesty (which is the more accurate number based on how many are getting across the border each day), they will then be able to bring in their family members (known as chain migration). This is going to turn the 20 million into 40 million in no time.

At this point, ALL of these people will become eligible for ALL social benefits----welfare, WIC, foodstamps, low-income housing, medical assistance, Social Security, etc. If they are still having 3-10 kids that they cannot afford, who do you think is going to pay for all of these social programs---it will be the working, tax paying citizens, that's who!!

Our country will not survive this, and will be pushed into 3rd world status in no time!!! Imagine what kind of country you are leaving for your children and grandchidren.

[bren4824]

Cooksy:

Nobody is going to have to "find them" in order for them to leave. If they welcome mat is lifted, they will leave on their own.

If proof of citizenship is required for all employmnent and social benefits---welfare, foodstamps, WIC, medical assistance, education, housing, etc.----they will not be able to get any of these things. Therefore, there will be no benefit to them to be here, they will begin to self deport and will discontinue coming.

If the government said---we are giving all illegals 6 months to get out of the country---and after that 6 months someone is caught in the country illegally they will get an automatic 6 months in jail, you can guarantee that they will begin to leave on their own as well.

If illegals are caught in the country 2 or more times---they should get an automatic 1-3 years.

If the welcome mat for the illegals is lifted, they will NOT be here.

[bren4824]

Cooksy:

Nobody is going to have to "find them" in order for them to leave. If they welcome mat is lifted, they will leave on their own.

If proof of citizenship is required for all employmnent and social benefits---welfare, foodstamps, WIC, medical assistance, education, housing, etc.----they will not be able to get any of these things. Therefore, there will be no benefit to them to be here, they will begin to self deport and will discontinue coming.

If the government said---we are giving all illegals 6 months to get out of the country---and after that 6 months someone is caught in the country illegally they will get an automatic 6 months in jail, you can guarantee that they will begin to leave on their own as well.

If illegals are caught in the country 2 or more times---they should get an automatic 1-3 years.

If the welcome mat for the illegals is lifted, they will NOT be here.

[john lie]

dear SANTEECA,
your right my comment of lou dobbs living on 300 acres is not fair.i'm just glad to hear from someone who is not prejudiced and tries to come up with a solution for this problem.
you mentioned that your grandparents came over to this great country searching for a better future for their families;well that is the same reason these people are here.they don't depend on the gov to take care of them .(maybe a small % but that will allways be the case)
but thats why i propose to document them pay fines,back taxes etc.then they won't be a burden on the american taxpayers ;they will be just like u and i.but why are some people so against that? is there not enough room in this country for everyone ?
back in the day your grandparents had an easier time emigrating legally because the # were much smaller and processing much quicker.today it's a large backlog of applicant's so these people are desperate and decide to break the law and risk their lives searching for a better future.
now that does not make it right but they are already here and +12 million of them
so now what to do ? we know they broke the law and all that (this is for people that keep mentioning that "they broke the law"as their argument,and next "send them all back")
ok we know they broke the law,so what do we do now.if we had 12 million more taxpayers would'nt it be better .also if we had them pay fines say$5000 each maybe we could get some of the money back we spent in iraq

[chesteena]

Dear gatogus and gretchen1234: you 2 are ignorant, uninformed nitwits; just change your names to 'frick and frack'and shutup!

[thepopulist1]

Lou Dobbs is the only Honest reporter we have. He says the things that none rest of these bought off *** have the balls to say. I started my blog, because of watching Lou Dobbs. He is the voice of Populism in the 21 century.

-Chuck Adkins
Editor-in-Chief
The Populist
http://thepopulistblog.com

[chesteena]

When I listen to Lou Dobbs, I can be positively, absolutely sure of one thing: I WILL NOT hear any news about Paris Hilton or Anna Nicole Smith. THANK GOD!!

[cooksy-2009]

The thing that just urks me more than anything else, is people saying can we catch them all and send them home, we can't find them, do you know where they are, do you know who they are, but yet in the same breathe they say they are not causing the crime, they are not causing the disease, they are not depleating our welfare system, they are not causing the closing of hospitals or taking jobs away from Americans, they are not drinking and driving illegally in this country. If you don't know who they are or where they are, how can you be so sure all the above is not true. I say cut off all forms of Social Services to anyone who is not a NATUALIZED AMERICAN CITIZEN, with the exception of Medical services for Emergencies only and see what happens from there. Just remember GOD will provide for them.

[santeeca]

acjohne5 - Mr. Dobbs hasn't always lived on 300 acres. He worked hard, put himself through school, etc. to get where he is. So you best get your facts straight.

My grandparents waited years to come here legally to escape proverty and an authoritarian government . They came with nothing, didn't know English, and with one hope in mind to make a better life for themselves and their children (the American dream). They didn't depend on our government to provide for them, teach them English, provide free medical care, food stamps, etc. They worked and worked hard, taught themselves English, worked many jobs to put their children through school. They instilled in their children that hard work, honesty,integrity, and love of this country and its laws were essential to have better lives.

Legal immigration has made this country great. However, we have become of country of citizens that feel the government should take care of them in every aspect of their lives. We cannot absorb all who come here especially those who come illegally. We have immigration laws that compared to the rest of the world are so lenient it boggles the mind. The U.S. absorbed over a million legal immigrants a year, more than most countries put together. We must enforce our laws especially our immigration laws and rewarding lawbreakers is unacceptable.

[stinsonwiu]

Lesley Stahl your interview with Lou Dobbs was insightful. The term you used was advocacy journalist and asked if he were misleading people by saying his program was a news show. You of all people show be captioned as a advocacy journalist, you are that by the nature of your question, you are not unbiased, you are disingenuous when asking questions, Your bias comes through and you should be exposed for what you are. Just review your tapes for the question you asked people that you are afraid of, or want to be politically correct, you asked different type questions and then you can really tell those that you feel you can pile on. I feel bad for you, but if it walks like a duck ..... Be fair, ask me, your not.

[stinsonwiu]

Lesley Stahl your interview with Lou Dobbs was insightful. The term you used was advocacy journalist and asked if he were misleading people by saying his program was a news show. You of all people show be captioned as a advocacy journalist, you are that by the nature of your question, you are not unbiased, you are disingenuous when asking questions, Your bias comes through and you should be exposed for what you are. Just review your tapes for the question you asked people that you are afraid of, or want to be politically correct, you asked different type questions and then you can really tell those that you feel you can pile on. I feel bad for you, but if it walks like a duck ..... Be fair, ask me, your not.

[stinsonwiu]

Lesley Stahl your interview with Lou Dobbs was insightful. The term you used was advocacy journalist and asked if he were misleading people by saying his program was a news show. You of all people show be captioned as a advocacy journalist, you are that by the nature of your question, you are not unbiased, you are disingenuous when asking questions, Your bias comes through and you should be exposed for what you are. Just review your tapes for the question you asked people that you are afraid of, or want to be politically correct, you asked different type questions and then you can really tell those that you feel you can pile on. I feel bad for you, but if it walks like a duck ..... Be fair, ask me, your not.

[stinsonwiu]

Lesley Stahl your interview with Lou Dobbs was insightful. The term you used was advocacy journalist and asked if he were misleading people by saying his program was a news show. You of all people show be captioned as a advocacy journalist, you are that by the nature of your question, you are not unbiased, you are disingenuous when asking questions, Your bias comes through and you should be exposed for what you are. Just review your tapes for the question you asked people that you are afraid of, or want to be politically correct, you asked different type questions and then you can really tell those that you feel you can pile on. I feel bad for you, but if it walks like a duck ..... Be fair, ask me, your not.

[chesteena]

I think Lou Dobbs is the smartest man on television. I was DELIGHTED to see a story with some information on his life away from CNN. He is a remarkable man and I NEVER miss his Daily News report; thank God, CBS has now given him a forum on their Early Morning show. Lou is one man/reporter who genuinely cares about this country and how it seems to be going in reverse. I agree with every point he makes, and he has the most diverse guests whom he allows to express their differing views without interruption, unlike some 'blow-hards' [o'reilly] who are dazzled by the sound of their own voices. Actually, his name shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence with o'reilly. Lou is a gentleman who eloquently expresses how much he cares for America and the people who have made it great. I didn't care for the way Leslie Stahl handled this interview, but bringing Lou Dobbs onto the Early Morning show is a GREAT idea.

[t30231]

Deuteronomy 26
12 "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,


Your tithe is in the THIRD year, which is the year of tithing and it is to be given to the poor, needy. Because our churches are to support our poor. Not the Federal Government. These Federal programs are set up to protect the government not the people. The welfare system is a scam and this is why our country is being flooded by illegal immigration. It is for the federal monies being given to everyone. If the Churches had to support the poor and needy, you would see just how real the church is as far as what God refers to as a body of the church.

Federal monies should have nothing to do with the churches. We can't have both. We should not fund the churches with 503c monies and have Welfare too. It is one or the other. If you know how many people I have known who have gone to churches needing help and recieved nothing because they did not belong to thier church and how some churches do not even have a food program for any one but thier own members. You would change your mind on how much importance of that federal money had changed what giving from the church was actually meant to be.