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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Locals join national "Stop Lou Dobbs" campaign
by Jonathan Mendick, published on October 21, 2009 at 8:28PM
Storyline: News in Sacramento
Noon-hour visitors to Cesar Chavez Plaza were able to view more than just a farmer's market Wednesday.
They also witnessed about 20 activists and members of the media in a press conference announcing the "Stop Lou Dobbs" campaign created by the national Latino community group, www.presente.org.
The group formed as a response to anti-Latino sentiment in the media, starting with who they feel is the worst offender: CNN's Lou Dobbs. According to the group's website, www.bastadobbs.com, Dobbs uses his news program "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to spread false information about immigrants and Latinos.
Held only hours before CNN debuts a four-hour documentary called "Latino in America," the group came together to challenge what it called "CNN's hypocrisy."
"I think that CNN can't continue to present this dichotomous view of Latinos as strong people and then (have Dobbs) trash our heritage," said Rafael Aguilera of Sacramento's La Raza network.
Gathering around the statue of Cesar Chavez, several of the speakers included Sacramento's Chicano Consortium director Efren Guttierrez, CSUS ethnic studies professor Eric Vega and Sacramento's Council on American-Islamic Relations director Basim Elkarra.
"The location has always been symbolic of Chavez, a humanitarian who fought for all of us, at the center of our hearts," Guttierrez said.
"Lou Dobbs and others have been spreading hatred through the airways," he said in a speech to the small group of local media and gatherers.
A press release from www.bastadobbs.com said that out of 140 broadcast hours from Jan. 1 to July 23 of this year, 77 hours of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" included segments on immigrants. The website stated, "Dobbs helps popularize the myth that Latino immigrants flood the U.S. with disease (and) a third of our prison system is made up of illegal aliens." The website states both claims are not true.
It also said that Dobbs promoted extremist groups such as Federation for American Immigration Reform and The Minutemen on his show.
"Incitement (of hate) leads to hate crimes," Elkarra said. "Organizations like CNN have a responsibility not to support hate."
"Dobbs hides behind the first amendment, and his speech leads to an increase in attacks against Latinos," Vega said.
Local photographer Francisco Dominguez said he thinks Latinos have suffered racism since this country's inception.
"(Racism) has no business on television (posed) as news," Dominguez said. "There needs to be checks on the program, (especially when) the No. 1 victims of hate crimes are Latinos."
Rob Griffith, a local reporter from Capitol Television News Service, said that while he's never watched Lou Dobbs' show, the Stop Lou Dobbs campaign is misdirected.
"The people behind (Stop Lou Dobbs) misunderstand how the first amendment works," he said. "Efforts to silence opposition violates American freedoms."
Guttierrez explained that www.presente.org has already received 70,000 signatures on a petition to pull Dobbs off the air, but the goal is 100,000. Though Guttierrez urged Latinos and others to watch the CNN program airing tonight, Domiguez said that he was ready to boycott CNN entirely.
"CNN will understand that," he said. "It's the same thing that Chavez did with the grape growers. He was a master organizer."
Guttierrez said that he would watch "Latino in America" out of respect for the people whom the program features. He mentioned that CNN is the most trusted name in news, but added "if this is how CNN builds trust, (they) will lose it."
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"Hispanics dont want anyone to question illegal immigartion"
Yeah... these guys are crackpots.
Racism is now defied as anyone who questions an orginzation that promotes illegle entry into the USA like the La Raza network.
I could care less what the race of an illegal alien is, I only care that they are breaking the law and harming our country.
Allowing open boarders ignores the sacrafices of those that fought and died to protect and build our country.
If the bleeding hearts care so deeply about the plight of the Mexican, or any other poor South American country, they have the option of moving to those countries to volunteer their time and money.
FYI, Dicentras have lots of time but no money, and our family, the Fumariaceae, never travel, not to South America or anywhere else. We're firmly rooted. In fact, I'd bet both of my cotyledons that most Dicentras don't even care about politics.
Becoming legal is anything but simple.
If that is true, that it is difficult, is our culture one of "do the legal thing, unless it is difficult, then break the law"?
It is the content of speech they are hoping to censor.
Media outlets on both sides have similar traits. Dobbs at least gives opportunity to his critics, and I don't see that among outlets on the opposing side of this topic
For those commenting here that think this trend is harmless, 1st amendment freedom..remember Dick Cheney did this quite effectively and American men and women died on foreign battlefields as a result.
But seriously, disisM, you sound like an idiot. Mexico has a lot of poverty relative to the U.S., but I think Mexicans would take exception to you describing their country as "a place full of nothing but poverty."
And you Reconquista fantasies are also ridiculous. It's just an inversion of white paranoia about demographic shifts in the U.S.
As to this land being Mexico's, you and many other who champion that argument, either don't know or don't want to hear the real history of centuries' evolution of countries' boundaries worldwide. The U.S. bought the Gadsen Purchase land (know where that is?) from Mexico; the vast Louisiana Purchase (know where that is?) from France; Seward's Alaska folly was bought from Russia; Manhattan Island, NYC was bought from the local Indian tribe. Territories that are won by war (sorry it had to be that way) now legally belong to the victor. When Mexico lost Texas to the U.S. in the Mexican War Mexico (some Anglos in the U.S. may wish it never lost), the Mexican government ceded (means gave up rights to ownership) the California territory to the U.S,
The Alsace- Loraine district bordering France and Germany changed nationalities 4 times since 1871 until French troops entered Alsace-Lorraine in November 1918 at the end of the World War I, and the territory reverted to France at the Treaty of Versailles. Other countries around the world have gone through similar kinds of wars, boundary victories and losses. That is history! Had you stay awake in your history class (Mexico or here) or made the effort to learn the history, you would know these facts too.
So saying Calif still is or belongs to Mexico is like saying the lands won in the above war and treaties still belong the losers. Incidentally, did you ever stop to think that California might be just like Baja California had it not been ceded to the United States?
The ruling classes of Mexico have done a very good job of keeping the Mexican people in poverty and prompting the poor to blame the U.S. but have done a very poor job over the decades of creating an economy that enabled the poor to move out of poverty into the middle class. Why would those wealthy families have done any different in the California Territory? It is to them that your anger should be directed.
I wish more of the nativist ire was directed at these people rather than the weak and powerless braceros and fast food workers. I know that is not an easy request. The ruling classes of Mexico are invisible whereas the worker in WalMart who is frustrating you because you can't understand his broken English is palpably real.
But justice would be better served if people directed their animosity towards people who have the power to change things.
Por favor, aprende un lenguaje antes que hacer tus argumentos.
No importa si es Ingles o Espanol, gracias!
Our government needs to prove to the American workers that they mean what they say? That means secure borders and interior immigration enforcement. E-Verify is part of nationwide enforcement, a tool that has caused hysteria amongst the open border demagogues. E-verify was nearly sold out by Sen. Harry Reid , Nancy Pelosi and even Janet Napolitano. But this time they failed to arrest it's capability to remove E-Verify from the Parthenon of tools, that addresses the illegal immigration invasion. Brought into the spotlight by Senator Sessions, they Democratic leadership were unable to sink it beyond the enlightened eyes of the attentive public. As with the 1986 Immigration control and reform bill, those anti-sovereignty organizations have--NEVER--tried to--ENFORCE--the law.
So now those catering to big business are repeatedly saying its broken. like any immigration enforcement laws, Democrats and Republicans alike over decades have refused to enforce the border. A new survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports reveals that 56% of Americans say that federal immigration policies encourage illegal immigration, and 64% believe that local law enforcement should conduct raids in places where illegal aliens gather to find work. Only 19% opposed the raids compared to 24% who opposed such raids back in April. Another condemnation by faith groups is Sen. Chuck Schumer's attempt to claim overwhelming evangelical Christian support for his pending amnesty legislation has crumbled. His master plan was to use the staff and leadership of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to give the impression of near unanimity.
The NAE tried. But after the members in the pew erupted, only 11 of the 40 NAE member denominations have been willing to sign on to endorse amnesty and Schumer's "comprehensive immigration reform" agenda. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) offered an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science (CSJ) appropriations bill that would have prevented CSJ funds from going to cities or localities with "sanctuary" policies (i.e., those cities that prohibit their police officers from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, refuse to report criminal illegal aliens, and act as safe havens for illegal aliens). The paranoid Senators voted 61-38 to table the amendment (effectively killing it), with at least one of your Senators voting against the amendment. Unfortunately these are SANCTUARY STATES such as California that is now submerged under massive financial debt, a large portion caused by the millions of illegal families living of state welfare.
This included Sen. DeMint amendment to construct the original--DOUBLE LAYER--fence, authored originally by Rep.Duncan Hunter, which like most approved laws are hastily thrashed in cloaked conferences pandering to corporate cartels and pro-illegal immigrant lobbyists. Thanks to the open border groups our border defenses comprises of a single layer barrier, with large areas of nothing to halt illegal criminals, drug peddlers, uninhibited terrorists and scores of illegal aliens with families from entering America. Sanctuary policies encourage illegal immigration by sending a signal across the world that anyone who manages to enter the United States will be able to stay here as long as they wish - regardless of their status - because our government lacks the will to enforce its own laws. These illegal policies have contributed to our current illegal immigration debacle and are an embarrassment to the country.
Call and blast your Senators and Representative at 202-224-3121 in Washington. Overwhelming the switchboard with your calls, as it is having an outstanding effect of--MILLIONS of angry voters. INFORM THEM DO YOUR DUTY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES ON RE-ELECTION DAY? Tell them you want a PERMANENT E-Verify for--EVERY WORKER, a secure double layer fence and--REAL--enforcement against sanctuary state policies. Read undisclosed facts at NUMBERSUSA. UNEARTH the corruption at JUDICIAL WATCH. Your voice is needed to halt OVERPOPULATION and American Worker survival. Demand NO-MORE-AMNESTIES. Go home and come through the front door, like millions of legal immigrants?
Dobbs, a fervent proponent of U.S. border enforcement, told listeners of "The Lou Dobbs Show" on Monday that the incident is part of an ongoing assault against anyone who opposes amnesty or leniency toward illegal immigrants.
"They've created an atmosphere and they've been unrelenting in their propaganda," Dobbs said in reference to pro-immigration groups like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Council of La Raza and America's Voice. "Three weeks ago this morning, a shot was fired at my house where I live. My wife was standing out and that followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls."
Dobbs continued, "But this shot was fired with my wife not, I don't know, 15 feet away, and we had threatening phone calls that I decided not to report because I get threatening phone calls."
Reached early Thursday at her home, Dobbs' wife, Debi Lee Segura, told Foxnews.com that she was outside the house when the shot was fired in her direction.
New Jersey State Police Sgt. Steve Jones said troopers were called to the Dobbs' estate in rural Wantage, N.J., at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 5. The investigators who responded to the call were told that Dobbs and his wife were outside their home when they heard a gunshot, and a bullet struck their attic.
"It struck the siding and then fell to the ground," Jones said.
A search of the vicinity was unsuccessful; the bullet was taken for analysis.
"It's a shot fired that struck the house," Jones continued. "We're not sure what the intended target was. It's still under investigation."
No injuries were reported.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), said it's very likely Dobbs' outspokenness on illegal immigration led to the shooting.
"That shot, that attack on the Dobbs family is an attack on every American that values First Amendment rights," Gheen told Foxnews.com. "The chances are greatest that it was political, because pro-amnesty groups have tried to dehumanize Lou Dobbs and lie about him."
Dobbs, who claimed the "national liberal media" has in part created a hostile environment regarding immigration, said enduring such incidents has become a "way of life" for him.
"It's become a way of life — the anger, the hate, the vitriol — but it's taken a different tone where they've threatened my wife," he said Monday. "They've now fired a shot at my house while my wife was standing next to the car.
"It's become something else. And if anybody thinks we're not engaged in a battle for the soul of this country right now, you're sorely mistaken."
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Dislike who you want- the point is you wont have a tv show on CNN to do so- move to Fox News .....