Info-mercials of Hate
By: George Feigley
Cofounder
A pitchman using the name Lou Dobbs is employed by
CNN, the once-respected cable
news outlet. I recently watched part of one of his info-mericals.
Like a con artist peddling colon-cleaner or exercise gadgets to
witless suckers, Dobbs was drumming a rabid brand of bigotry.
After enduring a few minutes of his spiel, I caught on to some of his code words. It was like most propaganda, but smooth. He gave an impression of sincerity even "wisdom." Those are essential traits for one sort of snake oil salesmen. He wasn't the overly bombastic ranter like his twins at FOX, the never-respected cable propaganda outlet. I would have expected the Dobbs persona to be selling Oxy this or that, or Omega this or that; you know, some gimmick browbeaten into a timid segment of viewers can be frightened into buying, "2 for $39.95 plus shipping and handling." The Dobbs' info-mercial sold only bigotry, racism and fear. He came across more like one of those slimy televangelists who preaches terror to squeeze reluctant contribution from trembling cowards hoping to be "saved" from the boogeyman. (If it weren't for boogeymen, how could religion exist?) Being of a pragmatic turn of mind, I wondered who was profiting from the Dobbs sermons. Perhaps he was just angling to make himself the spokesman for a certain brand of bigotry. Seventy years ago a crackpot Irish Catholic preacher from the Shrine of the Little Flower aggrandized himself by preaching similar intolerance on the radio. Hatred made him famous and important. The Irish like to hate. So do certain Americans. If, like the Christian crazies, Lou Dobbs drummed up a congregation of haters, he'd be in demand. Thereby he'd be sure of employment and a kind of fame and influence. Seventy years ago it would have been the dreaded Negroes and Jews. Today it's a new target. The Dobbs doctrine of hatred was similar to that of the KKK, hatred of "foreigners" and of their culture, religions and success. Oddly, Dobbs doesn't appear to be a Native American, just an unfortunate scion of some European peasant tribe. (Doesn't "Dobbs" derive from the plodding esne plowing with Robert, the master's farm horse?) Maybe Dobbs is tainted with the Irish gene which made that race so despised and unwelcome during Ireland's hard times of the potato famine. The Dobbs pitch repeated catch-phrases. The most often chanted was "illegal aliens." He used the term to identify Hispanics, especially Mexicans struggling to scratch a living from the bottom of American's laboring strata. They make easy, helpless targets. Dobbs sounded like Joe Goebbles raving about Jews. Hatred must strike a cord with Americans. Apparently we feel frightened and vulnerable, unable to compete. It's odd, but there must be a market for such a religion. Dobbs focused on the word "illegal." It was his talisman. "Illegal" was his code word. He used it to differentiate "good" immigrants (like his questionable pedigree) from "bad" aliens. It's a form of name-calling. The real difference is that Dobbs is an Accidental American. To become an American all he did was happen to be born here. It was an accident. Dad was careless. The "illegal" immigrants are Intentional Americans. They struggle and risk everything to get here. They aren't here because mom missed a pill. They're here out of a real desire. Dobbs is a "patriot" by accident. If he'd happened to be born in Mexico, he'd be despising the Guatemalans. The bigotry is in him, not in the target of his hatred. In his lengthy info-mercial Dobbs wasn't selling vacuum cleaners or Hugh Downs-style "health" nonsense. He was selling a Viagra for boner-less guys who are being out-worked by the little brown guys from Central America. The Dobbs doctrine is hatred of those hard-working little brown guys. Sure, he preaches hatred of others, too, especially Chinese. (They look different, don't they?) But his essential villain is the politically helpless little brown guys. Sorry, Lou, the tsunami is coming. By the 2020 presidential election, the children of those little brown guys will choose your government. Soon they'll be in the majority. You'll have to find a new hate-object. Not to worry, there's always a chorus to sing hatred. What is there to fear from Hispanics or "aliens", illegal or otherwise? Apparently the fear is a change in culture or, worst of all, a change in language. God knows, English is a frightful tongue. Teach a toddler to spell "soldier." What's the excuse for that kind of thing?! American-English is silly, but it's our silliness. Admittedly, it's much less silly than any of the Chinese dialects and Arabic is a travesty. Spanish is a lot more sensible, but it's "foreign." It's the language of the vast majority of America's European conquerors. Almost the whole country was Spanish at one time, even the part the French stole. Don't misunderstand. Who cares who Lou Dobbs hates? He's selling the oxymoron of "Little Giant" collapsible stepladders to Americans who feel that they can't reach up as high as Sergio and his Pennsylvania-born grandchildren. Obviously some persons need hate-objects. Lou Dobbs is certainly entitled to pitch his flavor of bigotry to his heart's content. CNN is perfectly free to have a corporate model which exploits hatred. They employ a whole stable of far right-wing bigots preaching political extremism. They're pushers catering to the addiction of a segment of the American public. It's like offering cigarettes and beer to Sally in high-school. Both CNN and Lou Dobbs have accomplished one thing. They've made American an uglier place in which to live, more divided and more burdened with conflict. They've made America a little worse. In my lifetime, I think the Dobbs-types are winning. America has become badly soiled. We won the war, but became the Nazis we were fighting.
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