I would like to enhance this article with some Kick! Straight Talk Express. It is time for CNN to send Lou Dobbs over to Fox News where he belongs. He is an ugly crapstain on CNN’s credibility regarding bias in the media, and as this election proceeds his form of populist racist purple faced screeching is only going to get worse, and directed at you know who.
Sorry, but I’ve had it with Lou Dobbs
CNN viewer draws the line at on-screen tirades
By ALAN J. HURWITZ
Copyright 2007 Houston ChronicleI can’t listen to Lou Dobbs anymore. It’s too stressful. It’s not that I don’t agree with some of his views. But if a Republican president from Texas who had a majority in Congress his first six years of office couldn’t straighten out our immigration mess, what’s a CNN viewer to do, Lou?
In a recent debate in Philadelphia, Sen. Hillary Clinton was accused of being a quick flip-flopper when asked about driver’s licenses for illegal aliens in New York State. She could have answered, "Hell, no" or "Let them have them." But the issue is more complex, and Clinton realizes that. Sen. Chris Dodd insisted that obtaining a driver’s license in America is a "privilege, not a right." But if I’m in an accident on Loop 610, I’d prefer that the other driver has a license and insurance. If the other driver is undocumented and uninsured, my options and legal remedies are zilch. Moderator Tim Russert glossed over that issue.
If getting a driver’s license is a privilege, then what about health
care for illegal immigrants and their children? The Harris County
Hospital District loses about $100 million annually taking care of
illegal immigrants. Nationally, it amounts to about $9 billion per
year. From a public health standpoint, it’s not to society’s benefit to
have sick individuals left untreated. However, President Bush recently
vetoed increased SCHIP funding for the children of legal citizens. Is
health care a privilege or a right for America’s children, whether
their parents are here legally or illegally?Currently education is considered a right for the children of
illegal aliens — it is not in society’s interest to have uneducated
citizens. But Texans spend about $4 billion annually to educate the
children of illegal immigrants (and their offspring). Some argue that
it’s unfair to withold education from a child because of their parent’s
decision. Others argue that the $4 billion could be used to make the
salaries for Texas teachers more competitive with national figures,
which would help attract new teachers and lower the student-teacher
ratio.The U.S. military is keenly aware of the approximately 750,000
undocumented young adults who could boost recruitment figures. A
portion of the proposed immigration bill would have allowed
undocumented citizens to join the military, with the promise of a
fast-track to citizenship, and additional perks such as access/tuition
for higher education. Is serving in the U.S. military a right, a
privilege, an option or a duty, whether for illegals or legals? Why
would we deny a tax-paying gay or lesbian U.S. citizen with no felony
history entry into our country’s military but actively recruit the
children of undocumented workers?Adding more confusion to the chaos is the issue of marriage.
Is it a right or a privilege? Recently a federal judge in Pennsylvania
ruled against a county official who denied a marriage license to a
state resident and her illegal immigrant husband-to-be. (Please see
"AROUND THE NATION / Pennsylvania / Immigrant without visa cannot
marry," Page A8, May 2.) His ruling said that the county had "denied
the couple a constitutional right." Many American citizens might argue
otherwise, and certainly there are many gay Americans who are denied
the right to marry. Does heterosexuality trump citizenship?We are indeed in one helluva mess, but to pluck the driver’s
license issue out of the immi-gration fiasco is like saying that taking
our shoes off in the air-port has solved the problem of terrorism. We
don’t need politicians in either party turning immigration into some
high-anxiety wedge issue that raises our blood pressure for the next 12
months but doesn’t solve a damn thing. The immi-gration problem
continues for a variety of political and econo-mic reasons. Many see
poten-tial solutions worse than the current problems. But ordinary
citizens cannot solve the mess, and a CNN anchor’s evening tirades
cannot solve it either.My systolic’s too high, Mr. Dobbs, so here’s one Houston-ian
who will kick back and watch Channel 2, 11 or 13 at 5 p.m. Sorry, Lou.Hurwitz, a physician and artist, lives in Houston.