CBS contributor Dobbs defends false leprosy claim after confrontation by CBS' Stahl
During a CBS News interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl, which aired on the May 6 edition of CBS' 60 Minutes, CNN host and CBS Early Show special contributor Lou Dobbs defended CNN correspondent Christine Romans' citation -- initially made on the April 14, 2005, edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight -- of the false claims that "there were about 900 cases of leprosy [in the United States] for 40 years," and that "[t]here have been 7,000 in the past three years." The day after the 60 Minutes interview, during the May 7 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs and Romans again defended the claims, with Romans attributing them to the late "Dr. Madeleine Cosman" (who did not have a medical degree but, rather, a Ph.D. in English and comparative literature). In fact, according to the National Hansen's Disease Program (NHDP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there have been just 431 reported cases of Hansen's disease, or leprosy, over the "past three years." The NHDP reported 8,490 cases of Hansen's disease from 1966 to 2005, as compared with Cosman's claim in a 2005 article that "in 40 years ... 900 people were afflicted." Cosman appears to have derived her false claim by misinterpreting a February 18, 2003, New York Times article.
At the end of the 60 Minutes profile, Stahl noted that "[w]hile we were talking to Dobbs, unbeknownst to us, he was talking to CBS News and has now joined The Early Show as a weekly commentator." CBS announced that it was hiring Dobbs as a special contributor to CBS' The Early Show on April 3. On May 7, CBS News Public Eye editor Brian Montopoli called Stahl's disclosure the "most awkward moment by far in last night's '60 Minutes' " because "Stahl had just spent part of the segment questioning Dobbs' journalistic credentials," though Montopoli did not go into the issue of the leprosy statistics.
During the May 7 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Romans stated, "We don't make up numbers here," adding that she was quoting the "7,000 cases of leprosy" statistic from an article "in The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons" by "Dr. Madeleine Cosman, a respected medical lawyer and medical historian." Romans was apparently referring to Cosman's article in the Spring 2005 issue of the Journal, headlined "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine."
Wall Street Journal columnist Carl Bialik wrote on his blog, The Numbers Guy, that Cosman cited the 2003 New York Times article in her Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons article to justify her claim about the number of leprosy cases. But the Times article appeared to be discussing existing cases of the number of people with leprosy, and not occurrences "in the last three years" as Cosman wrote. The Times article compared the "900 recorded cases in the United States 40 years ago" with "today," in which "more than 7,000 people have leprosy." Cosman's use of the phrase "in the last three years" appears to refer to the statistic of 7,000 infected with Hansen's disease three years prior to the publication of Cosman's article. Bialik added that he contacted CNN about Roman's misleading citation:
In response to my inquiry about whether Ms. Romans used the leprosy numbers improperly, Mr. Dobbs said through a CNN spokeswoman, "Christine Romans's comments reflected what Dr. Cosman had said: That the number of active and current cases of leprosy had risen to and remained at more than 7,000 for the past three years as a result of improved reporting and unscreened illegal immigration primarily from Southeast Asia."
As the weblog Think Progress noted, during the 60 Minutes segment, Stahl noted Romans' claim "that there have been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the U.S. in the past three years," then said, "We checked that [number] and found a report issued by [HHS], saying 7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three." She added: "[A]nd nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants." When Stahl asked Dobbs about the inconsistency, Dobbs responded: "Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it's a fact." Colorado Media Matters and the Southern Poverty Law Center have both noted that the numbers Romans cited were false.
From the May 6 edition of CBS' 60 Minutes:
STAHL: One of the issues he tackles relentlessly is illegal immigration, and on that, his critics say, his advocacy can get in the way of the facts.
DOBBS: Tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria.
STAHL: Following a report on illegals carrying diseases into the U.S., one of the correspondents on his show, Christine Romans, told Dobbs that there have been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the U.S. in the past three years.
ROMANS: Leprosy, in this country.
DOBBS: Incredible.
STAHL: We checked that and found a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying 7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three, and nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants.
[end video clip]
STAHL: Now, we went to try and check that number, 7,000. We can't. Just so you know --
DOBBS: Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it's a fact.
STAHL: You can't tell me that. You did report it --
DOBBS: Well, no, I just did.
STAHL: How can you guarantee that to me?
DOBBS: Because I'm the managing editor, and that's the way we do business. We don't make up numbers, Lesley. Do we?
[...]
STAHL: While we were talking to Dobbs, unbeknownst to us, he was talking to CBS News and has now joined The Early Show as a weekly commentator.
From the May 7 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:
DOBBS: And there was a question about some of your comments, Christine. Following one of your reports, I told Leslie Stahl, "We don't make up numbers." And I will tell everybody here again tonight, I stand 100 percent behind what you said.
ROMANS: That's right, Lou. We don't make up numbers here. This is what we reported.
We reported: "It's interesting, because the woman in our piece told us that there were about 900 cases of leprosy for 40 years. There have been 7,000 in the past three years. Leprosy in this country."
I was quoting Dr. Madeleine Cosman, a respected medical lawyer and medical historian. Writing in The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, she said: "Hansen's disease" -- that's the other modern name, I guess, for leprosy -- "Hansen's disease was so rare in America that in 40 years only 900 people were afflicted. Suddenly, in the past three years America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy" -- Lou.
DOBBS: It's remarkable that this -- whatever, confusion or confoundment over 7,000 cases. They actually keep a registry of cases of leprosy. And the fact that it rose was because of -- one assumes because we don't know for sure -- but two basic influences: unscreened illegal immigrants coming into this country primarily from South Asia, and the -- secondly, far better reporting.
ROMANS: That's what Dr. Cosman told us, Lou.
DOBBS: And, you know, in talking with a number of people, it's also very clear, no one knows, but nearly everyone suspects, there are far more cases of that. It is also, I think, interesting, and I think important to say, one of the reasons we screen people coming into this country is to deal with communicable diseases like leprosy, tuberculosis. The fact is, if we would just screen successfully, all of those diseases can be treated effectively, efficiently, and relatively quickly.
ROMANS: And that's why we raised the question in the first place, asking some tough questions about this. And, you know, 7,000 cases -- active cases of leprosy -- by no means is 11 million, as [Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project director] Mark Potok suggested.
DOBBS: But you can't say that to people so interested in the truth, as Mr. Potok obviously isn't.
I think I see a bit of egg on Dobbs face.
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
The voyager in the tretcherous waters of generalizations, rationalizations, and philosophical, or political fantasies must maintain their sea legs else they should find themselves overboard, and afloat in the vast dark and lonely seas! It looks as though Lou was dancing the Waltz with the Sercy and never notice himself floating overboard as the ship sailed out of sight!
Lou, if your going to make immigrants your boogey man, you must not use specifics, or facts, numbers! Ignorance is your ally, you must not burden her with the truth!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
arguments like these replace the true discussion we should be having on immigration. which is, the effect that immigration, both legal and illegal, has on our population growth. it's the single biggest contributing factor to a projected population of 400 million plus by 2050. and that is without a huge amount of family members who could be let in to this country by present illegals becoming citizens. [and the term "immigration reform" means what? what exactly needs "reform"? the reality that we have laws that say you cannot enter the country illegally?]. there are a host of problems that are made worse by an increasing population, including water shortages and pollution. the era of cheap water is over. the utilities, highways, schools, and housing required are going to come at a very expensive price. commodities like concrete have soared in price because of competition from rapidly expanding economies like india and china. nor are we going to make any gains in energy independence when we have to deal with an expanding population. the fact is that business wants immigration to continue as it is, an inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. for proof of that, consider this. the wall street journal has called for many years for a constitutional amendment that says: "there shall be open borders".
I am confused
Why would Dobbs continue to say this if it is a lie? He is not a stupid person. My feeling is there is some truth, if it were in a court of law?
Why would he say it if it was a lie? You're using the same "If I said it, it's true" Dobbsian logic. He very clearly lied right to Stahl's face.
Well of course he did, that is not what I asked. Why is he lying? What does he have to gain by lying? Why would he continue to lie?Why?
Because it regards immigration and arguing against it is his raison d'etre.
...or because he simply can't admit he was wrong...or both.
CD,
I'm surprised Dobbs doesn't just admit he made an error, correct it, and move on. I agree with much of his stance on the Illegal Immigration issue, and this simply hurts his credibility a lot more than admitting he had the wrong figures.
Jeter,
Dobbs reaction was bad, but understandible. I doubt that Dobbs knows much about the research that went into that claim. He probably implicitly trusts his staff to be thorough. As this may be the first time Dobbs has heard of the error, he cannot easily accept it is a mistake until he has had a chance to look at the argument in its entirety and discuss it with his own staff.
Dobbs should not have made the argument that it was a "fact" simply because it was uttered on his show. That comes across as pure arrogance, but may just be a very poor attempt at buying some time so he can look at the argument more thoroughly himself.
I would not be surprised at all if Dobbs issues a correction on his show pretty soon for what would seem to be an obvious error. If Dobbs does not issue a correction within a few days, Dobbs will lose the benefit of doubt I feel compelled by fairness to give him.
You are probably right. To clarify what I said above, I was only listing a plausible reason he would lie or continue to lie. That behavior may not be consistent with his past, so it's not fair to come to that conclusion outright.
Hopefully this is the last time we hear "if we said it, it's a a fact" though, on any program in the known universe. As you said, wrong.
Probably because those facts are correct. Dobbs did not lie. Look up the statistics for yourself. Bottom line, unscreened illega immigrants wreak havoc and disaster on the safety of the public. Hopefully the message will continue to get out. I am firing my gardener this afternoon.
"DOBBS: Because I'm the managing editor, and that's the way we do business. We don't make up numbers, Lesley. Do we?"
Um, Lou? You don't have to "make up" something for it to be false.
"Because I'm the managing editor."
"Because I'm the decider."
Anyway, the 8 different versions of this statistic that can be separated only by semantics is really confusing. I think we should just go with the NHDP's numbers, and Dobb's should say "Our bad, but we were just repeating a published article."
I see a big turkey on Potok's
Potok made the claim on “60 Minutes” that Dobbs was a fear monger and that “The impression you get [from watching his CNN program,] pretty strongly I think, day after day, is that sort of all 11 million illegal aliens are bringing leprosy, they’re bringing crime, they’re bringing all these terrible things to the United States.”
Gosh. I wonder why MMFA is not critizing him? Hmmm????
I should have completed the sentence, "I see a big turkey on Potok's face." (In reference to my first post.)
Egg on my face. Sorry for the confusion.
I don't understand your point. Why should MMFA criticize him?
Wow, oops!
You can easily make a valid case against illegal immigration without pulling stuff out of your pooper Dobbs.
I agree. This is beneath Dobbs, in my opinion. As a rule, I have always had great respect for him and his honesty and dedication to this issue.........if he doesn't clear this up, that is tarnished for me.
True, I'm not exactly on Dobb's side or your side about illegal immigration ( I do acknowledge it as a major issue though), but For the most part Dobbs i usually reasonable when speaking on the issue. Maybe it was an honest mistake, but he should have at least gone back and done his due dilligence before he came back on the air to defend her comments.
I occasionally agree with Dobbs, but this isn't the first time he's played fast-and-loose when discussing his pet subject of immigration. I still remember his trotting out a revanchist map of Mexico's plans to invade the US Southwest that was put together by the racist CCC.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200605240011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Conservative_Citizens
It appears at best that Dobbs was sloppy in his managing editor duties, and at worst he is misleading and putting out false information......I would hope he would have the integrity to clear this up and be straightforward and honest as to what happened.
I hope you're correct. I generally respect and like Dobbs. I hope his obsession with this issue didn’t make him predispose to believe such a statistic before researching the veracity of the stat. Hopefully he’s not just grabbing at anything he thinks reinforces the correctness of his view. Even noble endeavors can become warped when pursued obsessively.
Lynn,
Very well said, I agree completely. When such easily verifiable numbers like this can be proven and false ones refuted with a staff fact checker, why would anyone, who pretty much stakes their reputation on this issue, be so cavalier in their lazy reporting? I sincerely hope Dobbs sets the record straight.
Is Dobbs auditioning to replace Tony Snow?
Womp Womp. Bush is far more supportive of latino immigrants (illegal or otherwise) than Dobbs.
Maybe so, but that ability to stubbornly repeat somethig you know to be false is a valuable trait for a Press Secretary.
True enough. It just won't be for Bush. Plus, look at Dobb's teeth next time you're watching. Yikes. Let's not let that grill be the face of the administration.
You fell into the trap that MMfA does itself sometimes. It's not "conservative misinformation" just because it's A. misleading and B. against the particular progressive stance MMfA has.
Dobbs is super anti-globalism and very pro-unions.
I think you're falling into a trap yourself. Just because the person who says it isn't a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, that doesn't disqualify it as conservative misinformation. Typically, illegal immigration is a conservative issue, and that's what the misinformation speaks to.
A bit of a stretch, I think. Each to his own though.
However, considering a porous border and a massive illegal immigration influx into our country hurts the poorest among us, drives down wages, and benefits business owners who pay them slave wages only to line their own pockets........in actuality, this shouldn't be a conservative or a liberal issue. It should be an issue important and vital for everyone.
Yet, it's both parties who are too afraid to do much about it.
That's certainly true, like a lot of issues. That's a major reason I dislike the two-party system, it creates a binary "this us, that you" mentality on just about any issue where it often has no place whatsoever.
If you find a good third party candidate for President, please bring him or her here so I can vote accordingly........I am starvin'
Actually, I favor a zero-party system. I know it's never going to happen, of course, it would be a tremendous reworking of the entire system.
Having a viable third-party candidate is almost as unlikely as long as we have the electoral college system though. Ross Perot can get almost 20% of the popular vote and get a goose egg in electoral votes, that's not encouraging many others to spend their time and money following in his footsteps. It's pretty sad, overall.
Tommy you are right. I'm somewhere between the two extrems on the issue. I know first hand through my experience with my wife that unless you have lots of money, it can be extremely difficult to get into this country legally. The system actually works against immigrants not as affluent trying to enter the country and the process is truly a nightmare for most. IF your in dire straights I can relate to the notion of doing what you gotta do. I also see an ugly side in some folks when they speak about immigrants. Something about how I heard folks talk down to and about immigrants is very frightening and familiar. Many people talk about how there ancestors earned the right to be in this country, but the truth is those same paths are as widely available today. SOme people have ancestors who were fortunat enough to simply get on a boat and come on over, isn't that conveniant.
On the other hand laws need to be followed and a pourous border is no good for the country. Our immigration laws need an overhaul and we all need to find some common ground on the issue.
I think he's superantiglobalismexpealidocious.
Can we get a spell check in aisle 7?
Dang unpredictable reply-to feature !
"Dr. Madeleine Cosman," who did not have a medical degree but, rather, a [link to www.nytimes.com] title="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/nyregion/19cosman.html?ex=1300424400&en=75a1df0598ca0de5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">Ph.D. in English and comparative literature.
This happens far too often. Bad journalism, befitting of Fox "News".
Aiiii, first Nerzog, now you. Don't criticize when you don't even have YOUR facts straight.
Which facts, exactly?
Dobbs is CNN, notta Fox.
He didn't say it was Fox. The comment was that it was befitting of Fox.
Actually, I didn't mention Fox, but maybe Scooter meant that this is something you would expect to see on Fox, not CNN? Only Scooter can clear that up.
Back to straighten out the obvious. Of course he does not work for Fox News. Maybe the title "CBS contributor Dobbs... " tipped me off, or the fact that I happen to spend (too much) time watching the news for misinformation myself, or that Fox was never mentioned in the entire write-up?
Maybe my generalization caught you off guard, or the comma before the word "befitting".
By the way, did you notice that the quote from the "doctor" was intended to persuade the listener into thinking a medical doctor had done some research. Maybe you missed that point.
Aiii indeed.
Dobbs: If we say it, it's true.
I like that confidence, but when you can't back it up, well then you're going to be doing the moonwalk over your trail of credibility for a long time.
It was a foolish thing to say, but I expect a retraction within the next couple of days. If Dobbs doesn't do it, then he can only blame himself when people inevitably criticize him on his dwindling credibility.
Lou Dobbs, 2007: "Illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico, bringing LEPROSY into our country!"
Lou Dobbs, 1919: "Immigrants, mainly from Russia, bringing in bizarre anti-American political ideas and trying to change American culture!"
Lou Dobbs, 1899: "Immigrants, mainly from Italy, bringing in their ignorant, swarthy ways into our country, changing our culture and driving down wages... not to mention the lice-ridden JEWS coming here from Germany, Poland and other Non-American countries!"
Lou Dobbs, 1850- "A horde of Immigrants, mainly from Ireland, pouring into our nation, refusing to accept our National Religion of Protestantism, hanging crosses around their necks, worshipping a ruler in Rome instead of obeying the Constitution, bringing the scourge of Alcoholism into the United States..."
We've seen all this before. Many, many times.
There's a different word in Lou Dobb's 2007 quote than the others. Tommy?
Dobbs' error aside, for anyone to equate anti-illegal immigration with anti-immigration, is demogoguery, pure and simple.
Actually, the dynamic is pretty much the same. In all the cases mentioned, the time-frame was prior to the initial federal laws restricting immigration. Before 1920, they didn't exist.
You can argue up and down about the law, it's need for modification, enforcement, or whatever, all you want. But the sentiment expressed is pretty much identical (i.e., keep the damn foreigners out).
i like lou dobbs and do think he is a credible journalist.....the fact of the matter is these illegal immigrants are not screened for ANY communicable diseases when they sneak in our country.......and they are serving our food folks!!! they immediately get fast food restaurant jobs etc.
the number 7,000 should not be harped on or made an issue......he was just pointing out the health vulnerability of americans to the illegal immigrants. i watch lou every day and glad someone is thinking of middle class americans
He's trying to point out the health risk to Americans by scaring the beejeesus out of us.
And if they were all working at Jack-In-The-Box there'd be nobody standing in front of Home Depot, and we wouldn't have to wait so long for our Bedonkadonk Butts.
What should be harped on are the facts concerning leprosy. This is not the Holy Land circa 30 AD where you'd need a guy with a beard and sandals to miracle your disease away.
Leprosy is NOT highly contagious, will not kill you and responds well to anti-biotics. An educated journalist would know this. I'm assuming that Lou is pretty well read. So I'm also going to assume that he knows the facts about Leprosy.
He's using the publics lack of knowledge to sell fear, plain and simple.
Lou Dobbs is a disgrace to American journalism.
Dan Rather was sacked for his transgressions. Why is this jackass allowed to continue?
*zzzzzzz*
Can we talk about Miss Canada's bazooms again?
I am down with that........as long is it doesn't include body orifices, (thank you HollyGoLightly).
Geez, Tommy, the naughty bits are the best parts.
And I was just about to praise everyone on this thread for their newfound civility. Oh well, what the fu.......
This is boring. Where the hell is Foser with this week's "Media Matters" column?
How Embarrassing,
Never underestimate the asinine arrogance of a corporate right-wing blockhead.
New cases of Hansen's Disease are tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are reported by the Department of Health and Human Services through the Hansen's Disease Registry.
http://www.hrsa.gov/hansens/data/summary05.htm
Over the course of the past three years, according to the statistics reported at this site, there have been approximately 500 new cases reported to the CDC.
As of the end of 2005, there were 12,025 registered cases of individuals suffering from Hansen's Disease in the U.S. According to the 2005 summary report issued by HRSA (emphasis added):
See [link to www.hrsa.gov] the 30-year trend in reported cases is charted here:
http://www.hrsa.gov/hansens/data/fig1.htm
There was an increase in reported cases of Hansen's Disease in 2005 (a trend possibly explained by previously cited quotation). 75% of all new reported cases are among individuals born outside the U.S. ( [link to www.hrsa.gov] ); 68% of the new cases listed birth country as Mexico i.e. 112 of the total 166 cases reported.
Dobbs incorrectly defends the assertion that there have been 7,000 new cases reported in the past three years. The erroneous assertions made by Dobbs could have easily been fact checked. The reporting of the false assertions of newly reported cases of Hansen's Disease leaves the impression to the informed listener that the cited numbers were not fact checked and that Lou Dobbs and Christine Roman either misinterpreted the data or deliberately reported a false claim.
The segment on Lou Dobbs was basically a puff piece. In order to be "fair and balanced," "60 Minutes" ran that quote. That quote does show, however, how authoritarian Dobbs can be, in spite of his folksy charm.
I'll take Lesley Stahl at her word that no one of the "60 Minutes" staff knew that Lou Dobbs was joining CBS when they started doing research for the segment. However, if "60 Minutes" is going to be any better than Fox News, they need to do more than say things in their segment that improve the ratings of its other programs. If "60 Minutes" was still the great news organization that it once was, they would have added more balance to the piece.
"60 Minutes" has been one of my favorite shows for more than 20 years. But, over the past year or so,
As it turns out, Dobb’s is almost correct… there are approximately 7,000 case of active leprosy in the US, but Dobbs is wrong to say that they all appeared between the years of 2001 and 2004.
US Department of Health and Human Services
National Hansen's Disease ProgramHansen's disease, also known as leprosy, is a chronic bacterial disease that primarily affects the skin, peripheral nerves and upper airway. Feared as a highly contagious and devastating disease, it is well established that Hansen's disease is not highly transmissible, is very treatable, and, with early diagnosis and treatment, is not disabling.
Compiled statistics reveal that Hansen's disease is rare in the U.S. There are currently approximately 6,500 cases; about 3,300 require active medical management.
http://www.hrsa.gov/hansens/
Lou Dobbs is an egomaniac getting as bad as O'Reilly and Rush. I quit watching him. Is there any mass media nowadays that gives some good unbiased information?
Lessee here, Lou gets a fact incorrect, and is now somehow in the same boat as Fox Noise??? Seriously?
BFD.
The fact that he is right 98 percent of the time is just fine with me. As for the map supposedly drawn up by the CCC? Sorry that used to be on all the La Raza and other Reconquista Sites run by the racist Mexican who STILL believe in that. IF you really search you can find Spanish speaking sites THAT still talk about it.Once the illegal alien issue got heated up they suddenly pulled the maps and changed their rhetoric.
I used to go to those site years ago in my arguments with other people and direct them to the sites. Then one day they were all gone.
Geee I wonder why?
Besides, diseases ARE rampant in Mexico and other countries in Central America. It's one of those Politically Incorrect things to bring up when you are this government and it's trying to open the borders with the North American Union. We used to have MEDICAL exams before anyone was allowed in here but the open borders and amnesty for all types could care less as long as they get their relatives, cheap union busting labor and help to bankrupt America's health, welfare, and schools and turn America into a third world economy ust so some SOB CEO can take home even more millions while keeping wages down.
As far as I'm concerned anyone against Lou is part of the open borders and amnesty for all crowd.
Funny thing too, in case MMFA and all you "Lou's a racist and hates Mexicans" types missed it. Lou has been happily married to...wait for it.....A MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMAN FOR TWENTY FIVE YEARS!.
Oooo I can already see how he's so racist.
Illegals ARE killing America the same as outsourcing, selling our ports and airports to Middle eastern countries is, working hard to destroy unions and selling America to the highest bidder, all with the consent of the President and congress and NO input from American taxpayers.
Sorry but the ocassional gaffe from Lou doesn't bother me in the least. The figures ARE correct, just not within the time frame given.
BFD.
I remember when Lou was all pro corporation, big business and corporate welfare and one day when I was bored and watching him, he made the comment that corporate America was killing the U.S. and went WTF?
He had had an epiphany. And thank God for it. He has singlehandly stopped the Dubai Ports deal and a few other missteps by our Moron In Chief and totally unedumacated Congress.
So take the racist garbage and shove it. He's not racist, he's honest and sometimes honesty isn't pretty or PC.
The only response necessary to your long rant is to point out that your reaction to Dobbs telling a bald faced lie is to praise his honesty. Enough said.
"Lessee here, Lou gets a fact incorrect, and is now somehow in the same boat as Fox Noise??? Seriously?"
-----
So you think that being shown that you are wrong, and asserting you are correct merely because you said it, is nothing more than "getting a fact incorrect?"
No wonder you took your handle from a cartoon character.
Both Bush Sr. and Jr. have also implied that they have a special connection to Mexican Americans because of the Latino members of their extended family. Doesn't mean a damn thing, and neither does the heritage of Dobbs' wife.
Dobbs used inaccurate information to raise fears about a disease that isn't particularly contagious, but as he is well aware, is greatly feared by the public. It was a deliberate attempt to stir people's fear by using the most notorious disease he could think of. On the whole, what he did seems a bit worse than a mere innocuous error.
From The CDC.gov web site, "In 2002, the number of new cases detected worldwide was 763,917. In 2002, 96 cases occurring in the United States were reported to CDC. In 2002, WHO listed Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nepal as having 90% of cases."
Not only did Lou Dobbs get the number wrong he got the wrong part of the world wrong also. If we had 7,00 in three years do you thing that ther would be some main stgream medical journals and the CDC itself talking about it? He got his information from a person with a PHD in English Lit who can't go to CDC.gov to fact check the numbers?
You know, I like Lou Dobbs. To his credit, he explores areas that no one else in the mainstream media does. But jesus christ, the people he employs are scary. Christine Romans, Casey Wian and the rest.. half the time the bullsh_t they "report" about illegal aliens sounds like it came out of some ridiculous chain letter. Another example would be the whole "Aztlan" nonsense their drooled over last summer, which basically amounted to a white supremacy conspiracy theory. I could take personal jabs at them, ones which I think are relevant to their reporting or at least the perception of it, but I think this item is more than enough to make the point. I think Dobbs is guided by the facts as he sees them, and with the anti-immigration "crew" he has assembled around himself all he gets is these false talking points. He's a nationalist and a populist at heart, but without this "wall" he's built around himself he would at LEAST have a harder time putting on this arrogant, condescending, holier-than-thou dog and pony show every night and start debating on an equal footing.