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Lou Dobbs denies he hired undocumented workers for years.

Posted: Oct 7, 2010

Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell show, along with his very well resourced, legally vetted accuser, Isabel MacDonald, a reporter for The Nation, who has been doing an in-depth investigation of Dobbs for over a year. The dapper dimpler plans to set the record straight, orso he claims. Oh my.

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The Lou Dobbs interview - was really interesting.

[ In Reply To ..]
His face was red, puffy, tired and drawn. The body language showed semi-rigid restraint, interspersed with nervous gesturing, looking down at the floor, rolling his eyes at the ceiling and his manner was bordering on somber, a bit out of character, to be sure. That flashy, charming smile was notably absent, except at for the moment the segment concluded, when it emerged momentarily, bearing a strong resemblance to the grill on the front of a Rolls Royce Phantom. He did remember to wear his full bottom dentures, thank goodness.

He danced around the subject, diligently avoided many direct answers, and had some difficulty focusing, except when he was giving what seemed like scripted, rehearsed responses. He repeatedly declared he never directly nor indirectly hired undocumented workers, perhaps a dozen times, but never admitted he had contractors who engaged workers both in his stables operations and in landscaping on the grounds of his estate residence and horse farm. "How was I supposed to know?" was his protest. Lou Dobbs looked America straight in the face and played dumb about undocumented workers right under his own nose.

He tried to present himself as a proponent of a humane, fair and effective immigration policy. It will be interesting to see him deliver the same ideas when he makes his second tea party event appearance at the Patriot Convention, scheduled for tomorrow.

Clintonesque rhetorical hair splitting was a recurring theme. He invoked his name, celebrity status, community standing, public image and political vulnerability as possible explanations for what he perceived to be a smear campaign. He played the victim rather unconvincingly. He interrupted repeatedly, blustered and basically tried on several occasions to intimidate the reporter who, when allowed to speak, was trying to make some really good basic points in an attempt to steer the conversation toward realistic reform solutions. Quite naturally, Dobbs took the soapbox at every opportunity.

The report as it appears in the Nation magazine is fairly impressive, thorough, well articulated and a good, smooth read.

http://www.thenation.com/article/155209/lou-dobbs-american-hypocrite?page=full

They just had Dobbs and Ms. MacDonald on GMA - Backwards Typist

[ In Reply To ..]
So, what I got from that interview was that Ms. MacDonald was trying to get her 15 minutes of fame. Lou Dobbs was very cool and collected.

I missed it last night and early this morning on MSNBC because KO was the interviewer and we all know how he likes to make a mountain out of a molehill among other things.

The thing that found the GMA 'debate' laughable was that Ms. MacDonald said Lou's contractor had this one immigrant, last name Perez, living in a 2 bedroom apartment above the stables and the immigrant she interviewed said he had to work 12 hours a day, sometimes more. What does she think? That no one should keep banker's hours?

Maybe we MT's should write to her stating we are poor MT's who are slaves to this profession. How many of us work 12 hours? This is really besides the point, but when you work with animals, there is NO set schedule. Perez applied for the job, he got it, now he's crying 'poor me'?

Give me a break.

If you did not see The Last Word interview - you wouldhave missed the

[ In Reply To ..]
rather meek demeanor Ms. McDonald held throughout her time on camera, the deer-in-the-headlights gaze and the open admission she was not a seasoned broadcaster with the experience Dobbs had, much of which was acquired by making millions and millions of dollars relentlessly railing against undocumented workers and promoting ever tougher enforcement. To my recollection, I cannot resurrect any broadcasts where he lingered or perseverated over such things as "humane" or "fair" policy, as he claimed during this exchange. For me, his actions over the years contradict those notions as I watch him convey his wall-em-up-and-toss-em-out, enforcement-heavy myopic bravado.

Ms. McDonald has already has invested over a year's worth of investigative reporting on her way to that perceived 15 minutes you think you see. Speaking of cool and collected, she did manage to remain on task (unlike Dobbs) and was very patient and polite (again, unlike Dobbs) while yielding the floor to the protracted monologues booming from the other side. Not once did she lose her composure. She seemed extremely confident about the substance she was presenting and basically remained unflappable whenever Dobbs tried to intimidate her via slay-the-messenger tactics, designed to kill time while avoiding direct confrontation of the issue-at-hand (sound familiar?).

My impression of her is that she was not all that comfortable in front of a camera and would be relieved to resume her desk and field posts as an investigative reporter, once the whole ordeal of public scrutiny came to an end. There was nothing about her that screamed aspiration to future TV broadcast anchor or talking-head commentator. She wore no make-up to speak of, drug store reading glasses, long hair swept to one side and fastened into a practical arrangement that would keep it away from her face, and muted, conservative dark monotonal attire sans accessories. In fact, her style was reminiscent of a younger, perhaps slightly more attractive version of Amy Goodman. Absent was the aggressive, slave-to-fashion presentations of the 15-minute famers. Rather, her primary concerns were grounded in the importance she attached to the dilemma of failed immigration policy and using the Dobbs hypocrisy as a way to showcase the REALITY (a word she tried repeatedly to introduce into the dialogue) and extent to which wealthy folks rely on undocumented workers to amass wealth.

Dobbs, on the other hand, has expressed desires to expand his fame, as manifested in fantasies of making a senate run, or maybe even a presidential bid. My guess would be that is very difficult to achieve, having been relegated to the far reaches of the out-of-sight, out-of-mind radio airways after being booted out of that plum anchor spot over his inability to accept management directives. Perhaps the GMA makeup artists (absent prior to his in-home interview appearance last night) were able to work their magic, at least for the duration of GMA short-segment sound bytes, and help Dobbs lose the jitters he had in the longer format as he spoke from the comfortable home turf of a television studio once again. Spotlight shy versus spotlight hungry comes to mind.

Had you read the first post, you would have realized that The Last Word with LAWRENCE O'DONNELL is not hosted by KO. If you have ever seen O'Donnell's reporting, you would also know that his style of delivery is very different from KO. In fact, he too, along with Ms. McDonald, was barely able to get a word in edgewise during the Dobbs portions of the segment, but was able to give voice to Ms. McDonald here and there whenever it became apparent that Dobbs was trying to steamroll over her and keep her as silent as possible. In any case, you deliberately decided to dismiss any possible value of the MSNBC interview based on KO prejudice and misinformation. Nice job. Also, that mountain out of a molehill thing works in reverse. Some viewers would just as soon make molehills out of mountains. It makes the job of trivializing, discounting, pretending they don't exist, and ultimately ignoring them so much easier.

I would suggest you read the article she wrote before trying to make a laughing stock out of Ms. McDonald, as you attempt in your next seemingly aimless paragraph. She raised the 2-bedroom apartment issue in the context of working conditions. Nine workers share that space, 4 in one bedroom, 5 in the other. Evidently, it is in the job description. Your incoherent banker's hours question follows the 12-hour workday observation, which the article describes as 65-hour work weeks paying $500 weekly. That math tells us that Lou Dobbs pays his undocumented workers 49-cents-per hour above minimum wage. I suppose in Dobbs' world, that may be considered humane and fair and that some of his followers would find this wage for such hugely labor-and-time-intensive work laughable, whenever they are not being outraged over how excessive they think the pay is.

MTs do not shovel manure, feed animals, curry, grease, brush and towel-buff horseflesh, pick and shod hoofs, comb manes, brush equine teeth, oil and buff saddles, clean leads, shine bits, live in a barn, work outside winter, spring, summer and fall, work with heavy equipment, hitch and unhitch horse trailers, maintain transport fleets, haul thoroughbreds across country and back again, saddle and unsaddle, inspect quarters, exercise horses, cater to their comforts, be at the master's beckon call 24/7/365 with no sick pay, holidays, benefits, etc., to ensure million-dollar winnings for competitors, all for $7.69 per hour. Would everyone willing and able to do this work under such conditions please raise their hands? Give me a beak, indeed.

Perez is not crying poor me. He, like so many in his position, is simply looking for a legitimate path to legal status, even if only as a recognized seasonal guest worker. IMO, unless and until undocumented workers are allowed to come out of the shadows, the extent and scope of the problem will remain hidden in alleys of the social underbelly and continue to be exploited to the hilt. My question is, who benefits the most from maintaining the status quo of illegality?

A few comments to your long reply - Backwards Typist

[ In Reply To ..]

Yes, Ms. McDonald had a meek demeanor on GMA this morning. Dobbs remained on task this morning and was very patient and polite, did not interrupt, etc. If she asked a question, he answered. He did not try to intimidate her.

I did not say she "screamed aspiration to future TV broadcast anchor or talking-head commentator." I said she got her 15 minutes of fame. Everyone seems to inspire to that. That's why youtube is so popular.

I have never seen Lou Dobbs when he had his show, so I can't comment on how you perceive him to be.

You said, "Perhaps the GMA makeup artists (absent prior to his in-home interview appearance last night) were able to work their magic, at least for the duration of GMA short-segment sound bytes, and help Dobbs lose the jitters he had in the longer format as he spoke from the comfortable home turf of a television studio once again. Spotlight shy versus spotlight hungry comes to mind." He was not in the GMA studio. I believe he was at home or in an office somewhere, but not in the studio.

You also said, "Had you read the first post, you would have realized that The Last Word with LAWRENCE O'DONNELL is not hosted by KO."

I was talking about the interview that was to take place on KO's show. I have not seen Lawrence O'Donnell's show, either. I would like to catch it some time and see what it's like, but don't know what time he's on.

You then said, "In any case, you deliberately decided to dismiss any possible value of the MSNBC interview based on KO prejudice and misinformation."

Yes, I do have prejudice about KO. Truly hate his guts, absolutely sickening, and it's not because of what others on this board have said. I've tried, just can't stand him.

Then you brought up""She raised the 2-bedroom apartment issue in the context of working conditions. Nine workers share that space, 4 in one bedroom, 5 in the other. Evidently, it is in the job description."

So, everyone is supposed to be up in arms about this? How about 13 or more people living in a 2-bedroom apartment in a city or small town? Does that make those people any less important?

Your comment on:"Your incoherent banker's hours question follows the 12-hour workday observation, which the article describes as 65-hour work weeks paying $500 weekly."

Again, many MT's work 12 hours days and work 7 days a week just to make $500 a week. Are we going to get our 15 minutes of fame for being slaves?

This worker chose to hire on for the job. There are lots of legal immigrants and citizens that do the same type of work. Do you hear them complaining or someone doing an investigative report on them? No. Would you care to post their wages?

Give me a break on this one: "MTs do not shovel manure, feed animals, curry, grease, brush and towel-buff horseflesh, pick and shod hoofs, comb manes, brush equine teeth, oil and buff saddles, clean leads, shine bits, live in a barn, work outside winter, spring, summer and fall, work with heavy equipment, hitch and unhitch horse trailers, maintain transport fleets, haul thoroughbreds across country and back again, saddle and unsaddle, inspect quarters, exercise horses, cater to their comforts, be at the master's beckon call 24/7/365 with no sick pay, holidays, benefits, etc., to ensure million-dollar winnings for competitors, all for $7.69 per hour. Would everyone willing and able to do this work under such conditions please raise their hands? Give me a beak, indeed."

Family farms do much more labor intensive than the above with the exception of the horses, but there are the chickens, cows, sheep, goats, veggies, food for the animals to plant, harvest, etc. and this is 24/7. How do you know MT's don't have horses on the side and have to take care of them? (just kidding of course)

Last comment: "Perez is not crying poor me. He, like so many in his position, is simply looking for a legitimate path to legal status, even if only as a recognized seasonal guest worker. IMO, unless and until undocumented workers are allowed to come out of the shadows, the extent and scope of the problem will remain hidden in alleys of the social underbelly and continue to be exploited to the hilt. My question is, who benefits the most from maintaining the status quo of illegality?"

If he wants a legitimate path to legal status, then he should do it the legal way. I have nothing against him personally. I also believe he is being exploited by Ms. MacDonald. She is giving him hope, and I doubt anything with come of this. Again, there are two types of immigrants: those who come here LEGALLY and those that cross the border ILLEGALLY. I do not support those who are illegal...and depending on where immigration reform is heading, I will speak out for, or against, if it gives them an easy ride especially since there are hundreds of wannabe immigrants doing it the legal way. Where's the fairness in that?

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