Queers Against Obama: ¡Basta Dobbs! Take Action

Basta Dobbs : TakeAction -click to sign the petition, tell everyone you know.

From the ¡Basta Dobbs! site:

CNN’s Lou Dobbs' brand of journalism is hurting Latinos in America -- and it's time to fight back.

This week, the CNN anchor is broadcasting his radio show from the conference of anti-immigrant hate group FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform.[1] Founded by a white nationalist, FAIR was linked earlier this year to vigilantes in Arizona who brutally murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father in their home.[2]

The appearance at FAIR is just the latest example of Dobbs using his status as a CNN anchor to spread fear about Latinos and immigrants. It’s time we said ¡Basta! Enough is enough. Please join me in demanding that CNN drop Dobbs from its network:

http://bastadobbs.com/action/?ref_by=2124-773

Dobbs’ network CNN, calls itself “The Most Trusted Name in News.” But Dobbs has shown that the only thing he can be trusted to do is spread dangerous, false myths about immigrants, give airtime to extremists, and use dehumanizing and disrespectful language towards our community.[3]

For example, Dobbs has blamed Latino immigrants for an alleged leprosy epidemic that was widely debunked [4], and has insinuated high crime rates by Latinos falsely claiming “illegal aliens” make up a third of the prison population. Dobbs also regularly hosts extremist guests like FAIR, the Minutemen, and Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who he called “a model for the whole country. [5]”

The Dobbs threat to Latinos is real. Here is how Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center described it to us: [6]

“How dangerous is Lou Dobbs? The rise in hate crimes against Latinos coincides almost exactly with the time Dobbs has been propagating false conspiracy theories about Latinos on the air. He’s not urging people to go hurt and kill – but that is the effect of what he does.”

To fight back against Dobbs, Presente.org is launching a new campaign, working with dozens of leading Latino organizations and our allies in cities across the country—from Los Angeles to Phoenix to Orlando. We are joining together to demand that CNN no longer allow Dobbs to spew hate thinly disguised as “news.”

Please join me in saying “basta!” and ask your friends and family to do the same. It only takes a moment:

http://bastadobbs.com/action/?ref_by=2124-773

Thank you!

Read the Lou Dobbs campaign overview

References

1. "47 Talk Radio Hosts Arrive in Washington, D.C. for Two-Day Immigration Enforcement Broadcast," Reuters, 9-14-09

http://tinyurl.com/prl9n6

2. “Minuteman ‘tactical’ leader/murder suspect Shawna Forde was part of the ‘respectable’ nativist Right too,” Crooks and Liars, 6-16-09

http://tinyurl.com/lblwxt

3. “Fear and Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration and Cable News,” Media Matters,

http://tinyurl.com/59l9rh

4. “A Look at Lou Dobbs’ Leprosy ‘Expert,’” Migra Matters, 5-12-07

http://tinyurl.com/qnrkpm

5. “Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves Into the Mainstream,” Anti-Defamation League

http://tinyurl.com/c3kutj

6. 9/5/09 Interview with Presente.org