Spitzer On Dobbs: "He Spews Venom, Hate and Misinformation"

Posted by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake at 5:00 AM on October 31, 2007.

This post, written by Jane Hamsher, originally appeared on FireDogLake

Elliot Spitzer rightly called out Lou Dobbs for his race baiting in the New York drivers' license controversy yesterday morning (the video is to your right):

SPITZER: Look, I'm not going to demean myself by getting into a back and forth with somebody who on TV spews venom, hate and fundamental misinformation. Of course not. He knows it.

As I said, it's beneath me, it's beneath my office, to, in any way, involve myself with Lou Dobbs. And I think his knowing spread of venom is beneath CNN as well.

Lou, of course, just flipped his shit:

The governor should know better than to inject racism into a debate about giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens or any other debate of public policy.

Well, Lou, that is of course the appropriate thing to do when that's what someone is engaging in.

Dobbs then went on to put up this poll:

Do you believe it is racist to enforce US immigration laws to secure our ports and borders?

I'm sure Lou feels mightily vindicated that the vote is 98% "no" but that isn't what Spitzer claimed, not by a long shot. The chiron then flashed "Fears of Massive Voter Fraud," and I'm waiting for somebody to say there's a risk with these drivers' licenses of massive voter fraud, but it turns out the person who's worried about that is...Lou Dobbs.

Let's remember that Richard Clarke has said that Spitzer's plan will make the country more secure because "it is far preferable for the state to know who is living in it and driving on its roads." And according to AAA, Spitzer's plan will reduce accidents. Spitzer also says it will save New York drivers' $120 million a year in insurance costs.

But Dobbs isn't interested in a serious discussion of the matter -- he's engaging in straw men and throwing red meat to his racist base. While there are many good reasons to support immigration reform, there are also quite a few bad ones and Dobbs takes no responsibility for the fact that his inflammatory rhetoric and long-winded dissembling make him a propagandist and not a journalist who appeals to the worst elements within the immigration reform crowd.

Anyway, watch Spitzer. It's priceless. Haven't enjoyed watching anyone nail Dobbs quite so much since Laura Flanders took her best shot.

Tagged as: immigration, new york, dobbs, spitzer

Jane Hamsher is the founder of FireDogLake. Her work has also appeared on the Huffington Post, AlterNet and The American Prospect.