Calling All Hatewatchers: Introducing the Dobbsy
Today on CNN, kicks off his 鈥淚ndependent Convention鈥� 鈥� his answer to the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions of the past two weeks.
We figured this would be a great time to introduce a new tongue-in-cheek award, to be given to 鈥渕ainstream鈥� figures 鈥� politicians, pundits, preachers and pedants 鈥� who make utterly false or misleading statements that have the effect of denigrating or defaming an entire group of people.
Naturally, we鈥檙e calling it the Dobbsy.
After all, who has made more infamous than the man who insisted, despite a huge mountain of evidence to the contrary, that 7,000 new cases of leprosy had appeared in a recent three-year span, thanks largely to immigrants? Dobbs, of course. He even of 鈥�60 Minutes鈥�: 鈥淚f we reported it, it鈥檚 a fact.鈥�
Dobbs did report it. But it wasn鈥檛 a fact.
Even though 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� , , the , , and showed that his numbers were inflated (by a factor of about 17), . Demonstrating that his was an with no expertise in immigration or disease failed to budge the host of "Lou Dobbs Tonight," either. In , Dobbs refused to admit he had been wrong.
Dobbs isn鈥檛 alone, of course, in spreading . That鈥檚 why we are launching the Dobbsy 鈥� because some exaggerations and falsehoods uttered by mainstream figures are simply so outrageous that they demand special recognition.
We鈥檇 like to ask our readers to join us in the search for these propagandists. Please send us your nominations, along with any links or other supporting evidence for what they said and why they鈥檙e factually wrong. We will occasionally select one of these for a Dobbsy citation and write-up, and at some point, we鈥檒l have a grand competition in which we鈥檒l ask readers for their help in selecting a 鈥渨inner.鈥�
To get us into the spirit of things, we reprint here a short but unforgettable extract of Dobbs鈥� interview with Lesley Stahl (full disclosure: I criticized Dobbs in that same 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� segment), which aired on May 6, 2007:
STAHL: We checked 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 involved immigrants. Now we went to try and check that number, 7,000. We can鈥檛. Just so you know鈥�
DOBBS: Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it鈥檚 a fact.
STAHL: You can鈥檛 tell me that. You did report it鈥�
DOBBS: Well, no, I just did.
STAHL: How can you guarantee that to me?
DOBBS: Because I鈥檓 the managing editor, and that鈥檚 the way we do business. We don鈥檛 make up numbers, Lesley. Do we?
I think that gives our intrepid readers an idea of what we鈥檙e looking for. Go out, be fruitful, and send us your findings. It won鈥檛 be long before we award the first Dobbsy. They say they don鈥檛 make up numbers. But do they?
