Na na na na. Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye.
On Wednesday night Lou Dobbs announced that he was quitting CNN.
There are rumors that he may go to Fox News. That is where he belongs at a network with an extremely right-wing agenda that doesn't pretend to be objective like CNN.
Dobbs was a polarizing figure on CNN and this fall liberal and Latino groups began a Basta Dobbs campaign to pressure for his removal. Among the leaders of that was blogger and activist Roberto Lovato. Another group critical of Dobbs was the Latino civil rights group the National Council of la Raza.
They argued that Dobbs and his anti-immigrant agenda didn't belong on a network like CNN that purports to tell the news in a balanced way.
I agreed. In a previous blog post I wrote I didn't think Dobbs should be fired for his extreme views. That would give conservatives license to call for extremely liberal commentators to be fired.
I argued that if CNN had a right winger like Dobbs on the air they should hire a left wing liberal who favors immigration.
Now that Dobbs has quit CNN he can go off and do whatever he wants. He'll probably keep ranting against immigrants and President Obama on his radio show. He indicated on the air that he wanted to become more of an advocate than a journalist.
Dobbs said "some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day," according a New York Times story.
God forbid he run for elected office.
One thing is certain. We haven't heard the last of Dobbs. His departing words were ironic since his viewpoints were never constructive but merely divisive.
I'm sure Dobbs will surface again on television soon. But at least for now I can go back to watching CNN.
Filed under: Hispanic, immigration, media, television
Tags: Basta Dobbs, Lou Dobbs, National Council of La Raza, Roberto Lovato
