Like most of you, I am thrilled by Al Franken's squeaker victory in Minnesota. It's the result not only of Al making his case to the voters and Norm's poor performance, but also of the Democrats' determination -- this time -- to make sure that every vote is counted. That's what changed the news story from a narrow Coleman win to a narrow Franken win -- counting every vote. Hurray!
But to Lou Dobbs, this is a "scandal." On his show January 5, he included Al Franken's victory in a list of Democratic "scandals," and "Dems behaving badly," even part of a Democratic "culture of corruption." See Media Matters for a report.
Dobbs had his correspondent, Casey Wian, on to do a segment on recent Democratic scandals, and suggest that the scandals show that the Democrats have now inherited the culture of corruption they were criticizing among Republicans just two years ago. The examples listed were Blagojevic, Bill Richardson's investigation, and.... Al Franken. Here is the scandalous information, following the Media Matters' transcript:
WIAN: On election night, Franken trailed incumbent Republican Norm Coleman by 215 votes. After weeks of counting, recounting, and according to the Coleman campaign, double counting, Franken now has a 225-vote lead.
In other words, the mere fact that Norm Coleman, grasping at straws, says that Franken has engaged in misconduct, makes it a case of "Dems behaving badly," and makes Al part of a "culture of corruption."
Let's just get clear about the avuncular, sensible-voice-of-the-everyman Lou Dobbs: The line separating him from Glenn Beck is as thin as a strand of hair. He is a revolting xenophobe who blames our problems on foreigners, particularly those foreigners of a certain hue who want to come and live and work and be productive within our borders. He has promoted wildly irresponsible allegations on his show that there has been an explosion of leprosy in this country due to illegal immigrants -- an incendiary charge that is pure fiction. He has smeared Mexican president Vicente Fox with a theory, culled from white-supremacists, that Fox secretly wants to reclaim a vast swath of the United States for Mexico (a region the white supremacists, and the Lou Dobbs show, call Aztlan). He is a global warning denier, and has a long history of reckless misinformation.
He claims to speak out of concern for working Americans, which is good, but he does so by appealing to the worst instincts of humanity, finding scapegoats in people who look and sound different, just as Pat Buchanan does. Fortunately, his ratings stink, but it really is a disgrace that CNN gives him a platform.
Feel free to mention this to CNN, using this form.