Lou Dobbs Almost Calls Condi A "Cotton Picker"

Lou Dobbs visited Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room" on Friday and railed against Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice for saying that race is still an issue in America because it was an American "birth defect."

Dobbs dismissed Rice's very notion, claiming race is no longer an issue in a society as diverse as modern day America. "The reality is, this is the most socially, ethnically, religiously, racially diverse society on the face of the earth," Dobbs said. "Now, Wolf, we don't make enough of that in the national media. We listen to some idiot say you can't talk about race."

Then Dobbs tripped over his words, as he declared, "Not a single one of these cotton...[stammering]...these just ridiculous politicians should be the moderator on the issue of race."

Watch:

Comments

[DougMontreal]

White men (like myself) who say there is no race problem have zero insight or credibility. And America is hardly the "most progressive and ethnically diverse country" (to paraphrase). For example, I'd argue that Canada may be both more progressive and more ethnically diverse. Why do Americans seem to assume, without evidence or reflection, that they are superior in every conceivable way?

[LightningJoe]

Because that's America's core myth exactly: that American's are superior in every way to anybody else you care to name. That's why we don't even have to care about what the rest of the sub-humans are up to, because it couldn't possibly have anything to do with us.

Arrogant. Selfish. Greedy. Holier than thou. The list of our national virtues is endless.

----
Stop watching television. You'll just encourage it.

[GodisHateSpeech]

Without television we would not have Civil Rights.

It was the imagas transmitted into homes across America that glavanised the middle class whites against Jim Crow.

Television is THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON.

We just need to demand the airwaves back.

They belong to the American people.

Demand that your congressman fund more public television and hold the networks to their pledge to inform the electorate. It's our property and they are our representatives.

[Nopes]

That's really funny... This guy tries to talk how not-racist America is and he ends up with a racist slur... :)
Maybe his point was: "I'm not using the N-word anymore... just 'cotton picker'... That's a huge improvement".
It's hard to find a better way to say: "Look. How stupid and racist I can be".

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

What's really funny is that he was talking about the fact that it's difficult to have a discussion on race without people twisting the words to fit some agenda.
It's hard to find a better way to prove him right.

[preatorius]

Want to have some fun? Please send a bag of cotton balls to CNN:
Lou dobbs

c/o CNN NY

1 Chase Manhattan Plaza

New York

NY 10005

[WomanInOrangeSweater]

This whole election has been one outrage after another.
First Bill Clinton said "fairy tale"
Then some Obama advisor said "monster"
Then some Clinton surrogate said "Hussein"
And Michelle Obama used the words "for the first time"
And Obama used the word "claws"
And Bill Clinton said "Jesse Jackson"
And Reverend Wright said "Goddam"
And Hillary said "as far as I know"
And Obama used the word "typical"
And Dobbs said "cotto..."
Words are important. But it seems we're constantly missing the context. And by context, I mean we've got to reverse the disasterous damage the Bush administration has done to this country. For all the outrage over the above words, I don't think any of the people who uttered them would disagree with that sentiment. Fight the real enemy.

[StandingStill]

Amen, WomanInOrangeSweater! Amen.

[emncaity]

That is really spot-on, Orange.

Far be it from me to defend Dobbs, but I agree that this is looking for offense where there is none. It is MUCH more likely that he was going to use the slightly anachronistic "cotton-pickin'," with no reference to race or anything denigrating. If anything, Dobbs might have realized that that comment would be misconstrued in that way; if so, he deserves credit for stopping short. Either way, he doesn't deserve to be falsely accused, even if one hates much of his politics.

Y'know, it's no virtue to sling everything at the other side that you can, no matter how illegitimate it is. Seems to me we ought to leave it up to the Rovian right to do that sort of thing.

Keith Olbermann, are you listening? I loveyaloveya man, but once in a while you do this sort of thing yourself, the "I'm such a delicate offended liberal" thing. Man up, bro.

Also, is it really so outrageous to suggest that the U.S. is not necessarily the most backward developed nation when it comes to race? It's almost anathema for a progressive to say that, as it can be for a right-winger to say that examples of true and harmful racism still exist. There is such a thing as too-extreme sensitivity and imagined slights; there is also such a thing as the real thing.

[Bademus]

Yes, it is outrageous (unfortunately) and that's why Lou Dobbs is wrong. But hey, Obama's got us talking.

[NorVaGal]

Bravo! Excellent post!

[tlk221]

well said

[Bedingo]

Does anyone knows Lou Dobbs' ethnic origin? I have heard that he is Scandinavian, and that his forefathers came with Leif Ericsson (that would explain his name, Leif Dobbsson, which was anglicized by CNN). Another acquaintance said that Lou Dobbs is actually italian (originally, Luigi Dobsanti). A third acquaintance claims that Lou Dobbs is actually a Latino (original name: Lauro Dobsantangelo). This would explain the intensity of his loathing for Latinos, blacks,... Anyway, As Luigi says, there is always some idiot who makes comments about race and ethnicity. Most of these idiots are on CNN and Fox Noise.

[vallon]

Well, he was born in Childress, TX. as Louis Carl Dobbs. His father was Frank Dobbs, who co-owned a propane business. His mother, Lydia Mae Hensley, was a bookkeeper.

[eliandbo]

How far have we come, if we can't call somebody a cotton picker?
Any body who takes the first aspirin pill out of a new bottle is certainly a cotton picker!

[SharonB]

You really need to brush up on American history. Or... was this an attempt at humor? If you are trying to be funny go ahead... we are waiting...

[realpolitic]

Are you saying that Condi sits around all day taking the first pill out of aspirin bottles? Is that what we pay her for?

[vallon]

No, we pay her to ignore security memos that are titled 'osama bin laden determined to strike the U.S. using aircraft...'

[shag11]

Can't stand the bastard, but as a black man, I don't think he was isolating her. It's ironic that he pulled but and didn't say the phrase, as he was just talking about how comments about race can be misconstrued. He statement certainly was, by you.

[The 13 Colonies]

Any conversation with Lou is "one way".........his way.

[eliandbo]

How far have we come, if we can't call somebody a cotton picker?
Any body who takes the first aspirin pill out of a new bottle is certainly a cotton picker!

[naschkatze]

Freudian slip?

[lowry99]

I agree that he probably meant it as "wait one cottin' pickin' minute!"

but you have to admit the hilarity of the choice of phrasing.

HuffPo: CRYING WOLF!!! If you keep putting up BS nobody will take you seriously.

[rojo7449]

Headlines are misleading. He barely got the 'co' sound out when he stopped. Listeners were just as likely, or more likely, to think he was going to say what we all say now and then instead of "gosh darn", which is "cotton pickin". I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and continue not watching his program. Without this story, and this clip, I wouldn't know Lou Dobbs from Sean Hannity, another pundit I don't watch.

[tnrc75]

A bit unusual for me to be intervening on behalf of Lou Dobbs and I'm sure this has been said, oh, eighteen billion times, but I think it's quite likely that he was going to say cotton-picking. Glancing at a few other comments above, I see some others have indeed said it, but obviously that term has its own racially loaded significance. As with many others, this may have been something Dobbs picked up from Looney Tunes cartoons. I don't know, perhaps that doesn't excuse it. Perhaps that's not significant defense. I don't know. I'm not much of a Lou Dobbs fan but even if the use of the term cotton-pickin' in those old Looney TUnes cartoons was not quite appropriate, I don't know that Dobbs meant anything racially inappropriate by his nearly-made comments.

[Leo]

No, Lou Dobbs, we should let you, a bona-fide xenophobe, be the moderator in the issue of race. "The reality is, this is the most socially, ethnically, religiously, racially diverse society on the face of the earth" is as big a platitude as the jingoistic "the greatest country on earth," or the insanely obtuse "melting pot." This country has never been a meting pot. It has, however, been a pot where several different ingredients never really blend except when forced by law, and even so under duress. And to denounce those who acknowledge that as "ridiculous" is just another check mark on the long list of what makes you, Dobbs, unworthy of being the moderator of any issue.

[Semper]

And non of the present day media commentators are educated enough to moderate any discussions on race either.

[Neoconstant]

None of these commentators are sharp enough to moderate their way out of a cardboard box. They're bought and sold before they're allowed anywhere within 10 feet of a camera.

[Purple Girl]

Oh did I say that - Urckle
Heres a Man married to a hispanic woman and has daughters whos horse are ttended to by illegal immigrant s( first hand Knowledge of the Horse industry) Who hates Hispanics????
Now he reveals his (not so Surprising ) attitudes Black ( I'll use Black because I am referred to as White- not that far off I tan like shit)
Does he realize to that term was used specifically in a derrogatory way toward black woman (while in th fields picking cotton it was used by woman as a Sanitary product???)
Who Hired this Neo Nazi, White Supremeist? Get him of OUR NATIONS MEDIA. FCC should not only fine Dobbs and demand his termination- They should be fining & suspending CNN's.
stop worrying about Stern talking about Pussy and start puttin gth ehammer down on these Federal Licensed entities. At the Very least put a repeated Warning that views of this channel often reflect UnamericaN Principles!
Of course the best way to get rid of these assholes, and make the media responsible for it's duty to US- is stop watching,RAtings Fall, thus profits from market shares plummet- Did a good job of Canceling Tucker! But He must still have a strong Protector- he still is used on MSNBC.

[bookon]

I am pretty sure he was going to say "Cotton Picking" I.E. These Cotton Picking Politians.
I have never heard Cotton Picking used as a racial slur that way.
We have no way to know what he was going to say, as he Never Said It.

I HATE his show BTW, he's almost bad enough to get a show on Faux News, but we shouldn't assume what he was GOING to say.

I am NOT shilling for him. He has said plenty of awful things; we don’t need to MAKE STUFF UP to make him sound bad.

[LisainNYC]

The term "cotton picking" is a well-known but old fashioned put down of blacks, as in, "Get your cotton picking hands off me!"

Why he almost said this, I do not know. My guess is that he has difficulty suppressing his racist views. Lord knows he can't keep them hidden when it concerns Hispanics.

[lvogt]

Yet another in the seemingly never ending string of HuffPo hyperbolic headlines.

While it may have that origin, it probably does have some class relevance since many white sharecroppers also picked cotton. I am 60 and have heard it all my life in the most mundane and usually light hearted way. I never heard it mentioned as and never considered it to be related to race. When someone wanted to say something racist they had stronger language. The 50s singer Tennessee Ernie Ford used to always say 'Bless you're pea-pickin' heart" and most of us saw cotton-pickin' in the same folksy way.