CNN's Lou Dobbs Joins Glenn Beck's Tinfoil-Hat Brigade

Glenn Beck must be looking over his shoulder these days.

CNN's well-tailored droneologist and resident crackpot, Lou Dobbs, has just joined cable's tinfoil-hat crowd as a full-blown member of Birthers of a Nation.

Seriously, CNN, it's way past time to move this pompous bloviator over to sister station CNN Headcase News and give him his own live show there, just like you did with Beck. Big Lou can then use it as a training camp for a future Fox News gig. (Just keep him away from sharp objects in the studio).

I've been listening to Mr. Broken Borders' radio show the past month, working on a radio-TV newspaper column. Then, one day last week, LouDicrous issued forth this somewhat surprising dictum:

"Obama should put his birth certificate out there. I'm still looking for validation."

You want validation, Lou? Then have your parking stub stamped at the Big and Tall store in the mall.

Want more proof Lou's gone off the deep end?

His radio web site lists his recommended book this week as Sen. Jim "Franklin" DeMint's "Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide Into Socialism."

Yes, the very same "Obama's Waterloo" crackpot from the Palmreading, er, Palmetto State. Bet it's a real page-turner.

The CNN gasbag -- hey, I think the world of Lou because he's built like it -- has also tut-tutted on his radio outfall lately that President Obama is "gallivanting" around the country, trying to sell his "crazy" health-care plan. Lou opines that such reckless disregard for fiscal sanity is turning us into a "banana republic." I'm guessing Lou isn't referring here to his diet.

And, predictably, Dobbs, who coyly and preposterously dropped hints last year he might run for President someday (on the Larouche ticket, peut-etre?) has been regularly dragging out the phrase "class war" on his dimbulb radio show, referring to the possibility that his fellow rich guys may have to help pay for this wacky Marxist idea called universal health care. Why, he sputtered, it's...unconstitutional.

Ever notice that every right-wing radio host without exception -- and all his callers -- are constitutional-law experts? I've been covering right-wing radio for various newspapers for two decades now, and this is the dominant theme in their silly symphonies.

But let's not be too harsh here on Jabba the CNN Commentator.

On his radio show this week, Dobbs did allow that "No one has any proof Obama wasn't born here."

That's reassuring.

Dobbs also told the knucklewalkers in his radio audience this week that Obama's health-care legislation was a "crazy" idea.

And, of course, if anyone is an expert on "crazy," it's Big Lou -- and his little rubber-room buddy and soulmate, Beck.

Follow Bill Mann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/newsmann

Comments

[trisha08]

You said, "Ever notice that every right-wing radio host without exception -- and all his callers -- are constitutional-law experts? I've been covering right-wing radio for various newspapers for two decades now, and this is the dominant theme in their silly symphonies".

I agree 100%. Just from reading comments from right-wing posters, I understand exactly what you are saying. Most post something like, "Obama is shredding the Constitution", or something similar. When asked for details, they can't give any examples of what they mean. Because they don't know what they are saying. They are just repeating something they heard from Beck or Limbaugh or some other talking head.

[hauty007]

Why is the BC issue a problem?
Show it, along with all other credentials, schools records, medical etc.
What's the DEAL & why is the PRESS at war about a simple request?

[MGhamma]

How many times does it have to be proven without a shadow of a doubt that President Obama is a born in the USA American citizen before you birthers shut up about it? How many? 5 times? 10 times?

[Chad Johnson]

The State of Hawaii has verified it several times. That is the point everyone keeps trying to make. Is the birth certificate more or less valid the depending upon the number of times it is released?

As for the birthers claims about the seal and such. I recently had to get my driver's license in my new home state of Virginia after moving here from out of state. I had to produce my birth certificate. The woman at the DMV gave me the stink-eye and said it didn't look like any birth certificate she had ever seen before and asked, "where is the seal?"

I said, "It's there you can feel it, but understand this document has been folded up in this small envelope for 40 years." (The county where I was born used to fold birth certificates in small manilla envelopes the size of a credit card.)

She said, "I'm going to need a supervisor."

I was born in St. Cloud, MN, to parents that were born in Minnesota from Grandparents that were born in Minnesota and she was giving me crap because my 40 year-old birth certificate from small town Minnesota in the late '60s didn't look like a birth certificate she had seen before.

It's a non-issue! Obama's birth certificate might not look like one you have seen before, but it has been certified by many, many State of Hawaii officials as authentic. Get over it.

[trisha08]

Your comment points out the problem of people who listen to a lot of talk radio, but never really seek out the truth.

HE HAS SHOWN IT. HAWAII HAS VERIFIED IT. (YES, I am screaming).

But, the birthers are not satisfied with the truth. What else do they want? It's been verified. This was settled months ago. GAWD!

[earlyautumn]

CNN sucks. Look how Larry King beat the Michael Jackson story to death. I think he's still on it.
Then you have John King, whose views are as right wing as one can get without going to Fox news.

[Freesia2]

lol You have a way with an adjective Mr. Mann.

Lou's lost it. I used to sometimes watch him. (There were some things I agreed with him on - like port security. But then he was also on the same page as Chuck Schmer with that so it gave Jabba a veneer of sanity.)

But he's lost it now. And if you had written nothing more than his endorsement of Jim DeMint's book - that would have said it all.

CNN is turning into Fox. They're competing for the same audience now. If I'm wrong? Then they should let Lou go. Until then, I'm boycotting the boogers.

[winningticket]

Don't worry, Lou I would never ask you for certification. It is well known that you are certifiable.

[glesslib]

Well said.......

[SgtMac]

I have yet to see any evidence that Lou Dobbs is not actually a Space Alien, hatched from an egg, who has been secretly sent to Earth to discredit the republican party, kind of like Rush "draft-dodger" Limbaugh. Any one got the documents?

[whatizz]

Why is Lou Dobbs still on the air. This is just the latest embarassment for the "not ready for prime time player". What facts were incorrect that the Mccain campaign committee checked? Where have you been? In fact where have all these people been? I don't believe in my 51 years on this earth that i have seen a more ill conceived effort to discredit a persons integrity than this. What i believe is worse however is that members of the Republican party hierarchy have not told these buffoons to stop. Thus,they are a party to the nonsense and should be ashamed. Wow, the election is over,let's hope America gets going again.

[althusius]

Joe Klein, the President of CNN, must be thinking: let's get rid of Lou Dobbs. That worked real well with Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck's ratings at Fox News are twice that of CNN and HLN put together.

[LiberalBuzz]

McDonald's sells more food than any site on Earth. Does that mean it's better for you or healthier?

Do try to put it in perspectives. The Foxnewswhorehouse caters to the people all want to sit around in their barcoloungers listening to the one "news" site (and I use the term loosely) that perfectly frames the way they WANT the world to be.

The truth of the matter means nothing to them. They are for the most part, angry bitter old white people and racist more often than not. So Fakenews is the perfect spot for them to get their daily does of hatred without being bothered by silly things like the truth and facts.

[Cleanerman]

Isn't that the truth!

[glesslib]

I just wrote something very similar on a different spot here at HuffPo. It's true. 20 percent of the people in America believe the way Fox presents the world. They have to watch Fox to keep their fantasy intact. The rest of the sane people here in America have many news outlets to choose from. So we watch many different channels for the news. Fox looks like it has more viewers. It just has a huge percentage of the 20 percent who see the world through 1972 glasses.

[Anonani]

Are his ratings tanking? Unless he is neglected to take his anti-psychotic medications, I can think of no other reason that Lou Dobbs became a spokesperson for such a frivolous issue. As far as I know, he is not a racist.

[Rmtns]

All evidence points to he IS a racist. I don't know the man, but his rantings in TV sure make him look racist!

[glesslib]

Well, let's see. He hates foreigners, thinks they bring leprosy. He thinks Obama isn't a legal citizen. He doesn't seem to be a big fan of home grown minorities either. Now there's a word for that....can't think what it is....oh, you ended your post with it.

[DemocraticVoter]

"Tinfoil-Hat Brigade" -- BEST description of Dobb's behavior I've seen thus far.

[DemocraticVoter]

"Tin-Foil Hat Brigade" -- the BEST description of Dobbs behavior I've seen so far.

[LMPE]

I've never watched Lou Dobbs even once. The entire right wing is a joke.

[RepugsOut08]

Hey, Dobbs is no fool. He's watching Rush and Beck's ratings and bank accounts skyrocket, as the lunatic fringe in this country hunker down in front of their millenium bunker tv sets.
Fox News, here he comes!

[me again]

His delivery is dull as dishwater.

[Democrab]

In a world where twenty-four hour cable news stories are like grains of sand, Lou's still crawling around the desert looking for a rating. He's been joined at the hip with Ted Turner since 1980 and is educated enough to know (Harvard economics) where his bread is buttered. But he's suffering from republicanitis, can't hide his bigotry and remains a master of mediocrity. The speed of light is no match for the reaction time on the remote thumb when Lou's lunar face fills up the screen.

[me again]

Dobbs is a dullard and his points of view tend to be on the fringe. He also regularly beats dead horses....