I saw you on Lou Dobbs.
I'm surprised you thought you were going to have a fair conversation with him.
That's hilarious.
Please don't get discouraged though, and keep in mind not everyone has the opportunity to influence people the way you do. Thanks for taking one for the team.

I didn't see you on Lou Dobbs' program, but I did hear you on NPR. And like the previous commenter, I'm surprise that you thought that you would have a friendly audience with Dobbs and that you would have ample opportunity to reasonably make your case. Lou Dobbs and his ilk are about combative entertainment -- the only remedy to having our progressive agenda have a fair hearing is to nurture/fund a progressive "news" channel on cable. That's the only way that we'll be able to aggressively push a progressive agenda.

Hi Andrea,
Just listened to your NPR interview. I try to warn serious people not to play into the bloody hands of anyone on ratings driven cable shows. Olbermann is the only one so far, to let others speak freely.
But on Dobbs I offer this example to describe Dobbs in a nutshell: Remember late last year when Congress gave a double whammy against the minimum wage while voting themselves a pay increase??
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/2060/1/126/

I tuned in that night to the flaming Dobbs, who had been ranting for 'pro middle class values' (during ratings week), expecting an equal rant against the Republicans in Congress for such despicable action.

Wow what a new timid stumbling Dobbs I discovered. Citicize Republicans? Hell no.

"... Congress rejected two attemts at increasing the minimum wage today. Uh ..for those of you...uh..who want to know my ..uh...thoughts on that...please visit my website."
Period! End of story.
What a devious schmuck he really is.

Coincidentally, for a humorous bit of delicious payback, around that same time Dobbs also had as a guest my states Republican Majority Whip Randy Graf. Graf was one of the most vocal anti-immigrant guys around, as was Congressman J.D. Hayworth.

Arizona now has two new Democratic Congressmen, and voted OUT the 2 Republicans, Randy Graf and J.D. Hayworth!

Andrea,

I couldn't agree with you more on the assertion that Lou Dobbs does very little constructive. While I disagree with him on many points -- as do you, I do appreciate his passion, but it seems like he wants to hear himself speak and stroke his own ego. If he really does care about the middle class, why doesn't he move his ego out of the limelight and truly redirect it to his pet issues and the people who he rouses?

Further, as a the managing editor of his program, one would think that he devote time to provide examples of things that people in the middle class can do to ameliorate their plight. What can a person who is a dollar short and a week late do to promote responsible immigration policy, counter unwise outsourcing, confront China and India, fix our schools, and reign over their elected officials? Should they work through local, state, or national parties and politicians? What are they looking for? The ability to hold up a letter that so and so wants something done? A chance to say that many of their constituents are upset? Or help from concerned citizens who are willing to help brainstorm to develop sensible legislation? How do they most effectively write such correspondence? Should they instead work through organizations or unions that they have contact with?

I do not know why he doesn't provide such information or profile people or groups who are doing more than sound alarm bells. By enabling his viewers to do something constructive would make his show so much greater... Why can't he see that?

By the way, you were very gracious in giving Dobbs some credit. That is something he does not deserve, and I question if he would return the favor willingly or sincerely.

For those who find Lou Dobbs not only sub-optimally informed but pompous and grating, this New Yorker profile of Dobbs is worth a look. It covers the larger question of whether CNN is becoming personality-driven in response to Fox News Channel's model, but its key example is Dobbs.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061204fa_fact1

The article nicely captures one of my two issues with Dobbs - his correspondents are kiss-ass fawners. (Typical exchange: Dobbs: "John, it seems to me that illegal immigration might cause the sun to crash into the moon before long. Could that be true? A: "That's a good question Lou.")

The other is Lou's pompous, self-righteous tone. Bill O'Reilly is opinionated without being pompous, and he is good at having a civil, productive conversation with his opponents. Lou is generally unable to hold his own with competent opponents, so he loads up on friendlies. Ken Auletta obviously spent a huge amount of time on New Yorker profile, but I wish he had captured the grating personality angle that drives me nuts. Or maybe he did slightly when he quoted someone describing Dobbs as "He doesn't think his opinions are opinions. He thinks they're the truth." Maybe that's what I'm reacting to. By the way, for what it's worth, I probably agree with Dobbs on the issues more than disagree. But his pomposity makes him just unbearable, imho.

The middle class is indeed under attack! Mr. Dobbs is an opportunist who sees this issue as a spring board to mainstream America. Having said that, he is sounding the alarm with regard to the systematic erosion of the middle class through special interest influence in government and the lack of government oversight to watch the backs of every citizen. I would be interested in knowing how many companies have outsourced jobs overseas in the last 10 years. I wonder how many Americans would object to their investments being managed by persons overseas. If Americans knew the truth, would they make a stand against the pervasive corporate greed in this country and boycott those businesses currently outsourcing jobs to other countries. Who in government is representing US?
Every job that is shipped overseas is a job removed from the available pool. Most of these jobs are well paying blue and white collar jobs that could be filled with qualified Americans. Why is it that a company can outsource a job overseas when the job can be filled locally? Why has our government allowed this to happen? Why is there no training programs to give those outsourced new job skills?
Does a website exist that details the companies currently outsourcing and by how many jobs?