Elana Levin
Lou Dobbs Crosses A Picket Line
The writers strike is still going on and going strong. Writers are still picketing The Daily Show.
So why did the self-professed "champion of the middle class" CNN pundit Lou Dobbs go on The Daily Show show last night? That's scabbing. I wonder what Dobbs would have to say to all those professional writers who's struggle for a fair deal he just slapped in the face. Don't they count as America's squeezed middle class (and not even middle class in many cases)? Isn't that the group he claims to speak for?
Dobbs hasn't commented on this controversy yet and didn't even use his air time to make any statements supporting the writers in his interview. I know because I watched the show online. The writers are fighting for their contract to include their being paid for shows that are watched online. Daily Show is VERY popular online.
Oh the irony.
Again, I am compelled to post my favorite WGA strike YouTube video (by a Daily Show writer of course) that explains how laughable the t.v. studios' claims that they don't make money off the internet are. Hey, if consumer research groups are reporting an explosion of online teevee viewing and Viacom is suing YouTube for a billion dollars because people are watching their shows on YouTube's site instead of on Viacom's own internet properties I think it is safe to say that online t.v. is a big deal and a big money maker and that those who create that content should be paid for their work.
Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore, who had his own battle with NBC last year over being told to deliver unpaid webisodes of his excellent show, told Time Magazine (from a Paramount TV picket line) last month that his struggle getting paid for content "taught me the lesson that the studios thought Internet stuff somehow existed in this magical realm where they didn't have to pay anybody and they could do whatever they want," Moore says. "That experience a year ago lead me to believe we were gonna be in this situation today."
Another picketing crossing disappointment on The Colbert Report this week was Matt Taiibbi.
Blogs like scholars and Rogues were compelled to ask "Why, oh why, did you sell out, Matt Taibbi?"
And Group News Blog more directly states "Matt Taibbi is a Punk" (they don't mean that in the Joe Strummer sense of the word punk-- crossing picket lines is not very punk rock). Jesse Wendel views Taibii's scabiness as part of a larger pattern of punking out. Group News Blog's "Lower Manhattanite" is a WGA member I might add so they know a thing or two over there. Keep reading United Hollywood's blog for some more thoughts from the front lines of the WGA strike.
Posted at 1:06 PM, Jan 11, 2008 in Labor | Middle-class squeeze | Permalink | Comments (3)
Comments
That's very interesting about Dobbs, Elana. I'm not really surprised to be honest, but I was surprised to see Matt Taibbi on Colbert. For some reason I figured he'd be more likely to not cross the picket line.
Posted by: Greg Palmer | January 13, 2008 10:13 AM
Action speaks louder than rhetoric. I wonder: which (Democratic) presidential candidates will scab?
Posted by: Shaun Richman | January 13, 2008 09:12 PM
Lou Dobbs is epitome of the self-righteous holier then thou hypocritical iconic idiot. Every American enjoys the economic benefits of immigrants Mexican, Latin or otherwise. They are the bottom feeders of our social economic food chain that our society feeds on to fulfill our insatiable appetite for materialistic goods and services. We use them like toilet paper, treat them like trash and have the audacity to be so self indignant, self righteous and spout off that we don't like or want "illegal Mexican immigrants". No mention of other "illegal immigrants" from other parts of the world. Just the "Mexican" ones.
The reality is that immigrants Mexican or otherwise have a dramatic positive economic impact on the lives of every single American living in the country.
The notion that a fence south of the border will mitigate illegal immigrants from crossing the border is idiotic. The vast majority of the immigrants are crossing the border because there is demand for their labor, they are being hired, citizens benefit from their sweat labor, and the so called monies they send "home" is an economic relief valve for inflation. The vast majority of immigrants are not drug dealers or criminals. The reality is that they are ordinary people trying to make a living for themselves and their families.
If we really wanted to curb illegal immigrants crossing the border, all we have to do is provide them work visas. Apparently the supply and demand for their sweat labor and work visas we're willing to provide are not in balance. If it were, we wouldn’t have immigrants crossing the border illegally, and they would be paying taxes to the benefit of our society.
The real hypocrisy is that underneath all the rhetoric, this is not really about Mexican immigrants crossing the border illegally. It is in fact fascist racism disguised as nationalism. Lou's fascist rhetoric is offensive and his ignorance about raising a fence south of the border is nothing more than a rally cry to the ignorant racist populace in the US.
Lou Dobbs should be exposed for what he really is. A fascist racist.
Lou Dobbs - Get a life.
Lou Dobbs Epitaph – illegal Mexican immigrant bashing and raising a fence south of the border.
I suppose that is his calling in life.
He should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
It’s good to know that the vast majority of the human race has a higher calling.
Posted by: Garfield | January 19, 2008 01:55 PM