Thursday, March 22, 2007

Try Lemonade Instead Of Lemons, Lou

Putting a bit of a twist on an expression I heard growing up (re: making something good out of something bad)…

There are all kinds of media demagogues and uninformed blowhards out there, particularly from the right-wing echo chamber. There are lefties who I consider to be “out to lunch” also, and under that category I would file Ramsey Clark, who, though I applaud his opposition to the Iraq war, is generally too gonzo for me on a whole host of other issues, particularly on the continued existence of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

However, I think the honor of most disingenuous media personality goes to Lou Dobbs, hands down, since he pretends to be some kind of a centrist, but seems more interested in promoting his own “cult of personality.”

I guess it suits Dobbs to stick his head out of his metaphorical hole every now and then and rail about how terrible everything is, particularly today as he criticizes Abu Gonzales and Dubya for the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys and the Democrats for holding the two of them (as well as Bushco in general) accountable.

Dobbs thinks this is all a waste of time because Gonzales would have to enforce any of the subpoenas refused by Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, or anyone else, with Dobbs wondering why Gonzales would enforce something that would be bound to incriminate him.

That a good point, but it’s not the heart of the matter, and Dobbs knows it. The heart of the matter is trying to determine what investigations were halted by the firings of the attorneys, and even though Congress will probably not be able to resolve this matter (Bushco, as always, being “cagey as a fox” when it comes to the legality of moves like this; if they can’t work a law to suit their ends, they just managed to change the law under the now-happily-departed 109th Repug Congress), Dobbs should applaud Congress for FINALLY exercising its oversight function, not ridicule it. Though I’d like to see this matter remedied correctly, if nothing else, it will turn into fodder to be used by Democrats in the next election; this is as it should be, since the Repugs have spent plenty of time beating up Democrats over imaginary scandals, and they should be forced to face the music over a real one.

Beyond that, I asked a question some months ago about Dobbs, and given his latest rant, I think it’s time to ask it again:

If you profess to despise the Democrats and the Republicans as much as you do, Lou, then why don’t you just climb down off your high horse and form a third party? You have the clout to find people and develop some kind of a grass-roots organization; hell, you’d have people knocking at your door within minutes after you announced something like this.

Try being part of the solution instead of part of the problem for a change.

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