Dobbs, CNN Part

(Cliché alert.)

Some in the left blogosphere are having a field day with the resignation (video below) of Lou Dobbs from CNN.

Under the headline “CNN”s on-air racist, Lou Dobbs, is gone after tonight’s show,” says “the hater is quitting.” “Thers” on Firedoglake sarcastically rants “Given the Harsh Discrimination the Liberal Media inflicts upon angry old paranoid white guys who yell a lot and get stuff wrong, it’s amazing that Dobbs even had a teevee show in the first place.” (I couldn't help but respond.)

Arguably most significant, however, was the glee expressed by Media Matters. President Eric Burns issued this statement:

For too long, CNN provided Lou Dobbs with its stamp of approval as he pursued a dangerous, one-sided and all too often false conspiracy tinged crusade against immigrants. This is a happy day for all those who care about this nation of immigrants and believe in the power of media to elevate the political discourse.

Media Matters, a very credible blog generally strong on research, trivializes the wide-ranging commentary,some of it conservative and some not, by implying that it all amounted to a “false conspiracy tinged crusade against immigrants.” There once was a time that liberal organizations cared about unfair trade practices destroying American jobs- another of Dobbs obsessions- but, alas, that interest now seems a thing of the past.

More significant, however, is MM’s assertion of "a happy day for all those who…. Believe in the power of media to elevate the political discourse.” Presumably, this means “the power of the media to elevate the political discourse” harmed by Lou Dobbs, suggesting, not unreasonably, that media liberals/progressives/leftitsts played a primary role in unseating the anchorman. Writing today in The Washington Post, media critic Howard Kurtz noted

Liberal groups such as NDN and Media Matters had mounted a "Dump Dobbs" campaign, and Latino organizations challenged such Dobbs declarations as his 2006 statement that about one-third of the U.S. prison population "is estimated to be illegal aliens"--which the anchor later acknowledged was way too high. ( Included was) The Southern Poverty Law Center (which) asked CNN in July to fire Dobbs over what it called his "racist conspiracy theories."

And Media Matters referred to its

leading role in the Drop Dobbs Coalition (DropDobbs.com) which was launched to call attention to Dobbs' incendiary hate speech and falsehoods, which advertisers were supporting through their sponsorship of his nightly CNN program. The Coalition includes numerous national civil rights and other groups concerned about the kind of hate promoted daily by Dobbs on his television and radio programs. In addition to Media Matters in partnership with NDN, the coalition, representing over two million people, includes the National Council of La Raza, LULAC, National Hispanic Media Coalition, America's Voice, The Hispanic Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center, Netroots Nation, Voto Latino, LCLAA, Center for New Community, Reform Immigration for America, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, the National Puerto Rican Coalition and GALEO.

We’ve been down this road before. Such as in September, when the Los Angeles explained

Responding to a firestorm that raged on conservative talk shows and websites, the White House on Sunday announced the resignation of a top environmental advisor who had made fiery remarks about Republicans and signed a petition questioning whether the U.S. government had any role in planning the Sept. 11 attacks.

Van Jones, a prominent Oakland community activist, issued a statement decrying "lies and distortions" and a "smear campaign" that had been waged against him by the right.

Recently, we have this, again reported by the LA Times (which claims that the subject had joined the administration on the condition that she would stay only a few months):

In an expected development, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn is stepping down after a brief tenure marked by a dust-up with Fox News Channel over its coverage....

Last month, she told CNN that Fox was "part of the Republican Party." She said that the network's practice was to take the party's "talking points and put them on the air. Take their opposition research and put them on the air -- and that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

That touched off a small-screen feud. A Fox talk show host, Glenn Beck, aired footage of Dunn addressing a high school graduation ceremony in June and describing Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa as two of her "favorite political philosophers."

Beck said on his show: "The guy responsible for more deaths than any other 20th century leader is her favorite philosopher!"

Not to be outdone by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, and the others on the right intolerant of anyone they disagree with, some liberal organizations appear, at least, to have effected the release from his contract of the man they loved to hate, Lou Dobbs. Not Limbaugh, Hannity, or Beck, for whom accuracy, detail, and dialogue are as unwanted as swine flu, and whose primary goal (in the case of the first two) is to return the Republican Party to power. No, the scalp was to be that of Lou Dobbs, who wants no part of the Republican Party and whom conservatives view with wariness. Congratulations.