Janet Murguia of the National Council of La Raza takes to the pages of Alternet to offer "Dobbs' Resignation Was Long Overdue" (alternet.org/story/144089/dobbs'_resignation_was_long_overdue). Somewhat surprisingly, it doesn't seem to contain any outright lies, just smears and misleading statements. For instance, she tries to blame an increase in hate crimes on Dobbs and others:
The rhetoric that Lou and other extreme commentators used surrounding the debate took a harsh turn, so much so that a member of my staff called it a "wave of hate" and said that "this no longer sounds like it's about policy - it sounds like it's about us." ...This is not just an exercise in etiquette. The Latino community knows all too well the effect of extreme and polarizing rhetoric. Over the past five years, the vitriolic debate surrounding immigration has created a toxic climate for our communities. During that time, we have seen a double-digit increase in the number of hate crimes against Latinos and substantial growth in the number of hate groups targeting Latinos.
The number of "hate groups" is based on the opinion of the Southern Poverty Law Center, not exactly a credible source.
Then, she implies that the NCLR and other illegal immigration-supporting groups are going to go after other hosts:
Yet Dobbs is not alone in purveying extreme rhetoric on the subject of immigration. There are dozens of others on cable television news and radio who draw our ire. Given the free speech issues that we regularly defend, we have attempted to approach this issue with restraint. We have appealed to the journalistic integrity of the cable networks and requested balance. We have worked with advertisers who have a right to ensure that their brands are not associated with such polarizing debate. And we have used the airwaves to identify patterns of distortion and established a website (www.WeCanStopTheHate.org) to call out the worst offenders so that the public can add its voice to the debate.
The actions of the NCLR show clearly that they have no interest in a real debate about these issues.
Sun, 11/22/2009 - 06:49 · Importance: 4