Lou Dobbs and CNN have recently come under fire from the Latino community. The “anti-Dobbs campaign” calls for the firing of the allegedly racist Dobbs from CNN. This sentiment is a reaction to his radical views on immigration.

Not only is the idea of firing Lou Dobbs a waste of political energy, it is flat-out wrong. Firing someone in the media for their political views is the definition of media censorship. And right now, I think the immigrant community has more important issues to worry about.

Now don’t get me wrong, I hate Lou Dobbs. I think his bold stance on immigration is just a cheap way to paint himself as “more American.” But it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a right to voice his opinions.

Obviously, there are some people in the country that agree with Lou Dobbs. There are people who honestly believe that immigrants are a tax burden and take jobs from “regular Americans.” Firing Lou Dobbs would be like duct-taping one of these people’s mouths shut when they tried to talk to you, and that’s a bit of an overreaction.

No one can stop people from having opinions and the media, of all places, should be a place where different opinions can be heard. If we start firing news pundits for having aggressive opinions then why not just let Wayne Brady sing political discourse on every news station. We wouldn’t be the most informed country in the world, but at least everyone would be entertained and no one would have their toes stepped on.

Also, spending so much time publicizing hatred for Lou Dobbs couldn’t be more counter-productive for the massive issues facing the immigrant community. Instead of being so dogged about declaring whom you don’t like on television, wouldn’t it be better to use that time and energy to talk about real issues facing immigrants?Lou Dobbs isn’t a piece of legislation that is going to hurt immigrants. Lou Dobbs is also not something to write your congressman about. Telling people you don’t like Lou Dobbs doesn’t make any real difference.
The more that people protest and cry for the firing of Lou Dobbs, the more publicity Lou Dobbs gets. And anyone who has been to New York knows that the crazy guy on the subway only gets crazier when you give him more attention.

Even if these protestors succeed and Lou Dobbs gets fired, they have really only succeeded in making him a martyr. Those who agree with him will love him so much more just because he was punished for his opinions. Like Jesus or Obi Wan Kenobi, if you strike him down it will only make him stronger.

My advice to all of my fellow Lou Dobbs haters is this: change the channel. If that doesn’t feel active enough for you then write your congressman, give your time or money to people who are doing more than hating television personalities to help immigrants. Or better yet, study up on immigration policy and run for office on a platform of immigrant rights.

If Lou Dobbs is fired it won’t change the lives of immigrants struggling to make a living in the United States. It also won’t erase the stigma that is attached to the immigrant community. The best way to deal with Lou Dobbs is to just not listen. If a pundit speaks and no one’s listening, does he make a noise?