Local visit by Dobbs leaves an impression

By: GARY WALKER - Commentary
Escondido, California

I recently heard the most amazing lecture. It was perhaps, the most brutally honest, cogent and perspicacious talk and analysis I've ever listened to about the current state of our nation, society and economy. The speaker was business guru, super patriot, and host of CNN's most popular new hour show, Lou Dobbs.

Addressing a packed auditorium at UC San Diego, Dobbs correctly pointed out to his rapt audience that there is a serious and palpable divide in our nation, a pervasive and powerful feeling that our nation is headed radically in the wrong direction. Using empirical and anecdotal evidence, and citing facts relative to large scale industry outsourcing, the collapsing dollar, imploding real estate markets, dangerously open and out of control borders, the costly Iraq war, exploding national debt and runaway oil prices, etc., Dobbs painted a dire yet sobering picture of great challenges ahead.

The main reason is that our nation has been hijacked and co-opted by corporate America and their armies of well-funded lobbyists, who are involved in a corrupt and incestuous relationship with our elected leaders, particularly Congress and the executive branch, to the point that our leaders are brazenly, arrogantly and callously no longer responsive to the majority will of the electorate, but are instead beholden to their private corporate benefactors.

Outside the auditorium, a small group of pro-illegal alien activists were holding large signs linking Dobbs with the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.

Pointing out that it's not about race but about an elitist government completely out of touch with ordinary Americans, Dobbs cited the facts that our country is the most ethnically and racially diverse nation on earth and we take in more immigrants annually than all other nations combined.

Himself an Independent, Mr.Dobbs then went on to cite statistics that show record numbers of people are fleeing both the Democratic and Republican parties in disgust and are registering Independent. Citing pervasive and large-scale dissatisfaction with the current crop of presidential hopefuls, Dobbs predicted someone not yet in the race could well be the president-elect this time next year. He went on to encourage all people to register Independent and to formally get involved in local and national politics as a means of protest and to jump start a much needed revolution to take back our country from the elitist corporatocracy that is running and ruining it. It's becoming increasingly clear to many that both parties are but two wings of the same bird of prey.

All this got me thinking: Who will step up to lead this nation and its people out of the gross darkness and travail of rampant and corrosive political corruption and into the light of freedom and hope as envisioned by our Founding Fathers? Hopefully that individual will have a Dobbs-like level of obvious intelligence, integrity, sincerity and honor. One thing is certain: the American people are fed up with business as usual and are seeking and demanding substantive, positive change. One can only hope.

Gary Walker is a resident of Escondido.

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