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Before we proceed further we need to define the word: "Propaganda."

According to http://WikiPedia.com -- Propaganda is a type of message aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people. Often, instead of impartially providing information, propaganda can be deliberately misleading, or use fallacies, which, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid.

Propaganda techniques include -- patriotic flag-waving, glittering generalities, intentional vagueness, over simplification of complex issues, rationalization, introducing unrelated red herring issues, using appealing, simple slogans, stereotyping, testimonials from authority figures or celebrities, unstated assumptions, and encouraging readers or viewers to "jump on the bandwagon" of a particular ideology.

With that in mind, please read on.

Recently, Lou Dobbs, the anchor and managing editor of CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," held another of his so called "Broken Borders" town hall meetings, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

As expected, Mr. Dobbs, hosted a deviously choreographed meeting, in which he hand picked a "powerful" lineup of "anti-immigrant professionals,[1]" as participants -- armed with distorted "economic estimates" and monstrous fabrications, as opposed to a pittance of representation from the pro-immigration lobby -- a few Hispanic Americans, who even though well-meaning, could hardly express themselves with a level of sophistication matching that of Lou's hired right-wing "distortionists."

To ensure that the pro-immigrant participants never fully put their points across, Mr. Dobbs, on numerous occasions, cleverly cut to commercials every time a strong point was raised.

This meeting, as all the others Lou has conducted, and including his daily TV show(s), was tedious and loaded with malicious distortions and un-substantiated claims against immigrants.

"We are protecting English!," screamed Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta -- "I am doing what my community elected me to do!" "The people that are in this country illegally are draining the resources and draining budgets that are meant to be used to provide services for those that are here legally and paying taxes," said Mr. Barletta, without bothering to mention -- the fact that a big chunk of these "illegal immigrants" are paying taxes like everybody else and are also contributing to a social security system [and Medicare Insurance] that they will never benefit from as long as they stay "illegal."

One hired "expert" from the Heritage Foundation, an organization that spends much of it's money pushing "right-wing" ideas in the media, proclaimed to the gathering that legalizing 12 million "illegal immigrants" would bankrupt the United States.

Now, this is an outright lie, and by the definition of propaganda above -- this is a deliberate distortion by an "authority figure," selected, sanctioned and assigned by the "Minister" himself -- Dr. Lou Dobbs.

The United States government has spent almost five hundred billion dollars to date -- at the rate of approximately 6 billion dollars a week this year, fighting the war in Iraq ...and guess what, the most powerful economy in the world is getting even better, and actually thriving.

The so called expert from right-wing Heritage foundation never bothered to illustrate how the legalization of 12 million immigrants is going to bankrupt America, instead he resorted to spouting misleading figures, using fallacies, with which to convince the audience that his lies and distortions are factual.

"Immigrants are leaving my town in the middle of the night!," gloated Barletta, amid wild cheers by a large section of the crowd -- most likely a bunch of blood thirsty right-wingers choking with racism and bigotry. Note: The city of Hazleton is one of a couple dozen in the United States to enact racist anti-immigrant ordinances[2].

There was one comical moment when a thoroughly mis-informed (probably paid by Lou Dobbs) 82 year old black man, resplendently bedecked with military medals, jumped onto the stage claiming that immigrants have "stolen jobs" from his two sons in New Jersey.

For a black man, who must have experienced racial intolerance at its worst, in his early life, to stoop so low -- is hypocritical and very disturbing indeed. The causes of Black America's prolonged economic hit is not rooted in immigrants. Bill Fletcher, Jr., a long-time labor and international activist, and writer clarifies: "The emotional and hallucinatory appeal of attacking immigrants as a means of saving the Black worker is not only morally bankrupt, but it is also politically bankrupt." Read his article: "Anti Immigrant In Black Face[3]," for more information.

To underscore the fact that Lou Dobbs is a man obsessed with the Mexican border and illegal immigration, I counted the words "illegal" and "alien" at least 30 times in his introductory speech, during which his approximation of the number of "undocumented immigrants" rose dramatically from 12 million to a "certain" 20+ million.

Lou Dobbs has a penchant for using code words like "illegal aliens," "comprehensive amnesty," "invasion," "immigrant criminals," "illegal immigrant drug dealers," "immigrant gang members" and "disease carriers," etc., sometimes in such irrational combinations and permutations, that even search engine algorithms -- which do not "think" yet, could easily detect as "racist 'spamdexing'," if posted on a web-page -- code messages to his fellow bigots and hate mongers, urging them to take up "arms" against the "filthy cultural" invaders.

Again and again Lou Dobbs asserted that illegal aliens are sending back to Mexico more than $20 billion in remittances per year, without equally mentioning the multi-billions of profit dollars US companies operating abroad repatriate back home by exploiting cheap labor in Mexico and the rest of the world for that matter, thus enabling U.S. consumers to purchase products and services at super-low prices.

Also, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics[4], the U.S unemployment rate stands at 4.5% (Apr. 2007 Estimates) -- a record low in recent years, rivalling the Clinton "prosperity years," during which unemployment dropped from 7.5% to 4%.

Therefore it makes me wonder what jobs immigrants are stealing from Americans.

Although it must not be construed to constitute a valid reason to gate-crash the borders of the United States, I must note that this country is what it is -- an economic giant, to a large extent because of years of aggressive economic exploitation and extortion of the rest of the world through it's huge and greedy multi-national companies, and the tactical use of arm twisting tools like the World Bank, the IMF (International Monetary Fund)[5] among many others.

Practically every third world nation has been touched by western imperialism in one way or another -- western governments have colluded with corrupt third world leaders to exploit natural resources, and have looked the other way, whenever these thieving leaders have pocketed profits, and "invested" the money back into western banks, rendering their citizens poor and helpless.

Perhaps, before any anti-immigrant zealot begins spewing empty rhetoric, he/she should read Walter Rodney's book (1973): How Europe Underdeveloped Africa[6], in which Rodney convincingly argues that much of the "Third World" is a product of European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Rodney argues forcefully about the "cultural" and "natural resource" plunder of Africa, which continues to date -- from West African oil, to South African diamonds, to minerals like bauxite and copper in the interior countries like the Congo.

The Europeans created arbitrary borders for their convenience, with utter disregard for the indigenous people, their histories or past animosities -- the tumultuous Middle East comes to mind. The violence in Rwanda can be squarely attributed to the colonial divide and rule tactics of the Germans and the Belgians[7].

Years of political repression by Europeans on Africans followed by awkward and hurried departures, with little preparation or training of Africans for the maintenance of the economic and political infrastructure -- left many African nations in chaos, yielding today's political unrest, economic uncertainty, wide spread poverty and disease. The same applies to African-Americans in the United States -- which itself is a creation of Europe, and therefore all the above refers.

Note: Because of his principled stand for the down-trodden Africans in Africa and the diaspora, Walter Rodney was assassinated in 1980 in his native country Guyana.

All the above are applicable to practically every country colonized by the Europeans, principally Britain, the "soul brother" of the United States -- the current torch bearer of 21st century economic[8] and cultural imperialism[9],.......and are causes for the surge in migration from poor third world nations to the so called developed world.

First world greed, coupled with the inability of third world nations to govern themselves effectively and the need for cheap labor[skilled and unskilled] in an aging first world population -- are a combination of factors that will always promote migration to developed nations. These excerpts from the book: If You Love This Planet[10], by Helen Caldicott, gives a very clear picture about how "predatory" some developed countries are to the third world.

The war in Iraq is primarily not about the "fear of terrorism," but about economic dominance -- had their been no oil in the middle east, there would never have been a war. The notion that: "We are fighting them in Iraq so that we don't fight them here," is just a propagandist "chant," meant to provide cover for what is really going on in Iraq -- "Massive Theft," and "Wanton Killing."

If western countries want to reduce migration from the third world, they must make a genuine effort to "reverse" the effects of colonialism, and to assist these nations to be self-sufficient.

END -- Part 1 of 2 Continued in Part 2 of 2

[Sources Quoted in Article]

[1] -- http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?sid=94
[2] -- http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/26465prs20060815.html
[3] -- http://www.blackcommentator.com/231/231_cover_anti_immigrant_in_black_face_fletcher_ed_bd.html
[4] -- http://www.bls.gov/
[5] -- http://www.politicalarticles.net/blog/2007/06/05/the-world-bank-must-be-returned-to-the-world/
[6] -- http://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/index.htm
[7] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rwanda
[8] -- http://www.dsp.org.au/links/back/issue21/Lorimer.htm
[9] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_imperialism
[10]-- http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Helen_Caldicott/Third_World_Debt_IYLTP.html