“Open Letter to Lou Dobbs” is an article written by the editorial staff of GQ (Gentleman’s Quarterly) addressed to Lou Dobbs, a CNN news anchor and talk show host. It focuses on the repetitiveness of Dobbs’ impassioned argument against illegal immigration, aiming to persuade readers of his ineptitude. The authors of the article satirically say that his rants have become filled with platitudes and clichéd remarks. With tongue in cheek, they applaud Dobbs for having capitalized as a fervent demagogue who employs fear-mongering tactics so skillfully that everyone in the media world wants to be friends with him. Some of his anti-immigration argument is acknowledged, such as the need to secure jobs for Americans first and protect the feeble economy against a flood of illegal aliens. But the GQ staff reminds Lou Dobbs that immigrants are an integral part of America; they allude to the fact that the country was founded by immigrants. Then the article cites the inane solutions proposed by Republican presidential candidates, making Dobbs appear to be just another general voice in the fray. At the end of the open letter, four recommendations are given to Lou Dobbs. Half-jokingly, it is suggested that Dobbs spend some time with the Beckham soccer family to get a feel of what it is like to be an immigrant. GQ also advises him to tone down on the hardball tactics, á la Bill O’Reilly.
Throughout “Open Letter with Lou Dobbs,” the GQ editorial staff employs plenty of fallacies and other persuasive techniques to convince the reader of the errors of Lou Dobbs’ ways. A non sequitar is used to undermine the validity of the subject of criticism, in which the authors complain that Dobbs’ conversations have “gotten so boring we’d rather watch pro hockey” (8-9). Although this doesn’t follow in line with the source of the criticism, it appeals to the reader’s sense of humor and helps melt away any reservations or biases the reader holds. There is a faulty analogy present that also serves to discredit Lou Dobbs, in which a nonsensical reference states that “there are plenty of workers out there who are struggling to find jobs. Aaron Brown. Paula Zahn. Tucker Carlson” (21-22). It indirectly portrays Dobbs as an arrogant pundit who has no authority to offer discourse on the state of jobs when he is currently in possession of a comfy, high-paying one. Then, towards the end of the article, sweeping generalizations are made about the sort of people that share Dobbs’ ideals and what they have in store for America as presidential nominees. The writers say that “Huckabee will ask Jesus what he would do, and then he’ll get back to us” (30). These broad stereotypical comments do everything to prevent the validation of Lou Dobbs’ nativist crusade by likening him to uber-conservative right-wingers who tremendously overreact to the immigration problem, making it easier for the audience to easily dismiss Dobbs as an outlandish, hypocritical person without a pint of compassion for the plight of immigrants.
Source: http://men.style.com/gq/talkback/openletter/archive/0802
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