So we've got a break from Sweet Lou Dobbs for now -- sometimes it's best not to ask too many questions

Sweet Lou back in the day, as pudgy lovable goof with his old partner, Bud Abbott. Who didn't love their zany "Who's on first?"

by Ken

So Sweet Lou Dobbs and CNN are no longer going steady, or doing whatever the heck it is they've been doing lo these many years -- but especially in the recent ones, since Lou flipped his lid and staked out his new career as a nativist nutjob noodge.

It seemed an especially odd choice to those of us with fond memories of his more honorable early days in the biz, as straight man in that celebrated comedy duo with straight man Bud Abbott, sort of the poor man's Laurel and Hardy opposite straight man Bud Abbott. Yes, he was a hoot, but people said he'd never been heard of again when he struck out on his own.

The question in everyone's mind, of course, is whether Sweet Lou jumped or was pushed off the battleship CNN. Everyone claims to have inside knowledge. I say sometimes you just have to go with the obvious explanation, just the way Andy Borowitz reported it:

		November 12, 2009 Lou Dobbs Returns to His Planet; ‘My Work Here is Done’ Bids Earth Farewell, Boards Rocket NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - Controversial CNN host Lou Dobbs bade the people of Earth farewell today as he embarked on a long voyage back to his planet of origin. Standing on a launching pad with his rocket ship at the ready, Mr. Dobbs addressed a crowd of dozens who came to wish him a safe trip and godspeed. "People of Earth, farewell," he said. "My work here is done." In his farewell speech, Mr. Dobbs acknowledged the irony of his being an alien but insisted that he had been on Earth legally.

I have to say, it's easy enough to believe that CNN had wearied of parrying all those wearying complaints about Sweet Lou's descent into wingnut Hades. At the same time, getting sprung from a hitch on that leaky old tub the S.S. CNN isn't something you would necessarily mourn.



Some people got the impression that Sweet Lou is thinking of running for public office. Could be, but I'm not so sure. While the comment about Lou pursuing other opportunities in "advocacy journalism" came from his now-former CNN boss rather than the master himself, it seems significant to me that he was still talking about advocacy journalism, not plain advocacy. Besides, what would he run for? New Jersey already has a wingnut chub governor-elect, and there's no U.S. Senate seat up for election next year -- and you wouldn't expect a star like Lou to be running for a lowly House seat.

No, I think Lou is prepared to focus his energies on his radio show for a while, while he waits for his next opportunity to show itself. On the radio, it appears, he doesn't have to watch his words as closely as we're supposed to think he's been doing on CNN. It's on the radio, after all, that he's most openly championed the birther cause.

And who knows what opportunities may lie in wait for our Lou? Could he be headed for Fox Business News? Ah, who knows? Just don't expect him to be going quietly. As long as he can command audience share, he's got a franchise.

#