Why Won't Lou Dobbs Tell The Whole Truth ?

Last year, two Border Patrol agents were convicted of breaking the law, and were sentenced to 11 and 12 year terms in a federal prison. Since that time, CNN commentator Lou Dobbs (pictured above) has taken up their cause.

According to Dobbs, these were "two outstanding Border Patrol agents" who were just doing their jobs when they got into a gun battle with a smuggler. He says they are being punished by the United States government for just doing their jobs. He has used part of 131 different shows and one full-hour show to spread this message.

He has even gone so far as to call President Bush "gutless" for not immediately pardoning the two agents. I'm not usually a defender of Bush as you regular readers know, but I really don't see that Bush could have pardoned these two men. Dobbs is not telling the whole story. He is only telling a very slanted version.

Here is how the SPLC describes what really happened:

Border Patrol agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and José Alonso Compean attacked an unarmed border-crosser who was trying to surrender, shot at him 15 times and wounded him as he fled, then tampered with the crime scene and failed to report the shooting as required to their supervisors. For their crimes, a federal court in Texas sentenced the men last year to terms of 11 and 12 years in prison.

Why are so many associated with the law-and-order right singing the praises of these two felons? Because the man who was shot turned out later to have been part of a marijuana-smuggling operation. Ramos and Compean didn't know that at the time — the man was on foot and tried to surrender, and the agents only found the drugs in a van after he managed to flee on foot back to Mexico, badly wounded.

Once you know the truth, these agents don't sound so outstanding. They are neither innocent nor heroic, as Dobbs would have us believe. They are criminals who belong exactly where they currently are -- in prison.

So why is Dobbs not telling the whole truth? I think it's because this incident doesn't fit in with his simple black and white view of the world. He's spent the last few years trying to demonize undocumented immigrants and lionize Border Patrol agents.

But the truth is a bit more complicated than that. Sometimes undocumented immigrants are just men and women trying to feed, clothe and provide a better future for their families. Sometimes even criminals are unarmed and surrender peacefully. And sometimes law enforcement officers break the rules and are unnecessarily violent.

Personally, I just don't see how anyone, even someone opposed to illegal immigration, can defend the criminal actions of these agents.