Lou Dobbs' Taste for the Un-American
Lou Dobbs has made his name in recent years as CNN's so-called populist, the man who rattles on every night about the war on the middle class, "broken borders," American companies that export jobs abroad, and the perils of free trade. He's used his bully pulpit on CNN to scold American auto manufacturers for sending jobs abroad, attacked foreign suppliers for flooding U.S. markets with their products, and been a leading voice to "buy American" in support of the "homeland." Given Dobbs' blustery rhetoric, you might think he'd stand by his words and support American business by driving an American-made car, wouldn't you? You'd be totally wrong! It turns out Dobbs doesn't own a single car produced by an American company.
So what does the enemy of free trade, outsourcing and globalization keep at his 300-acre horse farm in Sussex, New Jersey?
A convertible 1998 Aston Martin DB7 Volante, a silver 2004 BMW convertible, and two BMW X5 SUVs. Not one is American: The three BMWs, of course, are produced by German company based in Munich. Aston Martin is a British company headquarted in the U.K., although it's also part-owned by a consortium of Kuwaiti investors.
Dobbs seems to be well aware of the apparent hypocrisy: All the vehicles are registered in the state of New Jersey under Dobbs' wife's maiden name, Debi Lee Segura, notwithstanding the fact that she has gone by Debi Dobbs in public for years now. (Mrs. Dobbs is pictured with her husband on the left.) But Lou has good reason to keep his car collection on the down low. Not only does it undermine the populist routine he's plied for years, it can't be good news for someone who is also considering a run for elected office. Voters tend to raise their eyebrows at candidates who claim to be champions of the middle-class and then turn out to drive six-figure European sportscars!
If you do see Lou and his wife Debi tooling around in his Aston Martin, you'd be well advised not to bring up his hypocritical behavior. Debi is often armed! Or at least she was when she was arrested in 2003 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon after she carried the loaded (and unlicensed) weapon into Newark airport.