I was waiting until after tonight’s broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight to comment on the controversy surrounding his use of information from the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group with a long history of advocating white supremacy in the United States. I was holding off so I could see if Dobbs had an explanation for citing the group as the source of a graphic that purports to show the portion of the United States that certain radical Hispanic groups believe should be returned to Mexico. Dobbs, however, did not address the issue on his show tonight. For several reasons, I think he should as soon as possible.

I don’t think Lou Dobbs is a racist or that his beliefs on illegal immigration derive from any racist views, but his use of the graphic has given liberal web sites the opportunity to say, “See, I told you Dobbs was racist, and furthermore the entire immigration debate on the right is driven by racism.” Beyond appearances, in journalism, you have to take responsibility for the information you deliver to your audience. Dobbs showed extremely poor judgment in passing on information from a racist organization. Any information from a source with such dubious motives should be confirmed elsewhere before broadcast on the news, and if it can be confirmed elsewhere, then the second source should be cited — a national news broadcast should not give a racist group the distinction of being a legitimate source of information.

I’m as strong a defender against specious accusations of racism as anyone. But this is simple stuff. Dobbs should explain how the graphic ended up on the air and apologize for airing it.