The sudden resignation of Lou Dobbs from CNN this week is a shock to fans of barely disguised wingnuttery everywhere.

After years of "fighting for the middle class" by riding shotgun at the Mexican border, Lou Dobbs has gone all Sarah Palin on us by quitting his gig at CNN years before his contract was up.

Obviously, the middle class doesn't need "Mr. Independent" 's brand of protection anymore. All we can say is: Mission accomplished, amigo!

At least the school-marmish Campbell Brown won't look quite so hypocritical the next time she castigates Fox News and MSNBC for being too partisan and ideological.

After all, Ms. Brown's lead-in at CNN made her once-dominant news operation "Must-See TV" for birthers, tea party advocates and xenophobes but not much anyone else.

Without an angry provocateur like Lou Dobbs around to terrify us about the dangers of meatless Mondays in public school cafeterias, illegal-alien-borne leprosy and "ethnic holidays" like Saint Patrick's Day, we're now free to ignore CNN entirely and go straight to Fox for our daily allowance of bad vibes.

Still, it was sad to see the once-respected CNN tolerate the erosion of its reputation for the sake of high ratings Mr. Dobbs hasn't been able to generate for a long time.

For a variety of reasons, CNN's fortunes have plunged in recent months while its cable news rivals Fox and MSNBC have seen dramatic spikes in viewership.

Lou Dobbs caused much of his own precipitous ratings drop by ramping up the paranoia about illegal aliens in ways that would have made fascist-friendly Father Coughlin proud.

Unfortunately for Mr. Dobbs, who resigned from CNN on the air for the second time in his career, Fox doesn't need another scary-but-formerly-avuncular white guy to anchor yet another daily burst of fear and loathing from the heartland.

Some critics have unfairly compared Glenn Beck, Fox's latest ratings tsunami, to Howard Beale, the crazed fictional anchorman in Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 classic "Network."

While it is true that Mr. Beck's brand of paranoia is an even bigger gift from the comedy gods, as the most casual viewing of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will confirm, he lacks the gravitas to truly be Howard Beale.

Lou Dobbs is Howard Beale. But unlike the vaguely sympathetic movie character, Mr. Dobbs is on the wrong side of that movie's populist mantra: "We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore."

Lou Dobbs quit because immigrant advocacy groups made it clear to his conflict-averse corporate masters that they're not going to take his crude immigrant-bashing in prime time anymore.

Because Hispanics are the nation's fastest-growing demographic, a boycott isn't an idle threat when billions of dollars are at stake. That's why Lou Dobbs had to go.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was recently a guest on Oprah, promoting her new autobiography, when talk turned to estranged almost son-in-law Levi Johnston.

Asked whether the father of her grandchild would have a place at the family's Thanksgiving table, Ms. Palin gave an answer that will forever define what it means to be utterly insincere:

"It's lovely to think that he would ever even consider such a thing. Because of course you want -- he is part of the family and you want to bring him in the fold and kind of under your wing. And he needs that, too."

If the thought of being under Sarah Palin's wing wasn't scary enough, she added this:

"I think [Levi] needs to know that he is loved and he has the most beautiful child, and this can all work out for good. It really can. We don't have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama all the time. We're not really into the drama. ... We're more productive."

I don't know if Levi Johnston is smart enough to understand "The Godfather," but Michael Corleone uttered nearly the same words to his unfaithful brother-in-law Carlo Rizzi just before he had him garroted. If you ask me, Thanksgiving at the Palins' sounds like an offer he should definitely refuse.

Tony's Take on Comix by Tony Norman is featured exclusively in the Opinion section on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.