The lorax speak for the trees...and the liberals (Fox News)

Back in December, Fox Business Network took on the most devious brainwashing film of our children's generation: The Muppets. They were basically promoting an Occupy Wall Street agenda, claimed Follow the Money host, Eric Bolling.

But it's 2012, and that means a new year for crazy! Now Lou Dobbs is on Fox News, railing that two recent animated films, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and The Secret World of Arrietty (a Japanese adaptation of the children's classic story, The Borrowers) are promoting socialism, anti-1% messages, and green energy policies backed by a liberal agenda.

Why doesn't Mr. Dobbs just come out and say all of Dr. Seuss' work is anti-American? Oh the Places You'll Go! is obviously a crash-course for illegals on how to enter this country. Green Eggs and Ham? Of course they would be green. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is all right, as long as the Grinch is still a metaphor for Jews, Muslims, and atheists.

Andrew Ross Sorkin on Hugh Hefner's Playboy buyback. [NYT]

Nina Garcia is now Target's fashion expert. [WWD]

Fabulous Fab denies fraud. [NYT]

Loud Dobbs' daughter wins a substantial riding prize. [NYP]

The city has 8,000 unused desks, which is apparently a lot. [NYP]

UES townhouses may take a hit, following one dramatically low sale. [WSJ]

Bloomberg defends his staff's right to mock Sarah Palin. [NYDN]

Natasha VC in WWD. [WWD]

Possible Ken Starr victim puts $30 million home on the market. [WSJ]

Slate does some debunking. [Slate]

Yale Repertory Theater receives $950,000. [NYT]

There Will Be Blood earned Paul Dano a lifetime of free milkshakes. [NYDN]

Facebook employees take loud late night shuttles! This bothers their neighbors! [AllThingsD]

The state's standardized tests will become harder. [NYT]

"Affable is the word that often comes up from reporters, even staunch critics who meet Lou Dobbs for the first time," wrote Jeanne Marie Laskas.

Really?

Affable?

Wish the guys at PolitiFact would look into that one.

But, in the meantime, Mr. Dobbs did us a favor, yesterday, by interacting with a number of reporters at a Tea Party rally in New York--an entertaining sequence which was captured on camera. Along the way, the affable Mr. Dobbs calls one questioner "rude." When another reporter presses Mr. Dobbs with a follow-up question about the scant number of minorities in the Tea Party movement, Mr. Dobbs unleashes his affability full bore.

"Do you want to know what I've got to say, or do you want to continue with this nonsense," says Mr. Dobbs. "I don't take it seriously. You're not listening to me."

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM0jliY10-Q&feature=player_embedded

"Why would anyone not?" Dobbs said. Later, Dobbs gets offended by one of Miller's questions, and says, "I don't take you seriously."

The patriotic-sounding show will be the permanent replacement for the departed Lou Dobbs, whose zeal for America was, shall we say, unquestioned.

In a promotional video—which has him taking batting practice at Fenway and rolling down highways in the heartland—Mr. King explains that the simple name simply means they'll have reporters looking for stories all over the country. "The mission incorporated in that most important part of our title is that, even though we'll spend most of our days in Washington, D.C., we'll always have people out their roaming the country," Mr. King says.

"You cannot cover national politics just by being in D.C.," he adds, right before the strumming guitar gives way to chirping crickets.

Mr. King also says he very much enjoys reporting, going back to his days as an intern in Providence. "I was already deep in like," he reminisces, "then I fell in love."

In an email this morning, Schoen said, "Dobbs would be formidable wherever he runs and on whatever ballot line he chose to run on."

Dobbs is reportedly considering a Senate run next year, either as an independent or Republican (which some people in the G.O.P. aren't too thrilled about, according to David Halbfinger).

How to draw a New Yorker cover - Speaking of the last magazine standing, artist Jorge Colombo sketched another one of his New Yorker covers with the iPhone Brushes application.

Lou Dobbs' most scandalous moments on HuffPo - Now that he's fleeing from CNN, let's review Mr. Dobbs' most jaw-dropping moments on air. How about the time he called Condi a "cotton picker?" or called Rachel Maddow a "tea-bagging queen?" Lest we forget his signature anti-immigration rhetoric.

Maria Schneider's reality show on ArtistShare - The gorgeous band leader-composer was one of the first jazz musicians to harness the power of the Internet, as the Observer told you this week. On ArtistShare, Ms. Schneider has been recording videos, giving her fans an inside look into her writing process and offering them the chance to give her feedback as she creates a piece. Check out this video of Ms. Schneider explaining The Commission Project.

Telescope's A Talk With Alfred Hitchcock on Hulu - Hulu recently added this lovely, two-part archive piece that originally aired on the 1960s CBC program Telescope, with director Fletcher Markle sitting down with the Master of Suspense during the prime of his career. Mr. Hitchcock discusses insider-y stories about gathering 28,000 birds for The Birds and shooting the shower scene from Psycho with 78 separate camera shots in 45 seconds. But he also delves into fascinating discussions about the film language and theory and the impact of horror films on society and behavior. A must-see for any film fan.

The Decade in 7 Minutes, from Newsweek - The past decade's major news events in yummy YouTube-sized video.

The art of procrastinating - Laughing Squid points us toward this animated short titled "Procrastination" by John Kelly. How meta. 

John King will be the network's new 7 p.m. anchor. Mr. King will take over the time slot sometime early next year. For the time being he will continue to anchor CNN's Sunday morning public affairs show, State of the Union. According to a press release, Mr. King's yet-to-be-named program will focus on "key political movements in Washington and across the nation."

While Dobbs's plans sounded vague, he concluded last night's broadcast by saying, "I'll see you next on the radio." Perhaps a more hospitable home than Jon Klein's CNN?

In en email to the Observer, Michael Harrison, publisher and editor of Talkers Magazine, called talk radio "a far more fertile medium for the kind of uninhibited, crusading opinion that has marked Lou Dobbs' style in the past year and a half."

"He has developed a loyal and growing following on the radio and has evolved into one of the medium's most important players," Harrison said. "I think his departure from CNN will help his radio show because I suspect he will be able to dig deeper into his own spontaneous truths -- which work well on radio -- without having to worry about how it will impact his TV image."

The announcement came in the wake of Lou Dobbs' sudden departure from the cable news network, where's he's worked on and off for nearly thirty years. Mr. Dobbs announced the news last night on the air.

That Mr. Dobbs and CNN are happy to part ways is of little surprise. In recent years, Mr. Dobbs has repeatedly clashed with CNN chief Jon Klein. And the two are well known inside the industry for having little love for one another.

Mr. Dobbs' heated on-air rants, particularly on the subject of immigration, have in recent years been an uncomfortable fit with Mr. Klein's attempts to brand CNN as the straight-down-the-middle, just-the-facts, cable news alternative to Fox News and MSNBC.

The uncomfortable alliance was fine when Mr. Dobbs' program was doing well. But as The Observer reported earlier this year, Lou Dobbs Tonight has been on a steady ratings slide for quite some time. More recently, Mr. Dobbs' embrace of the so-called "birther" movement has likewise failed to increase his nightly audience.

More from today's release:

As one of the nation's leading political reporters, King will host a definitive political hour that goes well beyond the surface of the day's top stories to provide in-depth analysis and context to key political movements in Washington and across the nation. As King does on his Sunday program, State of the Union, he will sit down with a wide range of the day's top newsmakers, key political reporters and analysts, and elected officials.

"The program will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum," said Klein. "John has enthralled CNN viewers with his vast political knowledge, and he has spent the past year reporting from beyond the Beltway on pressing policy issues and the real people they impact. Every night, he'll share his passion and his insights about what is really going on in Washington and across America."