Cenk Uygur Takes On the Right-Wingers Politicizing the Boston Marathon Bombing

Get 'em Cenk!

New Left Media Talks To Attendees At Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally

Although I first saw this video in late August, I think it's still worth posting.  At Glenn Beck's recent "Restoring Honor" rally, the group New Left Media (which consists of college students Chase Whiteside, Erick Stoll and a camera) interviewed and filmed some of the folks in attendance.  Just as they've done in the past at such events as a Sarah Palin book signing and Tea Party rallies, New Left Media exposes the ignorance and mindlessness by some of the people on the right.  As you'll see, the interviewer (Chase Whiteside) doesn't have to work hard to bring out the ignorance and mindlessness of these people.  This video is loaded with priceless nuggets.  Some of the highlights or (depending on your outlook) lowlights include:

• A man asserts that Al Sharpton is the leader of The Black Panthers (at the 2:48 mark of the clip)
• People say they had never heard Glenn Beck's infamous comments in which he called President Obama a racist (3:23)
• A woman (with no evidence to back it up) accuses President Obama of pitting blacks and whites against each other (4:20)
• Plenty of anti-Muslim sentiment (7:00)

Credit goes to Chase because he somehow manages to keep a straight face throughout all the madness. While watching Hardball with Chris Matthews last night, I was pleasantly surprised to see a piece of this clip. It aired during the segment about the organization (TeaPartyTracker.org) that monitors racism and other forms of extremism within the Tea Party movement. The video put together by New Left Media is on the TeaPartyTracker.org site.

The AZ Immigration Law: Legalized Racial Profiling?

For those who know me, it will come as no surprise that my answer to the question in the title of this post is "yes". Something needs to be done about illegal immigration and Washington has failed to address the issue, but this is not the way to go. As you probably know, the law requires police to question anyone they "reasonably suspect" of being an undocumented immigrant and you don't have to be a MENSA candidate to know what "reasonably suspect" means. In a press conference held by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer after she signed the bill, a reporter asked her if she knew what an illegal alien looks like. The governor stammered and finally said she didn't know. Good answer.

For the segment of the conservative base that has spent over a year whining about losing their freedom and liberties, they have taken a callous attitude to the AZ Immigration law. They've argued that the bill is just because it instructs police officers to enforce the law. Imagine if North Dakota had a problem with Canadians entering the U.S. illegally and decided to sign a bill into law requiring police to question anyone they "reasonably suspected" of being an undocumented immigrant. How do you think that would fly with these same conservatives?

On the April 23rd edition of The Young Turks, host Cenk Uygur discusses the AZ Immigration Law and its ramifications:





In keeping with their reputation for putting a humorous spin on topical issues, the April 24th episode of SNL tackled the subject of Arizona's new immigration law in its "Weekend Update" segment: