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

Get 'em Cenk!

The Righties Are Getting Desperate!

 

In the latest polls,  President Obama has been increasing his lead over Mitt Romney in the race for the White House. Although anything can happen between now and November 6th, members of the right-wing noise machine are clearly getting nervous.

In the video below, TYT host Cenk Uygur presents clips featuring Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh in which they discuss strategy, vent their frustration, and unwittingly admit their plan to throw Romney under the proverbial Greyhound if he loses. Like I alluded to in the last paragraph, it's still early yet. However, I am enjoying watching the righties sweat over the prospect of a 2nd term for President Obama!

The Cycle Set to Premiere Monday June 25th on MSNBC

The hosts of The Cycle (l-r)- Steve Kornacki, S.E. Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré

As some of you may have heard, The Dylan Ratigan Show ended its 3 year run on MSNBC on Friday June 22nd. To fill the void at 4 pm EST, Martin Bashir's self-titled program moves up an hour on Monday June 25th. Replacing Martin at 3pm EST will be a brand new program titled The Cycle, a panel ensemble show hosted by MSNBC contributors Steve Kornacki, S.E Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré. With a format that looks to be similar to Fox's The Five, all four hosts will take turns facilitating the discussion. With the inclusion of Cupp, there are some who have misgivings about a conservative hosting a program on a left-leaning news channel like MSNBC. In the first clip below, The Young Turks discuss the topic. Please note this clip is from June 18th and at that time, MSNBC hadn't finalized the details of the upcoming program.



I don't have a problem with the selection of S.E. Cupp as one of the hosts of The Cycle. I think having opposing viewpoints helps enliven the discussion. It may come as a surprise to some, but I've mellowed on S.E. over the past several months. This is due to her appearances on another MSNBC program, NOW with Alex Wagner. For the most part when S.E. guests on NOW, she represents a fairly reasonable conservative point of view. However, when compared to the nonsense spewed by such conservative pundits as Sean Hannity and Andrea Tantaros, calling S.E. a reasonable voice from the right may be akin to terming Moe "the smart stooge".  At any rate, I'm looking forward to checking out The Cycle. In the clip below, Dylan Ratigan introduces the four hosts during the final telecast of his program and has a discussion with them about how their show will bring a fresh take to cable news.

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Headquarters of New Orleans Women's Advocacy Group Set on Fire

On 5/24, Women With A Vision, a New Orleans-based advocacy group for sex workers, low-income women, women with substance abuse issues, and other at-risk populations, was broken into and set on fire. While no arrests have been made in connection with the fire, it appears to be politically based. Also, the NOFD has classifed it as arson. You can read more on the story at the NOLA Defender. 

In the first clip below, Deon Haywood (Exec. Director for WWAV) talks about the incident and how it will not stop her group from continuing with the work they do. 



Props to The Young Turks because I probably wouldn't have known about this story if they hadn't covered it. In the following clip, hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian talk about not only the WWAV fire, but also how this type of domestic terrorism is downplayed in the media.

Cenk and Ana make some excellent points in this clip, but I especially love the fiery passion Ana exuded. If you're wondering about her disparaging reference to Bill O'Reilly and Lila Rose (the founder of the pro-life group Live Action), she had a good reason.

Think Progress story on domestic terrorism

Sunday Funnies, the Late Edition: Bob Beckel Drops the F-Bomb on Fox "News"

Although this incident happened in April (I meant to post it then, but was too busy), I still wanted to share because it's funny and timeless. During the "Great American Panel" segment of a recent installment of Hannity, Fox "News" personality Bob Beckel (who appears on various programs on the network as the token liberal), apparently didn't realize he was on live TV when he told fellow panelist Jennifer Stefano what he thought of her opinion on whatever it was they were discussing during the break. Although I don't know what Stefano said that got Beckel heated, I'm willing to bet he was right in his assertion that she didn't know what the fuck she was talking about.

Cenk Uygur: Not A Millionaire? You're A Jackass If You Vote Republican

Republican opposition to The Buffett Rule has Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks fired up! As you may know, the Buffett Rule (which failed Monday in the Senate) is the tax plan proposed by President Obama that would apply a minimum tax of 30 percent to individuals making more than a million dollars a year. The clip below features Cenk discussing the Republican's stance on The Buffett Rule interspersed with comments made by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on Fox. 

More Inanity From Sean Hannity

Damn, Fox "News" is predictable! Just the other day at a family get together, me and some of my relatives were talking politics as we often do. I was telling them about one of Fox's favorite tricks in their worn out playbook: have black guests come on to spout "fear of a black planet" type rhetoric in order to give it some credibility. Almost on cue, GOP waterboy Sean Hannity has on Deneen Borelli and David Webb to whip up fear over President Obama's "ties" to the New Black Panthers. These two should be ashamed of themselves. But hey, as long as those Fox checks keep rollin' in, why worry about such minor things as honor and integrity.

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks breaks down the silliness that is Fox "News" in the clip below:

TYT Talks About Mike Wallace and the Passing of Hard-Hitting Journalism

As you probably know, legendary journalist Mike Wallace died last weekend at the age of 93. In the clip below, Cenk and Ana of The Young Turks talk about Wallace and how today's media fails to emulate the hard-hitting style of interviewing he used during his illustrious career.

Pete Hoekstra Ad Draws Criticism For Racial Insensitivity Against Asians

While getting ready to head out to a Super Bowl party, I saw the now infamous ad run by U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra against Michigan incumbent Debbie Stabenow. The ad features a young Asian actress thanking Sen. Stabenow for weakening the U.S. economy and making China's stronger. The problem with the ad is that it has the actress speaking in broken English as if she just stepped off the set of a Charlie Chan flick. It was kinda surreal for me when I first saw the ad because I had to ask myself if I saw and heard what I think I did.

Although the ad only aired in Michigan markets before and during The Super Bowl, it is getting criticism on a nationwide level (from both sides of the political aisle) due to its racial insensitivity.  In the article that I linked to above, Hoekstra defended the ad (which is scheduled to run for two weeks on cable stations across Michigan).

By the way, there is actually a website titled Debbiespenditnow.com and it's as over-the-top with the Asian imagery as you can imagine.

In the clips below, Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks and Lawrence O'Donnell attack the ad... but from different angles.

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