Cenk Uygur: "CNN -- Change Everything"

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I've been a fan of Cenk Uygur ever since the first time I saw a Young Turks clip. Unfortunately, with no liberal radio in Las Vegas, no Current TV on Cox Cable, and a day job when he was on MSNBC, I've always had to seek out clips, or online streams. So my fandom has been tempered by practicality. Still, it has been rare when I've seen anything by Uygar that I didn't agree with. This critique of CNN is no exception.

I'd extend the critique to Face the Nation, This Week, FOX "News" Sunday (which barely counts) and especially Meet the Press. David Gregory in particular is guilty of doing the "he said, she said," "two equal sides to every story" simplistic interviews and reporting. It's all horse race and controversy. Rarely if ever do the Sunday political shows do anything more than that. The round-table discussion groups occasionally have someone burst through with a concise truth, but it is almost always met with a counterpoint that dilutes it

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Friendly Advice to CNN -- Change Everything 

CNN just had their lowest ratings in a decade. They are in disastrous shape. When I was on MSNBC, we would beat them with a stick. Even after "pro-CNN" stories like revolutions in Egypt and Libya, Japanese nuclear meltdowns and the killing of Osama bin Laden (CNN does much better when major news or international stories break out), we still beat them. Now they're doing so poorly I might even catch them on Current. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

The Young Turks: Ted Nugent, Pants Pooper

Did you know that Ted Nugent spent a week crapping and peeing himself, in order to dodge the draft during the Viet Nam War era? Yeah, he's quite a freakin' patriot.

Grover Norquist and His Plans for America

Grover Norquist is basically a lobbyist. But he has the GOP wrapped around his unelected, politically naive finger. Grover thinks there should never be a tax raised for any reason, under any circumstance. But who the fuck is Grover Norquist, and why should anyone care?

Cenk Uygur: Bachmann and Christian Dominionism

I'm going to keep posting items about Christian Dominionism for as long as candidates such as Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry remain in the race. It's a creepy, un-American philosophy.

Cenk Uyger Talks with Keith Olbermann about MSNBC Departure

How much you wanna bet that Cenk ends up on Current TV? As for the subject of the discussion, it proves that MSNBC--for good or ill--is not the flip-side of FOX "News." Can you imagine Sean Hannity being taken aside and spoken to for being too hard on liberals? Of course not. I personally don't have much of an issue with the bigwigs at MSNBC sort of laying boundaries for their hosts. It shows that there are limits to how left or forward they want to lean. That is their purview. And obviously, Current TV can brand themselves as fully left if they want to. But fair warning, MSNBC: Don't mess with Rachel.

Still Stuck on Crazy: Michele Bachmann

I love Cenk Uygur, and making sport of the batshit crazy Michele Bachmann is one of my favorite pastimes. So how could I resist this video?

Who Writes Glenn Beck's Checks?

This is a quick little video from Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks, MSNBC) to point out that Glenn Beck--who loves to stir up fears about Sharia Law (and other things)--is himself drawing a paycheck from a company partly owned by Saudis. If they're as scary as Beck says they are, what's he doing working for them?

Young Turks: FOX "News" Jealous of Jon Stewart?

Well, sure. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is by far a more legitimate news source than is FOX "News," particularly the peculiarly named FOX & Friends.

Cenk Uygur To Gays: The GOP ''Just Isn't That Into You''

Christine O'Donnell's Constitution Problem

Immediately after this story broke, right-wing world went into overdrive, defending an embarrassing gaffe by Christine O'Donnell. The Delaware Senate hopeful (R-Of Course), claimed during a debate with Chris Coons that the separation of church and state is not in the Constitution, or at least expressed a disbelief that it was.  She really thought she nailed Coons too, taking the audiences gasps of laughter as encouragement (they were laughing at you, Christine!).  Now, why anyone would feel the need to defend this wacky candidate who is way behind in the polls, when they could just cut their losses is anyone's guess.

The defense is an old canard from far-right wing world. Since the actual phrase "separation of church and state" is not verbatim in the document itself, it is argued that it isn't there at all.  Forget that Thomas Jefferson actually coined the phrase in like 1803, and that it has been held to mean just that by the Supreme Court repeatedly.  These folks want to ignore any changes or interpretations made over the last 200-odd years, and boil it back down to its original intent.  Which is uncomfortable, given some of the stuff that was originally in there.  But back to Christine.  It's become eminently clear that there is no gaffe, no misstatement, no anything that can derail a current right-wing candidate in the eyes of the faithful.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Young Turks How are Chicken Nuggets Made?

If you're wondering what that big, pink mass that looked like a boa constrictor, or a snake made of ice cream was all about. I'm still not sure I'm buying the bit about it being soaked in ammonia.  I guess it's time for some research. . .

Facts are Stubborn Things: Reagan Would be Unelectable Today

Say it ain't so! Saint Ronald Reagan couldn't get elected as a Republican or even as a Democrat today? It's plain as day if you go over his policy decisions.  One thing this clears up for me:  of course the right-wing thinks President Obama is a Marxist/Socialist/Communist. . .the political discourse has been drug so far to the right (and further all the time), centrist positions now seem "radical leftist" by comparison.

Cenk Uygur: GOP is the Party of Hate

Yup.

The Young Turks: The Sanctity of Marriage

Cenk is just awesome. Spot on.

The Young Turks: Is Las Vegas Dying?

We always thought that if Las Vegas ever got in deep trouble, it would be because our massive growth ran us out of water.  After 9/11, a lot of us worried that a terrorist attack at one of the big casino properties would cause an exodus.  But nobody seems to have expected a big, worldwide economic downturn. I mean nobody.  Just a few short years ago, we had huge projects on the drawing board.  It wasn't just the City Center which (thanks to Harry Reid, and thank goodness we didn't have Sharron Angle) managed to open.  There was Echelon Place, a project akin to City Center on the site of the old Stardust. It shut down when it was halfway finished, and sits there, a stillborn, half-built mess.

There were many others, one of which was called Viva, a project that Station Casinos was going to build on the west side of the I-15.  They bought the land, even bulldozed some properties.  The project was impressive, and included arterial roads, and more.  But it never got off the ground, and Station is currently in a world of hurt.  That's just the tip of the iceberg.

As Cenk Uygur mentions in the video below, we've got unemployment over 14%, foreclosures in every neighborhood (be it a poor or rich neighborhood), and a lot of sour, glum faces.  I don't believe as Cenk does, that Las Vegas is dying.  But it is very ill, and has a hacking cough.  Can somebody get me some water?

The Young Turks: Why the Right-wingers Hate President Obama

Cenk Uygur is probably one of those people that right-wingers deem extreme left.  Truly, I don't know who qualifies for that label in reality. I just know I'm on the same page with Cenk 95% of the time, and don't consider myself extreme.

Sarah Palin To Run The RNC?

After the long holiday weekend, I'm finding blogging a little harder to get into. So, I'm posting a few easy--but entertaining and relevant videos, to get the ball rolling. This one has Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks guest-hosting The Dylan Ratigan Show. The subject? Sarah Palin as head of the RNC!

The Young Turks on Texas GOP's Anti-Sodomy Platform

Some salty language, but worth it for this snarky examination of the utterly ridiculous Texas GOP's platform.

Tuesday Night's Elections: A Clean Sweep for Progressive?

The rightward spin on Tuesday's election results really seem to have won the messaging war, with Republicans supposedly having "won the night" and set the stage for November. FOX "News" and right-wing talk radio sure seem to think so. But it didn't hit me that way, especially since in the one contest between a Democrat and a Republican, the Democrat won.  Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks has a pretty persuasive argument that progressives won the night, and in a clean sweep.

Sarah Palin's New TLC Show a Disaster Already?

You betcha!