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

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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?

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.

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.

The Young Turks: Obama is a Christian Muslim?

Want to see logic tortured right before your eyes? This is cognitive dissonance in action. . .

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!

Captain Obvious: The Young Turks on Inciting Violence

Captain Obvious is a new feature at Greenlee Gazette, where I get up on my soapbox and opine on issues that should be obvious but for some reason aren't. I'll make an attempt to be brief and pithy, but I have a tendancy to get windy, so please bear with me while I hammer out the format.

I've been having a discussion on and off Facebook with a group called "Right Pride," a gay Republican group in Nevada. In these discussions, members of the group have expressed incredulity that I think conservatives are anti-gay. In response, I simply point to Free Republic, one of the most popular far-right outposts on the web. There, they can find more evidence than they could possibly finish in a week.

But the FReepers don't just have ire for gay people. They're mad about just about everything. And their rage is stoked by actual elected officials. This is one easy to check area that reflects what the base's response is to all of this incitement. I'm not the only one who thinks so. In fact, it should be obvious.

The Young Turks: Bush "Miss Me Yet?" Billboard

I don't. Cenk doesn't. Do you miss George W. Bush yet?

The Young Turks: Sarah Palin & FOX "News"

One more quickie. . .