You have to understand the contex of the Harris TyT interview, it was after he and Bill Maher were talking about statistics in Muslim majority nations about what they believe, and Ben Affleck got visibly angry and called them racists.
After that Glen Greenwald and the left apologists blasted Maher and Harris, and that included Genk from TyT. So he invited Sam Harris on to defend his side of the argument, as a scientist Harris focused mostly on the facts, statistics that we know and Cenk absorbed zero of it, its especially glaring in the last 45 mins or so where you start to smash your head on the desk.
After this interview, Cenk continued excusing anything with Islam as just a few crazies and that it had nothing to do with religion (no true scottsman fallacy) and repeatedly months after took jabs at Harris in his videos.
This one interview and the reaction by TyT is why my now favorite youtube guy Dave Rubin left them because he was so disgusted by the apologist angle Cenk and others live by. So he created his own channel and has been doing fascinating interviews with all kinds of people, constantly airing his frustration at the lefts unwillingness to have a serious discussion, how campuses are losing their free speech, how feelings matter more to the left now than facts or the vigorous free speech that campuses should cherish.
At least in the online youtube, social media communities, this rift in the left is where this idea of the regressive left gained traction to describe this crowd which wants to shut down anyone who criticizes Islam as bigots, racists, etc..
Its a group I want nothing to do with, I posted a video here on my FB in Iceland and ran into a few friends that blasted me for it, and refused to even discuss what they thought was wrong, it was about Sharia family courts in the UK and how so many women are stuck in violent relationships.
Dave Rubin is top notch, a very welcoming host to any ideas, even ones he thinks are ridiculous, but he loves to talk to interesting people. Do check him out.
From what I saw, it didn't seem like the interviewer was trying to be a fraud or ratings huckster?
Honestly, the Cenk interview itself wasn't so terrible, except that he revealed himself as being completely unable to have a philosophical conversation on Harris's level. He's not smart enough, isn't able to grasp nuance and continuously failed to understand what was actually pretty clearly stated. This is a quick and easy instance of how the guy's running on some inadequate horsepower between the ears.
The real problem was that afterwards, after spending 3 hours talking to the guy and listening to him clear up the deliberate obfuscations and misstatements of his views, he acted as if the interview hadn't happened and went back to engaging in exactly the same dishonest behaviour towards Harris he'd been up to before. Arguably worse. Example:
He explained the nuance of that particular point and a few months later, Cenk just goes back and smears him again. It's as if he forgot the interview took place.
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Yet TyT is the #1 Youtube news site, it smashes online presence of the major media outlets. It is the go to site for the Bernie crazies, the regressive left and young people.
Yet TyT is the #1 Youtube news site, it smashes online presence of the major media outlets. It is the go to site for the Bernie crazies, the regressive left and young people.
I would say it also explains the rise of Trump as a protest to those demographics.
Yeah the anger is from all sides because of how screwed the middle class has been for so long, and the 2008 crash was just the last straw. People expected more from Obama, and feel the Democratic party does not represent the progressives, thus we got Bernie and on the right the hatred for politicians and government gave you an outsider blow hard who knows how to appeal to their baser instincts.
Very little of what the media consumed today, by Americans who are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, is news in a traditional sense. The ratio of punditry and infotainment to news is probably more than 5:1. It's easy to laugh off the ludicrous nonsense peddled on Fox News, but a preference for scathing and biased attack pieces are just as pronounced on the left. Just look at how many Americans under 40 cited Jon Stewart as their primary source for current affairs.
A small fraction of Americans are interested in thorough, deliberate news. While that small audience does skew liberal or Democrat, that doesn't mean most Americans who self-identify as liberal or Democratic are interested in serious news. And there are all sorts of truths that are shibboleths to the left, and avoided by the mainstream media because of Culture Wars.
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If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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As fun as it is to blame young people for everything, you can't blame them for Trump and his halfwit following.
I think the mathematics on Trump's presidential chances are pretty clear: he needs to get out the disgruntled, middle-aged, white man vote to win. It might be the biggest voting bloc in the country. He just needs to increase voter turnout in this demographic a relatively small amount, and he wins.
Hilary can get 100% of the transgender, lesbian latino vote, and it won't move the needle at all in her chances.
So when Trump says outrageous things about, say, Muslim Immigration, he's not really trying to get the support of anti-muslim bigots. What he's trying to do is motivate middle-aged, white dudes to vote AGAINST the people who DEFEND Islam. He's not trying to get middle-aged white men to hate Muslims, he's trying to get them to take action against the people on your facebook feed that complain about Islamophobia after the Orlanda attack.
So all of these celebrities, and Rachel Maddows, and Cenks, etc don't matter to Trump. They are simply the foil he is using to motivate the people that will win the election for him. And he also knows that if he succeeds, he wins.
I suppose it probably chaps the a$$ of the Regressive Left, and social justice warriors that this election will actually come down to the actions of....middle-aged white dudes.
I think the mathematics on Trump's presidential chances are pretty clear: he needs to get out the disgruntled, middle-aged, white man vote to win. It might be the biggest voting bloc in the country. He just needs to increase voter turnout in this demographic a relatively small amount, and he wins.
Dominating the single biggest demographic isn't enough to win. Not by a long shot. That's why the Republican establishment recognizes the unelectability of Trump. They've learned the math the hard way in the last couple elections - you cannot win a presidential election today without significant support from women and Latinos.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
Dominating the single biggest demographic isn't enough to win. Not by a long shot. That's why the Republican establishment recognizes the unelectability of Trump. They've learned the math the hard way in the last couple elections - you cannot win a presidential election today without significant support from women and Latinos.
Racial divisiveness is still an effective strategy at the state and local level but as a national platform it is doomed. It is the paradox of race politics that the republicans rely on.
With that said, what is really more important, controlling congress or controlling the presidency?
I don't think the GOP is doing that badly with it to be honest, and I thought 8 years ago it was going the way of the dodo.
Dominating the single biggest demographic isn't enough to win. Not by a long shot. That's why the Republican establishment recognizes the unelectability of Trump. They've learned the math the hard way in the last couple elections - you cannot win a presidential election today without significant support from women and Latinos.
Trump's strategy, as far as I can tell, is not a "big tent" strategy, but a voter-turnout strategy.
I think Trump is going to surprise people in terms of his share of the popular vote (even if he loses). I definitely think he will surprise in terms of the Latino and women demographic, although he won't be strong in those areas.
People who spend their days hectoring boring, white, middle-aged, middle America are poking the bear, and Trump is handing them the stick. And the stick looks like phrases like: "white privilege" and "Islamophobia" and "Black Lives Matter."
So when Trump says outrageous things about, say, Muslim Immigration, he's not really trying to get the support of anti-muslim bigots. What he's trying to do is motivate middle-aged, white dudes to vote AGAINST the people who DEFEND Islam. He's not trying to get middle-aged white men to hate Muslims, he's trying to get them to take action against the people on your facebook feed that complain about Islamophobia after the Orlanda attack.
I don't know, I'll take him at his word. When he says something stupid about Muslims or Mexicans, he's courting the moron vote, he knows it, and it seems to be working.
Going for the "I'm not really a racist but I don't like the anti-racists on facebook so I'll vote for the racist" demographic wouldn't have got him this far because that's probably a pretty small group.
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IMO the only restriction on free speech should be the incitement to violence.
Not sure where this puts me on this spectrum.
Interesting. So you don't believe in the criminalization of:
(1) shouting "fire" in a crowded movie theatre (in the absence of a fire) [to use the classic example];
(2) invitation to sexual touching with a young person;
(3) purgery;
(4) many frauds;
(5) many criminal harassments;
(6) many obstruction of justices; etc, etc, etc
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I don't know, I'll take him at his word. When he says something stupid about Muslims or Mexicans, he's courting the moron vote, he knows it, and it seems to be working.
Going for the "I'm not really a racist but I don't like the anti-racists on facebook so I'll vote for the racist" demographic wouldn't have got him this far because that's probably a pretty small group.
Except that most people in the demographic I'm talking about aren't convinced he's racist at all.
Mostly because he has not, as far as I can tell, made any racist comments in this election campaign.
