TYT: Cenk Debates The Daily Beast's John Avlon On The So Called 'Radical Left' & Much More!

[ihavenobias]

Run time: 23:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbrkvbsUfYw   Posted on YouTube: June 24, 2010 By YouTube Member: TYTInterviews Views on YouTube: 1278   Posted on DU: June 25, 2010 By DU Member: ihavenobias Views on DU: 2090

 
Summary: Cenk had a debate/discussion with John Avlon of The Daily Beast over his piece http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38699.html|The Civil War Brewing Among Democrats>. We're working on a transcript but long story short, it may not be done today.

PS---Check out (and subscribe, it's free) our new channel, . As the name suggests, it's all great interviews with members of Congress, Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington, Jesse Ventura, economists (William K Black, Joseph Stiglitz and Simon Johnson to name a few), Media Matters reps, various journalists, reporters and much more.

[theFrankFactor]

1. John Avalon, Useless Dipshit

He refutes his own stupid thesis.

Republicans = Batshit fucking insane, fast track to corporate fascism
Democrats = Republican-lite and slow track to corporate fascism
Progressives = Communists
Liberals = Communists

[theFrankFactor]

2. LOL! Avalon:"I appreciate your point" LOL!!!!!!!

Punk'd! Go home.

This guy RUNS from Cenk! RUNS!!!! He can't deal. I don't know how or what Cenk sees in this asshole. He was TROUNCED by Cenk's cogent points. HE HAS NOTHING! NOTHING! To discredit Cenk's point that the whole damn country is force fed right wing policies.

When I need a laugh, I'll read this asshole!

[Wetzelbill]

3. I was fascinated by this

when I watched it live. A great example of how the establishment and the right thinks.

[Chakab]

4. Screw Avlon

I have absolutely no patience or tolerance for people who peddle false equivalency while masquerading as moderates. I don't think that I can fully express how ridiculous it is to put Keith Olbermann in the same ballpark as Palin and Beck.

[PA Democrat]

8. Wow. I hadn't seen the cover of his book.

I wish Cenk would have asked him to give examples of Olbermann's views that were the "equivalent" of the crazy lunacy that spouts out of Beck and Palin's mouths on a daily basis.

Pretty weak debate on Avlon's part if he had to go back half a century to the 1960s in an attempt to justify the distrust of the "left". And Avlon doesn't even discuss the source of the source of the anger of the 60s. Yeah those people who protested Vietnam and who marched for civil rights were SOOOOO WRONG! :sarcasm:

Welcome to DU!

[Chakab]

21. I seriously doubt that he has any examples

of Olbermann's alleged "wingnutiness." This guy is totally substanceless.

BTW thanks for the welcome, but I've been on DU for years. I'm more of a lurker than a poster.

[Rhiannon12866]

18. K&R. Very well said!

Saying that you're a moderate certainly doesn't make you one, but it reassures the audience that what you say isn't dangerous. Misusing labels like this absolutely sends me over the edge - like one CNN headline during the campaign: "Is Hillary Clinton too angry and too liberal?" First of all, Hillary Clinton is anything but liberal, but that label, and the image of her as "angry" were very useful as a scare tactic... :grr:

And to lump a truthteller like KO with the actual lunatic fringe like Palin and BecKKK is the worst of misrepresentations... :grr:

Welcome to DU, Chakab! It's great to have you with us! :hi:

[Turborama]

20. I was about to post the same picture and make pretty much the same assessment

Welcome to DU! :hi:

Edited to add. As much as I like his advocacy journalism, the fact that Anderson Cooper regularly has this tool on as a "sage of all things wingnutty" just because of the title of his book says how out of touch with what's really going on Cooper is.

[jgraz]

25. The guy's simply a careerist. I doubt he has any real views of his own.

Nice to se Cenk pull him apart. More people need to expose this douchebag.

[Hulk]

5. One of the better discussions I've heard with the right wingers...

Not agreeing with his positions...as I was only half listening; but at least his point reflected some sort of reality. God, I just can't bring myself to listen to right wingers, as most of them live in a totally different world than I see in front of me. Maybe I'm wrong?...but I happen to think THEY are!

[20score]

6. Very good debate.

[ProfessorPlum]

7. This douche's thesis is that our problems all stem from the 60s

I don't even know what to say about that. So dumb. Yes, kick a hippie, it will solve all of our problems.

Ignoring, as Cenk was more desperate to point out, that our problems are our politicians are all bought.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

24. Yes those excessive ''civil rights'' for women and darkies and accountability for the government.

Those bastards!

[WillyT]

9. Big K & R !!!

:kick:

[Duct Tape]

10. ..

Avalon had some points that were partially correct but the problem is that he runs with them in the totally wrong direction injecting them with republican bullshit and that whole problem gets increasingly worse as the debate goes on.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. Wow

John Avlon works in Washington, makes a career at covering politics and absolutely has no clue how politics works in 2010.

on edit: Jesus, this guy actually writes books???

[JohnnyK]

12. Avlon had the same debate on HBO's REAL TIME...

... and Maher knocked him down a peg or two.

[ejbr]

13. k & r n/t

[hulka38]

14. He writes a bold thesis and then he's too chicken shit to make his case.

His debate strategy was to purposely miss the points Cenk was making and then adding several minutes of verbiage to every answer to be harder to nail down. Avlon is making his fellow Greeks look bad.

[burning rain]

15. k

r

[ooglymoogly]

16. If this pusillanimous little snake is the pugs best and brightest: Woe betide

their efforts at reelection. Just a little too eager to protect corporatist thuggery and blame the unions and working classes by calling common sense wingnuttery. Trotting out gay rights as how far to the left we have slid. Why stop at the 60's? There is nothing funnier than a wingnut pretending he is a moderate.

[ooglymoogly]

17. KR Interesting debate of good v. evil nt

[girl gone mad]

19. If this is the mindset of the people advising Obama..

then he is dooooomed.

Cenk did a great job. My only complaint is that he is going over to the dark side when he talks about the deficit. Someone needs to teach him the ways of the jedi. Please, Cenk, interview a Modern Monetary Theorist - don't be a deficit dove!!

[Royal Oak Rog]

22. Nice job by Cenk

He owned him, but getting off topic, have any of you TYT disciples even addressed the news that I hear Dylan Rat-again is now a "Drill baby Drill" guy?

Also since I rarely listen, has Cenk even mentioned the US social forum in Detroit? Amy Goodman brought her show here.

Last question, since Cenk is such a "progressive", I'm watching "What the Flick" yesterday and I say well surely a "progressive political program" will be reviewing Oliver Stones new Doc about South America and Chavez, but no they review the most mainstream corporatist crap movies out there, "Grownups", and the new Tom Cruise flick. Really this is hardly a progressive show. But I will say he did a nice job on Avlon, but talk about a huge idiotic target.

[libodem]

23. Our Progressives

Are nothing like their far-right-wing-nuts. For instance take radio programing. I listen to NPR and switch over to am at night for Coast to Coast. If I happen to wake up to the am radio morning talk guy, it's a daily breathless witch-hunt of the imaginary Idaho 'Liberal'. I feel like I'm waking up in Rwanda. It wouldn't take much for them to foment violence against cockroaches. As soon as Obama took office, two imported guys were shipped in for morning an afternoon hate-talk against our government.

I swear if I hear that afternoon kkknucklehead call my President, 'dear leader', one more time, he will inspire, death and destruction.

[Populist_Prole]

26. I've been thinking a lot about this interview

As was astutely pointed out by others in this thread and most of all Cenk, Avlon seemed to take the present dynamic and "go the wrong way with it" and I couldn't figure a out his logic for such obtuseness. Reminds me of some online poll to test/analyze one's political beliefs based on all these questions. Most seem to want to get you to think you are a right-libertarian. You had to deliberately choose the most ridiculously posed radical left answers in order to not to be pigeonholed as a neocon corporatist.

I figured I'd attempt to "reverse engineer" why he makes the conclusions he does. In simplicity, he is knowingly and studiously attempting to move the neutral ground of discourse to the right. He uses the soft-sell well though, with all his "You're right" and "I agree with yous" to Cenk. I don't at all believe he thinks the tea party wing is extreme. He SAYS so, but I think it a stratagem to APPEAR unbiased. I think is only deep-down objection with the teabagger crowd is their inarticulate loudness. He likes them in that they make the GOP tent bigger, he just doesn't like how they make the right look flaky.

( shameless ad-hominum attack ) In any case , he looks like the typical corporate robot.

[butterfly77]

27. Everytime I hear AVALON...

I know he doesn't realize what is going on in America in more ways than one,and he seems to think everyooe who votes for a Democrat is far left and they use this for every conversation.

Most people don't believe or think like these nuts like him he calls everyone a wing nut,but he is the damn nut and soon I believe he and these other fruitcakes will start finding out who is really in america just keep talking,.

I feel it coming soon especially when I hear this bullshit about SPENDING when they know we are in a crisis..Oh,I forgot he doesn't know about it because he probably lives in a gated community..

[sandyd921]

28. Talk about out of touch.

The 60's and unions are to blame for everything. Really???????

[anAustralianobserver]

29. Better to use the term 'monopolist' than 'corporatist'?

Seems the term 'corporatist' is ambiguous and is too often associated with 'anti-business' and the image of the whiny clever-clever nanny state liberal.

Would the less ambiguous 'monopolist' (who buys politicians) be a more useful, clear and solid frame?
(libertarians are supposed to be anti-monopoly)

(or does 'monopolist' leave out something?)

[anAustralianobserver]

30. multinational monopolists actually nt

[smokey nj]

31. How does John Avlon have a job and why does anybody take anything he says seriously?