Cenk has his head so far up Obama's ass he can't think straight. I've been a TYT listerner since 2005 and Cenk generally shows his Republican roots in framing. He's pro Obama show he will only find arguments to fit his bias. He was like that about the US invading Iran. He was screaming that for months at a time, saying the US WILL definitely invade Iran.

Back in the earlier version of the show with Jill and Ben, The Young Turks was really different. Back then before Katrina, when Bush was still popular, TYT was the voice of reason, providing a sane unique take on Iraq that you couldn't find anywhere, even on Air America.  The Turks quoted  newspapers and magazines as well as blogs. But now TYT is like a radio, streaming version of DailyKos. 

by Hue on 02/20/2008 05:29:34 PM EST

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you:

Exhibit A and

Exhibit B.


The accused accepts your apology.  ;)

by Tom Hanc on 02/20/2008 06:09:47 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Of course, he's said many times that Hillary has run a good campaign etc. but you know he beats the dead horse of  how she didn't fight Bush enough. (Neither did Obama, but that's alright.)

He's pro Obama, whose really no different to Hillary on issues.

Are you trying to say Cenk is "fair and balance" with the Hillary and Obama stuff?

by Hue on 02/20/2008 06:32:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]
He hasn't been neutral because he's not a stenographer.

Also, he hasn't only said that she's run a good campaign, if you watch the first clip he defends her against non-substantive attacks and in the second clip he says she's incredibly competent and confident and would make a good president (sounds pretty damn fair to me).

At any rate, he's a talk show host, not a court or AP reporter.  He's giving his opinion.  He's explained in detail on numerous occassions why he prefers Obama to Hillary.  That in and of itself doesn't mean he hates or is incredibly biased toward Hillary.

While he (like EVERYONE else on earth) may have some basic degree of bias toward the information he interprets, he's based his opinions on these two based on what he knows about them.  If he shares more information that seems to be negative toward Hillary, it just might be because most of the information he came across seemed to reflectly poorly on her based on his criteria. 

It's like (as Cenk says) when people say "oh, you just hate Bush" as if it were a baseless, unsupported position.  But the fact is he's *earned it*.  Why is Hillary the second choice for Cenk?  Again, because she's *earned it* (and I'm assuming in your mind Obama has earned the second spot).

And look, you may not disagree with that and this all might be an issue of semantics.  But you seem to be suggesting that he hasn't given her a fair shake to be his choice for president, and *if* that's the case, I disagree.


by Tom Hanc on 02/20/2008 06:52:38 PM EST

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you don't seem to understand what "bias" means. You  seem to equate bias with hate. I never said he hated Hillary.

All I said that he favors Obama, and he will find arguments to support that.  Bias is not derogatory or negative. Bias is different than prejudice.

anti Hillary doesn't equal to hate, either. 

What the hell is "earned it?" It's just politics, where you favor on candidate over another. You can come up with a thousand reasons for why you choose, but you don't earn anything.  

by Hue on 02/20/2008 07:10:45 PM EST

[ Parent ]
someone who makes a stupid comment about my username? If there was a rolling eyes emoticon, it would be 100% appropriate here.

Yes, he *now* favors Obama, but you seem to think he was *always* that way, that he *went into* that way as opposed to going into it with a clean slate and trying to break down each candidate based on a variety of factors.


If you recall (you've listened since 2005, right?), he didn't start off supporting Obama.  Over the months he leaned toward a variety of different candidates, and after a good deal of time reviewing the available information, he concluded that Obama was the best choice.


That is NOT the same thing as if Cenk had been pro-Obama, anti-Hillary from Day One, and went on to only or mostly provide negative information and opinion on Hillary (when positive info was also available) and or mostly provide positive information and opinion on Obama (when negative info was also available).  *If* that had been the case, then yes, I'd say he's clearly biased in favor of Obama.

But it wasn't and he isn't.

It's insulting to suggest I don't know what bias is and that I equate it with hate BTW.  Some people have both. I am simply pointing out that Cenk's level of bias (again, acknowledging that *everyone* has some degree of bias to some extent or another) in this case is not noteworthy, at least in my opinion based on what he's said and presented on both candidates.

Again I refer you to those two clips. If you want *zero* bias, build a robot and program it to observe and report on its observations.  Otherwise I don't see the relevance unless the bias reaches a certain threshold, at which point it clearly taints a perspective and calls an individual's credibility into question overall or on a specific issue or set of issues.


by Tom Hanc on 02/20/2008 07:28:26 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Or that he went into that way? I didn't.

 

by Hue on 02/20/2008 07:49:55 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Look at what you wrote:

"Cenk has his head so far up Obama's ass he can't think straight...He's pro Obama show he will only find arguments to fit his bias...TYT is like a radio, streaming version of DailyKos."

I mean fine, if that's your opinion, that's your opinion. But it's *my* opinion that you couldn't be more wrong.

He's said several times that Obama will not radically transform America and that an Obama presidency is not some kind of panacea.

He's said several times that Obama hasn't really shown much leadership while in the Senate, and that when it came to funding the war, Obama was no better. He makes a reasonable argument that Clinton has been in a much better position (due to her tenure, connections and name recognition) to really lead and challenge Bush but she hasn't.

Finally, to suggest that TYT is some super left wing outfit is just laughable (that's what I take from the DailyKos comment).  If you disagree with that statement, I'd like you to explain Cenk's positions on free trade/NAFTA and the presidencies of Reagan, Bush Sr and Bill Clinton (the guy who "reformed" welfare and pushed through NAFTA and the Telecom Act of 1996).


by Tom Hanc on 02/20/2008 08:01:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
the millionth person to use his username as a point against him.

by Spencer on 02/20/2008 07:47:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]

regularly even when i don't always agree with Cenk (still a member), i rarely read or comment in these forums. had no clue about *mr. bias from the beginning*'s username thing. even thought i was kind of clever (hehe), so did the 999,999 other people.

Ben used to balance out Cenk, and Wes is great. Michael is cool too. 

that said, i know a little about kentx, and medfordtim and rev24 

by Hue on 02/20/2008 08:06:15 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Cenk needs a good foil, I've written about that a few times!

Although in my opinion, the co-host he needs (ok, he doesn't "need" one as I love the show anyway but it'd be nice to see one like this) is someone like Sam Seder who will challenge him on economic/trade issues, but that's a whole other topic.

by Tom Hanc on 02/20/2008 08:18:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]