The House is Set to Apologize to African Americans | 32 comments (32 topical, 0 hidden)
KenTX and other morons (none / 0)
I've been listening to theYoungTurks for about 3 years now, and I've never posted anything until now.  I may never say anything else, but I feel like it's necessary to ask.  Why do people that post on this sight regularly let KenTX shape any of the discussions?  He's a clown-ass white supremecist who's just trying to annoy people who aren't stupid enough to think the way he does.  Most of the people on here are participating in honest debate about issues.  But KenTX is an idiot.  I could understand if he had some power or something, but he doesn't.  So just ignore him.  I've been skipping his ridiculous posts for months and can't figure out why anyone here reads them.

by DStroyer4 on 07/30/2008 03:36:29 PM EST

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I usually do (none / 0)
But since he often raises a cliche republican response I sometimes like to shoot it down, as do others I'm sure.

And look, we need to work together on our framing and responses to common conservative arguments. Even if we know how to argue not everyone reading necessarily does.

by Tom Hanc on 07/30/2008 03:50:20 PM EST

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my guess (none / 0)

I hear you.  But if his posts are just left without comments, will that help or hurt?  At a site with a lot of commenters, he could be easily ignored.  But when there are so few forum posts and commenters, there might be the danger of people assuming that his ideas are accepted and supported if nobody argues against them.  I'm interested in what people think about that hypothesis. 

I sometimes try to draw Ken into real discussion, but it does seem useless--he is a mouthpiece for the Republican party and Big Oil and doesn't seem to have many interests apart from amassing capital and dismissing anyone who doesn't have money at the top of their personal value system.

I don't bother reading any of his linked nonsense, but the responses have provided me with good material to fight republican talking points.

by desertpear on 07/30/2008 04:37:20 PM EST

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It surely strokes ken's ego (none / 0)
to read these discussions. I'm with pear on this (surprise surprise) as I've written elsewhere he makes for a good punching bag and seems to be a good sport about it most of the time. Try to draw him into a substantive conversation about anything and you'll hear crickets (just check out this thread). Most of the time he'd rather just spar. That's fine. And frankly, even though he seems confined to talking points, let's face it--that's the nature of our opposition these days. So we might as well use the opportunity he provides to craft our responses. He made this very point to me shortly after I started posting regularly and I've come to agree. I occasionally find that I learn from more from others' clever responses to his nonsense than from Cenk even on the same topics.

by hazmat on 07/30/2008 06:02:31 PM EST

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Those are good points... (none / 0)
Well, that's why I asked.  Those are solid reasons for responding to that clown.  I won't be reading his nonsense, but I now why you guys do.

One thing to remember about Cenk, that dude voted for McCain 8 years ago.  There was no excuse for a knowledgeable adult to vote Rebublican as late as 2000 (which is why Dave was all over him about it).  I'm 28, and that party has been fraudulent my entire life.  The Democrats are horrendous, but the Republicans are decidedly worse.  So, one has to wonder, "What the hell was he doing still voting Republican?"  With that in mind, he seem like a pretty cool dude and, of course, I love his show.

Really though, brothas always wonder why anyone who isn't white would even consider voting Republican.  I remember seeing a poll a while back saying that Bush's approval rating was 2% amongst black people.  The first thing I thought was, "The margin of error is +/-3%; how do they know his approval rating isn't 0%?"

by DStroyer4 on 07/30/2008 11:41:06 PM EST

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You have to forgive and forget (none / 0)
Sure, Cenk was mistaken, but for the most part he realizes the error of his ways (although he STILL doesn't realize just how competely terrible Reagan was and he STILL is wrong on "free trade").

But seriously, think about Arianna Huffington. She was hard-core Republican for a long time.  Now she gives us a great progressive website, Huffington Post (Bonus: it's Dave's favorite!).

by Tom Hanc on 08/01/2008 10:48:24 AM EST

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I tend to agree (none / 0)
But I have to recommend Ken's links.  They are hilarious.  They almost always prove he's wrong.

by ProfRich on 07/31/2008 11:47:23 PM EST

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I don't know how I missed this comment, (none / 0)
but that's exactly how I've always looked at it.

by Spencer on 08/01/2008 04:10:45 AM EST

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what evidence (none / 0)
other than his own statements do you have that he is a big contributer?

by hazmat on 07/30/2008 05:55:07 PM EST

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Mark Luther (none / 0)
Great post Ken. Who doesn't love this guy? I've wondered what your motives are for a long time, but this is making much more sense.

I first heard the young turks as guests on Al Franken when they made an appearance in sept '06 (I think?) shortly after they joined AA (what an unfortunate acronym) and decided to give'em a shot. Al Franken's show was the only one I liked (although hearing Mark Maron reruns makes me wish he was still on--the guy was genius--showmanshipwise), but TYT blew Franken out of the water. I continued to listen to him until he left, but mainly out of loyalty. Just about everything else on air america except for ring of fire sucked balls. Your point about attracting conservative listeners seems especially salient.

by hazmat on 07/31/2008 01:15:54 AM EST

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The House is Set to Apologize to African Americans | 32 comments (32 topical, 0 hidden)