[Peace-discuss] " The Left Versus Neo- Liberals "

[David Johnson]

A more accurate title IMO would be “ The Left Versus Neo-Liberals “ 

 

Motif  <https://motifri.com/> 

Providence, Rhode Island News, Events, Music, Shows, Film, Art

The Left Versus the Left 
Progressive media is filling the void 

By Mark Fogarty <https://motifri.com/author/markfogarty/>  on January 8th,
2020 

http://www.motifri.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Left-V-Left-1024x576.png

It is commonly understood that there is a bias in the television news media
with Fox News on the right and MSNBC and their ilk on the left, but the real
conflict is between the corporate left broadcast media and the independent
progressive left media — a conversation many might not be aware is
happening. What divides the two camps is simple: It comes down to where you
get your news.

Claiming that MSNBC and CNN, among others, represent the ideas of the left
shows a misunderstanding that most people under 30 get their news online.
More than 39 million people
<http://%20https:/techcrunch.com/2018/07/25/u-s-cord-cutters-to-reach-33-mil
lion-this-year-faster-than-expected/>  have cut the cord and no longer have
access to cable. 

While left-leaning corporate broadcast media has been consumed with Russian
conspiracies (albeit appropriate, given our corrupt commander-in-chief), a
new independent left has emerged. Provided by podcasts, left-wing magazines
and YouTube channels, this new left is less likely to be controlled by
corporate interests and presents a world-view different from their corporate
counterparts.

If you get your news from MSNBC you might think that the Russiagate case was
a slam dunk, Bernie Sanders has no shot of winning, the Ukraine
investigation is the most important story of our time and Nancy Pelosi is
the first line of defense against Donald Trump. 

Get your news online and you’d see the holes on the Russiagate story, learn
that Bernie Sanders has been consistently second in the polls and has the
best chance of beating Trump in the 2020 election. And you’d see that while
the so-called #resistance pretends to fight Trump, the democratic leadership
gave him $750 billion for his already bloated military budget, allowed a ban
on trans soldiers to go through, gave him money for his wall and to create a
Space Force and voted for the Patriot Act to be renewed.
<https://newrepublic.com/article/155793/hell-democrats-just-extend-patriot-a
ct> 

The emergence of the independent left exposes the limits of the corporate
media. It isn’t that the corporate media reports a different take than the
left; the corporate media simply refuses to report anything that does not
support the agenda of their corporate overlords.

One of the most glaring omissions by the mainstream media was the protest at
Standing Rock. The protest arose in 2016 when Dakota Access LLC attempted to
build a 1,172-mile oil pipeline adjacent to the Standing Rock Reservation.
Worries that the proximity of the oil to the reservation’s water supply
would cause environmental catastrophe created one of the longest protests in
American history. While independent media began coverage right away, the
mainstream media was months late to the story.
<https://intercontinentalcry.org/media-continues-fail-protestors-standing-ro
ck/>  

Four years later, the media that came late to the party on Standing Rock
continues to deny reality and refuses to cover one of the only presidential
candidates courageous enough to join the protest at Standing Rock: Bernie
Sanders (the only other to join the protest was Tulsi Gabbard).

They leave outsider candidates like Bernie, Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang
out of graphics and keep their names out of headlines, while pushing the
candidates (like Amy Klobuchar) who fit their agenda, no matter their
floundering in the polls. CNN once reported the headline “Buttigieg a strong
fourth,” Leaving out what one might argue is the little detail that Bernie
Sanders had emerged in second place. Whether the Bernie blackout is
conspiracy to favor candidates who won’t come for the corporate media’s
bottom line or unconscious bias is up for debate, but its existence is
undeniable.

Is MSNBC aware of the bias toward support of the military industrial complex
or part of some vast conspiracy? Readers of Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing
Consent know this is not how it works. When Chomsky was asked by journalist
Andrew Marr if he believed Marr was pushing a narrative he didn’t believe in
to toe the party line Chomsky replied, “I’m sure you believe everything
you’re saying
  but if you believed something different, you wouldn’t be
sitting where you are sitting.”

The divide is growing right under the nose of those who believe they are
informed. But the truth is, you can consume five newspapers a day and watch
CNN, MSNBC and NBC daily and still miss a massive and essential conversation
about what is happening in the world. 

Watch CNN and you will never hear about America’s complacency in the
genocide in Yemen. You might not know that the Obama administration’s
intervention in Libya has reduced the corrupt-yet-somewhat functioning
dictatorship into a nightmare state where slaves are sold on the street. 

It would be easy to dismiss the YouTubers and podcasters as sad tin foil hat
types, broadcasting from their momma’s basement — and lord knows there’s
plenty of that on YouTube, but this new left comes with its own set of
credentials.

Take, for example, Krystal Ball, Cenk Uygar and Dylan Ratigan. All used to
work for MSNBC and left or were fired when it became obvious they wouldn’t
play ball. Krystal Ball was given her walking papers from MSNBC when she
dared suggest Hillary Clinton was not the best candidate to beat Donald
Trump. Dylan Ratigan quit out of frustration and Cenk Uyger was pushed out
of his time slot for being too hard on Barack Obama. He went on to grow his
network, The Young Turks, into the largest political show in YouTube
history.

The progressive left plays the role of journalist no matter who is in power,
leveling criticisms at left and right whenever they do wrong. This kind of
journalism is desperately needed in our time. 

This new left caters to a news-hungry crowd of young voters who have never
and will never own cable. They are pissed, they are politically active and
they are the future of the country. Dismissing the significance of this
audience and where they get their information is a mistake the Democrats
make at their own risk, yet still it seems to go all but ignored by the
Democratic party. 

There is a vital conversation to be had as to what it means to be left and
what it means to resist, yet the participants seem to be having this
conversation in two different bubbles: one paid for by the military
industrial complex and one made for the people, by the people. Which one is
more likely to tell the truth?

If you want to get out of your bubble, but don’t know where to begin, check
out a a sampling of some of the best of progressive media at
motifri.com/leftvleft. 

WHERE TO CATCH PROGRESSIVE NEWS

The Young Turks <https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks>
<https://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTurks>  

TYT network is the first major progressive news network on Youtube. Hosted
by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, TYT offers commentary and investigative
journalism, pop culture news and more. 

Follow @cenkuygur, @AnaKasparian

NOTE: Uygur is currently running for congress and mainstream media has done
a ton to smear him for blogs he wrote and things he said over a decade ago.
What they don’t tell you is — he founded the Justice Democrats (the
organization that gave us AOC), founded the Wolfpac to get money out of
politics, fostered the career of many female journalists and has the most
diverse cross-section of commentators than any other network, employing
trans, LBQT, black & Latinx commentators. In other words, he has done more
for progressive policies than anyone in media. 

Righteous anger level = Four middle fingers to the establishment

The Jimmy Dore Show <https://www.youtube.com/user/TYTComedy> 

Jimmy Dore split off from The Young Turks over a disagreement on Russiagate.
To his credit, Cenk Uygur let Jimmy remain on the show until Jimmy decided
to leave. The two remain friends. Now Jimmy runs his own show and performs
live comedy show all around the US. Self-described as a “jagoff comedian,”
Jimmy is one of the most effective debunkers of mainstream media lies.

Follow @jimmy_dore

Righteous anger level = = Five middle fingers and one for your momma. Jimmy
is the angriest of them all, and possibly the most entertaining.

Rolling Stone presents: Useful Idiots with Matt Taibbi
<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL0ooGQ0asg4upSXzZA1Oinn3ALqVCndA> &
Katie Halper.

Rolling Stone, continuing over a half a century tradition of being a voice
for progressive media, recently began a podcast with Matt Taibbi and Katie
Halper. Taibbi is the guy who took over Hunter S. Thompson’s old gig,
chronicling fear and loathing on the campaign trail. Paired up with the
hilarious Katie Halper, each week they give us the four foodgroups:
Democrats suck, Republicans suck, something weird, something funny and most
stoned moment of the week. 

Follow @kthalps, @mtaibbi

Chapo Trap House <https://www.chapotraphouse.com/> 

Chapo Trap House is one of the most popular progressive podcasts and part of
“The Dirtbag Left,” a term coined by Trap House’s female member, Amber A’Lee
Frost. They are dirtbags because they refuse to moderate their anger to
operate in polite society, and the result is a show that is brutally honest,
filthy, hilarious and relentless in its criticism of American politics.

Follow @CHAPOTRAPHOUSE

Righteous anger level = Five middle fingers.

The Gray Zone <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEXR8pRTkE2vFeJePNe9UcQ>  

The Gray Zone created by Max Blumenthal is the home of Aaron Maté, who won
an award for his coverage of the Russiagate scandal. Blumenthal and Maté do
a great job of forcing American’s to confront hard truths about the
country’s role on the world’s stage.

Follow @MaxBlumenthal, @aaronjmate

Righteous anger level = four middle fingers

Kim Iversen <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoJTOwZxbvq8Al8Qat2zgTA> 

Kim Iversen has carved a niche out for herself as one of the prime defenders
of Tulsi Gabbard and Gabbard’s stance on ending America’s policy of regime
change wars. While the mainstream media has painted Tulsi as everything from
a Russian asset to a closet Republican, Iversen shows her for what she is —
one of the most principled people in congress.

Righteous anger level = two middle fingers

Ryan Grim
<https://twitter.com/ryangrim?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%
5Eauthor> 

Ryan Grim writes for The Intercept and works for The Young Turks as an
investigative journalist. Grim has been called “a left-wing populist attack
dog” and he is, breaking stories that expose the DNC. Apparently, doing the
job of exposing truth is “attacking” — I thought it was journalism.

Follow him @ryangrim

Glen Greenwald <https://twitter.com/ggreenwald>  

Glen Greenwald is no longer welcome on MSNBC after refuting their Russiagate
narrative one too many times. Greenwald won the Pulitzer-Prize for his
coverage of the secret surveillance program run by the NSA and remains one
of the most unflinching critics of the American government

Follow him @ggreenwald

The Hill: Rising with Krystal and Saagar.
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPWXiRWZ29zrxPFIQT7eHSA> 

The Hill is producing one of the most subversive and brilliant shows on the
internet. It looks like a morning show, complete with a milquetoast theme
music and brightly lit set, but the hosts ,former MSNBC anchor, Krystal Ball
and (sort-of) Republican Saagar Enjeti offer unflinching commentary
criticizing both sides of the aisle.

Follow @krystalball, @esaagar


Empire Files with Abby Martin
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG29FnXZm4F5U8xpqs1cs1Q> 

Abby Martin has created a series of hard-hitting documentaries on American
Imperialism. She’s as harsh a critic of US interventionism as they come, and
it is hard to deny the evidence she presents — that our country is still a
bad actor on the world’s stage.

Follow @AbbyMartin

The Tim Black Show <https://www.youtube.com/user/TimsTakeLive> 

Self described as “America’s most watched black independent media on the
left” the Tim Black show is funny, provocative and tackles topics the
mainstream press ignores.

Follow @RealTimBlack

Sam Seder and the Majority Report <https://www.youtube.com/user/SamSeder> 

Former Air America anchor Sam Seder offers progressive commentary alongside
Michael Brooks.

Follow @ <https://twitter.com/SamSeder> SamSeder, @
<https://twitter.com/_michaelbrooks> _michaelbrooks

 <http://youtube.com/seculartalk> Secular Talk with Kyle Kulinski

Founding member of the Justice Democrats, Kyle Kulinski, is one of the most
entertaining and eviscerating commentators on the left. 

Follow at KyleKulinski

This is by no means a comprehensive list, for HONORABLE MENTIONS check out: 

The Michael Brooks show
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2UY1hxlMr4_7Az_iQ82HQ> , Redacted
Tonight <https://www.youtube.com/user/redactedtonight> , The Rational
National <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo9oQdIk1MfcnzypG3UnURA> 

 

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