Posts by Cenk Uygur

Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks, the first liberal radio show to air nationwide.

The White Preacher Double Standard: How Hagee, Parsley and the Rest Get Away with Everything
Posted by Cenk Uygur, Huffington Post on March 19, 2008 at 12:03 PM.

Rudy Giuliani's priest has been accused in grand jury proceedings of molesting several children and covering up the molestation of others. Giuliani would not disavow him on the campaign trail and still works with him.

Mitt Romney was part of a church that did not view black Americans as equals and actively discriminated against them. He stayed with that church all the way into his early thirties, until they were finally forced to change their policies to come into compliance with civil rights legislation. Romney never disavowed his church back then or now. He said he was proud of the faith of his fathers.

Jerry Falwell said America had 9/11 coming because we tolerated gays, feminists and liberals. It was our fault. Our chickens had come home to roost, if you will. John McCain proudly received his support and even spoke at his university's commencement.

Reverend John Hagee has called the Catholic Church the "Great Whore." He has said that the Anti-Christ will rise out of the European Union (of course, the Anti-Christ will also be Jewish). He has said all Muslims are trained to kill and will be part of the devil's army when Armageddon comes (which he hopes is soon). John McCain continues to say he is proud of Reverend Hagee's endorsement.

Reverend Rod Parsley believes America was founded to destroy Islam. Since this is such an outlandish claim, I have to add for the record, that he is not kidding. Reverend Parsley says Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" brought down from a "demon spirit." Of course, we are in a war against all Muslims, including presumably Muslim-Americans. Buts since Parsley believes this is a Christian nation and that it should be run as a theocracy, he is not very concerned what Muslim-Americans think.

John McCain says Reverend Rod Parsley is his "spiritual guide."

What separates all of these outrageous preachers from Barack Obama's? You guessed it. They're white and Reverend Jeremiah Wright is not. If it's not racism that's causing the disparity in media treatment of these preachers, then what is it?

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

This Is Not a Christian Nation
Posted by Cenk Uygur on October 5, 2007 at 5:00 AM.

This post, written by Cenk Uygur, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

I am an American.

My name is not Jimmy Johnson, it is not Virgil Goode and it is not John McCain. But I am an American. No more, no less than any of these people.

My name is Cenk Uygur. And I am proud of it. It might sound a little different to your ear, but it doesn't make it any less American. That's the whole point of the country. If I wanted to live in a place where your race, ethnicity or religion mattered, there were plenty of other countries to choose from. I chose to be an American because I believed we were all equals in the eyes of the law.

Apparently, 42 United States Congressmen are not so sure. The House passed a resolution today celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The point of the resolution was to show that we are an open country and that a Muslim-American is equal to any other American. That we are all to be celebrated as Americans. Forty-two representatives couldn't get themselves to agree.

These Congressmen did not vote for the resolution, they voted "present" instead. Is this a silent protest? What are they protesting? Do they disagree that we should celebrate all of the cultures in the country? Do they disagree that we should have Muslims in the country at all?

One of them, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has already said that on the record -- and refuses to apologize. He said we should have less Muslims in Congress and less Muslims in the country at all. His colleagues didn't see fit to correct him. Moveon takes out a newspaper ad questioning one general and Congress goes ballistic. A US Congressman says we should discriminate against a whole group of US citizens and not a peep.

When John McCain said he wanted a Christian president earlier in the week, I didn't pay much attention to it. I think we overemphasize gaffes on the campaign trail. I care how these people are going to lead the country, not how many errors they make while speaking 24/7 on the campaign trail.

By the way, how did a media so obsessed with verbal blunders decide that George W. Bush was the right man for the job - twice? We were told John Kerry misspoke too often. What a topsy-turvy world we live in.

So, I didn't want to get caught up in this game. At this point, I am unfortunately used to people deriding people of the Muslim faith in America anyway. It has become an ugly reality of our country. It's so common that it's taken for granted now.

A couple of days ago, Ann Coulter was on the Today show and she said the real problem with Senator McCain's comment was that he later said he would vote for a Muslim if he agreed with him. How dare he? Doesn't he realize that a patriotic American would never vote for a Muslim? They are the enemy. They are less than other Americans. They are not equal. This is a Christian nation!

You see, that's what bothers me. I am not a religious Muslim at all. In fact, I am agnostic. I don't participate in Ramadan. I don't need a resolution celebrating it. But once you bring it up for a vote, to purposely not vote for it is a clear sign. It is not a slip of the tongue or a miscommunication in the midst of a hectic campaign schedule. It is a deliberate act meant to send a message. And that's what I do care about. It is a sign that we are not welcome.

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Karl Rove Is No Genius, He's a Failure
Posted by Cenk Uygur on August 14, 2007 at 5:00 AM.

This post, written by Cenk Uygur, originally appeared on The Huffington Post

In the end, Karl Rove was wrong. Dramatically wrong. Running to the base worked in the short term, but might have killed the Republican Party in the long term. If there is going to be any permanent majority, it's going to be the Democrats, not the Republicans.

And who do the Republicans have to thank for that? Karl Rove. When asked about Rove's departure, John Edwards said, "Goodbye, good riddance." He might as well have been speaking for the whole Republican Party.

A permanent 51% majority? That is an idea so devoid of logic, it is amazing that anyone ever took it seriously. Even if you believed its underlying premise - which you definitely shouldn't have - the smallest demographic shift would undermine this "brilliant" strategy. There is nothing permanent about 51% in politics.

Rove was always so optimistic about elections, including 2006. Part of the reason for this was because he knew the fix was in. He knew that his minions had worked hard to cage voters, to give less voting machines to heavily Democratic districts, contested minority voters and done every little dirty trick in the book. And to be fair, they also worked hard to turn out their Christian army of voters. The kind who don't question their candidates and vote like robots for anyone their pre-paid preacher tells them to.

So, Rove figured that Republicans would win any close election. But what he didn't figure on is non-close elections. And that if you drive hard enough toward your base, then you won't have any more close elections. He thought there would be no price to pay for appealing only to the most conservative, narrow-minded, theocratic, xenophobic and militaristic people in the country. He was wrong.

Thanks to Rove the Republicans have lost the middle. And they have lost it for a long time to come. This will do untold damage to the Republican Party. So, there is great irony that the man Democrats loved to hate will come to be known as the scourge of the Republican Party.

But Rove didn't just break the Republican Party. Rove also leaves behind a broken president, a broken army, a slew of broken laws and a broke country. He spent heavily in districts and programs that he thought would help Republicans. He spent up the good will of the US abroad and Republicans at home. He's like the unscrupulous captain of a sinking ship getting off the boat before it goes under and takes everyone else down with it.

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The surge just died
Posted by Cenk Uygur on April 3, 2007 at 3:42 PM.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has put the last piece of straw on the poor camel called Iraq. And its back is about to break. The keys to success in Iraq were never military strategies. Everyone knows this, well, except of course for George W. Bush. To be fair, even John McCain knows this -- and he hardly knows what planet he's on lately (he just came back from the planet where Iraq is a really safe place to shop).

Every week we have Michael Hirsh of Newsweek on the show. And every week he explains to us that even if the surge was going to work, it would take eight to ten...

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Why are you paying Karl Rove's salary?
Posted by Cenk Uygur on March 16, 2007 at 7:48 AM.

Karl Rove is in trouble now for being involved in the decision to fire US attorneys for political reasons. But, of course, he was involved. That's what his job is at the White House: politics.

What I don't understand is why the American taxpayer has to pay for a political operative to operate out of the White House. Of course, every president gets advice about policy and politics from his staff while he is in office. But Karl Rove doesn't do policy, he only does politics.

The White House made this very clear when they moved Rove out of policy positions before the 2006 elections so that he could focus on the 2006 campaign. So, why were we paying him to do that?

If the Republican Party wants to hire him as their consultant, that's one thing. But why should American taxpayers of all political persuasions pay for a consultant to sit inside the White House and try to engineer Republican victories?

And now we find out that part of that engineering involved pressuring Justice Department prosecutors to launch investigations of Democrats and/or stop investigations of Republicans. If they didn't, there would be consequences. And there were.

The Republicans lost the elections. Exactly one month later, seven of those prosecutors were fired. They're not strong on subtlety in the Bush administration.

Isn't this a thousand miles over the line? I think it's pretty clearly over the line that he is being paid by the government to work for the Republicans. But when he plays with the Justice Department to carry out his political plots and plans, he's gone way too far.

I think that Alberto Gonzales is going to step down soon. I explain why here. But the short answer is because this scandal has now touched Rove and by extension - and admission - the president.

But even if Gonzales does step down, that doesn't explain why Rove should continue to be paid by the taxpayers to hatch his political plots inside the White House - and use government agencies for those purposes. There's no excuse for it. Rove must go.

Osama turns 50 today!
Posted by Cenk Uygur on March 9, 2007 at 8:28 AM.

Osama bin Laden is going to turn 50 on Saturday. The big 5-0. It's a special occasion. And George W. Bush got him the biggest present of all: 2006 days of freedom and well-being!

Man, that's thoughtful. Five and a half years ago, when bin Laden ordered the attacks against the Twin Towers, Pentagon and White House, he could not have imagined things going any better.

They hit three out of four targets. The United States government was asleep at the wheel. The American leader was so flummoxed by the attacks he sat around reading a children's book and looking like a jackass to the rest of the world. That same confused leader then invaded the country you were in but missed you as you strolled into Pakistan. Then he attacked the wrong country and deposed a secular leader you hated. He ran his army into the ground fighting the wrong people. And let you run free and uninhibited for 2006 days.

And now you're about to turn 50 - and you're still foot loose and fancy free. 2006 days since you attacked the United States and still no consequences. George Bush certainly knows what to get a guy. You couldn't have asked for anything more. He all about put on a party hat and sang you a song.

A Quiet American Hero is Gone
Posted by Cenk Uygur on January 4, 2007 at 11:40 AM.

We just got news that Maria Leavey passed away this weekend. A lot of you might not know who she is. Maria worked behind the scenes. She was champion of progressive causes, efforts and ideas. She was not some rich benefactor; she was a hard worker who did all the little things that were absolutely essential.

She was one of the people who quietly made up the heart and soul of a movement we all care about.

Maria didn't do it for the glory or the power or the riches. She did it because she truly cared. She believed.

On a personal level, she helped our show in countless ways and countless times. She always did it behind the scenes and never took credit or asked for anything in return. She did it because she cared, she believed.

I remember one time when she had us over for tea. She had gotten us into yet another conference and helped to set everything up. And instead of asking for anything back, she went out of her way to make sure she had us over for a little food she prepared. It's not like she was showing off, her apartment was humble and she showed us the old computer she got all her work done on and that always gave her trouble. And that afternoon we sat and talked about how important it was that the right ideas prevailed in America. There was no gain for her, no angle. She just really wanted to make sure the country was headed in the right direction. She actually cared.

These are the kind of people that conservatives sometimes make fun of, people who aren't in it for the money, liberal do-gooders trying to help save the world. I, on the other hand, can't think of a better way to spend your life. It's because of the quiet heroes like Maria that this country always finds a way back to the right course. The course of humanity, generosity and caring.

She never got enough credit while she was alive. And that bothers me. Maria is the kind of person we needed to celebrate before she passed away, before it's too late. She deserved all the praise and honor in the world. These days the Presidential Medal of Freedom goes to people who betrayed their country and led us away from our principles. But if ever there came a day again when we gave honorary awards to heroes who cared about what America really stands for, we'd give it to someone like Maria.

Someone like Bunnatine Greenhouse. Someone like Lt. Commander Charles Swift. Someone like Sgt. Joseph Darby. Someone like Maria Leavey.

These are the quiet heroes that help save the country when no one is looking. The heroes who fight for us when we don't even know it. And they do it because they believe in America and they believe the country is capable of a great kindness that it sometimes forgets.

That's why we all suffered a great loss this week. If you knew Maria Leavey and have anything you'd like to share, please add it here. Everyone knows a little story that others don't, so if we all shared it might help to remember her better. She was quiet on her own behalf, so I was hoping we can speak a little louder for her now.

Let's Use Our Best Weapon Against Iran:
Posted by Cenk Uygur on December 20, 2006 at 12:37 PM.

Why do we never learn? Why can't we learn anything from our experience in Vietnam? In Vietnam, we saw what we did wrong, but even more importantly, what we did right.

It turns out invading a country that isn't a real military threat to you and trying to suppress a hostile local insurgency is not the right way to go. Who could have seen that coming? Color me surprised.

But ultimately, we're winning in Vietnam. President Bush was in Vietnam recently talking about how much progress they're making. Not the kind of progress we're making in Iraq, real progress.

Why is Vietnam friendlier to us now? Why are they not a threat to their neighbors or to world peace? Why are they a trading partner? One word...

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Earth to media: America went Democratic
Posted by Cenk Uygur on December 6, 2006 at 9:52 AM.

I keep reading in the mainstream press about how the 2006 election was about the American electorate wanting more bipartisanship. Really? Based on what?

I haven't seen any exit polls from the elections that showed that anyone voted based on bipartisanship or centrism. I have seen many polls that said they voted based on corruption, Iraq and change.

But the real proof is in the numbers...

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Why Bill O'Reilly is Irrelevant
Posted by Cenk Uygur on July 14, 2006 at 8:17 AM.

This commentary originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

Here's a startling number. The average age of Bill O'Reilly's audience is 71. You didn't see that wrong -- 71 years old!

If you've been retired for several years, you're still several years younger than the average Bill O'Reilly viewer.

I don't have anything against old people, really old people, but it's hard to say that O'Reilly's audience is the future. Half of them would be lucky to make it past the decade.

So, it turns out this big, bad, powerful O'Reilly is basically doing a show at a senior citizen's center. Are O'Reilly's viewers going to determine where this country is heading? We can't even tell where they're heading because they won't turn off their left blinker.

I think the formative years are between the ages of 14 and 24. That's when people set their worldview and form most of their conceptions. When Bill O'Reilly's audience was going through their formative years, it was 1949 to 1959. I'm not kidding, do the math.

Some could argue that some of the people of that era grew up in a different world than we did. Some in the South and other regions grew up with a certain ideology that might predispose them to listen to what O'Reilly spews today. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying. You do the math.

My dad is 68, making him younger than the average O'Reilly viewer, but within the ballpark. He is as sharp as anyone I know. He is smart, engaged and an incredibly productive member of society. So, this is not a diss on our older generation. But he grew up in a house that didn't even have electricity (granted it was in southeastern Turkey). If he is several years younger than O'Reilly's average viewer, it's hard to argue that O'Reilly's views are going to shape where this country is going in the future.

Given these facts, it's not hard to see why O'Reilly is losing viewers. They're not dying to watch him, they're dying while watching him. His audience is so old Barbara Bush was jailbait when they were growing up. His audience is so old they remember how hot Betty Rubble was in high school. His audience is so old they don't remember when Iraq was like the Garden of Eden, they remember when Iraq was the Garden of Eden.

Let's get real, O'Reilly's audience has fallen and they can't get up.

Note to dense mainstream media:
Posted by Cenk Uygur on July 10, 2006 at 8:46 PM.

I am constantly amazed by how uninformed people are when their job is to inform others. Every press article or editorial I've seen on the Lieberman issue completely misses the point. We are not against Joe Lieberman because we are leftists who require ideological purity. We are against him because he aids and abets an out of control Republican Party.

I have been a centrist all my life and I was a Republican until five years ago...

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Taking the message to the heart of the Democratic establishment
Posted by Cenk Uygur on June 29, 2006 at 8:49 AM.

This post first appeared in the Huffington Post and is republished here with permission.

Peter Daou is one of the most astute and aggressive bloggers in the country. Senator Hillary Clinton is the poster child for equivocation and triangulation. So, it was interesting news when we found out that Senator Clinton has hired Peter Daou to be her web consultant. Hillary hiring Peter Daou is a little like Nixon going to China.

I know Peter and consider him a friend. I know for a fact that he understands the problems with the Democratic establishment and what needs to be done to fix it. And as much as anyone, Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party establishment.

So, that sets up an interesting question. Will Mohammed go to the mountain or will the mountain come to Mohammed?

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Gen. Michael Hayden, the new CYA Director
Posted by Cenk Uygur on May 10, 2006 at 9:00 AM.

This post first appeared in the Huffington Post and is republished here with permission.

General Michael Hayden was picked by the Bush administration to head the CIA for one reason and one reason only -- to cover their ass. He is not going to be their CIA Director. He is going to be their CYA Director.

Anyone who works in the corporate world -- or the Bush administration -- is familiar with the CYA principle. The most important thing to do is Cover Your Ass. Getting the job done often times becomes a distant second priority to making sure you don't get blamed for whatever goes wrong. The Bush folks have taken this to an art form.

Michael Hayden was the unofficial spokesperson for the administration when it became clear that they were breaking the FISA law and ignoring the Fourth Amendment. As the former head of the NSA, he went on a publicity tour touting the wonders of warrantless spying. What are the chances this guy puts the brakes on a program at the CIA that has gone overboard? None.

General Hayden can be trusted -- not necessarily by the American people, but more importantly, by the Bush team. If they need him to cover up, he can do that. If they need him to lie to Congress, he can make that happen. If they need him to carry out yet another program of questionable legality, no problem. He's their go to man in the CYA.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) agrees. He said today on The Young Turks, "I have no doubt about it... this Administration doesn't really want intelligence. They want confirmation of their ideology... The President is trying to CYA." By the way, you should know that this was in response to a clearly leading question. We might not be balanced, but we are fair. Watch the whole interview here (another great quote by Harkin was in reference to the upcoming elections, "It smells like 1974.").

The Senator added on Hayden,"This is a guy who's been in charge of all of the secret spying on Americans!"

Think about that, the Bush administration wants to put the guy who went along with their brazen law breaking at the NSA in charge of the CIA. What kind of damage could he do there? Do you really want a guy who has no boundaries in that position?

Plus, why are we rewarding a man who clearly bungled his position at the NSA? President Bush loves to blame intelligence failures for the missing WMD in Iraq. Okay, let's take him at his word. So, then why would we promote one of the people responsible for that failure as the head of our Central Intelligence Agency?

That doesn't make any sense if you actually care about the intelligence. But it makes perfect sense if you only care about covering up your past mistakes, going beyond the law again and rewarding someone for purposely manipulating intelligence to fit around your misguided policy. Glad to see the Bush administration has really learned from 9/11 and cares to get it right in the future.

Would someone who cared about protecting this country really put the person who didn't see 9/11 coming and completely mangled the Iraq intelligence in charge of the CIA? No, but he would put him in charge of the CYA.

Neil Cavuto To Be Named Treasury Secretary
Posted by Cenk Uygur on April 26, 2006 at 2:46 PM.

This post first appeared in the Huffington Post and is republished here with permission.

It is widely rumored that Treasury Secretary John Snow is the next person to step down during the White House shake up. Now, there is news of who might be replacing him -- Neil Cav