Re: recent Rolling Stone piece, Matt Tiabbi's fake liberalism is a hit

[pnwmom]

on DU, at least.

The guy who just wrote that piece on HRC's "fake populism" has described himself as "more Libertarian than anything else," but advocates for the repeal of Roe Vs. Wade.

I'm taking his opinion of Hillary Rodman Clinton with a very liberal dose of salt.

http://reason.com/archives/2007/11/09/an-interview-with-matt-taibbi

The former editor of the eXile—an irreverent English-language newspaper and website in post-Soviet Moscow—and a contributor to the New York Press, Taibbi’s politics are all over the map. The son of NBC journalist Mike Taibbi, Taibbi says he "grew up around left-wing politics; I spent a lot of time at peace marches." He describes himself as "more of a libertarian than anything else," but favors heavy regulations of industry. He despises the religious right but wants Roe v. Wade overturned because he's a staunch federalist. He opposes the Iraq War, but doesn’t feel that homosexuals should have federal job protections. More than anything, the 37-year-old Taibbi believes that investing any emotion in the ideals of American democracy is “digging for hope in a shit mountain.”


And here's how he treated President Obama:

http://www.salon.com/2009/12/11/matt_taibbi_barack_obama/

Matt Taibbi’s latest screed, “Obama’s Big Sellout,” will undoubtedly be a big hit on the Web with the swelling legions of critics who believe the president is actively engaged in selling out the working man for Wall Street plutocrats. But baked into the narrative are enough misrepresentations — all designed to make Obama look as bad as possible — that it’s hard to take it seriously as a useful contribution to the ongoing discussion about how properly to fix the U.S. economy. It’s the classic Taibbi approach: vastly and sloppily overstate the case in absurd, over-the-top rhetoric while ignoring any possible counterargument.

SNIP

[ucrdem]

1. .

^K ^N ^R

[JI7]

2. he wants to repeal roe v wade ?

[pnwmom]

4. According to the Reason.com piece I linked to. And he doesn't believe in job protections

for gay Federal workers.

[dsc]

6. actually I think he means

that gays, no matter for whom they work, shouldn't have job protections enforced by the federal government (which they don't it should be noted).

[pnwmom]

7. "doesn't feel that homosexuals should have federal job protections." However that is interpreted

it's not a liberal or progressive point of view.

[dsc]

10. No it isn't

but I felt the full import of his statement should be noted. His position is actually worse than what you are saying his position is given the sheer number of workers involved.

[enough]

32. He is quoted in the Reason article saying "I think Roe v. Wade should be overturned

because I believe in the federalist model; I believe that states should be able to make their own drug laws. The more democracy you have, the more people can make decisions for their own communities, the more freedom people have."

[dsc]

33. yeah blacks had a ton of freedom under local governments in the 60's

gays have tons of freedom under them now. What a croc of nonsense.

[enough]

34. Really. (nt)

[appalachiablue]

36. +1 Can't believe knowing this horrible history, he's favoring states rights & R. v. W. overturn.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. lulz

[PinkPotus]

5. Did you mean to start a new thread instead of replying to the existing one?

[pnwmom]

8. Yes, I did.

That one was long enough.



Welcome to DU, PinkPotus!

[Cha]

22. How funny! Someone asked you if you meant to start you're own thread..!

Like you don't know what you're doing. I don't usually like to point out anything about "newbies" 'cause we all started at some point but "come on!"!

[hrmjustin]

9. I don't take him seriously.

[leveymg]

11. Matt said a bad about Our Saviour Hill?

Bad Tiabbi, bad! Libertarian, double Bad!

Oh, we'll show him! Altogether now, stamp your feet. Get angry, people!

[AuntPatsy]

13. That's it?

[pnwmom]

15. I'm not angry with Tiabbi. I'm also not fooled by him. n/t

[Cha]

23. The OP has stated that MT "wants Roe v. Wade overturned because he's a staunch federalist"

"..doesn’t feel that homosexuals should have federal job protections."

Your attempt at distraction failed.

[freshwest]

14. Another one who is 'more libertarian than anything else' is Alex Jones. Who supports - LOL -

Rand Paul for POTUS, followed by another one he says he really likes - who woulda guessed - Ted Cruz! This 'more libertarian than anything else' is part of a long running scam on Democrats to create F.U.D.

I stumbled on a view from an ABC story - no kidding and tortured myself watching a video of the imminent 'collapse!!!111!! of the dollar' while Ron Paul was interviewed by Alex Jones in January of this year.

They used the familiar bogeymen, 'federal reserve' evil, 'banksters' evil, MartialLaw© to be declared by the 'unitary executive,' AKA the 'imperial presidency of Obama,' etc. They threw in the now mandatory false flags on every news story, too.

Then they blew all the dog whistles!

They explained how the riots that will cause MartialLaw©, will be because of the 'inner city' people who just happen to be poor (see above) since they have 'an entitlement mentality' and want 'welfare.'All said with that familiar Clive Bundy 'Let me tell you about the Negro' tone. *winkwink*

Then they bloviated about the events in Ferguson, without bringing up the death of Michael Brown, hu. And how they 'didn't understand the second amendment there' and were all incited by 'race baiters,' that is Obama, Holder, Democrats, etc.'

Amd it got worse from there...

Needless to say we've got so many Libertarians, like Bryan Fischer, Rand Paul (both 'concerned' about teh gay) and the old standbys. I see things with memes to appeal to liberals and Democrats, or make them outraged. When you follow the links, they go to websites like 'Reason.'

Ain't fooling me. None of 'em.

[Cha]

24. Wonder if ol Matt Taibbi wants Rand Paul, too?

[freshwest]

26. His positions indicate he might think he's the cat's howl, but he may just be looking for paycheck.

Isn't he the angel who got into a bit of mess lying to defend a white supremacist?

I found his stance against reproductive choice to be just as charming as that of Rand, Alex and the rest.

[Cha]

27. I believe that was Glenn Greenwald who fucked up defending the white supremist. Matt

Taibbi is the one who went to First Look(Greenwald works there).. after leaving Rolling Stone and the owner attempted to strip him of his management duties..

snip//

"Amazingly, on Thursday, First Look’s own publication “The Intercept” reported the full behind-the-scenes primer on Taibbi’s exit, which ended up being a tale of anti-corporatist Taibbi butting heads with Omidyar over everything from hiring to seating assignments in Racket’s 5th Avenue office. The piece also reports a female Racket staffer filed a complaint to upper management after Taibbi allegedly verbally abused her. Taibbi denied those claims. This incident, coupled with the previous conflict between he and Taibbi, led Omidyar to try and strip Taibbi of his management duties."

MOre..
http://www.thewrap.com/matt-taibbi-returns-to-rolling-stone-after-nasty-split-from-first-look-media/

Matt Taibbi's stance against Choice and his stance against Gays are disgusting.

[freshwest]

28. Thanks for that. A lot of Libertarians don't believe in liberty and freedom for all, ya know:

The back of my insect hand to 'em!

[Cha]

31. Yeah, just for themselves.. they're the party of MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

That goes for his "spreading misinformation Works" son, too.

Mahalo for the graphic, fresh.. I have a feeling it might come in handy.

[appalachiablue]

38. German-born Paypal and FB billionaire Peter Theil thinks the US started going downhill

when women got the vote, and that democracy isn't compatible with capitalism.

[betterdemsonly]

16. There are left wing libertarians

Noam Chomsky for one. Anyone with a passing familiarity of Taibbi. knows he hates privatization, and austerity. He particularly loathes Ayn Rand and has written several articles on how awful she was.

[pnwmom]

17. He's not one, since he favors overturning Roe vs. Wade and does not

support protecting gay employment rights.

[Cerridwen]

29. "described his own politics variously as anarchist, anarchosyndicalist, and libertarian socialist"

From Chomsky.info:

Noam Chomsky
by Christian Garland
In International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, Immanuel Ness, ed., Blackwell Publishing, 2009

Chomsky has described his own politics variously as anarchist, anarchosyndicalist, and libertarian socialist, allying himself with both classical anarchism and the critical libertarian Marxist and left communist traditions equally hostile to orthodox Marxism and Leninism. Chomsky maintains that these currents represent the logical development of the Enlightenment precepts of rational and critical inquiry engaged with the social world of which they are part. Chomsky's position on achieving small victories in the short term which "expand the floor of the cage" -- for example, struggles to defend universal public services from privatization -- has not been without controversy, with some anarchists accusing him of reformism and in some cases "statism." Chomsky has countered such accusations with the response that short-term victories aimed at expanding the cage in which we are trapped by capital and state should be seen as "preliminaries to dismantling it."

A brief video of Chomsky defining socialism can be found at this link

[DemocraticWing]

18. There are plenty of people on DU with Taibbi's opinions about social issues.

They don't outright say it because they'll get banned, but I know there are some who wish that women and LGBT people would get back in the tent and be quiet. They completely disregard Hillary and Obama's stances on those issues because it distracts from whatever 20th-century battle they want to keep fighting.

And I say this as somebody who isn't particularly fond of Hillary. But I also know that Sanders and Warren would be better economic candidates who are similarly forceful (if not more consistently so) on LGBT equality and reproductive rights than the moderates the Party tends to nominate. But I don't like hearing about how my rights are "special issues" and "distractions."

[Cha]

25. I hear ya, DW.. I don't have a candidate yet.. but, am pissed at all the refusals to face

the facts of how important Dem issues are.

They can state why they want Sens Warren and Sanders without ignoring facts. They totally ignore all the good Pres Obama has done so far and get their jollies by claiming "he's like dick cheney..." and "he's a plant .. and similar such inanity. Pathetic. They can't be taken seriously by no nonsense minded people.

[Marr]

39. Bull. Fucking. Shit.

The voices in the Democratic Party that have urged gays to shut-up and 'be pragmatic' about our basic rights in recent years were the centrists, who are now trying to act like they've been with us along, and it's the left who is against us.

Bull. Shit.

[DemocraticWing]

43. I'm not saying centrists haven't made those arguments, but it's not an exclusively centrist one.

And for whatever reasons, plenty of centrists have stopped making such arguments now. I think it's because the current Democratic coalition is built on maximizing turnouts among people who have more open-minded social views, like young people. Twenty years ago centrists were still clinging to the hopes of resurrecting the New Deal coalition with all those homophobic, racist assholes from the South, but that's not feasible anymore and they know it.

Imagine my surprise to see two or three instance of generally liberal DU posters, who I agree with more often than not on here, making arguments about how nominating Elizabeth Warren will bring back all the missing white working class voters. They've even go so far as to openly suggest that social issues are distractions! This is a centrist argument coming from people on the Left, and I'm not personally sure how to grapple with it. But we can't let that attitude take hold no matter where it's coming from.

[xfundy]

19. I always assumed Taiibi was gay.

Need to put my gaydar in the shop.

Maybe I'm thinking of another guy, the Rolling Stone guy... or is that him? Hard to keep up.

[Iggo]

20. Yeah, but is he Blue-ish?

[Cha]

21. Wow, and, oh btw, you post any facts regarding Matt Taibbi if he bashes Hillary. They will ignore

it like the plague. Got their fingers in their ears and eyes closed shut TIGHT.

Can't refute facts so they try to distract.. so



".. but doesn’t feel that homosexuals should have federal job protections."

Thank goodness Obama is the President and not some 1/2 assed libertarian.

Mahalo pnwmom~

[gollygee]

30. I'd love to compare

a list of people who thought he was the worst journalist ever after the UVA rape article, with a list of people who think he's an amazing journalist now.

[demmiblue]

35. I'm confused, what does he have to do with the UVA rape article?

[gollygee]

44. He wrote both articles. n/t

[demmiblue]

45. A journalist named Sabrina Rubin Erdely wrote the story.

Hence, my confusion.

Am I missing something? It wouldn't be the first time!

[gollygee]

46. Oh, you're right!

I read so much where he talked about that article that I got confused.

[Marr]

37. "libertarian", not "Libertarian". Nice sleight of hand there. /nt

[pnwmom]

41. I didn't do it on purpose. OTOH, when people speak there is no way to indicate capital letters,

so he could have been referring to the party, the philosophy, or both.

[ChiciB1]

40. WOW, I Don't Know What To Say!!!

I thought this was some sort of joke, but guess not WOW, and to think I thought he was one of the good ones. I've read so many articles he's written for Rolling Stone and would NEVER have thought he was such a rat!!

I just said I can't take this crap anymore at another thread... now my head is spinning! I truly am almost speechless and feel so very HOPELESS! I want off this ride, I want it all to stop but it keeps getting worse. Didn't think I could feel more cynical, but guess there's some left in me. I've had it, but why talk about it?? I can't, I just can't!

[frazzled]

42. Well, hallelujah for the truth on this

... offensive person. I've been on the case against his journalistically suspect screeds since 2004. Too bad so many go for this kind of shtick. People can be such cheap dates.