So it has been so secret that Special Interest has been lobbying the government for favors for Decades. However according to Ben, unless you can tie one specific donation to a specific piece of legislation you don’t have a story. This is of course Bull shit. Come on you can’t put two and two together? That special interest have been lobbying the government and have in turn been receiving special favors? You have to tie each individual donation to a specific piece of legislation? GTFOH. I’m not even going to bother going in to detail how ridiculous that is. Please read Saving Capitalism or Republic Lost, the two best books I’ve read that explain our current system of legalize bribery.
The fact that Benjamin and John has managed to go through whole segment on global warning and how much better Clinton is and how bad it is to vote or even advocate for Jill Stein without mentioning the fact that Hillary is pro-fracking is what destroys TYT’s reputation as a progressive outlet.
It’s not his opinions that grate so much, it’s the way he presents them in an imperious manner, so indicative of privileged males. John, whom I quite admire, seems to soft pedal any disagreement with Ben in an almost apologetic manner. They don’t seem to be on equal footing, which I suppose they aren’t since, as Ben announced, he’s one of the founders of TYT. Keep him off the program, or maybe Ben and Cenk could just do a program of centrist positions and I could avoid ever watching it because I can get the same thing from msnbc.
What others have said is true … this DOES seem to happen more when Cenk isn’t there. That really doesn’t make sense, as we all know he has nothing to do with the technical side!
It seems like folks are either uploading and running out the door (i.e. not checking) … or someone is absent and there is no one to back them up … or there was some sort of equipment failure. You know … basic business stuff. I would also hope they would be able to take advantage of a “remote” worker in another time zone to cover late night/early morning issues. Or … at least do us the courtesy of sending out an email.
Earlier today, the most recent Member Archives were for Sept 6th. I see the Main Show for the 7th havehas now been posted along with the Post Game from yesterday. So I was hopeful that stuff was happening. After a couple of hours, though, it’s obvious that hope was misplaced.
btw … I’ve also been in IT since 1980. I know this stuff is a pain in the ass, as the technology is changing daily. But … communication with your customers NEVER goes out of style!
Them saying nothing frustrates me the most!! If your job is to upload content surely stay until your job is done. If its a technical fault communicate that have a noticeboard that staff can access and members can view. Stop adding new shows if you cant handle the task of uploading the content you make now. AHHHHHHH we are losing with this situation, we should be winning, make TYT great
Yes, I agree with this. I’ve been a member for about 5 years now, and this happens all the time, and I try not to complain too much about it. But in all that time, they have never once put up a simple message at the top of the page that says “sorry folks – technical difficulties” or anything like that. They never put any messages on their pages when things go sideways. This is something that can’t be excused. It doesn’t take any technical knowledge. It isn’t affected by corrupt files for video. It doesn’t matter if you can’t stream the show. Putting a simple note up on a page to detail a problem you know exists is both the easiest thing in the world to do and the most basic level of customer service.
This is exactly what has been frustrating me as well over the past few months especially with the inability to access archives from approximately May to August 2016, but that they did explain saying that they were changing platforms and they gave a timeline for when it would be back available on the site (approximately 2nd week in September) and to their credit it appears that some of the old schools have now been uploaded though I have not viewed myself to confirm.
One of the most aggravating part for me and I believe the majority of members is that there is no communication on when the videos are going to be uploaded and we are never informed of when like a simple e-mail; we have to keep refreshing and hope it pops up. The other really aggravating thing to members from my view and comments I have read is that those people that have the time to watch the main show can do so free of charge watching it live on YouTube but the members that do not have the time luxury have to wait sometimes a day or more for the content to be uploaded that they are paying to have produced. I keep hearing from Cenk, Ana, and other hosts they want to get memberships up so that they can essentially invest more into the network (more investigative reporters, more shows,ect) The problem is you are losing members because we feel like we are treated like second class not being able to view the content quickly and if the new shows are causing this slow down then make them last to be uploaded but don’t insult your base by taking so long to upload the main show.
Lastly, I 100% agree with franms communication with your customers is probably the #1 thing you can do A great man always said “communication is the key to a great relationship, any relationship”. Just type up there on main page we apologize but the uploads are taking a little longer than normal for tonight’s/yesterdays shows; people won’t be happy but they won’t be angry like they are now and contemplating cancelling memberships. Some like myself will appreciate it it, this is supposed to be the channel of the truth no matter where it is give us the truth no matter what it is. If your priority is to edit videos and upload them on YouTube before granting members full access to the main show at least tell us that, don’t make it obvious with the timing and then say members make this show possible; if that was the case you would want to appease us the most.
Even when you guys fuck up, I’ll support you as long as I can afford it. Your voices must be heard. Its logical that you’d post the entire show here first, but shit happens.
Thank you, I made literally the same point as you, why are clips of yesterdays show all up on YouTube but we paying members can’t watch any of the main show. Priority’s are all twisted IMHO.
I am a new member so I have no history with these issues, if indeed there is a ‘history’ there – and yes it’s annoying, I would love to watch sept 8 before sept 9 show, same as you guys, but let’s remember we don’t have all the information (they could have had a localized power outage? Maybe the building blew a fuse? Maybe they set the upload an it erked up after everyone had left for the night…. we just don’t know) – and this IS still a small company – 60 employees is not large for a media company. MSNBC has hundreds of staff and they neglect their online uploads on a daily basis!
Be cool ya’ll. They’ll get around to it. There are more important things in the world to be shitty about than our fave news show having a delayed upload.
@John McCaffrey I actually included a link to this page in my email to them last night. Dave Koller replied. So apparently the guy with no actual education in video and website maintenance is the one trying to upload videos…
They have close to 25,000 members at $10 per month that is $250,000 per month. That would work out to $3,000,000 per year. But with 60 employees that is $50,000 for average salary.
With all that being said, I still wish they would get their shit together.
If you want more members you should make watching less frustrating , I can not tell how many times I had to Log in, why is it so hard to go from hour 1 to hour 2 .
Many technically savvy members have contacted TYT directly to offer their services free of charge. The small company excuse was tenable when they were maybe 10-14 strong. Now there are 60-70+ people. They can fix these problems if they wish to put the proper effort towards them. There are nearly 25k members now. When I joined there were only 1000. I’m happy to see that they’re lead tech guy has commented saying they will be making changes to relieve these problems ASAP. Just saying, the “small company” and “you get membership to support them, chill out” excuses just don’t hold up anymore.
1:47 am 09/09. This happens way to often. Still no 09/08 show. It’s hard to take the idea of leading a political revolution and changing the news seriously when you guys aren’t even capable of managing a website.
Agreed. I too understand that TYT is a small company, but their top priority should be serving their paying members. It often seems like we’re the last to get the content we pay for.
I too am a member. While I understand the frustration. Tyt is a relatively small company and the way the get new members is mostly thru youtube and word of mouth it seems, so I would say youtube is more important.
Many technically savvy members have contacted TYT directly to offer their services free of charge. The small company excuse was tenable when they were maybe 10-14 strong. Now there are 60-70+ people. They can fix these problems if they wish to put the proper effort towards them. There are nearly 25k members now. When I joined there were only 1000. I’m happy to see that they’re lead tech guy has commented saying they will be making changes to relieve these problems ASAP. Just saying, the “small company” and “you get membership to support them, chill out” excuses just don’t hold up anymore.
ATTENTION TYT STAFF
Multiple times I have struggled to find hours 1 and 2 along with other shows such as classics, aggressive progressive or the post game. I pay for the membership to watch the shows in a timely fashion, otherwise I have no time to watch them at all. Working three jobs leaves me an hour a day, plus whatever sleep I sacrifice to do whatever I like with my life, and I choose to watch TYT. Your network is the only television I watch, and I am willing to compromise my health to stay up to date with the news. In this sadistic, cruel, decrepit world, your show gives me hope. However when I find the episodes on fucking youtube, before your own site, I feel no reason to continue a membership. Please respond, an explanation would do us good.
Also note that they upload 1080p videos to YouTube, and 720p for paying members. This bothers me so much. During the DNC they even uploaded 1080p @ 60 fps to YouTube, and 720p @ 30 fps here.
Hey, as a fellow viewer and lover of TYT I understand your concerns, it is kinda shitty. But at the same time, I like being a member for the sole reason of me knowing that I’m supporting them. With the demonitisation of many youtubers right now I like to know that TYT can continue to function. Unfortunately youtube has stopped paying youtube channels that talk about politics, which means that soon TYT might not make money from youtube. WE are what can keep them alive.
I am asking this, too. All I can find from the 8th is the Post Game. It’s 09/09/16 at 1:48am EDT and I still can’t find anything from tonight. I am especially wanting to see the Aggressive Progressive show, but it’s nowhere to be found. To me, the main advantage of membership is to not be tied to the Live broadcast times. Not working out that way tonight at all.
I would be more okay about it if there wasn’t clips of the 8th sept show on YouTube before we paying members even get to watch last nights show. How about doing the YouTube clips after sorting hour 1 and 2 instead.
As someone who finds Ben too establishment at times and Jimmy too radical at times, they are my two favorite hosts. They’re funny, smart, and fun to watch, and they both challenge me and make me think.
Hour 1 for today is still not working so coming here to vent and kill time. This website is terrible when it works correctly, but lately it has been complete shit.
That said, I think Ben gets more hate than he deserves. He can come off as a bit dismissive of other hosts, but he still makes some good points pretty regularly. Welcome back, Ben.
Agreed, the website is really terrible and the app sucks too. Ben on the other hand, I don’t always agree with him but I love what he brings to the show. Even he could be a little more honest about how Hillary was an abject failure as Secretary of State.
Imagine if we would have had an actual diplomat who cared about the problems of Iraq at State instead of Hillary, there would probably not be an ISIS.
We still might have ISIS as the causes are complex and intertwined. There is probably no greater cause of ISIS than the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent de-Baathification (which was even more stupid and counter-productive than the invasion itself).
This minor point, however, takes little away from your claim that HRC was an “abject failure as Secretary of State”, which I have to agree with. A less hawkish secretary may not have completely prevented ISIS, but probably could have kept ISIS quarantined and certainly not in Libya. Syria might still be a functioning country, if not a very “free” one.
I’m not impressed that they took down the pages for today’s non-working videos to delete all the complaints. The post-game video was working but they blew that away, too.
I love when Ben starts a show trying to piss off half the audience. I don’t mind the guy, but he can’t help but be condescending with his inflammatory comments?
Why does everyone hate Ben so much? While I don’t agree with everything he says, he routinely makes very valid points. I think that if you expect to agree with everything he says you are watching the wrong network. People have personal opinions on this network.
Having establishment opinions like Ben’s on TYT is great, as long as there’s someone to counteract. The problem with today’s show is that John allowed Ben to get away with half truths over and over again.
The show changes when Ben’s on because as he stated very clearly, he is one of the founders of TYT and therefore real progressive anchors like John become someone weak and complacent when he’s is one.
The truth is, if we wanted to hear the opinions of the Ben’s of the world, we could watch MSNBC. We subscribe to TYT because we want something different, we want progressive news.
Echo chamber? That’s just silly. TYT could never be an echo chamber when it’s just a small island in a sea of hostile mainstream, corporate media. Not now, not tomorrow, and not if Ben and Michael leave TYT either.
The context beyond the confines of TYT does matter, and the context is that you can get Ben’s viewpoint anywhere you look. We are constantly assailed with that viewpoint by the MSM, by the rich and the powerful, and by all those who – amazingly – don’t see anything wrong with the status quo.
An echo chamber is not defined by its size, rather by the conformity of the views that resonate within. It certainly is not defined by its “context”. The whole point of the idea is that the information and resonance WITHIN the chamber is divorced from what is without. It is where one goes to have their views confirmed, not challenged. Personally I watch very little MSM (as I suspect is the case with much of TYT’s audience), because of the monotony of their viewpoint, not just because I disagree with it. Even when they provide “opposing views” those views fall within agreed boundaries.
I do not come by my views because they are on a progressive checklist of acceptable positions and thus look for news that only confirms those views. A well reasoned presentation of a counter position is 50 times more useful than a bobblehead reciting an argument I already know by heart, even when I already share the same view. By considering HONESTLY presented (i.e. not a weak strawman) differing viewpoints, I have a chance to clarify and deepen my understanding of the matter and reinforce my opinion, as well as on occasion, come to a new understanding of the problem, or at least the viewpoint of those in the opposition and thus how better to argue/reach them.
Without the desire to re-examine held views, Cenk would still be a Conservative jerk bloviating the party line (and probably a multi-millionaire on Fox).
There is always context. Everything always has a context from which it cannot be separated. What are you even saying now?
From the perspective of the TYT viewer, nobody watches just TYT. That is not even physically possible: you cannot avoid the viewpoints being propagated – nor, indeed, the propagada and the ideologies being propagated – by thousands of TV channels, by every newspaper, by all major corporate websites on the internet, and by most people around you.
In media terms,there are no vacuums, no isolated chambers, and there is always a dialogue between TYT and the hostile world which surrounds it…especially since TYT is always actively engaging with that world by showing and commenting on clips from CNN, Fox and every major news outlet. Which is virtually all TYT does during most shows, anway. This by itself is a constant dialogue and polemical debate between TYT and the Powers That Be.
I completely agree. Some people here seem absolutely terrified of a differing opinion. They just want an echo chamber to confirm what they like to believe and anyone who believes differently is an enemy. It’s a developmental stage in childhood that you were supposed to grow out of.
I deny that. Ben is expressing his real opinion. He always defends it with his arguments. I often disagree, and I think that’s good. A show of people saying exactly what I agree with and then me just nodding and slapping myself on the back is not just boring and stupid, it’s dangerous.
Again, I don’t mind his opinions or the arguments to back them up. Sometimes he just says things for the sake of being inflammatory. Then goes on to explain his point. I don’t care much myself, but I was giving a reason for why you see a lot of emotional comments about Ben.
It’s the younger crowd, the newer members. I’ve always loved Ben; he might even be my favorite Turk. He’s smart, funny, and gives very balanced (fact-based) opinions. He’s also fairly mild; I get a little turned off by hosts who get super emotional and start yelling at the camera (Cenk excepted :p). I think anyone who loves Jimmy probably hates Ben. Meanwhile, I’m not a huge fan of Jimmy (nothing personal, he seems like a really great guy) and love Ben.
It’s not that I necessary like or agree with everything Ben says, but I do find it refreshing to have some difference of opinion once in a while. When it’s Jon and Cenk, or Jon and Ana, it is just a circle-jerk of agreement. Disagreements are good sometimes.
I think too many people are afraid to hear other opinions. It’s nice to hear various sides of issues and be forced to think about them rather than just nodding along with Cenk and Ana.
Agreed. And to those who say Ben is mimicking MSNBC “opinions” — Ben owes allegiance to no one. No one filters his content or tells him he has to say this or that or else he’ll get fired. That’s the difference. (Also? Sometimes he’s right. If people can’t accept more nuanced interpretations of politics then go watch that silly Aggressive Progressive show.)
I don’t understand what Ben is saying. Is he saying that what Bill Clinton did is less than what did Trump did? They are both part of the same system – they are just on different sides. Trump gave money with the expectation that he would get a favor and Clinton received money with the expectation he would help the donor. How are the different? They are both corrupt. I know some people will say that the receiver is more corrupt than the donor, but I don’t believe that.
Ben is right in the sense that we don’t have an email or taped conversation where one person says I will give you X now do Y for me. The reporters do have facts about a contribution and then an action (or in this case non action) by the other party after the contribution. Trump and Bondi should explain the seemingly lack of action and change of mind after the donation. Does that definitively prove Trump bribed her? No, but they should answer questions. Same with Clinton. The Clintons are too smart to have an email laying around that proves they gave favors for cash directly. Is Ben so naive that he believes these guys gave Clinton millions of dollars with no expectation of something in return? Could Clinton have called someone behind the scenes to get them to change a rule or drop and investigation? Of course he could and we would never know. A conversation with the right friend during a round of golf would never be traced.
Yes, $25,000 can influence the AG. Bondi raised $3.7 million in her race. Her opponent only raised $900,000, so I am sure he would have liked more donors like Trump. That is the whole point of getting money out of politics. We don’t want large donors to buy influence. Is Ben really saying that giving $25,000 to anyone will not influence them? Really? I suppose that it will have a smaller affect on the Presidential race because they have to raise over a billion dollars, but on state and local races, $25,000 will get you almost anything you want.
I use to like it when Ben was on, now I see him with John, and I am bummed out. John is waaay too nice with Ben’s not-so-subtle “I am an elder whose eternal wisdom must be respected” attitude.
John is getting bulldozed by Ben’s dickishness. Absolutely need Jimmy or Wes Clark, who won’t back down, or Cenk who can easily counter/correct him.
So, Ben thinks $hillary, the woman who loves Her some corporate ring-hole licking, is going to elect judges that will stop election fraud? Judges who will overturn Citizens United? Really? I see absolutely NO evidence of that.
When Ben starts waving his arms & screaming at about how $hillary is “not that bad,” all I can see is him doing the same shtick at Jimmy. Every time Jimmy came up with a point of why (war-monger, election-fraud conspiring w/DNC, BiL & $hill’s antics during the FBI investigation, etc), Ben would scream & wave his arms and say, “You don’t know that, Jimmy! Bill/$hill are honest actors, You are misjudging them, they could never be that calculating, greedy, etc.” Well, Ben YOU don’t know either.
Ben was way too quick to hop on the $hillary-train, which makes me believe that he not only was only being semi-tolerant of Bernie and is not really very progressive.
He just described himself as an “upper-middle” college kid. He strikes me as the type of Dem Thomas Frank talks about in “Listen Liberal.” He just doesn’t think things are that bad, so why rock the boat? It’s working for his friends & family, so why fix what ain’t broken?
Sec.State $hillary favoring Clinton Foundation donors & donor countries is NOT quid pro quo? Just because there is no memo or video of Her saying, “Thank you Saudi Arabia for the cash to Our Foundation. Here is your WEAPONS deal, that previously was probably not going to happen.”
Doesn’t mean it is not the same thing. You are also wrong that Dems don’t care.
Fuck you, Ben …. that’s the definition of it. And btw, when you start screeching, you KNOW you are wrong.
Ben and Michael shure are neoliberals / democratic establishment loyalists.
During this hour and towmhall Ben made such sickening and incredibly ignorant comments that he would put CNBC / CNN hosts to shame with his establishment bias.
– Ben argued media shouldn’t cover 3rd parties because they get such low polling numbers.: WOW even the majority of Americans feel the 3rd parties should get covered more . But here is Ben telling everyone that since only two people are viable winners let’s ignore the guy polling around 12% with no media coverage . That’s a democracy in bens eyes lets just cover the main parties.
– Ben argued Hillary is going to be amazing for climate change . Then went on to say that even if she doesn’t do anything more than Obama has it’ll be fine because trump is worse . LOL great logic . Then he doesn’t include the rather uncomfortable fact that Hillary has exported fracking around the world and named a pro fracking individual as her transition chief just last month . Sadly anyone informed on the topic knows that we are beyond the tipping point in terms of taking action against climate change . There needs to be radical reform in terms of environmental policies as its Already too late to not be impacted by global warming in the future. Progressive polices would just migitate some of the effects that’s how late we are to the party . .But hey anyone concerned with the environment should vote Hillary because she’s not a climate change denier only a fracking supporter.
– Ben and Ana argued progressives who won’t vote for Hillary are juvenile LOL . The Progressives informed enough to see that Hillary has been pivoting to the right since the convention , touting righ wing endorsements and appointing corporate tools to important positions are childish. So wait just because trump progressives are not allowed to participate in a democratic process and vote for who comes for their vote/ aligns with them best . So even if the democratic candidate has more appeal to right wingers nope . No they have to vote democratic because trump. Awesome logic from a network that touts it self as the antidote for mainstream media.
If Ben and Ana are so worried about trump then why not scream and shout at Hillary for running such a bad campaign . For not reaching out in a genuine way for the progressive vote . For running to the right when the majority of the country is left leaning . For embracing the establishment when the country is an anti establishment mood.
Here’s a thought for the global warming issue. At the current rate of ocean acidification i.e. the change of pH _will_ kill all the plankton by 2050. Game over for that food pyramid.
BEN – here is a “thing”: Raj Fernando was a Chicago Commodities Trader who got a plum position on teh State Dept.’s Intelligence Board to advise Hillary on among other things tactical nuclear weapons. He had NO qualifications other than having given HEAVILY to the Clinton Foundation.
About the voter ID crap. I’m actually sort of for it. I don’t believe there is tons of voter fraud out there, but I don’t find it unreasonable to put some checks in place to prevent voter fraud either. Requiring ID seems to be reasonable. In my state if you are a registered voter this is how voting works:
1. You walk in, you go to the table that matches the first letter of your last name.
2. You tell the poll worker your name and address. They find you on the registered voter list.
3. You get a balot and you vote.
If you know Bob is registered all you’d have to do is get to the polls before Bob and then claim your Bob. You only need to know his address and you get to vote as Bob. Assuming the poll works don’t know you or Bob you’re not going to get caught. That’s the risk you’re running. That someone there knows Bob (I assume if you walk in and recognize someone who would then know you you don’t proceed).
All that said when you pass a voter ID law you need to be reasonable. You need to have it not go in to effect for 4-8 years down the road. You need to fund an education campaign that lets voters know well ahead of time what the new requirement is. You need to fund resources to help people who have troubles meeting the new requirements. You need to allow provisional ballots that can be cast on election day and which will still be counted so long as the problems are resolved within a reasonable time frame after election day (I’m not certain when the cutoff is for states to submit their federal totals etc).
I’m not really pushing for these laws either, I’m just not against them. But they are always done seemingly with very little time before a poll which is obviously a problem. And they never fund the necessary surrounding support structures that a change to the fundamental democratic action of voting requires.
Why are we making people do extra work to vote? To prevent the possibility that someone will impersonate Bob? There is 0 evidence that this a problem. I have worked as a poll worker and the workers know most of the people that vote. It would take a lot of work to change an election by impersonating Bob while creating a lot of risk. Why would any sensible person who wants to change an election do this? One vote isn’t enough. You will have to do it hundreds or thousands of times to change an election – that would multiply the chances of getting caught to the point that you would almost certainly get caught. No election is perfect, we just don’t see it because they are not close enough to matter. If you want to change elections it would be easier to hack voting machines or use the absentee ballots because they don’t require ID. Ion lithium batteries have exploded in the past. Do we ban lithium batteries based on the tiny chance that a battery will explode? This is just a solution looking for a problem – with the affect being that certain groups are disproportional harmed, making it hard for them to vote.
A solution looking for a problem perhaps, but that is an argument about the effectiveness of the suggestion, not an argument about fairness. If implemented as I suggested with proper support structures around getting people the ID’s that they would need and giving several years in which to get people up to date I am not sure who would be left out that is simply not engaged enough to vote in the first place. Maybe there would still be some people, but the numbers would be very low, low enough that their votes wouldn’t change an election which by your own logic means it doesn’t matter. The only good argument against then would be the cost versus the reward, and on that I already agreed with you.
No problem with requiring IDs if you made getting a fucking ID easy:
First, you pass a voter ID law then exclude Student IDs, Medicare IDs and every other valid IDs that are used in you scenarios above other than a driving licence.
Second, you close all the DMVs (pure coincidence “of course”) that exist in minority/poor areas of the state that have precincts that did not vote for your preferred party.
Third, even those DMVs that you cannot close for practical reasons, you add a couple of extra conditions so that you can get a drivers licence like demanding passing a driving test for the car you don’t own or drive because you are blind or pay a fee of several hundreds of dollars. And even if you meet all those conditions as happened to thousands in Milwaukee the state can still basically refuse to give you an ID with a photo (all those IDs require a photo ID) because the machine happens to be broke that day, and every 3rd Tuesdays of every month because the DMV opens only once a month.
You’re being ridiculous. Nobody (or the statistical equivalent of nobody) is risking jail to cast an extra couple votes in an election that will be won by a hundred thousand or a million votes. Meanwhile, voter ID requirements are demonstrably preventing millions upon million of people to not get to vote.
The vote should not be hard. It should not cost any money. We ruled that poll taxes are illegal for this reason. Your vote is supposed to be fundamental. It should absolutely be as easy as walking in to the polling place, saying your name and getting a ballot. They then cross off your name as having voted. If someone did decide to risk jail to impersonate you, they wouldn’t swing any elections, and you not voting wouldn’t swing any elections. The Republicans throwing millions of black and poor people and ALL people with any criminal record off voting rolls IS swinging elections.
We have the evidence already. in person voter fraud is not a thing that exists. There’s not a problem that needs to be solved. There is absolutely no reason to support voter ID, unless you want to stop poor people, old people and people of color from voting.
As a one-time guest, of course, why not? Good for debate. But not as a permanent fixture because Ben clearly doesn’t belong there. It’s not called “Aggressive Establishment” for a very good reason.
“Aggressive Establishment”, incidentally, is what happens whenever Obama kills civilians with drone strikes, or when Hillary Clinton launches new wars of aggression (as she definitely will, if ever elected).
“Aggressive Establishment” is also what happens whenever Ben starts yelling at other hosts. Which he always does long before Jimmy does, by the way, and with greater frequency. Because while Jimmy raises his voice a lot and rants often, it’s nearly always aimed at the camera or the audience.
Ben’s yelling is always and uniquely reserved for the hosts he’s supposed to debate.
Ben’s commentary on the choice between voting for Clinton or a third party candidate is frustrating, not because I disagree with him (which I do) but because he behaves as if there is a clear and easy answer, which there isn’t. When Jimmy advocates for Jill Stein he at least acknowledges the other side has a decent argument.
Hey, I hope you’re still reading, because I feel like I have to apologize for the tone of our last conversation. Far too confrontational and personal. I hope that we’re all allowed to have bad days, because it took me a while to realize and acknowledge what a bad day I was having, due to unrelated circumstances. So again, apologies.
Thank you for the eloquent apology, I accept it unequivocally. I was also having a murderously difficult day and showed impatience toward you, which I regret and apologise for.
I look forward to reading your comments in future.
How did Ben get away with saying that George W. Bush committed the blunder of the Iraq war which he then said was one of the greatest blunders in history but he left out the fact that the only reason the Iraq war happened is because of Hillary Clinton.
He literally just said that he is supporting the candidate responsible for the worst blunder in history. And I’m not supposed to vote for Jill Stein?
Hillary Clinton gave the author of the Iraq war, neo-con Robert Kagan a job at the State Department and enjoys his support for her candidacy along with Michael Morell who said recently that we need to start killing Russians and Iranians in Syria. What world do we live in where people blame George W for the Iraq war but not his partner in congress who got the war passed, Hillary Clinton?
Eh I usually like ben and is dissenting opinion, but to hear him defend Clinton and admit he got 17 million dollars and then try to say that the company’s who bribed him got noting in return was a bit nauseating…
Yea also he calls the Iraq war the worst blunder in history like 5 seconds after he says that he wouldn’t vote for Jill Stein because Hillary will appoint better judges. He literally said that as though Hillary Clinton wasn’t responsible for the Iraq war. President can’t declare war, without Clinton the Iraq war would have never happened.
Benjamin also said that that there is no evidence of Clinton being influencing by money, even though there are jarring examples such as the bankruptcy law.
The issue is that Benjamin comes from a Democrat establishment family, so he can not help himself, he just talks for the power, not to the power, so he defends Hillary.
Benjamin and John also spread the neo-MacCarthyst media propaganda on how Putin “killed a politician”, even though not only there is no evidence of that, but there is not even a motive. Putin has always had from high to very high ratings, and that politicians was highly unpopular; his support was just about two percent. And his death is already investigated: he has insulted some well-respected people of Caucasus for which there was revenge, according to the ancient tribal traditions. (Of course, this was a horrible murder and it is shame that it has happened, but there is no any rational way to blame Putin for that.)
Yea also he calls the Iraq war the worst mistake in history like 5 seconds after he says that he wouldn’t vote for Jill Stein because Hillary will appoint better judges. He literally said that as though Hillary Clinton wasn’t responsible for the Iraq war. President can’t declare war, without Clinton the Iraq war would have never happened.
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 passed by a vote of 77 to 23 in the Senate.
29 senate democrats out of 50 voted for it. Clinton was one of those votes. 49 out of 50 Republicans voted for it in the Senate (all but Lincoln Chafee).
I hate Hillary Clinton with all of my heart, but I don’t think you can say she single handedly caused the Iraq war to happen. Joe Biden voted for it. John Edwards did too. John Kerry and Harry Reid voted for it. Dianne Feinstein did too.
It was a shitshow and total cowardice and “this will be an easy fight and we’ll all bask in the glory of successful militarism afterwards” totally predictable political bullshit that does not begin and end with Hillary Clinton.
Hillary didn’t cast the single deciding vote but Hillary was the most popular democrat in the Senate she could have whipped the votes the other way and they would have all stood with her. Ben himself even admitted this later in the second hour that if Hillary as the most popular democrat in the Senate would have come out against it then it would have failed.
Plus none of those other people are running for president so I think it makes absolute sense to put the blame of the Iraq war as much on her as on Bush. And the creation of ISIS is much more her fault than Bush’s due to the fact that she failed to rebuild Iraq wasting Billions upon Billions of our tax dollars in projects that she mis managed.
RFK Jr wrote a great article the other day showing that the modern problems with Iraq and Syria are really just a continuation of the clandestine wars and coups of the CIA in the 1950s.
Johnny is always awesome (and looks quite dapper in that suit just now) but on his own, he’s can’t provide the right counterpoint and the right kind of counterbalance to Ben’s establishmentarian views. Johnny is the play-by-play guy and he doesn’t have the right approach and temperament to play that role.
We need Ben-Cenk-John, or Ben-Jimmy-John, or Ben-Ana-John. Any kind of three-way like that is balanced.
Really? Obama is nominating Republican SC Judges but I’m suppose to worry about who tRump will nominate? The people who are suppose to have my back, the Dems, respond with a hearty FUCK YOU but voting for Hillary is a good idea? Who’s fear mongering now?
I don’t really watch the show when Cenk isn’t on. The few exceptions are when Ben and/or Jimmy co-host. I particularly like Ben’s commentary because he argues, oftentimes, different positions and unlike Fox “News,” the hosts on TYT seem okay with vigorous debate.
“You people know I started the show with Cenk, right?”
Whether you agree with Ben on the issues or not, it’s not a good sign when someone starts throwing their internal status around on the air. It betrays insecurity.
Cenk never mentions that he’s a founder of TYT, except maybe on Old School and only because it’s part of anecdote told there about the early days.
That is irrelevant to my point. When your boss says to you, “Hey, remember that I’m the boss. Just joking!”, it’s still a subtle reminder of his status. The boss here is genuinely joking and genuinely being friendly – make no mistake – but this doesn’t reduce the psychological impact and hierarchical power of the line, it just makes it more subtle.
The fact itself of saying it has power, regardless of apparent intent.
This is similar to when powerful people – like presidents, or Bill Gates – walk around in cheap blue jeans. The message of the jeans is not “hey, I’m just like everyone else”, it’s precisely the opposite but in a clever (one might say sarcastic or joking) way; the real message is “I’m happy to come down to your level in this one respect, but let this also serve as a subtle reminder that I am really on a higher level. I may wear these everyman jeans, but the everyman jeans are not wearing me.”
actually cenk has mentioned many times on the main show that he is the owner,boss or founder of tyt and ben was answering back at the people on social media that keep claiming that he’s been fired from tyt.
Ben is for the TPP? I know he’s not as progressive as the rest of the people on TYT, and I like to hear his perspective, but that’s insane. I can only imagine he doesn’t know TPP does. It’s not secret anymore. You can read the whole thing. Here are just a handful of things. There’s much much more than this:
—-> will result in more offshoring and exporting of what’s left of US jobs, by having US workers compete directly with people who make 60cents an hour and in some countries even slave labor.
—-> Allows member countries to export food without country of origin labels and with a stamp of approval that says they are the same as USDA approved, even though they aren’t. Vietnam is the leader in contaminated shrimp, because they have slaves live and shit right near the ponds they work in all day, and then they dump bleach into the shrimp ponds to deal with the contaminants, and TPP limits food inspections even more.
—->It extends patents on drugs so that generics are pushed even further out, preventing millions from having access to sometimes life saving treatments due to cost and undermines national efforts to curb drug pricing
—->The ISDS tribunal of corporate lawyers gets to rule if any law we create has affected their projection of future profit and sue us for the perceived lost profit. The judges and lawyers all switch places and are all corporate lawyers who exist outside any national legal system
—->Brings back SOPA/PIPA which is designed to redefine our laws on “fair use” for copywritten material, so places like the TYT can’t be on YouTube and show anything they currently show under “fair use”.
—->It allows member nations to challenge any laws that seek to regulate toxins, anti-smoking campaigns, anti-alcohol campaigns and anything else like that that might threaten future profits for these corporations.
—->It allows for the trade in illegally sourced natural resources that are being currently protected due to endangered species lists, as well as overfishing of currently protected fish species. This includes shark finning and whaling, which are currently under international restrictions
—->It hurts many people even in the developing nations too. NAFTA was projected to bring in millions of new jobs, but ended up displacing over a million Mexican farmers who had to compete with subsidized imported produce. TPP does this a million times worse with more nations with lower standards of living.
This is not a trade deal. It’s a protect the power of existing giant transnational corporations bill. What on Earth does Ben support about it?
Ben has spoken out against the TPP before. I think he meant that her support for it isn’t as much of a dealbreaker for him to not prefer her for president. In context, that makes the most sense.
Brings back SOPA/PIPA which is designed to redefine our laws on “fair use” for copywritten material, so places like the TYT can’t be on YouTube and show anything they currently show under “fair use”.
That’s right. Even outside of Youtube, independent media like TYT could have a serious problem if they can’t constantly use clips from NBC, CNN, etc., without being fined and/or having to pay a fee to some massive media corporation. If the shows are reduced to just talking heads then we’ll lose many viewers and members.
WTF? Way too much pro-Hillary BS. Corrupt to the core. I DO care about her private email server, her extreme carelessness with national security and her ability to LIE, LIE, LIE and have people like Ben stand up for her. I feel a little soiled for have watching the whole show. :(
Ben, you just don’t get it. It’s not that the media shouldn’t cover Jill Stein because she’s only getting 3% of the vote, it’s that she’s only getting 3% of the vote because the media isn’t covering her.
The tail truly does wag the dog.
I would much rather see TYT use Jimmy vs Ben when Cenk is gone. John, you’re great. Very intelligent and witty, but too soft on Ben, at least today.
Comments
So it has been so secret that Special Interest has been lobbying the government for favors for Decades. However according to Ben, unless you can tie one specific donation to a specific piece of legislation you don’t have a story. This is of course Bull shit. Come on you can’t put two and two together? That special interest have been lobbying the government and have in turn been receiving special favors? You have to tie each individual donation to a specific piece of legislation? GTFOH. I’m not even going to bother going in to detail how ridiculous that is. Please read Saving Capitalism or Republic Lost, the two best books I’ve read that explain our current system of legalize bribery.
i live in IL this is embarssing i wish i could take pride in my home state!!=((
The fact that Benjamin and John has managed to go through whole segment on global warning and how much better Clinton is and how bad it is to vote or even advocate for Jill Stein without mentioning the fact that Hillary is pro-fracking is what destroys TYT’s reputation as a progressive outlet.
It’s not his opinions that grate so much, it’s the way he presents them in an imperious manner, so indicative of privileged males. John, whom I quite admire, seems to soft pedal any disagreement with Ben in an almost apologetic manner. They don’t seem to be on equal footing, which I suppose they aren’t since, as Ben announced, he’s one of the founders of TYT. Keep him off the program, or maybe Ben and Cenk could just do a program of centrist positions and I could avoid ever watching it because I can get the same thing from msnbc.
I’ve been a TYT member since 2006.
What others have said is true … this DOES seem to happen more when Cenk isn’t there. That really doesn’t make sense, as we all know he has nothing to do with the technical side!
It seems like folks are either uploading and running out the door (i.e. not checking) … or someone is absent and there is no one to back them up … or there was some sort of equipment failure. You know … basic business stuff. I would also hope they would be able to take advantage of a “remote” worker in another time zone to cover late night/early morning issues. Or … at least do us the courtesy of sending out an email.
Earlier today, the most recent Member Archives were for Sept 6th. I see the Main Show for the 7th havehas now been posted along with the Post Game from yesterday. So I was hopeful that stuff was happening. After a couple of hours, though, it’s obvious that hope was misplaced.
btw … I’ve also been in IT since 1980. I know this stuff is a pain in the ass, as the technology is changing daily. But … communication with your customers NEVER goes out of style!
Them saying nothing frustrates me the most!! If your job is to upload content surely stay until your job is done. If its a technical fault communicate that have a noticeboard that staff can access and members can view. Stop adding new shows if you cant handle the task of uploading the content you make now. AHHHHHHH we are losing with this situation, we should be winning, make TYT great
Yes, I agree with this. I’ve been a member for about 5 years now, and this happens all the time, and I try not to complain too much about it. But in all that time, they have never once put up a simple message at the top of the page that says “sorry folks – technical difficulties” or anything like that. They never put any messages on their pages when things go sideways. This is something that can’t be excused. It doesn’t take any technical knowledge. It isn’t affected by corrupt files for video. It doesn’t matter if you can’t stream the show. Putting a simple note up on a page to detail a problem you know exists is both the easiest thing in the world to do and the most basic level of customer service.
This is exactly what has been frustrating me as well over the past few months especially with the inability to access archives from approximately May to August 2016, but that they did explain saying that they were changing platforms and they gave a timeline for when it would be back available on the site (approximately 2nd week in September) and to their credit it appears that some of the old schools have now been uploaded though I have not viewed myself to confirm.
One of the most aggravating part for me and I believe the majority of members is that there is no communication on when the videos are going to be uploaded and we are never informed of when like a simple e-mail; we have to keep refreshing and hope it pops up. The other really aggravating thing to members from my view and comments I have read is that those people that have the time to watch the main show can do so free of charge watching it live on YouTube but the members that do not have the time luxury have to wait sometimes a day or more for the content to be uploaded that they are paying to have produced. I keep hearing from Cenk, Ana, and other hosts they want to get memberships up so that they can essentially invest more into the network (more investigative reporters, more shows,ect) The problem is you are losing members because we feel like we are treated like second class not being able to view the content quickly and if the new shows are causing this slow down then make them last to be uploaded but don’t insult your base by taking so long to upload the main show.
Lastly, I 100% agree with franms communication with your customers is probably the #1 thing you can do A great man always said “communication is the key to a great relationship, any relationship”. Just type up there on main page we apologize but the uploads are taking a little longer than normal for tonight’s/yesterdays shows; people won’t be happy but they won’t be angry like they are now and contemplating cancelling memberships. Some like myself will appreciate it it, this is supposed to be the channel of the truth no matter where it is give us the truth no matter what it is. If your priority is to edit videos and upload them on YouTube before granting members full access to the main show at least tell us that, don’t make it obvious with the timing and then say members make this show possible; if that was the case you would want to appease us the most.
Even when you guys fuck up, I’ll support you as long as I can afford it. Your voices must be heard. Its logical that you’d post the entire show here first, but shit happens.
Sorry but you are wrong. They have fixed the issue in the passes and they keep popping up every so often.
I’ve been a member for many many years and it’s almost to the point of being unbearable.
How is it acceptable to give paying members content up to a day after the show and after they already uploaded to YouTube
Thank you, I made literally the same point as you, why are clips of yesterdays show all up on YouTube but we paying members can’t watch any of the main show. Priority’s are all twisted IMHO.
“every so often” Cenk leaves town
Welcome to TYT membership! I invite you, to shut the fuck up!
Have a great day!
I am a new member so I have no history with these issues, if indeed there is a ‘history’ there – and yes it’s annoying, I would love to watch sept 8 before sept 9 show, same as you guys, but let’s remember we don’t have all the information (they could have had a localized power outage? Maybe the building blew a fuse? Maybe they set the upload an it erked up after everyone had left for the night…. we just don’t know) – and this IS still a small company – 60 employees is not large for a media company. MSNBC has hundreds of staff and they neglect their online uploads on a daily basis!
Be cool ya’ll. They’ll get around to it. There are more important things in the world to be shitty about than our fave news show having a delayed upload.
Dude they have put clips up on YouTube of last nights main show, but won’t give us paying to watch priority.
@John McCaffrey I actually included a link to this page in my email to them last night. Dave Koller replied. So apparently the guy with no actual education in video and website maintenance is the one trying to upload videos…
same old same old, we’re all imperfect, but these problems are pretty predictable
Newsflash: Jill Stein will not be implementing anything or nominating anyone for anything. It’s a binary choice. Clinton or Trump. Get over it.
This is horrible. I can’t watch it live because of my job, now I can’t watch the next day when I wake up. Where is Sept. 8 shows
they were up late covering the town hall, bless their hearts
That was night before, not last nights show.
*coffee then comments
Ditto, this is very frustrating.
more than $25,000 a month in membership fees, maybe the next employee “we pay for” should be tasked with member videos.
They have close to 25,000 members at $10 per month that is $250,000 per month. That would work out to $3,000,000 per year. But with 60 employees that is $50,000 for average salary.
With all that being said, I still wish they would get their shit together.
*coffee then math
Got up early to watch hour 1, joke’s on me.
Want to bet Hass will ruin an hour of Friday?
Shows get shorter and technical problems always rise when Cenk is out of town.
Pretty much the same at 24K members as 1K members, they love us, but it’s a pretty abusive relationship.
And no, no one from TYT reads or cares about these comments.
God I hope Hassan isn’t on last nights power panel… urgh!
Video not working :/
If you want more members you should make watching less frustrating , I can not tell how many times I had to Log in, why is it so hard to go from hour 1 to hour 2 .
Where is that comment? Never ever seen any indication that anyone at tyt read these comments.
Many technically savvy members have contacted TYT directly to offer their services free of charge. The small company excuse was tenable when they were maybe 10-14 strong. Now there are 60-70+ people. They can fix these problems if they wish to put the proper effort towards them. There are nearly 25k members now. When I joined there were only 1000. I’m happy to see that they’re lead tech guy has commented saying they will be making changes to relieve these problems ASAP. Just saying, the “small company” and “you get membership to support them, chill out” excuses just don’t hold up anymore.
These things happen significantly more frequently when Cenk is out.
1:47 am 09/09. This happens way to often. Still no 09/08 show. It’s hard to take the idea of leading a political revolution and changing the news seriously when you guys aren’t even capable of managing a website.
Agreed. I too understand that TYT is a small company, but their top priority should be serving their paying members. It often seems like we’re the last to get the content we pay for.
These things happen significantly more frequently when Cenk is out.
I too am a member. While I understand the frustration. Tyt is a relatively small company and the way the get new members is mostly thru youtube and word of mouth it seems, so I would say youtube is more important.
Many technically savvy members have contacted TYT directly to offer their services free of charge. The small company excuse was tenable when they were maybe 10-14 strong. Now there are 60-70+ people. They can fix these problems if they wish to put the proper effort towards them. There are nearly 25k members now. When I joined there were only 1000. I’m happy to see that they’re lead tech guy has commented saying they will be making changes to relieve these problems ASAP. Just saying, the “small company” and “you get membership to support them, chill out” excuses just don’t hold up anymore.
ATTENTION TYT STAFF
Multiple times I have struggled to find hours 1 and 2 along with other shows such as classics, aggressive progressive or the post game. I pay for the membership to watch the shows in a timely fashion, otherwise I have no time to watch them at all. Working three jobs leaves me an hour a day, plus whatever sleep I sacrifice to do whatever I like with my life, and I choose to watch TYT. Your network is the only television I watch, and I am willing to compromise my health to stay up to date with the news. In this sadistic, cruel, decrepit world, your show gives me hope. However when I find the episodes on fucking youtube, before your own site, I feel no reason to continue a membership. Please respond, an explanation would do us good.
Yeah. This is getting old. After all these years, you should not be still having this “difficulties”, should you?
Also note that they upload 1080p videos to YouTube, and 720p for paying members. This bothers me so much. During the DNC they even uploaded 1080p @ 60 fps to YouTube, and 720p @ 30 fps here.
ditto
Hey, as a fellow viewer and lover of TYT I understand your concerns, it is kinda shitty. But at the same time, I like being a member for the sole reason of me knowing that I’m supporting them. With the demonitisation of many youtubers right now I like to know that TYT can continue to function. Unfortunately youtube has stopped paying youtube channels that talk about politics, which means that soon TYT might not make money from youtube. WE are what can keep them alive.
It’s now 10:50 pm Thur, Sept 8th and I have to go to YouTube if I was to see the Thur show on Thur. What were those benefits again?
ditto
It’s Thurs Sept 8th 10:30 pm. Where are the files for Thurs Sept 8th?
I am asking this, too. All I can find from the 8th is the Post Game. It’s 09/09/16 at 1:48am EDT and I still can’t find anything from tonight. I am especially wanting to see the Aggressive Progressive show, but it’s nowhere to be found. To me, the main advantage of membership is to not be tied to the Live broadcast times. Not working out that way tonight at all.
I would be more okay about it if there wasn’t clips of the 8th sept show on YouTube before we paying members even get to watch last nights show. How about doing the YouTube clips after sorting hour 1 and 2 instead.
ditto
As someone who finds Ben too establishment at times and Jimmy too radical at times, they are my two favorite hosts. They’re funny, smart, and fun to watch, and they both challenge me and make me think.
double ditto
Hour 1 for today is still not working so coming here to vent and kill time. This website is terrible when it works correctly, but lately it has been complete shit.
That said, I think Ben gets more hate than he deserves. He can come off as a bit dismissive of other hosts, but he still makes some good points pretty regularly. Welcome back, Ben.
Agreed, the website is really terrible and the app sucks too. Ben on the other hand, I don’t always agree with him but I love what he brings to the show. Even he could be a little more honest about how Hillary was an abject failure as Secretary of State.
Imagine if we would have had an actual diplomat who cared about the problems of Iraq at State instead of Hillary, there would probably not be an ISIS.
We still might have ISIS as the causes are complex and intertwined. There is probably no greater cause of ISIS than the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent de-Baathification (which was even more stupid and counter-productive than the invasion itself).
This minor point, however, takes little away from your claim that HRC was an “abject failure as Secretary of State”, which I have to agree with. A less hawkish secretary may not have completely prevented ISIS, but probably could have kept ISIS quarantined and certainly not in Libya. Syria might still be a functioning country, if not a very “free” one.
I’m not impressed that they took down the pages for today’s non-working videos to delete all the complaints. The post-game video was working but they blew that away, too.
ditto
I love when Ben starts a show trying to piss off half the audience. I don’t mind the guy, but he can’t help but be condescending with his inflammatory comments?
The real issue is Ben’s choice to wear a white dress shirt with no undershirt, just wrong, man nipples
Why did I have to read this comment before watching the hour… lmao
Why does everyone hate Ben so much? While I don’t agree with everything he says, he routinely makes very valid points. I think that if you expect to agree with everything he says you are watching the wrong network. People have personal opinions on this network.
Having establishment opinions like Ben’s on TYT is great, as long as there’s someone to counteract. The problem with today’s show is that John allowed Ben to get away with half truths over and over again.
The show changes when Ben’s on because as he stated very clearly, he is one of the founders of TYT and therefore real progressive anchors like John become someone weak and complacent when he’s is one.
The truth is, if we wanted to hear the opinions of the Ben’s of the world, we could watch MSNBC. We subscribe to TYT because we want something different, we want progressive news.
northernnick Absolutely. We want an echo chamber of our very own! No differing viewpoints that help us reflect and reaffirm or modify our positions!
Echo chamber? That’s just silly. TYT could never be an echo chamber when it’s just a small island in a sea of hostile mainstream, corporate media. Not now, not tomorrow, and not if Ben and Michael leave TYT either.
The context beyond the confines of TYT does matter, and the context is that you can get Ben’s viewpoint anywhere you look. We are constantly assailed with that viewpoint by the MSM, by the rich and the powerful, and by all those who – amazingly – don’t see anything wrong with the status quo.
An echo chamber is not defined by its size, rather by the conformity of the views that resonate within. It certainly is not defined by its “context”. The whole point of the idea is that the information and resonance WITHIN the chamber is divorced from what is without. It is where one goes to have their views confirmed, not challenged. Personally I watch very little MSM (as I suspect is the case with much of TYT’s audience), because of the monotony of their viewpoint, not just because I disagree with it. Even when they provide “opposing views” those views fall within agreed boundaries.
I do not come by my views because they are on a progressive checklist of acceptable positions and thus look for news that only confirms those views. A well reasoned presentation of a counter position is 50 times more useful than a bobblehead reciting an argument I already know by heart, even when I already share the same view. By considering HONESTLY presented (i.e. not a weak strawman) differing viewpoints, I have a chance to clarify and deepen my understanding of the matter and reinforce my opinion, as well as on occasion, come to a new understanding of the problem, or at least the viewpoint of those in the opposition and thus how better to argue/reach them.
Without the desire to re-examine held views, Cenk would still be a Conservative jerk bloviating the party line (and probably a multi-millionaire on Fox).
There is always context. Everything always has a context from which it cannot be separated. What are you even saying now?
From the perspective of the TYT viewer, nobody watches just TYT. That is not even physically possible: you cannot avoid the viewpoints being propagated – nor, indeed, the propagada and the ideologies being propagated – by thousands of TV channels, by every newspaper, by all major corporate websites on the internet, and by most people around you.
In media terms,there are no vacuums, no isolated chambers, and there is always a dialogue between TYT and the hostile world which surrounds it…especially since TYT is always actively engaging with that world by showing and commenting on clips from CNN, Fox and every major news outlet. Which is virtually all TYT does during most shows, anway. This by itself is a constant dialogue and polemical debate between TYT and the Powers That Be.
@trg.
I completely agree. Some people here seem absolutely terrified of a differing opinion. They just want an echo chamber to confirm what they like to believe and anyone who believes differently is an enemy. It’s a developmental stage in childhood that you were supposed to grow out of.
Ben is inflammatory for the sake of being inflammatory. I don’t mind his differing opinions, but you can’t deny that.
I deny that. Ben is expressing his real opinion. He always defends it with his arguments. I often disagree, and I think that’s good. A show of people saying exactly what I agree with and then me just nodding and slapping myself on the back is not just boring and stupid, it’s dangerous.
Again, I don’t mind his opinions or the arguments to back them up. Sometimes he just says things for the sake of being inflammatory. Then goes on to explain his point. I don’t care much myself, but I was giving a reason for why you see a lot of emotional comments about Ben.
It’s the younger crowd, the newer members. I’ve always loved Ben; he might even be my favorite Turk. He’s smart, funny, and gives very balanced (fact-based) opinions. He’s also fairly mild; I get a little turned off by hosts who get super emotional and start yelling at the camera (Cenk excepted :p). I think anyone who loves Jimmy probably hates Ben. Meanwhile, I’m not a huge fan of Jimmy (nothing personal, he seems like a really great guy) and love Ben.
I’m a younger member (16) and have been around about a year and a half, Ben and Jimmy have always been my two favorite hosts.
Even some who are members of TYT prefer an echo chamber instead of a diverse buffet of opinions and ideas.
Here’s the difference between the Clinton and Trump pay to play scandals: What Trump did is illegal, while what Clinton did merely SHOULD BE illegal.
Want to change that? Wolf-pac.com
I’m surprised to see the amount of dislike for Ben. I was going to post the exact opposite, I wish Ben would make more appearances.
Same here!
yup
Not trying to be condescending, but if you like Ben’s politics, why not just watch MSNBC or CNN?
It’s not that I necessary like or agree with everything Ben says, but I do find it refreshing to have some difference of opinion once in a while. When it’s Jon and Cenk, or Jon and Ana, it is just a circle-jerk of agreement. Disagreements are good sometimes.
Agree 100%
I think too many people are afraid to hear other opinions. It’s nice to hear various sides of issues and be forced to think about them rather than just nodding along with Cenk and Ana.
Agreed. And to those who say Ben is mimicking MSNBC “opinions” — Ben owes allegiance to no one. No one filters his content or tells him he has to say this or that or else he’ll get fired. That’s the difference. (Also? Sometimes he’s right. If people can’t accept more nuanced interpretations of politics then go watch that silly Aggressive Progressive show.)
dittov
Man, every time I see Ben on TYT a part of my soul dies. This guy is unbearable!
I don’t understand what Ben is saying. Is he saying that what Bill Clinton did is less than what did Trump did? They are both part of the same system – they are just on different sides. Trump gave money with the expectation that he would get a favor and Clinton received money with the expectation he would help the donor. How are the different? They are both corrupt. I know some people will say that the receiver is more corrupt than the donor, but I don’t believe that.
Ben is right in the sense that we don’t have an email or taped conversation where one person says I will give you X now do Y for me. The reporters do have facts about a contribution and then an action (or in this case non action) by the other party after the contribution. Trump and Bondi should explain the seemingly lack of action and change of mind after the donation. Does that definitively prove Trump bribed her? No, but they should answer questions. Same with Clinton. The Clintons are too smart to have an email laying around that proves they gave favors for cash directly. Is Ben so naive that he believes these guys gave Clinton millions of dollars with no expectation of something in return? Could Clinton have called someone behind the scenes to get them to change a rule or drop and investigation? Of course he could and we would never know. A conversation with the right friend during a round of golf would never be traced.
Yes, $25,000 can influence the AG. Bondi raised $3.7 million in her race. Her opponent only raised $900,000, so I am sure he would have liked more donors like Trump. That is the whole point of getting money out of politics. We don’t want large donors to buy influence. Is Ben really saying that giving $25,000 to anyone will not influence them? Really? I suppose that it will have a smaller affect on the Presidential race because they have to raise over a billion dollars, but on state and local races, $25,000 will get you almost anything you want.
I use to like it when Ben was on, now I see him with John, and I am bummed out. John is waaay too nice with Ben’s not-so-subtle “I am an elder whose eternal wisdom must be respected” attitude.
John is getting bulldozed by Ben’s dickishness. Absolutely need Jimmy or Wes Clark, who won’t back down, or Cenk who can easily counter/correct him.
So, Ben thinks $hillary, the woman who loves Her some corporate ring-hole licking, is going to elect judges that will stop election fraud? Judges who will overturn Citizens United? Really? I see absolutely NO evidence of that.
When Ben starts waving his arms & screaming at about how $hillary is “not that bad,” all I can see is him doing the same shtick at Jimmy. Every time Jimmy came up with a point of why (war-monger, election-fraud conspiring w/DNC, BiL & $hill’s antics during the FBI investigation, etc), Ben would scream & wave his arms and say, “You don’t know that, Jimmy! Bill/$hill are honest actors, You are misjudging them, they could never be that calculating, greedy, etc.” Well, Ben YOU don’t know either.
Ben was way too quick to hop on the $hillary-train, which makes me believe that he not only was only being semi-tolerant of Bernie and is not really very progressive.
He just described himself as an “upper-middle” college kid. He strikes me as the type of Dem Thomas Frank talks about in “Listen Liberal.” He just doesn’t think things are that bad, so why rock the boat? It’s working for his friends & family, so why fix what ain’t broken?
Sec.State $hillary favoring Clinton Foundation donors & donor countries is NOT quid pro quo? Just because there is no memo or video of Her saying, “Thank you Saudi Arabia for the cash to Our Foundation. Here is your WEAPONS deal, that previously was probably not going to happen.”
Doesn’t mean it is not the same thing. You are also wrong that Dems don’t care.
Fuck you, Ben …. that’s the definition of it. And btw, when you start screeching, you KNOW you are wrong.
Ben and Michael shure are neoliberals / democratic establishment loyalists.
During this hour and towmhall Ben made such sickening and incredibly ignorant comments that he would put CNBC / CNN hosts to shame with his establishment bias.
– Ben argued media shouldn’t cover 3rd parties because they get such low polling numbers.: WOW even the majority of Americans feel the 3rd parties should get covered more . But here is Ben telling everyone that since only two people are viable winners let’s ignore the guy polling around 12% with no media coverage . That’s a democracy in bens eyes lets just cover the main parties.
– Ben argued Hillary is going to be amazing for climate change . Then went on to say that even if she doesn’t do anything more than Obama has it’ll be fine because trump is worse . LOL great logic . Then he doesn’t include the rather uncomfortable fact that Hillary has exported fracking around the world and named a pro fracking individual as her transition chief just last month . Sadly anyone informed on the topic knows that we are beyond the tipping point in terms of taking action against climate change . There needs to be radical reform in terms of environmental policies as its Already too late to not be impacted by global warming in the future. Progressive polices would just migitate some of the effects that’s how late we are to the party . .But hey anyone concerned with the environment should vote Hillary because she’s not a climate change denier only a fracking supporter.
– Ben and Ana argued progressives who won’t vote for Hillary are juvenile LOL . The Progressives informed enough to see that Hillary has been pivoting to the right since the convention , touting righ wing endorsements and appointing corporate tools to important positions are childish. So wait just because trump progressives are not allowed to participate in a democratic process and vote for who comes for their vote/ aligns with them best . So even if the democratic candidate has more appeal to right wingers nope . No they have to vote democratic because trump. Awesome logic from a network that touts it self as the antidote for mainstream media.
If Ben and Ana are so worried about trump then why not scream and shout at Hillary for running such a bad campaign . For not reaching out in a genuine way for the progressive vote . For running to the right when the majority of the country is left leaning . For embracing the establishment when the country is an anti establishment mood.
Here’s a thought for the global warming issue. At the current rate of ocean acidification i.e. the change of pH _will_ kill all the plankton by 2050. Game over for that food pyramid.
BEN – here is a “thing”: Raj Fernando was a Chicago Commodities Trader who got a plum position on teh State Dept.’s Intelligence Board to advise Hillary on among other things tactical nuclear weapons. He had NO qualifications other than having given HEAVILY to the Clinton Foundation.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-donor-sensitive-intelligence-board/story?id=39710624
About the voter ID crap. I’m actually sort of for it. I don’t believe there is tons of voter fraud out there, but I don’t find it unreasonable to put some checks in place to prevent voter fraud either. Requiring ID seems to be reasonable. In my state if you are a registered voter this is how voting works:
1. You walk in, you go to the table that matches the first letter of your last name.
2. You tell the poll worker your name and address. They find you on the registered voter list.
3. You get a balot and you vote.
If you know Bob is registered all you’d have to do is get to the polls before Bob and then claim your Bob. You only need to know his address and you get to vote as Bob. Assuming the poll works don’t know you or Bob you’re not going to get caught. That’s the risk you’re running. That someone there knows Bob (I assume if you walk in and recognize someone who would then know you you don’t proceed).
All that said when you pass a voter ID law you need to be reasonable. You need to have it not go in to effect for 4-8 years down the road. You need to fund an education campaign that lets voters know well ahead of time what the new requirement is. You need to fund resources to help people who have troubles meeting the new requirements. You need to allow provisional ballots that can be cast on election day and which will still be counted so long as the problems are resolved within a reasonable time frame after election day (I’m not certain when the cutoff is for states to submit their federal totals etc).
I’m not really pushing for these laws either, I’m just not against them. But they are always done seemingly with very little time before a poll which is obviously a problem. And they never fund the necessary surrounding support structures that a change to the fundamental democratic action of voting requires.
Why are we making people do extra work to vote? To prevent the possibility that someone will impersonate Bob? There is 0 evidence that this a problem. I have worked as a poll worker and the workers know most of the people that vote. It would take a lot of work to change an election by impersonating Bob while creating a lot of risk. Why would any sensible person who wants to change an election do this? One vote isn’t enough. You will have to do it hundreds or thousands of times to change an election – that would multiply the chances of getting caught to the point that you would almost certainly get caught. No election is perfect, we just don’t see it because they are not close enough to matter. If you want to change elections it would be easier to hack voting machines or use the absentee ballots because they don’t require ID. Ion lithium batteries have exploded in the past. Do we ban lithium batteries based on the tiny chance that a battery will explode? This is just a solution looking for a problem – with the affect being that certain groups are disproportional harmed, making it hard for them to vote.
^ this, and add to it the difficulty and expense of obtaining a valid ID, voter ID is voter suppression
A solution looking for a problem perhaps, but that is an argument about the effectiveness of the suggestion, not an argument about fairness. If implemented as I suggested with proper support structures around getting people the ID’s that they would need and giving several years in which to get people up to date I am not sure who would be left out that is simply not engaged enough to vote in the first place. Maybe there would still be some people, but the numbers would be very low, low enough that their votes wouldn’t change an election which by your own logic means it doesn’t matter. The only good argument against then would be the cost versus the reward, and on that I already agreed with you.
No problem with requiring IDs if you made getting a fucking ID easy:
First, you pass a voter ID law then exclude Student IDs, Medicare IDs and every other valid IDs that are used in you scenarios above other than a driving licence.
Second, you close all the DMVs (pure coincidence “of course”) that exist in minority/poor areas of the state that have precincts that did not vote for your preferred party.
Third, even those DMVs that you cannot close for practical reasons, you add a couple of extra conditions so that you can get a drivers licence like demanding passing a driving test for the car you don’t own or drive because you are blind or pay a fee of several hundreds of dollars. And even if you meet all those conditions as happened to thousands in Milwaukee the state can still basically refuse to give you an ID with a photo (all those IDs require a photo ID) because the machine happens to be broke that day, and every 3rd Tuesdays of every month because the DMV opens only once a month.
You’re being ridiculous. Nobody (or the statistical equivalent of nobody) is risking jail to cast an extra couple votes in an election that will be won by a hundred thousand or a million votes. Meanwhile, voter ID requirements are demonstrably preventing millions upon million of people to not get to vote.
The vote should not be hard. It should not cost any money. We ruled that poll taxes are illegal for this reason. Your vote is supposed to be fundamental. It should absolutely be as easy as walking in to the polling place, saying your name and getting a ballot. They then cross off your name as having voted. If someone did decide to risk jail to impersonate you, they wouldn’t swing any elections, and you not voting wouldn’t swing any elections. The Republicans throwing millions of black and poor people and ALL people with any criminal record off voting rolls IS swinging elections.
We have the evidence already. in person voter fraud is not a thing that exists. There’s not a problem that needs to be solved. There is absolutely no reason to support voter ID, unless you want to stop poor people, old people and people of color from voting.
Amen Ben! It’s all about THE Court. Dore Unhinged (aka. Aggressive Progressives) really needs your prospective.
The Aggressive Progressive is going to keep TYT in Biz, and you want Ben to ruin it with his mainstream bias? Bad idea.
Ben! Please join Aggressive Progressives and keep them honest.
As a one-time guest, of course, why not? Good for debate. But not as a permanent fixture because Ben clearly doesn’t belong there. It’s not called “Aggressive Establishment” for a very good reason.
“Aggressive Establishment”, incidentally, is what happens whenever Obama kills civilians with drone strikes, or when Hillary Clinton launches new wars of aggression (as she definitely will, if ever elected).
“Aggressive Establishment” is also what happens whenever Ben starts yelling at other hosts. Which he always does long before Jimmy does, by the way, and with greater frequency. Because while Jimmy raises his voice a lot and rants often, it’s nearly always aimed at the camera or the audience.
Ben’s yelling is always and uniquely reserved for the hosts he’s supposed to debate.
Ben’s commentary on the choice between voting for Clinton or a third party candidate is frustrating, not because I disagree with him (which I do) but because he behaves as if there is a clear and easy answer, which there isn’t. When Jimmy advocates for Jill Stein he at least acknowledges the other side has a decent argument.
Hey, I hope you’re still reading, because I feel like I have to apologize for the tone of our last conversation. Far too confrontational and personal. I hope that we’re all allowed to have bad days, because it took me a while to realize and acknowledge what a bad day I was having, due to unrelated circumstances. So again, apologies.
Thank you for the eloquent apology, I accept it unequivocally. I was also having a murderously difficult day and showed impatience toward you, which I regret and apologise for.
I look forward to reading your comments in future.
I’m very relieved to hear it. Likewise.
How did Ben get away with saying that George W. Bush committed the blunder of the Iraq war which he then said was one of the greatest blunders in history but he left out the fact that the only reason the Iraq war happened is because of Hillary Clinton.
He literally just said that he is supporting the candidate responsible for the worst blunder in history. And I’m not supposed to vote for Jill Stein?
Hillary Clinton gave the author of the Iraq war, neo-con Robert Kagan a job at the State Department and enjoys his support for her candidacy along with Michael Morell who said recently that we need to start killing Russians and Iranians in Syria. What world do we live in where people blame George W for the Iraq war but not his partner in congress who got the war passed, Hillary Clinton?
Eh I usually like ben and is dissenting opinion, but to hear him defend Clinton and admit he got 17 million dollars and then try to say that the company’s who bribed him got noting in return was a bit nauseating…
Yea also he calls the Iraq war the worst blunder in history like 5 seconds after he says that he wouldn’t vote for Jill Stein because Hillary will appoint better judges. He literally said that as though Hillary Clinton wasn’t responsible for the Iraq war. President can’t declare war, without Clinton the Iraq war would have never happened.
Benjamin also said that that there is no evidence of Clinton being influencing by money, even though there are jarring examples such as the bankruptcy law.
The issue is that Benjamin comes from a Democrat establishment family, so he can not help himself, he just talks for the power, not to the power, so he defends Hillary.
Benjamin and John also spread the neo-MacCarthyst media propaganda on how Putin “killed a politician”, even though not only there is no evidence of that, but there is not even a motive. Putin has always had from high to very high ratings, and that politicians was highly unpopular; his support was just about two percent. And his death is already investigated: he has insulted some well-respected people of Caucasus for which there was revenge, according to the ancient tribal traditions. (Of course, this was a horrible murder and it is shame that it has happened, but there is no any rational way to blame Putin for that.)
Yea also he calls the Iraq war the worst mistake in history like 5 seconds after he says that he wouldn’t vote for Jill Stein because Hillary will appoint better judges. He literally said that as though Hillary Clinton wasn’t responsible for the Iraq war. President can’t declare war, without Clinton the Iraq war would have never happened.
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 passed by a vote of 77 to 23 in the Senate.
29 senate democrats out of 50 voted for it. Clinton was one of those votes. 49 out of 50 Republicans voted for it in the Senate (all but Lincoln Chafee).
I hate Hillary Clinton with all of my heart, but I don’t think you can say she single handedly caused the Iraq war to happen. Joe Biden voted for it. John Edwards did too. John Kerry and Harry Reid voted for it. Dianne Feinstein did too.
It was a shitshow and total cowardice and “this will be an easy fight and we’ll all bask in the glory of successful militarism afterwards” totally predictable political bullshit that does not begin and end with Hillary Clinton.
Hillary didn’t cast the single deciding vote but Hillary was the most popular democrat in the Senate she could have whipped the votes the other way and they would have all stood with her. Ben himself even admitted this later in the second hour that if Hillary as the most popular democrat in the Senate would have come out against it then it would have failed.
Plus none of those other people are running for president so I think it makes absolute sense to put the blame of the Iraq war as much on her as on Bush. And the creation of ISIS is much more her fault than Bush’s due to the fact that she failed to rebuild Iraq wasting Billions upon Billions of our tax dollars in projects that she mis managed.
RFK Jr wrote a great article the other day showing that the modern problems with Iraq and Syria are really just a continuation of the clandestine wars and coups of the CIA in the 1950s.
http://www.politico.eu/article/why-the-arabs-dont-want-us-in-syria-mideast-conflict-oil-intervention/
Johnny is always awesome (and looks quite dapper in that suit just now) but on his own, he’s can’t provide the right counterpoint and the right kind of counterbalance to Ben’s establishmentarian views. Johnny is the play-by-play guy and he doesn’t have the right approach and temperament to play that role.
We need Ben-Cenk-John, or Ben-Jimmy-John, or Ben-Ana-John. Any kind of three-way like that is balanced.
I agree.
Really? Obama is nominating Republican SC Judges but I’m suppose to worry about who tRump will nominate? The people who are suppose to have my back, the Dems, respond with a hearty FUCK YOU but voting for Hillary is a good idea? Who’s fear mongering now?
I don’t really watch the show when Cenk isn’t on. The few exceptions are when Ben and/or Jimmy co-host. I particularly like Ben’s commentary because he argues, oftentimes, different positions and unlike Fox “News,” the hosts on TYT seem okay with vigorous debate.
Lol, love Ben.
“You people know I started the show with Cenk, right?”
Whether you agree with Ben on the issues or not, it’s not a good sign when someone starts throwing their internal status around on the air. It betrays insecurity.
Cenk never mentions that he’s a founder of TYT, except maybe on Old School and only because it’s part of anecdote told there about the early days.
He was joking.
That is irrelevant to my point. When your boss says to you, “Hey, remember that I’m the boss. Just joking!”, it’s still a subtle reminder of his status. The boss here is genuinely joking and genuinely being friendly – make no mistake – but this doesn’t reduce the psychological impact and hierarchical power of the line, it just makes it more subtle.
The fact itself of saying it has power, regardless of apparent intent.
This is similar to when powerful people – like presidents, or Bill Gates – walk around in cheap blue jeans. The message of the jeans is not “hey, I’m just like everyone else”, it’s precisely the opposite but in a clever (one might say sarcastic or joking) way; the real message is “I’m happy to come down to your level in this one respect, but let this also serve as a subtle reminder that I am really on a higher level. I may wear these everyman jeans, but the everyman jeans are not wearing me.”
And that is why Cenk doesn’t make that joke. I think Cenk intuitively understands the dynamic of it in a way that Ben doesn’t.
1) Ben was addressing the audience with that comment, in response to the rumors that he was fired, not TYT employees
B) Cenk mentions that he started TYT all the time
actually cenk has mentioned many times on the main show that he is the owner,boss or founder of tyt and ben was answering back at the people on social media that keep claiming that he’s been fired from tyt.
mann… i miss you guys cause of exams and s#$*; great stuff.
Ben is for the TPP? I know he’s not as progressive as the rest of the people on TYT, and I like to hear his perspective, but that’s insane. I can only imagine he doesn’t know TPP does. It’s not secret anymore. You can read the whole thing. Here are just a handful of things. There’s much much more than this:
—-> will result in more offshoring and exporting of what’s left of US jobs, by having US workers compete directly with people who make 60cents an hour and in some countries even slave labor.
—-> Allows member countries to export food without country of origin labels and with a stamp of approval that says they are the same as USDA approved, even though they aren’t. Vietnam is the leader in contaminated shrimp, because they have slaves live and shit right near the ponds they work in all day, and then they dump bleach into the shrimp ponds to deal with the contaminants, and TPP limits food inspections even more.
—->It extends patents on drugs so that generics are pushed even further out, preventing millions from having access to sometimes life saving treatments due to cost and undermines national efforts to curb drug pricing
—->The ISDS tribunal of corporate lawyers gets to rule if any law we create has affected their projection of future profit and sue us for the perceived lost profit. The judges and lawyers all switch places and are all corporate lawyers who exist outside any national legal system
—->Brings back SOPA/PIPA which is designed to redefine our laws on “fair use” for copywritten material, so places like the TYT can’t be on YouTube and show anything they currently show under “fair use”.
—->It allows member nations to challenge any laws that seek to regulate toxins, anti-smoking campaigns, anti-alcohol campaigns and anything else like that that might threaten future profits for these corporations.
—->It allows for the trade in illegally sourced natural resources that are being currently protected due to endangered species lists, as well as overfishing of currently protected fish species. This includes shark finning and whaling, which are currently under international restrictions
—->It hurts many people even in the developing nations too. NAFTA was projected to bring in millions of new jobs, but ended up displacing over a million Mexican farmers who had to compete with subsidized imported produce. TPP does this a million times worse with more nations with lower standards of living.
This is not a trade deal. It’s a protect the power of existing giant transnational corporations bill. What on Earth does Ben support about it?
https://www.citizen.org/tradewatch
Ben has spoken out against the TPP before. I think he meant that her support for it isn’t as much of a dealbreaker for him to not prefer her for president. In context, that makes the most sense.
That’s right. Even outside of Youtube, independent media like TYT could have a serious problem if they can’t constantly use clips from NBC, CNN, etc., without being fined and/or having to pay a fee to some massive media corporation. If the shows are reduced to just talking heads then we’ll lose many viewers and members.
WTF? Way too much pro-Hillary BS. Corrupt to the core. I DO care about her private email server, her extreme carelessness with national security and her ability to LIE, LIE, LIE and have people like Ben stand up for her. I feel a little soiled for have watching the whole show. :(
I think he’s more anti-trump than pro-Hillary.
Lenoir is pronounced “leh-noor” in NC.
LOL Love you guys!
Ben, you just don’t get it. It’s not that the media shouldn’t cover Jill Stein because she’s only getting 3% of the vote, it’s that she’s only getting 3% of the vote because the media isn’t covering her.
The tail truly does wag the dog.
I would much rather see TYT use Jimmy vs Ben when Cenk is gone. John, you’re great. Very intelligent and witty, but too soft on Ben, at least today.
why can’t i like this comment?
Because Trumpzilla has devoured our Disqus boards. :)
Ah, Ben, glad to have you back.
And glad to have you yelling. :)
Yay Ben! I wish you had been on when Jimmy was on last week. Welcome back.