Glenn Greenwald debates Lawrence O'Donnell on Blue Dogs

[FeelFreeToArgue]

Amazingly, GG scores his fatal point right at the outset in the clip from the prior show where he notes that 95% of the progressive caucus (the artist formerly known as Democrats) were reelected. Game over. It makes O'Donnell's sabotage at the end irrelevant. "Oh my gosh, it seems Jimmy Smits (reading my favorite politcal wet dream) took the rest of your time. So sorry." When they cut back to him, I expected to see him wrapped in a flag, kissing a baby.

[thefastshuffle]

Glenn Greenwald = INVINCIBLE

[brucewayne314]

someone call Ripley's because at 0:57 lawrence actually apologized for interrupting someone,.

[pennjersey83]

Ummm, Americans dont hate their private health insurance. I love my private health insurance and polls show the majority of Americans feel the same.

[nirtseg]

@pennjersey83, care to cite one of those polls? A 2009 poll conducted by CBS News & The New York Times indicates that 59% of the country favors the implementation of a single-payer system. I personally doubt the accuracy of that poll, and, admittedly, if its responder base consisted primarily of New York Times readers, it's probably quite dubious. That said, I've never seen any polls which, as you suggest, indicate overwhelming support for the status quo. The attitude seems, at best, ambivalent.

[nirtseg]

@pennjersey83, the best poll in support of your contention that I could find is a 2007 Gallup survey which indicated that 57% of the country was "satisfied" with their private health insurance. Given the subsequent deepening of the recession, rampant unemployment, and the protracted debacle of the recent health care debate, I'd be surprised if that number hasn't dipped substantially. Also, I wonder what segment of the population is aware of the costs they incur from ER care for the uninsured.

[marcostar57]

Glenn's great -- he knows how to define the problem! Dems need to stand for something -- progressive values -- and enact policies that help ordinary folks! Blue dogs are only watered down Rethugs.

[amartin7889]

O'Donnell can label himself a socialist if he wants. The quintessential definition of one today is Noam Chomsky. O'Donnell is no Chomsky.

[PlainSight52]

NOBODY CAN COMPARE TO GLENN GREENWALD

[xaviqaz]

So many liberals from the Progessive Caucus are reelected thanks to "minorities" that usually are not that liberal. A Democrat is able to win a conservative suburban middle-class white district. But a Republican has no chance in Chicago, Detroir or Philly areas, no matter how moderate he is

[mwells219]

@xaviqaz because for most of the 20h cemtury those states have had a majority of black people, and in the 1960's the GOP became the party of the southern democrat segregationists. Your party has for most of the 20th and 21st century been the party of racial prejudice.

[xaviqaz]

@mwells219 Moving out of Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, etc those "blue states" are pretty red. In fact, with the exception of a few New England states, USA is pretty red if you ignore the urbans areas. PS. I´m not a Republican.

[calthopian]

@xaviqaz But clearly those areas don't have near the population of the urban centers to matter very much on a federal election scale. For instance, if you look at the West coast, nearly everything across the cascades or sierra nevada is republican owned, however there are so few ppl there that it doesn't really matter. Just because there are more sq miles of land held by the GOP doesn't mean that they win the majority of ppl, because the majority of Americans, live in metros of more than 1 mil.

[Whammyaniac]

Glen's right. Democrats need to grow some backbone and stand up for their progressive positions. None of this half-measure crap trying to move to the right. That's why they lost the House.

[eyesus34]

I'd rather call myself a Progressive than a Democrat. Glenn should keep his good ideas to himself and let the Democrats die a quick death trying to prove they are more conservative than the conservatives.

[jibbi4one]

LOL!! these duopolistic political boobs have fun shading hues of REP/DEM reds & blues while the country goes to hell-in-a-hand-basket. Did they discuss proposals to cut size of gov't or reduce control of banks have of monetary and fiscal policy to grow a market economy and create jobs ??

MORE BS FROM FABIAN SOCIALIST CENTRAL MSNBC

[blairbradley]

Well it wasn't a "messaging problem" or a "lack of communication" that brought about the largest Democratic meltdown in 60-70 years- it was the substance of what the Dems promoted and passed . The issues killed them. The overwhelming majority of Americans today do not like what the Federal Government is doing; they want a smaller, less intrusive Government; they want less spending; lower taxes; and the election reflected that.

[bearguyisdanny]

Nobody takes on Greenwald and wins

[SocialistAmerican]

I love Lawrence but he's just wrong, here. The Democrats' problem isn't that they're too far left, it's that they're too far right. Real liberals don't have anybody to vote for half the time because Democrats are so afraid of being perceived as leftists that they shoot the goddamned cap-and-trade bill with a rifle. Give liberals somebody to vote for and they WILL vote for him.

[Vebinz]

O'Donnell is wrong, there IS a difference between progressives and liberals. The former tend to be more independent and geniunely anti-war, while the latter are more partisan.

Also, it's silly to call Lincoln liberal.

These old Republicans weren't"liberal' though they were progressive. I doubt Teddy Roosevelt or Hoover would have been favorable to abortion or gay marriage, but they were true progressives.

[leoamar4385896]

O'Donnell is so annoying. He doesn't get it. Obama wasn't being liberal. The Democrats weren't being liberal. That why the left didn't vote them back in office.

[xaviqaz]

@leoamar4385896 Let me guess:

less red moderates=bad

less blue moderates=good

According to Gallup, 35-40% of American people identify themselves as conservative; 35% as moderate; 20% as liberal.

[standardsal]

Liberal, progressive and conservative are far too broad of terms for what we are as participants in a democracy today.

[swlit2001]

O'Donnell is out of his depth.

[fausto412]

If only democrats talked like Jimmy Smits.

[wtfoof]

@fausto412 WE DO!

[bamage58]

Disagree strongly w/ the "more interested in being right than gaining agreement" assessment. GG IS right.

LOD disagrees. LOD is also wrong.  Should GG in classic Dem fashion, attempt to co-opt LOD by adopting LOD's position?

[UnitedStatesTube]

These guys have the same core values. Glenn's advantage is having nothing to do with the establishment; he thinks and speaks accordingly. O'Donnell has the disadvantage of constant exposed to establishment think; he's adopted and promotes some of that think unknowingly.

I love Glenn but sometimes he's more interested in demonstrating that he's right that he is in getting agreement. He could have won O'Donnell over. He didn't need to cream him.

Glenn needs to learn to vary his approach.

[marniespeaks]

@UnitedStatesTube

yeah, don't let facts get in the way.

O'Donnell has turned into a douche - course maybe he's always been that way - good in small doses, but perhaps his exposure just highlights that more.

That doesn't mean his intentions aren't good.

His approach is not savvy enough to be likable

the medium caters to not just agreeing with the host, but liking the guy

[marniespeaks]

What conservatives hate most about liberals is they come off snarky and think they know it all

Democrats have it backwards, O'Donnell should be running for office and Obama should be hosting a show on MSNBC.

[UnitedStatesTube]

@marniespeaks Despite his obvious weakness (very nicely indoctrinated by the establishment), I like Larry, and wouldn't wish politics on him. He just needs to shed the indoctrination. Obama hosting a show on MSNBC, though -- that would be much more his speed than POTUS. Obama -- overwhelmed from day 1.

[marniespeaks]

@UnitedStatesTube

or bought and sold - I still can't reconcile the campaign rhetoric with the actions taken

Obama is

1. dumber than Bush

2. a really good liar

or

3. operating under deres by a shadow government.

hard to tell

[Uncle99B]

@marniespeaks: Who gives a sh*t what the infantile conservatives think? They are never going to be clear thinkers...they are a lost cause. It is a waste of time to try to get them to see the light

[marniespeaks]

@Uncle99B

neither party gives a shit - time to wake up

[Uncle99B]

@marniespeaks . Who is talking about the two parties?

[MrCatChew]

O'Donnell seems to be narcissist/egomaniac and Greenwald seems about facts and issues. For most of us, it is not about you, Larry.

[marniespeaks]

@MrCatChew

glad I wasn't the only one who noticed

That's what's wrong with guys like O'Donnell, it's all about them. They lost touch with the working folks in exchange for big money, blood money.

Course the American people aren't much to work with these days.

If most bothered to vote they'd render all these talking heads back to the likes of David Susskind and William F. Buckley

It's an industry now to blow everything out of proportion, keep the divide going in order to get views

[AndrewMann552]

Good, sane discussion. But including that cheesy West Wing clip at the end just felt like desperation from O'Donnell, we get it, you think you're some sort of ultra-liberal in corporate TV land, no need for that level of juvenile antics.

[sagenev]

Give Greenwald a show!

[mosak06]

@sagenev

Amen! A Glenn Greenwald show would be phenomenal!

[flylotusfly]

Kudos to Mr. O'Donnell for engaging Mr. Greenwald in a constructive debate. Its refreshing to see talking heads expose themselves to such withering criticism.

Of Course, Glenn did a fantastic job, as he always does, of logically dissecting the myths which media figures, such as O'Donnell, perpetuate across the intellectually bankrupt cable news industry.

[gary7vn]

Square jaw, stentorian voice, blue eyes, he must right. Unless you listen. Glenn killed him.

[shiftleswhenidle]

Nice to see a civil discussion, and I agree with Glenn!

[jim294]

Thanks, Glenn, for being willing to criticize the pundits! Most people in your position want a high-paying job in the media and thus won't be as critical as you. Good man!!!

[Mtl4us2]

@jim294 Amen to that! :-D