Cenk Uygur

NewsBusters reported last week that Fox News's Sean Hannity had come down on actor Ed Asner for his participation in an animated video depicting a rich person urinating on regular Americans.

Asner struck back Monday on Current TV's Young Turks saying, "I think he's behind on his rabies shots" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Like ambulance-chasing lawyers, the heavy-handed liberal activists who populate much of the media raced to exploit Hurricane Sandy even as the storm was lashing the East Coast last night, citing it as proof of “climate change” and a reason to oppose Mitt Romney.

Yesterday afternoon, MSNBC’s Martin Bashir started a panel discussion by claiming that “people are wondering today if the current hurricane has anything to do with global change, climate change, global warming,” and then mentioned the “right-wing nut jobs” supporting Romney.

After Barack Obama's absolutely horrible performance in last week's presidential debate, would you compare him to the famed "Star Wars" character Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Luke Skywalker aka Mark Hamill actually did on Current's Young Turks Wednesday (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Both TV Newser and TV Week have picked up on Al Gore-led Current TV’s campaign to “distinguish” itself in cable talk by promoting a clip of Cenk Uygur, the MSNBC-refugee host of “The Young Turks,” attacking  Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday night as a “g–damn Nazi.” This might match the Current motto of “Politically Direct,” but it’s not correct.

“All right, before I go to my panel, let me just level Bill O’Reilly,” boasted Uygur, like a guy who’s had too many drinks at the end of the bar.

You Tube is launching a series of nearly 100 new channels. The set of new channels is laden with liberal voices and controversial material, and is practically devoid of conservative and Christian voices.

Liberal-leaning channels include offerings from sources such as Slate, The Chopra Well (with Deepak Chopra, a New Age guru and Huffington Post contributor), and Take Part TV (makers of Al Gore's 2006 global warming scare documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth'').

Remember how Al Sharpton was among the first black leaders to speak out in favor of Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal?

My recollection of this was vague at best, tending as I do to dismiss nearly everything coming from Sharpton as insignificant, predictable or clownish.

Then after FCC approval of the merger back in January, Sharpton began appearing more often as a guest on MSNBC, a cable network subsidiary of NBC that performs yeoman's work in public relations for the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

A July 27 article at The Daily Beast by Wayne Barrett, "Sharpton's Affirmative-Action Win," asks whether Sharpton's expected new show on MSNBC is "payback" for supporting Comcast's merger with NBC Universal. Barrett's article leaves little doubt as to the answer.

Granted, you may not have noticed any difference.

The Rev. Al Sharpton did his part for Republicans last night by arguing with one of them.

Sharpton, heir apparent to the 6-7 p.m. slot on MSNBC, tried to get the better of Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and ran into the immovable object of a smarter opponent.

Here's how their exchange ended, with Sharpton criticizing Mulvaney for opposing higher taxes to reach a deal on the debt ceiling (video after page break) --

When CBS's "60 Minutes" did a puff piece about Al Sharpton in May, Lesley Stahl revealed the Reverend refuses to say anything bad about President Obama.

On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," former MSNBC contributor Cenk Uygur claimed he might have been replaced by Sharpton in the 6PM time slot because of the Reverend's undying devotion to the current White House resident (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Update: Our good friend Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer was ahead of the curve with a post on July 14 about signals that Sharpton was joining MSNBC.

When MSNBC shuffled Ed Schultz up to the 10 p.m. slot they placed left-wing blogger and radio host Cenk Uygur (pronounced jenk you-gur) in the 6 p.m. Eastern time slot that Ed vacated as an interim host.

But Uygur has been curiously absent from his dinnertime perch since early July, with the Rev. Al Sharpton filling in but not explaining why Uygur was out. Yesterday MSNBC announced that Uygur had officially left the network and today the New York Times is reporting that Sharpton's hiring as a full-time host is "imminent."

The past is prologue, so a look back at Sharpton's wacky pronouncements to date should be instructive. We at NewsBusters have a full archive on Al Sharpton that you can find here, but I thought we'd highlight a few items that stand out.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? -- Matthew 7:4

On a somewhat slow Thursday night, let's have a good chuckle.  On his MSNBC show this evening, Cenk Uygur jumped on a poll showing Paul Ryan with a 26% unfavorability rating to declare that America "can't stand" the Wisconsin congressman and that the 26% unfavorable rating is "disastrous."

Question for Cenk: if a 26% unfavorable rating is that bad, how would you describe Nancy Pelosi's unfavorable rating of . . . 63%?  Just wondrin' . . .

View video after the jump.

I'm going to sit back and let our readers run with this one.  On his MSNBC show tonight, Cenk Uygur said that "the Republican vision of Jesus" is "to tell the poor and needy to pound sand."

Uygur offered his twisted theological take in commenting on a GOP proposal to trim allocations to a certain welfare program.

View video after the jump.

Remember the movie "Say Anything"? Same can be said for Cenk Uygur's approach to criticizing Republicans.

Chatting with his MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow on her show Friday night, Uygur apparently forgot he was on the air and described President Obama's opponents in a way one might expect if the audience consisted solely of liberals. (Then again, it was MSNBC).

Here's what Uygur told Maddow about Republican efforts to retool Medicare before it spends itself broke, followed by his overwrought description of Obama's "enemies" (video below page break) --

In a desperate attempt to save Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has even been abandoned by the leaders of his own party, MSNBC is still refusing to acknowledge that Weiner's actions should jeopardize his House seat.

Lawrence O'Donnell, host of "The Last Word," ridicules the idea that lying should be grounds for resignation, Rachel Maddow, host of "The Rachel Maddow Show," describes the situation as "more gossip than news," and Cenk Uygur, MSNBC political commentator, says that "he lied, so what."

(Videos after the break)

It takes a former CNN "correspondent" to make Tim Pawlenty sound scary . . .

It's kind of fun to watch former MSM "reporters" turn into totally-out, liberal partisans once they leave their "reporting" gigs.  Take Bob Franken. For years a big-time national correspondent for CNN, the network let him go in 2007.  Franken is now free to let his liberal freak flag fly. 

Witness Bob on MSNBC this evening.  Commenting on Tim Pawlenty's tax-cut proposal, Franken fulminated that the former Minnesota governor is planning nothing less than to lead [cue spooky music] an "oligarchy."   Franken also took a scatalogical shot at "trickle-down" economics.

View video after the jump.

MSNBC's Cenk Uygur made an on air admission Tuesday that might not only raise some of his boss's eyebrows but could also make a few ex-girlfriends very unhappy.

As he defended Congressman Anthony Weiner's (D-N.Y.) handling of the sex scandal that's riveted the nation for more than a week, Uygur said to his guests, "You know how many times when I was single, and I had girlfriends, you know how many times I lied to them?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

As NewsBusters' Lachlan Markay pointed out, the Weinergate scandal showcased a variety of liberal media conspiracy theories. One of the most prevalent theories focused on besmirching conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who broke the story wide open Monday with a series of posts on BigGovernment.com featuring lewd photos of Rep. Anthony Weiner.

"Look, Breitbart is a proven liar, okay?" bellowed MSNBC anchor Cenk Uygur on June 1. "He doctored the Shirley Sherrod tapes. He's done this over and over again. Why would anybody take this fool seriously?"

[Video after page break]

It never ceases to amaze me what people on MSNBC are willing to say while cameras are rolling.

On Wednesday, the perilously liberal Cenk Uygur - with a straight face no less! - told Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) in the midst of a budget discussion, "I'm actually a fiscal conservative" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Kind of disappointing--nothing about Republicans head-butting widows or knocking the crutches from the arms of the disabled.  Even so, let's give Damon Silvers credit: the union boss did claim that Republicans "literally deny clothing to foster kids to give rich people tax cuts."

AFL-CIO honcho Damon Silvers made the hysterically hyperbolic claim on Cenk Uygur's MSNBC show this evening.

View video after the jump.

Republicans have responded with widespread opprobrium to President Obama's speech on the Middle East.  Mitt Romney epitomized GOP reaction in saying PBO had "thrown Israel under the bus."

Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised, but at MSNBC, Obama  was actually criticized last night . . . for not being hard enough on Israel.  Cenk Uygur said "the president's speech was too much leaning towards Israel."

Uygur also disagreed with Obama's disapproval of any attempt by the Palestinians to stage an end-run on a negotiated peace by going to the UN to have their state established.  And for good measure, Cenk accused Israel of the "oppression" of the Palestinians.

View video after the jump.

On his MSNBC talk show Friday night, Cenk Uygur mocked the Republican presidential debate as a "joke" and a collection of nobodies, since Speaker John Boehner didn't watch it live: "He spent his night at a steak house, 'with a bottle of Cabernet and a few cigarettes.' Sounds like an average night for Boehner, swilling that Cabernet all night." Classy.  Uygur then turned to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank and MSNBC political analyst (and former Newsweek reporter) Richard Wolffe. Wolffe called the Paul Ryan Medicare plan "their longest suicide note in political history. And watching Republicans explain how they were for it before they were against it is just going to be wonderful to watch for all of us." Uygur began with Milbank:

What does it take to make a lefty MSMer go all Chuck Norris?  A war-on-terrorism success during a Dem presidency, of course.

On his MSNBC show tonight, Cenk Uygur, of all people, regretted that more Americans aren't chanting "USA, USA!"

View video after the break.

Even at MSNBC, which gets crushed of course by Fox News in every prime-time slot, Cenk Uygur manages to come in dead last in ratings among his liberal peers.  

So when Cenk claims that he doesn't want to cover Donald Trump but is forced to do so by The Donald's popularity, the baloney-meter starts screaming. Uygur opened his show last evening with a long segment on Trump, all the while apologizing to his audience for doing so. 

View video after the jump.

One more sign the Age of Civility is over: an MSNBC host urging Dems to be more "vicious" toward Republicans. Oh, and to engage in more "name-calling."

Apparently writing off any career ambitions of succeeding to the Miss Manners slot, Cenk Uygur issued his recommendations last night in the course of disagreeing with a Dem congressman who was insufficiently coarse for Cenk's taste.

View video after the jump.

MSNBC's token conservative Pat Buchanan has really been having a lot of fun lately taking on the liberals at the so-called news network he contributes to.

On Monday's "MSNBC Live," Buchanan in the middle of a discussion about oil prices and subsidies told the host, "You’ve got to learn a little bit about supply and demand as Barack Obama never did when he was out there in that Saul Alinsky outfit in Chicago" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Q. How does a liberal describe giving seniors choice over their health care coverage?

A. Murder.

On Cenk Uygur's MSNBC show this evening, Jonathan Alter claimed that in proposing to issue Medicare vouchers, Republicans voted "to throw granny into the snow."

For good measure, Cenk came out in favor of the "Robin Hood" approach to taxation--robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.

View video after the jump.

Cenk Uygur can't figure out why accused Army leaker Bradley Manning isn't being treated like a "hero".  Seriously.

Uygur's guest on his MSNBC show this evening was P.J. Crowley, the former State Department spokesman who was forced out of his post for publicly criticizing the treatment of Manning while in detention awaiting trial.

Cenk whined as to why Manning isn't being accorded the "hero" treatment that Daniel Ellsberg received from some for his leak of the Pentagon Papers back in the Vietnam day.  But P.J. presumably surprised Cenk, strongly supporting the prosecution of Manning, saying he "caused damage to the United States and our interests around that world," and that his "prosecution is quite necessary."

View video after the jump.

There's an old saw that every time a senator looks in the mirror, he sees a president.  Could the same be true of MSNBC hosts?  

Twice tonight on his TV show, Cenk Uygur fantasized himself as president.  The muy macho MSNBCer naturally imagined he'd be much tougher with Republicans than President Obama.

View video after the jump.

It's a favorite liberal parlor game: basking in the belief that they are smarter and more sophisticated than conservatives.  Cenk Uygur couldn't have chosen a more inapt moment to play the game than last night.  But like a moose to a flame . . .

On his MSNBC show last evening, Uygur had on a co-host of his Young Turks radio show to tout a study claiming to find anatomical differences between conservative and liberal brains.  Liberal noggins are allegedly larger in the area that helps process conflicting information. Conservative brains, in contrast, supposedly have larger amygdalas--the area that recognizes threats or fear.

Cenk jumped on the study to claim it explains why conservatives tend to "campaign on fear."  Oy, Ugyur.  Someone should check the part of his brain dealing with memory.  Cenk apparently couldn't recall that Dems spent the last week . . . fear-mongering the Republican budget proposal.  Cenk, does Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's immortal "death trap" phrase mean anything to you?

View video after the jump.