Ted Rall: John Avlon’s "Wingnut of the Week"

Check out militant moderate CNN talking head John Avlon’s pick for (left) Wingnut of the Week: me.

He’s entitled to his opinion. Obviously. What is amazingly disingenuous is Avlon’s approach: he never explains why I asked Obama to resign. Even when he’s asked “where is that coming from?” he doesn’t answer. That’s right–he doesn’t mention the topic of my column, which is Obama’s plan to radically change American law to permit the government to hold people in preventative detention (Obama calls it “prolonged detention”) in case they might commit a crime in the future.

It’s an amazingly dishonest smear–one that glosses over the possibility that anyone would have a legitimate reason to oppose Obama.

Could it be that, if they heard about Obama’s plan–one that the New York Times called one of the biggest changes in our legal system ever–most Americans would agree with me?

17 Comments.

  • The Reverend Mr. Smith
    June 5, 2009 4:22 PM

    The mainstream media called you a wingnut? It's a badge of honor. Congratulations.

  • It is really awful in it's lack of any real information. "bring a sense of perspective"!? There IS no perspective being offered there!!!

    I agree with you ted, but I think the picture of you with a wingnut for a hat is pretty cool, you should make one and wear it. It's like an industrialist Mickey Mouse hat.

  • Christopher
    June 5, 2009 6:13 PM

    Wow, that was even worse than I expected. Not one ounce of context. I don't really agree with you on Obama, but this clown on CNN implies that there isn't any rational basis for strong criticism of Obama from the left.

    Does this also mean I have to rethink my opinion on Tom Tancredo now? (Nah).

  • Yes, why is Rall the one shown with the cartoon wingnut on his head?

    And don't think it did not escape people's attention that Tancredo–who once held and still welds power over us–got to speak on network TV, while Rall, who was never in the halls of power, had to have a bit of his blog read on the air.

    And since when has Rall been considered "Left"? Rall works for living while Tancredo has been bilking tax-payers all his life.

    Tancredo: taxpayer burden–except that one time he got a deferment from Vietnam! Typical chickenhawk.

  • *closing Guantanamo
    *getting out of Iraq
    *re-engaging Muslim world
    *standing up to Israel
    *release of torture memos
    *massive overhaul/reduction of Pentagon spending
    *massive overhaul of banking/credit industry rules on behalf of borrowers/consumers
    *prophylactics, not abstinence, as part of overseas AIDS/birth control aid
    *etc.

    Yeah, he should resign. Before things get any worse.

    I'm sorry man, I can sort of understand your anger, but only sort of. To be honest, though, I think that you've become a bit addicted to self-righteousness. That "sinister" shit was a bit over the top, and your text has a general stink of fatuous self-regard. There are a lot of people on the left who are more into sanctimony-as-narcissistic-self-therapy than they are seriously interested in making things better, and you appear to be in the grips of that disease. Oh I know, you're just that pure, and it's the beauty of your soul that drives you to suggest that the author of the above achievements poses a grave threat to the nation. And you've certainly earned the higher moral ground, what with your drawrings and such. What the fuck has that Obama character ever done?

    Brian, Philadelphia

  • badnewswade
    June 5, 2009 9:29 PM

    I know it's become something of a cliche of late, but… that really was like something out of the USSR.

    "Insufficiently liberal on the War On Terror"?!? Well, yeah, locking people up indefinitely without trial, I suppose you could say that was insufficiently liberal… 'kin ell!

    Keep on trucking, Ted!

  • So now you are identified with the right? You oppose Obama. They oppose Obama. You have something in common. Right wing nut job!

  • This is why I don't watch television.

  • Susan Stark
    June 6, 2009 8:29 PM

    Brian, let me address the things you claim Obama has supposedly done:

    *closing Guantanamo

    He has done no such thing. The prisoners in Gitmo are still there, and the Army Base itself is still open.

    *getting out of Iraq

    US troops are still stationed there, as well as private mercenaries. The funding of the Iraq War continues. Furthermore, he has increased funding for the troops in Afghanistan.

    *re-engaging Muslim world

    See above.

    *standing up to Israel

    He has not ended the Occupation of Palestine, nor has he ended foreign aid to Israel, nor has he even moved an inch toward the Two-State solution started by Oslo. Complaining about "settlements" by Obama and Hillary Clinton does not mean opposing the Occupation itself.

    *release of torture memos

    While protecting the torturers and allowing them to go unpunished.

    *massive overhaul/reduction of Pentagon spending

    See everything above.

    *massive overhaul of banking/credit industry rules on behalf of borrowers/consumers

    He bailed out the bankers, but not their victims. People are still losing their homes to foreclosures.

    *prophylactics, not abstinence, as part of overseas AIDS/birth control aid

    Foreign recipients of AIDS/birth control aid are still prohibited from assisting sex workers in any way, or supporting harm reduction of sex workers either verbally or in written form.

    Sorry, Brian. No dice.

  • "Could it be that, if they heard about Obama's plan–one that the New York Times called one of the biggest changes in our legal system ever–most Americans would agree with me?"

    Yes, that's most likely it.

    However…and I hate to sound like an elitist…but never, ever, underestimate the stupidity of the average person.

    When people call me a "left wing extremist", I take it as a compliment. I even tell them that, yes, I AM a left-wing extremist. It's okay to be called that, and it's okay to be that.

  • The sad thing is the masses will watch this and agree without ever reading the piece. I don't think the CNN reader did either. Yes indeed, "prolonged detention" is very sinister.

  • Flamingo Bob
    June 7, 2009 11:08 AM

    With criticism like this, who needs adulation and praise, Ted? Anyone with a functioning sense of irony is going to watch this and, when they get to the part about CNN showing "both sides" for "balance", they'll sit back and enjoy the laughs.

  • Marion Delgado
    June 7, 2009 2:43 PM

    In this case, there's no such thing as bad publicity, Ted. And not just for you, but for your point.

    You should be privately thankful for John Avlon (albeit he's kind of a nobody to be punditing around picking people).

  • I do agree with Brian from Philly here, but only if he lives by Pat's and not Gino's. There really is a substantial amount of positive movement going on, even if it is rhetoric. It is a BIG DEAL to have the leader of the United States acknowledge climate change as a real and existential threat, for example.

    I also agree with him about the sanctimonious narcissism of the post 45 year old, '60s style leftist/liberal. I recall claiming on Ted's blog 15 months ago that the hostility toward Obama in the primaries was, I perceived, old liberal hostility at seeing a movement for change that they weren't a part of. Now that this movement actually propelled someone into office, their entire identity is wrapped around denying that any meaningful change has occurred.

    I think that also accounts for the issue-based tunnel vision.

  • orvillethird
    June 8, 2009 9:00 AM

    And it's also ironic that many on the Right would agree with you that preemptive detention is illegal, immoral and criminal. (A few even agreed when Bush was doing it…)

  • This is great!

    I think Ted's quote here was self evident to anyone who heard it.

    It will be harder for CNN to define the left as Obama if it is clear that the real left is nowhere near him. This is important.

  • Hey, if the Golden Calf appoints one more freakin' czar or fires one more pawn to cover his corrupt little ass, then maybe Ted's very cogent point will become reality. Right now, the lack of support to Iran's protesters is total cowardice. Big reformer, community organizer, my arse! Since his slippery thugs awarded $2 Trillion to GE, we'll never hear anything but happy puff-piece coverage from Olby and Williams and the angry crowd. But we told ya. Obama isn't what you thought he was. Con men never are.

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