David Sirota

David Sirota
Location
Denver, Colorado,
Birthday
November 02
Title
Columnist
Bio
David Sirota is a political journalist, best-selling author and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist living in Denver, Colorado. He is a senior fellow at the Campaign for America's Future , the founder of the Progressive States Network and a Senior Editor at In These Times magazine, which in 2006 received the Utne Independent Press Award for political coverage. He also blogs for Credo Action. and the Denver Post's PoliticsWest website. His two books, Hostile Takeover (2006) and The Uprising (2008) were both New York Times bestsellers. In the years before becoming a full-time writer, Sirota worked as the press secretary for Vermont Independent Congressman Bernard Sanders, the chief spokesman for Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, the Director of Strategic Communications for the Center for American Progress, a campaign consultant for Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and a media strategist for Connecticut Senate candidate Ned Lamont. He also previously contributed writing to the website of the California Democratic Party. For more on Sirota, see these profiles of him in Newsweek or the Rocky Mountain News. Feel free to email him at lists [at] davidsirota.com

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Editor’s Pick
MAY 28, 2009 2:09PM

Not Taking Shit From Right-Wing "Law & Order" Gas Bags

Rate: 7 Flag

I appeared on CNN this weekend to debate right-wing gasbag Chris Plante about the ongoing debate over torture, Gitmo, detainees and President Obama's effort to curtail the Bush administration's most egregious legal transgressions. You can watch the debate here - it's about the most heated television debate I've ever taken part in.

As you'll see, Plante forwards former Vice President Dick Cheney's most tired, most discredited lies about torture supposedly saving "thousands of lives" - and when confronted with hard reporting exposing Cheney's dishonesty, Plante pulls the attack the messenger routine, saying you basically can't believe anything you read in any newspaper.

The facts, of course, speak for themselves - CIA officials have acknowledged that there is no verifiable evidence that torture stopped any terrorist attacks, or produced "actionable" intelligence, and certainly no evidence that torture tactics produced anything better or more valuable than legal methods of interrogation.

But Plante - and the right wing - aren't interested in facts. They are interested in demagoguery that aims to tap into the Jack Bauer Theory of National Security - ie. the idea that it's AOK to break laws because doing so will save the United States from certain peril. Suddenly, "law and order" Republicans don't care about law and order.

After Plante repeats his talking points for the third time, I kinda went off. I'm not sure I should have gotten so in his face, but frankly, I'm sick and tired of right-wing No Talent Ass Clowns using the media to push their dishonest hyper-nationalist bullshit that seeks to portray lawbreaking as strong and patriotic, and respect for the law as somehow weak and traitorous. Sometimes it's important to simply call them out and take it to them - and that's what I tried to do.

Watch the clip here - I think you will find it entertaining.

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We have run amok with the fear factor. But then by my analyis, if you looked at the United States as an outsider with the brutal honsesty that that allows, you would see that we would overreact, which is exactly why the Russians and Iranians helped him ever so delicately to make sure he did a good job, so we would "have to do something about terrorism" and go bleed ourselves in Afghanistan, and then they lay the bait of Curve Ball and the Italian Memo and other stuff, and the dumb greedy morons jumped on the bait like a pit bull on a steak, and boom, we are bleeding out of multiple orifices, and ready for an ass-beating if we don't implode first.
Don Rich
May 28, 2009 04:17 PM
Excellent debate. Of course I'm on your side. I'm sure the right can spin this as a win.

I've been watching a lot of the no talent ass clowns for the past few months. It's a fascinating study in saying what your people want to hear, ramping it up to a fever pitch and by all means never let the facts stand in your way.

Fire and brimstone preaching til the eyes glaze over... Hallelujah!
jay busse
May 28, 2009 04:37 PM
You know, we've spent several years of "whoever shouts the loudest wins" applied by the right-wing tools throughout the media, so a little of their own medicine does them good. I know Obama wants to walk this very fine line of trying to reach out to the other side of the aisle but look what it gets him; some of the most scurrilous, heavy-handed attacks and pure obstructionism, (and simply school yard temper tantrums). So good going. If they are going to simply repeat talking points ad nauseam, then they deserve to be talked down to and scolded like the little bullies and thugs they are.
Tiffany Narwhal III
May 29, 2009 12:48 AM
WHEN did it become unpatriotic to ask questions of our elected officials? WHY is considered weak to insist that democratic principles of the highest order inform our foreign policy activities? I cannot BELIEVE the Cheney camp continues to insist that disagreeing with their methods is tantamount to supporting terrorism. It is monumentally insulting to the intelligence of the American people. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, our system of government and the values we tout as being uniquely American. It absolutely infuriates me. Thanks for verbally punching him out; I wish it could have been physical.

signed, 1 pissed-off 9/11 widow
Nikki Stern
May 29, 2009 10:36 AM