President Barack Obama hugs Lilly Ledbetter after signing the ‘Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, January 29, 2009
So, Cenk Uygur (Young Turks), darling of the Professional Left, was, apparently, ranting again today about the President – I don’t know what he was hyperventilating about this time, I only watch him now when I’m in need of a cure for insomnia.
I used to like the guy, always watched his YouTube stuff, but I remembered today the point when we parted company:
This video (you can see it all here) was made just a year in to Barack Obama’s presidency – but by then Uygur had already concluded that the President had failed him and his fellow ‘progressives’.
Okay, that was all a bit predictable from a professional leftie, but what was most incredible about this video was this supposed progressive’s sneering comments about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:
“Eventually the Democrats had a 60 seat majority in the Senate, they were unstoppable. And what did we get? Lilly Ledbetter. If you don’t know, that’s a minor bill that passed in the beginning of the administration … it’s a good bill, that’s why I bring it up … about women being entitled to equal pay. God bless. Incredibly easy victory.”
A “minor” bill?
A 2009 bill that amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an incredibly easy victory?
A 2009 bill that finally gave legal support to Lilly Ledbetter’s 1998 equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination was “minor”?
A lawsuit that the Supreme Court ruled against in 2007, by a 5-4 majority
“The case had never received much attention before going to the Supreme Court, but the Court’s ruling ignited legal groups on the left and Democrats that took action to transform the Ledbetter case into a rallying issue for the left, having activists seen in the figure of the complainant an ideal standard-bearer in their attempt to persuade the public that the Supreme Court was moving too far to the right.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling was applauded by the US Chamber of Commerce who called it a “fair decision” that “eliminates a potential wind-fall against employers by employees trying to dredge up stale pay claims.”
….The bill was re-introduced in the 111th Congress in January 2009. It passed in the House of Representatives with 247 votes in support and 171 against. The vote was nearly perfectly split along party lines…. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed the Senate, 61-36, on January 22, 2009.
As president, Obama actively supported the bill. The official White House blog said:
President Obama has long championed this bill and Lilly Ledbetter’s cause, and by signing it into law, he will ensure that women like Ms. Ledbetter and other victims of pay discrimination can effectively challenge unequal pay.
On January 29, Obama signed the bill into law. It was the first act he signed as president, and it fulfilled his campaign pledge to nullify Ledbetter v. Goodyear.
Here’s the video of the signing of the “minor” bill – see how little it meant to all those who attended:
So, did Cenk sneer at the successful conclusion to the long struggle for equal pay for women because he regards equal pay for women as “minor”, or because it was President Obama who signed the bill? Maybe both? Dunno.
I remember thinking, only a Republican could regard equal pay for women as a “minor” achievement. Oh, wait:
(See the full video here, from YearlyKos ‘o7, where he tries to convince progressives that not only he is no longer “so conservative judicially I went to Federalist Society meetings”, he is now a fully fledged progressive!)
So, from being a Ronald Reagan fan (which he was) and a Federalist Society supporter (wow!) and a critic of “excessive regulation” (good grief), to being a fully fledged Professional Left ‘progressive’ in no time at all …. that’s, um, change we can believe in!
Of course leopards can change their political spots, and it’s very lovely when they shift the spots from right to left, but is there not a touch of the Arianna Huffingtons about this guy? The political shift has paid off beautifully, he’s now a media star! (But still not big in to equal pay for women).
PS Isn’t it kind of curious that three of the highest profile media/internet ‘progressives’ are ex-Republicans, Arianna Huffington, Markos Zuniga (Daily Kos) and Cenk Uygur (Young Turks). And all three now host sites or personally express views that are ceaselessly anti-President Obama? Are their hearts truly in the Democrat/liberal cause? Just asking.
The Obama Diary 
I have no time for Cenk…..need to start persuading others of his incongruencies with progressive politics.
Absolutely FABULOUS rant Ms. Chips!! LOL, loving it. I have said this before- all of these loud, agressive ‘progressives’.. “used” to be REPUBLICANS. And frankly my dear they purely nekked in their emporer’s clothes imo. And I’ll add another tidbit: they are playing folks.. and they are getting mighty rich and famous in the bargain.. they are our “media’s” idea of liberal.. and not a real liberal amongst them.. and I absolutely belive that race plays no small part in their hatefest and in their ego boosting- they are, it seems.. trying to BEST Obama… pretending to be smarter, all knowing.. TYPICAL REPUBLICANS, lol. Isn’t Ed whats his face a ‘used’ to be republican.. and lets not forget Markos Moulitsas.. and I’m sure they’re a few more. And Keith O, who I actually liked somewhat.. a guy who doesn’t vote. And these are the voices that speak for ‘liberal Americans’ on our nightly national news. Pathetic.
Toothless bulldogs all of them! Ineffective and incapable of successfully arguing for anything but very good at attacking the only adult in the room because they know he is too dignified and too grown-up and too focused on more important matters to engage them in their petty tomfoolery!
You won’t hear a peep from them when it comes to the real issues and dangerous republicans. Not a peep from Arianna regarding Wisconsin; way too busy counting her ill-gotten wealth upon which she shall choke!
Don’t forget the loudest one -Ed Schultz -another ex-republican now in the money.
please post the interview with the afl cio on PBO involvement with unions. he said it well.
i hate to be soo mean, but these people deserve what they got for voting for these criminals when the president campaigned to help people see the light. thank God i live in a democratic state with a democratic governor, assembly & senate!!! 🙂
link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/42020874#42021350
Despise them all now. Could not have said it better than this rant did. Leapards changing their political spots from right to left is a good analogy. Good job.
Its sad that all these people on the professional left are actually Republicans. No wonder they started bashing this President so early on and with such gusto.
Cenk’s a ranting arsehole! there I said it 😡
Good morning dear site 😀
I have also always found it interesting and perplexing that all these darlings of the PL, Obama’s fiercest and most persistent critics, have histories on the right. Somehow that fact just doesn’t inspire sincerity and confidence. I cannot tolerate Cenk. He’s a one-trick pony and a pretender. I have disdain for all of them. And it’s pretty sad that they all have been allowed to play such prominent roles, influencing the political discourse. It really makes you wonder wtf is going on.
To folks like Cenk, if the bill didn’t affect them personally then it was minor. Just look how easily they were ready to Kill the bill and were quite eager to throw the middle class under the bus over the tax deal. Only thing that matters to them is the “fight”.
Even the fight(for the middle class)does not matter to this group. They are laughing all the way to the bank, that is what realy matters to them.
+ 1,000,000.
People like him are the cancer that tears at the very fabric of any fight for justice in this country. There have always been scaliwags in government, but when these types are allowed to run the discourse in the media, it can kill the spirits of the most well-meaning of the electorate. We, that is, true democrats, independents, and decent republicans (whatever’s left of that lot), must, without hesitation, resist them with every means available. Write, call, email, tweet, Facebook, and argue face to face with this menace to society. I heard erroneous information on my local talk radio twice last week, and did not hesitate to correct them. I am in this fight for the long haul, especially after the 2010 elections. These miscreants cannot continue to direct our thought and actions.
Spot on EDP…
Pssst, so called “decent republicans” now call themselves ‘independents’.
I’m a registered independent, not of the rethug persuasion, so I will now call myself an Obamacrat….something I decided atleast a year ago. Wouldn’t pay for me to be associated with the likes of those measly creeple 😀
I have noticed that these PL people choose a cause. They then expect the president to pay attention ONLY to their cause, and if he doesn’t appear to be dealing ONLY with that cause, they are mad. They never think that he is dealing with myriads of problems every day,and yes, without fanfare he is dealing with whatever their cause is. Yesterday we just happened to catch Cenk talking with Sen. Sherrod Brown. Cenk tried to get Brown to bash the president because he was not coming out”strong” enough on the Wisconsin debacle. Brown refused to do so. I remember two years ago when our people were captured by the Somali pirates. These same people and those on the right were yelling because the president wasn’t doing anything….then we woke up one morning and our Navy sharpshooters had taken the pirates out without harming a hair on the U.S. captain’s head. ALL the time, he had been working. They need to remember this. His office is like an iceberg: 1/10th above the surface, 9/10ths below.
They got so used to the one-trick pony, GWB during eight years, that they still can’t accept that this president handles multiple projects at the same time. GWB was either declaring war, cutting brush or going to Camp David. Remember, EVERY Sunday night the news showed pictures of him and Laura arriving back at the White House from Camp David.
As if ANY of them could do the job he’s doing!!!
Right. This country obviously loves visuals, yet how many visuals does the media not reveal of POTUS doing fabulous things? He has his nose to the grindstone constantly because he is a very ambitious and industrious person, and doesn’t like to sit around complaining about the state of things; rather, he works to remedy a bad situation. They don’t get him and probably never will, but to me he is a kindred spirit.
Cenk is opportunistic gasbag.
I don’t watch that big dummy.
You know, I honestly think that these guys deliberately sabotaged the elections last Fall.
Take a look at everyone of them Ed, Arianna, Cenk they make their money off of others misery. I mean look at what Ed was promoting last year. He was pushing the idea of killing the health care bill and starting over and coming back after the 2010 election and going for Single Payer……..JUST HOW DID THAT WORK FOR US?
So these guys can sit from on high and throw all the bombs at the democratic party and the president resulting in the demoralization of the base and they lose nothing. Hey it’s a win win for them.
Thank God, more and more people are stepping up and fighting back. Sites such as this gives me hope.
You are giving them far too much credit. True, they get more attention (and money) from Democratic failure so it is unquestionably true that is their motivation. I don’t believe for a second they have nearly that much influence to demoralize the electorate. It was mostly just about the economy and whoever is in charge at the time gets the blame.
2012 will be no different except the economy should be on fire by then and there will be no enthusiasm gap like there is for midterms.
I can’t stand him! I really can’t believe the idiot has a tv show. Everytime I watch him (and many others) I can kick myself in the ass for not pursuing broadcasting after I paid (still paying) for a degree. I thought I wasn’t talented enough but these asses are the worst. His questioning is unlike anything I have ever seen or heard. I’ve watched him even bad mouth the first lady. He just sits there and scream insults. I can tolerate Ed sometimes. I really liked his coverage of the Wisconsin battle but I think Ed is dangerous. Cenk or Zenk whatever his name is total joke to me.
These guys are complete phonies, and they’re doing great damage to the democratic party. They’re not democrats but are merely republicans in progressive clothing leading democrats that follow them right off the cliff.
What amazes me is MSNBC gave this big stupid a cable show……I know that Tim Russert is turning over in his grave.
Just another member of the ex-republican club (Markos, Ed Shultz, Arianna)