Transcripts For CURRENT Viewpoint 20130814

And cenk uygur. Today is the birthday of the late alfred hitchcock, fidel castro and Valerie Plame wilson. The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The funeral will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Thats Paul Wellstone and tonights f block explores what the word liberal really means and why liberals ought to be proud of it. This is viewpoint. John im john fuglesang. This is viewpoint. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Former first lady, former senator, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is grabbing headlines again this week. Yesterday, she was dragged into the spotlight by none other than carlos danger, aka, disgraced new york mayoral candidate and the man who will be paying for the braces on the teeth of americas comedians, Anthony Weiner. First, something more important. Your right to vote. After months on the political sidelines, mrs. Clinton took up the fight yesterday, condemning the Supreme Courts recent position to gut the voters rights act and the string of red states rushing to aid in its demise. Yesterday, North Carolina joined texas, mississippi and alabama in passing strict voter i. D. Requirements, a move mrs. Clinton says will usher in the old demons of discrimination. In 2013, so far, more than 80 bills restricting Voting Rights have been introduced in 31 states. Now, not every obstacle is related to race but everyone who says that racial crimination is no longer a problem in american elections must not be paying attention. John the speech delivered before the american bar association, the first of a series of addresses mrs. Clinton plans to give this fall, each one addressing a challenge she says is undermining americas faith in government. Well, hey, why wait . Im sure shes just doing it for fun and socialization. Here to talk about some of the challenges right now are cenk uygur, host of the young turks joining us from los angeles and from d. C. , bill press, host of the bill press show. Two of the best minds in the business, my friends. Im honored you can join us tonight. Cenk, let me dive in with you first. There has been a lot of speculation about mrs. Clintons potential campaign. We hadnt heard much from the former secretary herself. Why dive in now and were you impressed with the speech . So, is she going to run . Of course of course shes going to run. And she doesnt want to seem too brazen about it and go to iowa and New Hampshire, et cetera. Shes dipping her toe in with what is an incredibly safe topic. So, on the one hand, its what every democrat wants, more voters, right. She gets to fight for more voters. On the other hand, it is an important issue. It has nothing but wins. It is a perfect way to reemerge into the scene and say im standing up for minorities, im standing up for democracy. And it helps her because it will get her more voters if she wins on this issue in 2016. So it is a smart way to come back in. John for those turned off by her years in the senate, it is a great way to establish her progressive bona fides by taking on the topic. Mrs. Clinton called on congress to make it easier for just about everyone to vote. Any chance of that actually happening and of course, as you know, before you answer, president bush was the last to reauthorize the original legislation. Bill i dont think theres any chance of this congress doing anything. I want to second everything that cenk said about the importance of this issue. It is the first civil rights act. It was the vision of john f. Kennedy delivered by Lyndon Baines johnson and the Supreme Court gutted it under this insane theory that Racial Discrimination is dead in this country. This is the Koch Brothers under alec, the American Legislative Exchange council, writing the bills, sending them out to the red states and governors Mike Pat Mccrory xerox them and force them through the legislature. Very important she get on this issue. I think what shes doing is brilliant in the sense that she doesnt have to go to tom harkins steak fry. She doesnt have to go to to New Hampshire or anywhere else. She gives the policy speeches and picks out good issues and gives one every couple of months that keeps her in the spotlight. It is a perfect sort of transition between secretary of state and i agree with cenk, before long, candidate for 2016. John i agree with everything you said except one detail. Alex stands for aristocrats elect. Have you been impressed with how the mainstream Corporate Media has covered the the atrocity . Cenk . Cenk i think theyve given it some degree of coverage. It is not because they care tremendously about Voting Rights. It is that the Democratic Party does. In one of the major parties cares about the issue, this is a coish for the democrats not just on the issue of justice but on the issue of theyll get less votes if legislation like the one in North Carolina and texas pass. So the democrats are kind of forcing the Mainstream Media to cover it to some extent. It is no paula deen or jodi arias. Dont get me wrong. John bill . Bill to a limited extent. I havent seen much about it at all. Ive seen a hell of a lot more about paula deen and a lot more certainly about Anthony Weiner, a lot more about Larry Summers, frankly. Thats an important issue. But not as central to what this country is all about as the Voting Rights act. John North Carolinas the latest state to enact the strict voter i. D. Laws. Governor Patrick Mccrory signed the legislation yesterday. Black folks, hispanics, college age, seniors, theyll bear the brunt for what is assumedly their right. Given the country is changing demographics particularly in the south, what kind of shelf life can the laws really have . Cenk . Cenk its funny because North Carolina proves the Supreme Court right im sorry, proves the Supreme Court wrong immediately. They jump right into it. They say you allow us to discriminate . Well discriminate immediately. As long as they keep electing republicans and the local level, i dont know when theyre going to stop electing republicans. They can go for awhile but the Justice Department will challenge and well see how that goes but to me, the larger issue and although this is as large an issue as we can get, the problem is that weve all lost our Voting Rights. The reality is that our representatives dont represent us. They represent their donors. So what difference does any of it make . None of us our votes dont count. They dont care. The thing that counts the most is the donors. John would you say if it keeps candidate ted cruz from winning the state of florida, would you say it matters now . Ted cruz, first of all is not born in the united states. John okay. Candidate rand paul. Cenk okay. Im amused at birthers that support ted cruz. Rand paul is look, im so sick of this establishment, guys, honestly. We play all of the games. Look at florida, right . You mentioned florida. Allen west was despicable from florida. He lost. We were excited. Patrick muhrfy came in, a democrat. What does he do . He takes the most amount of basically legalized bribes from the banks because he serves on the Financial Services committee. He takes the most out of any democratic and does what the bankers want. The system is sick. It doesnt matter who gets elected. Bill let me tell you another reason building on what cenk said why the system is sick is how long will the laws last . Theyll last as long as the current legislative districts last and the congressional districts last. It is really it really goes back to redistricting. Again, back to alec. They wrote the laws and put the republicans theyre in there for at least ten years until the next census and the next battle lines are drawn. And i think unless democrats get smart and start focusing on governors races and legislative races, that these the laws theyre passing now could be there forever because theyre in districts where they dont give a damn. They dont have to give a damn. All they have to worry about is some challenge from the right. They can go as far right on any issue as they want to. John i want to turn to yesterdays federal court ruling on stop and frisk, guys. It was specific to the nypds tactic of stopping literally thousands of you know who, black and hispanic young men in crimeridden neighborhoods. More than 685,000 were stopped last year alone. It is a national issue. Where do we strike the balance between civil rights and personal safety . Cenk, does any of this surprise you . Cenk well, im surprised we got a good ruling. She ruled judge scheindlin ruled it unconstitutional. She didnt stop it. I wish she had. Shes trying to reform it. I dont think there is a way to reform a grossly unconstitutional policy like stop and frisk in new york. You know, is there hope for the future . I dont know. Because the bureaucracy, the state, the government takes and takes and takes and if it is basically merged with business interests and new yorks the best example of that. Ray kellys perfectly happy to take away your rights if youre black or latino but if youre wall street, well, he literally has a joint effort in downtown and in the wall street area where they, you know, they have video cameras all throughout the town. The people guarding the cameras against movements like occupy wall street are both cops and private security for the top banks like citigroup, goldman sachs, jpmorgan, et cetera. In new york city, the cops are basically merged with the business interests and theyre united in opposition to the actual citizenry. John what do you see as being a potential solution to this, cenk . Cenk honestly, theres no other solution but to get money out of politics. If you dont get a constitutional amendment saying that corporations are not human beings, they cant donate money to politicians. They dont have speech rights and we need a publicly financed elections. If we dont do that, theyre going to forever serve the people who pay them. Rite now, the corporate donors or the people who pay the politicians and that trickles down all the way to people like the Police Commissioner of new york city, you gotta get an amendment. Otherwise, weve lost our democracy entirely. John thats what Teddy Roosevelt was warning us 100 years ago. Mr. Press . Bill what cenk said is another reason for not having Larry Summers at the head of the fed. I want to make that point. But you know, look, i want to cenk is absolutely right. This is first of all, it is a great decision. Didnt go far enough. What i think was significant that that decision because it is really racial profiling, to stop and frisk. 83 of the people stopped in the last eight years have been young blacks, young latinos. I thought it was significant that her decision came the same day eric holder said the mandatory minimum sentencing, which has been in place for about 20 or 30 years, is also Racial Discrimination against particularly young blacks and latinos for lowlevel, nonviolent crimes. He didnt go far enough either and the states have to follow his example. I thought both decisions, there is a glimmer of hope in both decisions. John i agree with you. I cant have you both here without talking about the final days of the grand experiment that is current tv. When al gore started the network, it was filed as a liberal news channel, an ind pibt alternative to msnbc. The antifox. At the end of the day, it made our friend, mr. Gore a rich man. Bill, will you count the experiment of current tv as a success . Bill for al gore. John what about otherwise . What about for the progressive movement, for people who enjoy the programming that came from it . Bill i had high hopes for current tv. I consider it now a failed experiment. One more example of liberals not having either the commitment to progressive media or having the staying power to stick with it. And im i dont begrudge al gore for making however much he made but i really think that there is a crying need out there and an opportunity to make a lot of money with progressive media and look at the success of the young turks and Stephanie Miller and your own success, john and maybe a little bit of mine there. Is an audience for us out there. This was an opportunity to get it. Weve lost that opportunity. I regret it. John cenk, you a year ago, you and i were having fun with mr. Gore during the debates. How do you feel now . Cenk i think from a business perspective, al gore and joel hiott made the right decision. I dont begrudge them at all. Not 1 . Look, i remember back to 2004 and back then in the dark, dark days of media in this country, we had absolutely no liberal voices. Yes, the young turks were on sirius satellite radio. Amy goodman was on democracy now but that was about it. At that point, air america didnt exist. Keith olbermann hadnt started commentary. Huffington post didnt exist. God, it was just a wall of conservative fear, hatred, et cetera. So any voice that rose up in opposition to that, i found so welcome, including current for however long that it lasted. It made a difference. Look at the alumni of air america now. Senator al franken, rachel maddow, thom hartmann, myself and the list goes on and on. One day, well look back at the alumni of current and go oh, my god, look at that allstar cast. And what an amazing moment they had in history there. And i think we did a great job with it. I dont worry about it at all. John guys, before we go to break, one last question from each of you. Al Jazeera America is trying to take a straight news approach with no bias. Is that the wave of the future or is blue state red state commentary going to outshout it . Bill . Bill i think the people are looking for opinion today. Educated, informed, entertaining, opinion. I think theyre looking for opinion. I think there are plenty of straight news opportunities out there. I wish al Jazeera America all the luck in the world but i think that base has been covered a long time ago. John cenk . Cenk my take is that passionate beats dispassionate every single time. And so you know, there is room for a lot of different voices and different ways of doing television and media. I know at the the young turks, we proudly carried a progressive banner and weve got over a billion views and were marching on and weve already conquered online news. Were going to conquer every part of the media. dont you worry for a second about progressive media. It is stronger than ever and were going to dominate going into the next decade. John i really want to thank you, guys. Cenk uygur, host of the young turks. Bill press, host of the bill press show. I came to this network as a fan of both of you gentlemen. It has been a real honor to be a colleague and remain a fan. It is a pleasure to work with you and owe been half of everyone who enjoys the work you do, i thank you for making me proud to be an american. Bill thank you, john. John well be seeing each other soon. Stick around because next, were joined by the talented singersongwriter chely wright who has been stirring up controversy in Country Music and is also one of my other favorite americans. Daughters go out with him. Absolutely not. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me . Absolutely singing i take lipitor, thats it. Are you improving your lips . laughter . When shes talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. It looks like Anthony Wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. His what in the ring . His hat. Always outspoken, joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Only on current tv. Cenk off air alright in 15 minutes were going to do the young turks i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know im going to be the first one to call them out. Cenk on air whats unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. Cenk off air i dont want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. Cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they cant buy our politics anymore. Cenk off air and they can question if im right about that. But i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. Cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts narrator uniquely progressive and always topical, the Worlds Largest online news show is on current tv. Cenk off air and i think the audience gets, this guys to best of his for us. Only on current tv john im john fuglesang. This is viewpoint. You know that gay rights have come a long way when the fight comes to Country Music which has been known, of course, for good ole boy politics and sadly, gay bashing songs going back decades. Take 195 iss bob peck song homo the range about a cowboy named alexis. He was a prairie fairy. Yippee i his horse was just swell, it smelled of chanel. John thats like the last scene of brokeback mountain. Steve greenberg sat irized big bad john with big bruce where he relentlessly mocks a fictional male hairdresser and his death. Well, the flames grew higher heard bruce cry i forgot my purse a squeal and a shout waited an hour but he never came out john funny songs for funloving christian. Garth brooks promoted gay rights with his song we shall be free but there are other country stars who have said ugly things they had to apologize for and other stars who have been forced to stay in the closet for fear of a backlash. That made chely wrights decision on may 4, 2010 to come out of the closet all the more heroic. She had a massive hit single with single white female. Her decision made a world of difference. Not just to country fans. Were pleased to welcome the chart topping academy of Country Music award singer who has been cool enough to make peoples 50 most Beautiful People issue just edging me out, welcome back chely wright. Thank you. I had never heard of those records before that you just played. John pretty shocking stuff. Pretty shocking. I consider myself quite a student of Country Music. Youre good. Youre good, john fuglesang. John my staff is good. My staff is very good. I guess make you glad to know that you didnt know these songs, that that sort of novelty means diddy has faded in the midst of time . Im thankful i didnt know those records. However, it wasnt lost on me that that mindset that, ideology was pervasive in my community and in my industry. But you know, there are pockets of people in Country Music and i just have to say this, there are people in the industry who are very affirming and very and we know that. But it seems to be the ones who speak so sometimes violently about people like me. They have a big fan base and a lot of people listening. John songs like that arent being pressed on to records anymore. Theyre little diddies Rush Limbaugh plays. Theyre not commercially sold, i guess. Your decision was incredibly brave. We know there have been plenty of Country Singers who have had to hide their true identity. You said it came with severe consequences. Three years on, what kind of fallout do you still deal with and how does it look when you reflect on that period now . You know, i was thinking the other day about that because im so often asked what the consequences of my coming out have been. And its difficult to really put a finger on that. You know, the Music Industry changes so much. So it is hard to say about record sales because record sales are in the crapper anyway for a lot of midlevel to smaller indie artists. But i do know my record sales did take a hit. I do know they told my management and my agent, we would love to book her but were not sure who will show up. It is just it changed the landscape of my possibilities. But i think i think the thing now that after three years, after having come out, the thing that really affects me most or makes me think okay, that was a consequence is how unviewed within my industry. I stayed off of i stayed off of facebook and all of that when i came out but when i did get back on, i had a few people who had my best interest at heart and who are friends of mine who said yeah, you dont want to read what was out there. And im a little curious. So i looked at some stuff. And i saw people with whom i had worked at record labels, people that i had really busted my tail to help them do their job john people who were happy to make a buck off of you. They were very happy to. I was often touted as one of the hardest working woman in Country Music. Very proudly. I loved being known as that person. People who knew my they knew the work i did. They knew my ethics. I was never late for a show. I stood in line to sign autographs after every show. There was one in particular, one gentleman wrote a post the day that i came out. I have a hard time respecting someone who comes out on the same day that they have a book coming out. Well, duh, it was a coming out i didnt write a cookbook. It was a coming out book. John thats what the whole book was about. I had a record that came out that day as well. You and i both know, there is a song on the record called like me that i would not have been able to release prior to coming out because it would have outed me. John do you think it would be easier coming out in 2013 now that in those three years, weve seen dont ask, dont tell, repealed. Weve seen a president endorsing Marriage Equality . I think that in much like it was in the way that it was easier for me to come out because Ellen Degeneres came out because Rosie Odonnell came out, because Melissa Etheridge came out. Because those who came before me came out and made things a little softer. They paved the way a little bit. So yes, i think it would be a bit easier for a country artist to come out now. But it is going to be incredibly difficult. John do you think it is easier for a country artist who is a woman than for a man . Great questions. Always from john fuglesang. I do. I do think it is easier for a woman. And had you asked me this two years ago, i wouldnt have had an answer but i didnt know. Now, i believe its easier because im looking at the people who comment on my Facebook Page and send me private letters. Largely, the people who are so upset with me are men. And that has to do with their perceptions of how i would have felt about them had we gone out on a date, right . And so they say oh, darn it, i cant believe youre gay. What a waste. I say back to them, you have the same shot you did before, zero. In that i wouldnt be dating someone in my fan club line. I love my fans but not like that. John no. But ive noticed the very caustic reaction about gays from country fans are had its from men and they have a real problem with imagining a gay man in Country Music. Because their mind doesnt their mind goes automatically to what kind of sex a gay man has. John straight men think about gay sex more than gay guys do. Explain this to me. John well be back with more with chely wright. We might have a special announcement. Yeah. Lets talk about some stuff. John well talk about the worldwide attack on gay rights. Dont go anywhere. Compelling true stories. Jack, how old are you . Nine. This is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. vo with Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. vo from the underworld, to the world of privilege. Everyone in Michael Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. This show is about analyzing, criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. Are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night . Is this personal or is it political . A lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. Staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them, right . Vo the war room monday to thursday at 6 eastern vo current tv gets the converstion started weekdays 9am eastern. Im a slutty bob hope. You are. The troops love me. The sweatshirt is nice and all, but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. John welcome back to viewpoint. The amazing Country Singer chely wright is back with us. Wish me away, the documentary about her decision to come out is out on dvd and was just nominated for an emmy. Can i hear it, crew . [ applause ] so thank you for being back. I had you on as a guest the first time i ever filled in on this show. For the last week of current, i really wanted to get you back. Im grateful. Im happy to be your book end. It has been amazing to watch what youve done here. I look forward to your next endeavor. It is going to be great. John thank you. Chely, i would hit on you if i thought i had a shot. Weve seen what happened with russia now. Weve seen Vladimir Putin show his true colors by not just banning gay in public but what are steps you think president obama or just people of conscience could take to try to counter this . I dont know that the president can do much more than well, i dont like exactly what he said. I would like to see the olympics not happen in russia. John even if it deprives gay athletes of a chance to go for the gold . If you think of any other Minority Group that this was happening to, would this even be an issue . No. John exactly. This is yet another way that a community a nation, a group of people is subjugating us. And it wouldnt be stood for if it were any other Minority Group, fill in the blank. So i think our president weve taken great steps during the obama administration. I would like to see him Say Something a little more stronglyworded. And i know these olympic athletes, theyre training their butts off but if we stand for this, what is that saying . If we show up for the olympics, what does that actually mean . John it means a chance to watch two guys make out in front of Vladimir Putin when they win the gold. I agree with you. Weve seen back here, houston has an openly gay woman as mayor. New yorks frontrunner for mayor is openly gay christine quinn. What do you think it will take for america to embrace an openly gay candidate for president . Do you see happening in our lifetimes . I do. I do. I think well have one of the i think not the g. O. P. But john you never know. They might have a better chance of getting elected than a democratic candidate. Explain that to me. John lets say im a gay republican and theres evil gay republicans. Lets say i came out on a ferocious antiimmigration bill. In that sense, couldnt a law order cut your taxes guy be elected just as easily as a progressive gay candidate who fights for labor and fights for womens right and prek. Do you think that the gay republican could get the nomination . John well, i would have said no until rob portman, author of dont ask, dont tell, had his son come out, you know, gave up on the bigotry. Wasnt that powerful . John it was sad it took someone he knew coming out. It was. Of course, i did a lot of reading when that happened as we all did. Those of us who are thinking about the issue of equality. Gays and straight allies, alike. I couldnt believe the backlash of well, day late and a dollar short. Sometimes it does take hearing it from someone you care about. Sometimes it doesnt hit home until youve had a sitdown, a really emotional discussion about dad, this is what it was like for me. Or telling your brother you have no idea what my life has been like. Let me tell you. And in a world of sound bytes, sometimes its hard to get through to people. I have no problem with the fact that it took him took his son coming out to him for the light bulb to go on. John having empathy for the empathy capitalism is the unsung hero in the lgbt equality movement. Talk to me. John when i see an ad showing a gay couple shopping together that, made the entire industry realize this is a market. And to this day, you see budweiser having banners in every lgbt pride parade. Capitalism realized we can be nice to people and actually sell them things and in that sense, the free market has helped the civil rights movement. It has but i do have a little problem with that. John please. I have a problem with particular groups, companies, organizations, contingencies of people, if theyre impetus to be lgbt friendly is because they number one dont want to be seen as a homophobe or number two, they want to sell something, theyre missing the point. John i didnt say they have souls. Sheer greed can bring about good things, i think. We know that. Thats been wellestablished. John before we go, can we announce a special . Lets do. It is exciting. John okay. You know that i started the like me lighthouse in kansas city. The lgbt center. It is a passion prong for me. We opened a couple of years ago and we have a great comedy show coming to town november 13th, mark your calendars. Yes, it is a wednesday night but were going to blow it out. John whos on the bill . Margaret cho, john fuglesang, and judy gold. Were going to have a great night. Tickets will be up for sale next week. John great. Chely wright, thank you for your music that touches so many. Thank you for your bravery and thank you for making my experience here so rich and for coming back on our last week on the air. Thanks, john. Congratulations on a great run. John right on. Thank you. Up next, Anthony Weiner makes an ass of himself. I know. But this time, oh, my god, it could hurt the clintons. Thank you, chely. To me now . You know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the Ten Commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . John another so that happened is happening now the weiner giveth but the weiner never quite seems to getting around to taketh things away. The gift that keeps on giving is back. Professional liability and new york city mayoral candidate ironic candidate Anthony Weiner may have landed his longsuffering wife huma abedin in trouble with her employer, Hillary Clinton again. See if you can guess what mr. Weiner should not have said about his wife in this interview with buzzfeed. Is huma still working on the campaign . Shes helping out every day. Is do you know what her role in hillarys 2016 campaign is going to be . I do. What it be . Im not telling you. [ laughter ] john hillary 2016 campaign . Not happening dude. Not yet officially at least. Granted, the question itself was kind of a setup, yeah. We all know mrs. Clinton will run for president but seriously, who do you think camp Hillary Clinton would identify as the very last person on the planet they want to announce her run . You may have seen the latest polls, sir. You have an 80 disapproval rating right here in new york city. A pretty progressive place. It aint because progressives dont believe in second chances. It just theyre not so hot on the third, fourth and fifth chances. Luck may be a lady but even she wont be putting out for you again any time soon. As someone who respects the good you have done, just stop. Stop talking stop talking now for true stories. With Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. Real, gripping, current. Documentaries. On current tv. John here at viewpoint, we always try to address political and topical subjects but we serve it up with a mix of straight news on top and a sizable portion of satire, humor and general irreverence on the bottom. And right now, it is time for a big helping of humor. Our next guest is one of my favorites, a king of social and political humor. This man worked as a contributor and is a terrorist for msennbc d he has the best of boston award in the standup comedy category and as a producer for his show. Here is a clip of a bit he did a few years back. It is incredible how topical it still is today. Take a look at bostons own, the great jimmy tingle. You know what the funny thing about immigration is, folks . Even the people who sneak into this country, who probably make pretty good citizens, based on the risks they take to sneak into the country. I mean look what these guys from mexico do to get into america. These guys do like a triathlon in the dark. [ laughter ] just to pick lettuce. I mean think about that, folks. Walk the desert, swim the river, run across the border. First 10,000 get to pick some lettuce. John jimmy tingle, such a pleasure to welcome you here to the final week of viewpoint. John, thanks a million for having me and you know, theyre still debating immigration all of these years later. Now they want to build a 700 mile fence across the border. John, between you and i, a couple of problems with a 700 mile fence. The first problem is the border with mexico is 1900 miles long. Im not an expert on immigration but i would surmise that people flee, abject poverty will go around the fence. John it is possible. But the fence does raise a lot of money and votes for republicans. Thats what it is about. Youre right, jimmy. I saw do you that bit years ago. It resonates and it gets funnier as it goes on. Youre one of my favorite political comics in the world. You have presented controversial topics in a very palatable package. You dont really offend people too much. You challenge ideas but i see conservatives laughing at your stuff as hard as liberals. Whats your key to doing political humor . Well, thank you for those kind words. I think i try to go with common sense. I mean, for example, when you look at just take immigration. When you look at how hard people work and the risks they take to come to america, are they not on a certain level modern day pilgrims . Think about this, john. Sneaking into a country to work. Thats incredible. Thats like somebody breaking into your house to clean it. When conservatives hear that, they have to chuckle because they know deep down inside, its true. John do you ever alienate your audience on the left or right . Which side do you find to be more sensitive . I find you know, i think if you go for the truth and you try to be intellectually honest with the arguments and you try to even present it matteroffactly or just like right down the middle, i think people will find the humor in it on either side. Whatever side theyre on, theyll find the humor in it. With the whole for example, with the whole government surveillance program, i mean the government, as you know now has the personal records and database of data personal data of millions of americans. I mean you know as well as i do, thats outrageous. Who do they think they are . Facebook . President obama comes on television. Tries to calm everybodys fears. He says listen, nobody in your government is listening to you. We know that. People on both sides of the aisle tend to laugh at it because there is a certain disconnect sometimes with washington and the average person. John the first time i saw your work was in the film damned in the u. S. A. Back in 92. I think it was my wife and i, our third date. It was so fierce and so pointed. It speaks the truth across political lines. Being from boston, im assuming youre familiar with the comedic work of one mitt romney. I want to ask what happened to this guy . He seems to have gone from moderate to moderately ridiculous in an effort to appease the tea party . What was it like as a bostonian watching last Years Campaign . It was a little painful because he was a moderate here in massachusetts. Hes extremely bright and capable person. And he was a moderate here in massachusetts. But i think the debate in the country has shifted so far to the right that especially his party, they pulled him to the right. He listened to his the people who were advising him and i think he got some bad advice. Had he run as a more moderate, centrist person, he probably would have been a lot more effective, i think. Im personally happy with the president that we have but i just think mitt didnt do himself a Great Service by listening to people, pulling him to the right. For example, around immigration, talking about, you know, the whole idea of selfdeportation and things like this. Those werent his authentic views, i dont think. When he developed the romney care here in massachusetts, i mean that was a person trying to aspire to give Health Insurance to millions of people in massachusetts who needed it and didnt have it. It was the basis for obamacare now. And the difference i think, one of the biggest differences between obamacare nowor the way obamacare was introduced and the way romneycare developed in massachusetts is they had a period of time to debate it in massachusetts. It was a given that people wanted universal healthcare in massachusetts. They debated it. It was bipartisan. The Democratic House and the republican governor. They came together and they you know, they worked it out over a period of years. The thing with what happened with president obama when he got in, the impression was it was a topdown it was being implemented and imposed on people rather than all of the states debating it. Thats how i think thats why it got such a bad rap. John the other big difference of course, romney care covers abortions, obamacare didnt. Jimmy, you recently returned to school and earned a masters from Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of government. Was this to enhance your act or do you have political aspirations . Youre kind of a legend up there. It has both, john. You know that i ran for president in 2012. I think you know that. Under the humor for humanity program. The humor for humanity party. Humor in helping. Humor in healing, humor in hope. Ha, ha, ha. Thats what they would chant at my rallies, ha, ha, ha. My whole thing, john, was common sense. For example, you mentioned abortion. All right. Big influence here in massachusetts for myself growing up was catholicism. John me, too. The only issue that anybody ever talks about when it comes to catholicism is abortion. No one says hey, youre a catholic. What do you think of wage reform . What do you think of labor rights . What do you think of Immigration Reform . What do you think of the Defense Budget or poverty or things like this. Social justice issues. It is always about abortion. It bothers me. I got a big catholic family. Half the family is prolife. The other half is prochoice. Theyre wonderful people. I love them all equally. If rival corporations can merge for their own Mutual Benefit, why cant the prolife forces and the prochoice forces merge for their own Mutual Benefit . I am suggesting, john, on your show that planned parenthood merge with the catholic church. And create the largest reproductive rights Adoption Center in the world. Planned catholics of the hood. Focus on what we have in common. John fight for Birth Control as well. I want to thank my guest in, jimmy tingle for being such an inspiration. I dream of touring with you and opening for you. This guy has shows all over massachusetts. Check out his web site at jimmytingle. Com. I implore you to go see this guy when he comes to your town. Thank you for joining us in our final week of broadcast. Thank you, john. Congratulations on the show and looking forward to your next show as well. John well have you there. Stick around all yall because coming up next, well be discussing a very naughty evil word. Lib beral. Heard the president say the other night . Is this personal, or is it political . A lot of my work happens by doing the things that im given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. In reality its not like they actually care. This is purely about political grandstanding. Ive worn lots of hats, but ive always kept this going. Ive been doing politics now for a dozen years. vo hes been called the epic politics man. Hes Michael Shure and his arena is the war room. These republicans in congress that think the world ends at the Atlantic Ocean border and Pacific Ocean border. The bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. I do a lot of looking at those people as well. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them right . Did anyone tell the pilgrims they should selfdeport . No, they said make us a turkey and make it fast. laughter . She gets the comedians laughing. Thats the best thats hilarious. And the thinkers thinking. Okay, so there is wiggle room in the Ten Commandments is what youre telling me. Shes joy behar. Ya, i consider you jewtalian. Okay, whatever you want. Who plays kafka . Who saw kafka . Who ever saw kafka . laughter . Asking the tough questions. Chris brown, i mean you wouldnt let one of your daughters go out with him. Absolutely not. You would rather deal with absolutely singing i take lipitor, thats it. Are you improving your lips . laughter . When shes talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. It looks like Anthony Wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. His what in the ring . His hat. Always outspoken, joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Only on current tv. John if by a liberal, someone who looks ahead and not behind. Someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reaction, someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs and civil rights and civil liberties, im proud to say im a liberal. That was john f. Kennedy. Liberal has become a funny term. I got called a liberal because i supported gay marriage and medical cannabis and i thought george w. Bushs economic plan was a bad idea. Turns out i wasnt liberal, i was prematurely mainstream. It is hard to imagine no social security, no medicare or medicaid. No civil rights act. No labor rights, no g. I. Bill. All of the ideas were considered insanely radical before they were considered liberal then mainstream. But the status quo has been smearing the word liberal for dates that liberals are big spending, flagburning americahating tax junkies who only want to create child pornography and get you hooked on well ware fare because we think being poor is awesome while smoking crack. Dude that, is not fair. All liberals are preachy but liberals are antipollution and exploitation of labor, antimiss ongy and bigotry, pro freedom of the press and pro freedom of religion, pro private property and generally have better taste in music. It is true. Liberal is not synonymous with democrat. When i meet someone who only knows of the fox bubble definition of liberal, i tell them the word comes from the word free man and the Oxford English dictionary definition includes open to new behavior or opinions, favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms, favoring maximum individual liberty and political and social reform. But if you want to hate liberals the way a. M. Radio instructs you to, take a second to thank that the liberals for the 40 hour work week, national parks, bank deposit insurance, the americans with disabilities act signed into law by george bush sr. Accused of being too liberal, family and medical leave act, libraries, freedom of speech, the peace corps, the hoover dam and having your weekend off. Thanks, liberals and as for the liberal media bias, my friends, the media is only as liberal as the corporations that own it. Our media is biased in one way. Toward ratings. The liberal media lie is the best narrative the status quo ever came up with. We now have a media thats not liberal but is terrified of being called lib beral and bends over backwards time and time again to prove its not. The day they cover antiwar demonstration with the same ferocity they cover tea party rallies. The founders of america were the raging liberals of their day who believe in democracy over monarchy inspired by the enlightened thinkers, government of the people, establishing the general welfare who fought to get the big of rights added to the constitution. They werent called revolutionaries for nothing. True, they didnt think women were nonlandowners deserved to vote. They kept black people as livestock. They slaughtered indians, you know, guy stuff. But they were more liberal than the British Empire like our modern conservative tea party is more liberal than the modern conservative taliban. Which is why todays lib berals will be seen as very conservative by future generations dont. Take my word for it. Listen to this. As mankind becomes more liberal, theyll be more apt to allow all of those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see america among the foremost nations of justice and liberality. George washington stinking lib beral which brings me to the greatest liberal in all of history or literature, activist who fought the profiteers, crew aider for the sick, the poor and those in prison who valued Community Welfare over individual wealth and was sold out by his capitalist buddy. You see, barack obama is not some brownskinned antiwar liberal giving away free healthcare. Youre thinking of jesus. The irony is jesus would be way too liberal for most of his current fan clubs. Thats our show. Thanks for joining us. Two more to go. This is viewpoint. Were still here. Good night, mom. Joy 35 years after grease, the two have reunited. Plus ill find out how vanilla ice managed to go from singing ice, ice, baby to hosting his own home makeover show. And pia zadora who is really quite zadorable. All of that and more tonight on say anything