There's a battle in the so called left that has been drawing my attention as of late. I should say, so that I'm completely transparent here; that I'm not the biggest fan of TYT, as I always found them to be too performative, but the "new scandal" seems to be sincere. Yes, that's irony for you.
It's always good practice to remember that the new media, the online political pundits, are not immune to monetary incentives. Therefor when there's a change of position, a change of heart if you will; it's good practice to ask ourselves if a bad incentive may have been the motive.
The details of the story don't seem to be that important, but they seem to work for the narrative. Ana, who has always been very performative with her outrage, found herself in a pickle and the piranhas ate her alive.
Nobody with a good heart can look at the homeless situation in America and think to themselves that we are on a good path. There are places in California that have hundreds of homeless people to the point where these tent cities seem to be taken straight out of a dystopian film.
The naive idea that all we need to do is throw money at the situation is a common song sang by the online left. Give them money, give them homes, etc. Of course, we can have a debate about that, but if we simply ignore the causes, the addiction issues, the mental health issues, etc. We are probably never going to get very far here.
At any rate, the story goes that Ana was attacked by some homeless people. As a chronically online persona, she decided it would be a good idea to complain about it, and this lead to the piranha left to see her as a target.
Soon after she announced she was "leaving the left" proving to me once again that tribality focused mindset the "thought leaders" have over principles.
As you might imagine, the lefty youtubers decided to make her the new punching bag, the new Dave Rubin, if you will. And, these actions only "helped" her cement her decision to leave the left as she calls it.
There are plenty of content creators and Twitterinos who attack Ana on the daily, so much so, that I feel naming them is almost pointless.
Since Cenk has always been her co-host, her friend, it also meant that people began attacking him for "allowing" her to continue working for the network. A practice of true tolerance and liberal values according to some.
then Trump wins...
If there's something known about Cenk and his politics, is that his show has always addressed the other side as enemies. Cenk, like his right wing counterparts, use this fuel, this hatred of the others to create loyal followers.
My main problem with Cenk, and more broadly TYT has always been how unable they always seem to be to be level headed about the issues. Everything is about race, about discrimination and about owning the conservatives, in the same stupid way that a Ben Shapiro does; The other side of the same stupid coin.
It could be that with Trump's victory, Cenk realizes that it's in his best interest to not be a target for what's sure to be an administration that doesn't like dissenters. But as someone who is audience captured, this shift will never be tolerated.
Just imagine how bizarre it would be to see Alex Jones showing up on Bill Maher to talk about a cultural issue, to attempt to reach across the isle. I think most of us would find that quite comical.
Cenk is in quite a predicament at the moment, because his allies are turning against him and he's about to find himself alone in the front lines of whatever battle he believes he needs to be fighting in.
Some TYT contributors have quit, some TYT allies have decided to go on the offense, and some of the so called "progressive" voices have decided to call Cenk's new approach to politics: "The grift into MAGA".
Of course, I don't know. I find these political shows to be akin to a "You are not the father of the baby" shows, the Maury's of the world. So, as it pertains to how this will change the political tides, the power players, I think the impact is quite minimal.
That being said, I hope that eventually all these shows, all these pundits who's business model is to radicalize people to either side of the wings, eventually die off. This is to say, for them to become "not a good business idea".
But, do I think Cenk is going to come out MAGA before the year ends. No, not really. If he does, his career will surely be over, simply because there is no way MAGA would give him a home. There's no money there to be made.
It's just a spectacle, a shitshow for those of us who know that putting on a red or a blue shirt is as effective as changing socks to go swimming.
MenO
