This is the flip side of the "Don't kill the messenger" coin. We need to stop making heroes of people because we agree with them. Either their factual claims are correct, or they aren't. Either their arguments make sense, or they don't. Give credit (in the sense of accurately noting who said or did what) where it's due, but the messengers themselves DO NOT MATTER when it comes to the actual substance. And when we disagree with them, well... either OUR factual claims and arguments are solid, or they aren't. We need to hold ourselves to the highest standards.
Great comment . Its harder to do than it sounds - To remain an island , always keep the critical thinking lenses on , never take one person’s version of reality as gospel without examining it . It is human nature to want to relax and trust a chosen source …
Love this comment. Most UA-cam comment sections are echo chambers (like this one), substance doesn't matter. Confirmation bias is easy, critical thinking is not.
The left has the music, movie, AAA game industry, pro sports, 90% of mainstream news (cable, radio, and print) and every social media platform except X.. but it’s the right that’s grifting and throwing around money because of a few podcasts? Do you guys ever sound out what you say to see how unbelievably insane it sounds? The power imbalance regarding influence is so stacked in favor of the left.. seeing you guys say things like that is just embarrassing
That's a reductive assessment. As Sam said, there's also an emotional component. John Kiriakou comes to mind..after the way some of these individuals are treated it's quite natural to react with cold cynicism and greed.
@@cayetano6547 Yes, but his absolute shift does not make sense, it's not that he became a centrist or stopped talking/working with the people that wronged him, he did a 180 and became a full fledged right winger over the span of months not even a few years.
@@cayetano6547 I’m not sure, I think it’s simple. Lawyers argue against their own viewpoints all the time as long as their clients check’s cash. I think most people who work at oil companies believe in climate change but they do what they do to enrich themselves. If you pay 10k to make a right wing video, it would be hard for most people to turn it down. I will say grievance is a gateway drug to pull them in that direction though but I don’t think that alone can make people shift that drastically.
One of my favorite quotes actually comes from Matt Taibbi when he was talking about the Tea Party and he said something like “like dogs, they only understand tone of voice and emotional attitude.” So much for that I guess.
His early screeds about Trumpism would always circle back around to ‘they’re too dumb to know better, it’s really the Democrats and wider Left at fault - look what you made them do’.
I saw a similar thing the other day in a comment that was defending not voting for Harris: the cause of Trumpism is centrism. It's never their fault. The Left and even the Center made them do it.
@@rev0lve638 Civil Rights leaders in the 50s/60s understood how to do what I'm talking about. But it's hard, really f**cking hard, to do. Especially on an emotional level because women and marginalized people are truly victims. That said, politically, they need the support of people without anything like that experience of victimization. It's unfair, distasteful, and sometimes soul-crushing, but that's how power works.
The triangulation of the democrats to “the center” while the republicans continually march to the right continues to prove that democrats are into their own power and not representing an actual left.
Naomi Wolfe screwed up a fact in a book she wrote, she was called on it publicly. Now she's on The War Room all the time where no one fact checks anything.
A friend is going to lend me "Doppelgänger" as soon as she finishes it --- the Naomi Klein book she wrote bc folks were confusing her with "the other Naomi" (Wolf) while NW was going batty. It's supposed to be a really good book, Klein takes the personal + broadens it to larger societal commentary, & I'm desperate to read it the second my friend finishes it. The moment Wolf was rumbled on her misunderstanding that invalidated her research/book was captured live on British radio; I don't think I could listen to it again, it's excruciating. Klein's given some book talks/interviews about it, pretty sure she was on MR to promote Doppelgänger.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 I read Doppelganger, actually because a friend lent it to me lol. I found it to be a good read, probably my second fav book of hers after the shock doctrine.
I used to be friends with NW on Facebook, we even private chatted a few times about a few things and suddenly she went completely off the wall bat sh*t 😢
I think it's all of those four, and a _long_ list of secondary motivations. Like any singularity, it blocks out the light once you're inside the event horizon. Only what's inside matters. And thus, inevitably, it draws you in, deeper, and deeper, and deeper...
Matt was so on the money (no pun intended) during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. He had the scoops during that crazy and confusing period. I don't get it.
@@rudebuddha4895 He spent the late 90s in Moscow reporting on the collapse of the Soviet Union. The scandals associated with that era made the 2008 crisis seem like ice cream and butterflies.
@@Logotic Ya cuz it was our companies raiding their economy with nobody in the Duma to stop it. At least we had some regulations left in the 00s, and more whistleblower protection. Those first 7 years post-Soviet Russia are why Putin has every Russian oligarch on a short leash, and he’s already tugged on several of them since 2022.
@@ininterestingtimesreportbl5847 I believe he meant "it's not about you(when you're advocating for societal changes that'll benefit everyone)." These people(Tucker, Taibbi, Rubin, Pool, etc etc) wanted to be seen as a star or some kind of genius for publishing what most people on the left generally thought. Then when they didn't get the credit, or money, they thought they deserved... they moved to the endless money trough the right-wing billionaires make available for anyone who is willing to pretend the right has better ideas for society
Ahh yes; Greenwood, RFK, Dore, Taibbi, Gabbard - their brains broke. I am the only one left with an unbroken brain. It’s definitely not about you dude. Time to take a long hard look in the mirror. Projection is a hell of a drug.
Aggrievement. Dave Chappelle, Rogan, Elon just to name a few of the most popular ones. Each were “okay,” then had a moment where they felt attacked. They moved away from the attackers, (liberals), & towards the ones who not only accepted their mistakes, but encouraged them, the right. It’s very easy to track chronologically. You can see the fork in the road.
@@GardenerGeorge yep. Perfect example. Took his aggrievement & turned his transition into a grift. Like so many others currently in the right wing media space.
"A moment they felt attacked" means "They got busted engaging in abusive behaviors" and rather than own up, take responsibility, grow and change they went to where such behaviors are acceptable... Republicans.
@@nsbd90now yes. Attacked, called out, challenged, held accountable…it’s that they felt attacked, despite the “attacks” being 100% warranted - it’s just that they disagree.
Dave Chappelle felt guilt about his comedy that targeted his own. He had some weird run away to Africa episode that turned his comedy against Hollywood rather than take responsibility for his part. Rogan & Brand have liberals and Hollywood to thank for their fortunes and careers. They were blackballed by Hollywood cuz they no longer were successful. They couldn't generate money so they turned to rightwingShysterism to prey on disaffected republicans and played to their grievance. Elon wants free reign to do whatever he wants. California, Hollywood and Silicon Valley wouldn't allow him that so he bought a sinking ship known as Twitter and moved to Texas. He is a deadbeat dad of 10 children and has issues in the brain.
Greenwald always had right wing inclinations. A lot of people overlooked it because he was on the right side of civil liberties and war issues, but those right wing views were always there.
Taibbi could make lots more money if he were to become a vote-blue-no-matter-who Democrat. He choses to preserve his integrity by seeking truth wherever it lies.
Taibbi was always a scumbag... an egotistical, narcissistic trust-fund, bro-dude. Go read some of the stuff he wrote for The eXile with his partner in crime Mark Ames. They literally gloated about exploiting, and abusing women in Russia and having sex with underage Russian girls. I'll bet dollars to donuts that the gruesome twosome have both been comprised by the FSB. If you need more proof as to the true nature of Taibbi's character, read the story where Taibbi physically attacked a Vanity Fair writer who told Taibbi that his book, 'The eXile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia' wasn't any good. Oh, American citizens can be prosecuted by the American government for travelling abroad to engage in sex crimes with minors. I'm pretty sure there is no statute of limitations for such crimes. Let's hope both Taibbi and Ames end up in nice federally penitentiary somewhere.
That's the problem, some of y'all see anybody doing some good journalism and they instantly become your heroes. Future lesson- never trust anybody that both-sides everything
cosmic comedy for sure. Musk can't resist pulling the trigger when he has the power to hurt somebody bad-- no matter what a useful sycophant they make themselves. You should see how he's treated Grimes even after her 4 years groveling & coming out as a WN, destroying her career, to try & win him back. The Musk drama train is an endless parade of the worst people alive facing incredible humiliations & torture. Something biblical about it.
@@jaybleu6169 but in realitythe dems are not a left wing party . i am irish and the majority of the dems are centre right in our politics and republican party the trump verison anyways are facists
Well, there are only two parties in the US system, so if you really hate the Democrats, it's only natural that you'll end up supporting Republicans. The exception to this are people who are content to be on the fringes of politics, content to not support the winners of any elections and just let things happen to the government without their input.
Glenn Greenwald always had right wing libertarian inclinations and his criticisms of foreign intervention and mass surveillance are in line with those views. During the W Bush administration you couldn’t get on right wing platforms with that message so he embraced the left. Now that there are right wing platforms that allow him to do that he doesn’t have to embrace the left or liberals. I don’t think Greenwald changed, he just went ‘home’ so to speak.
"his criticisms of foreign intervention and mass surveillance are in line with those views" So the Left has no problem with foreign intervention and mass surveillance? FFS...
Taibbi's descent has given me a new appreciation for journalists that are total squares. His style always placed too much emphasis on inserting himself and his hand-me-down Hunter S. Thompson-isms into his stories. He was like the ripped financial advisor bro of left wing journalists. Average, mundane, boring accountants will keep your money safe and average, mundane, boring journalists will deliver news without a self-serving slant.
I used to follow Taibbi on Twitter years ago. He was reasonable at that time. However, he slowly changed his positions as trolls on the site made specific points to which he started to agree. I always wondered if the trolls were an influence operation.
This guy is revealing too much . In case of emergency break glass & reach for the tried and trusted sexual deviant device. Losing its potency though, like cries of anti semitism. You can only make false claims for so long b4 people catch on to the actual grift. Russell brand is poor choice Asan example too . Man’s been banging on about his for about 10 years and there hasn’t been even a sniff of an actual charge. It is disappointing though to see him now . The Russell brand we in Europe remember would’ve been all over Israeli actions atm & calling them out.
@raydavison4288 it seems to be rubbing off on Cenk too tho, he was defending some of Ana’s position during a chat with Hasan which was wild. Maybe they just have an echo chamber of two and he’ll get over it when she takes the inevitable offer from Fox. 😐
Cenk owns TYT and he is a Capitalist. Capitalism is a RW-economic-system of politics. Thus, Cenk is an economic-RWer. And the only way for the corrupt wealthy-class to maintain their corrupt RW-economic-politics of inequality, is for them to also impose RW-social-systems of politics. RW-politics are anti-working-class politics & RW-politics are pro-wealthy-class politics. Monarchism, feudalism, capitalism, corporatism, fascism, and republicanism are ALL corrupt systems of RW-politics, and they ALL involve the corrupt wealthy-class enslaving the working-class. Cenk is either a fool who doesn't comprehend that he's a RWer, or he is a knave who is pretending not to comprehend that he's a RWer because he benefits from the inherent corruption of RW-politics And, whether they realize it or not, the working-class dupes who are employed by Cenk are helping to advance RW-politics. Just like the working-class dupes who continue to vote for the RW-extremist Repubs & the moderate RW-Dems. BOTH of the major political-parties in the US are bought, owned, bribed, & controlled y the corrupt wealthy-class w/ their corrupt RW-politics.
Kompromat. Taibbi lived in Moscow and admitted previously that he was a sexual predator at the time. Then Me Too happened and he tried to play it off as a joke, but nobody was laughing.
I worked with foreign-students from Russia in the mid 2000. The Russian-boys would get their instructions from the American-bosses, and, then, when the American-bosses turned their backs, the Russian-boys would force the Russian-girls to do the work. A bunch of Russian-boys got sent back to Russia because they wouldn't work (much like lots of the American-boys wouldn't work). Frankly, the US-boys were/are like a lot like the Russian-boys -- and the US is just as much of a sh!tehol as Russia -- because BOTH countries are bought, owned, bribed, & controlled by the corrupt wealthy-class & their corrupt RW-politics which they maintained via the division & segregation of sexism, genderism, patriarchy, misogyny, and slavery
That wasn't too illuminating, Sam. All you did was vaguely allude to umspecified parts of out-of-print books, nebulous events and Taibbi's failure to take your advice about a "hard way to come back from that and an easier way" with no description of what the hell you were talking about! I've also _never_ liked Rachel Maddow but it's hard to believe her snubbing anyone would lead to their undoing. You may not want to be seen as engaging in gossip but you didn't avoid it here. All you did was give a rendition of the most typical kind of gossip of all: vague innuendo and nothing concrete, including your opinion. I, for one, would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this matter but please express them clearly and, if you are too embarrassed, don't bring it up in the first place. If Matt Taibbi (or Glen Greenwald) was mistreated to the extent you seem to be saying, you'd be doing them and everybody else a favor by explaining, not gingerly insinuating he fell apart due to ... whatever you were trying to say.
THANK YOU. I've read this entire thread down to here, trying to figure out WTF they're accusing him of, and all I'm seeing here is a bunch of snarky MSNBC shitlibs who are more concerned with laughable innuendo and nonsense ("he's Elon's pal", "He's a grifter", "a right winger") than, say, the fact that the Dems have become the party of censorship, disinformation and war. Anybody who wasn't horrified at that Twitter files Inquisition (lwherein they were apparently trying to outdo Republicans at their worst with McCarthyite tactics). where they (yes) attacked the messenger, impugned his reputation, and threatened him with prison time (for the most minuscule of errors), and he then received a visit from the IRS the next day -- all for doing his best to just report the facts -- has some seriously f'd up priorities. I recommend you all read Chris Hedges' "The Crucifixion of Matt Taibbi", or his discussions with Hedges on the Twitter Files and Russiagate, or "Dems Smear Matt Taibbi" , THE HILL (Briahna Joy Grey). (But I have a feeling you'd rather keep wallowing in the nonsense.)
@@luna-pna it does. Once you make everything about race and power, How can you oppose a policy without being racist. You think immigration hurts the working class and benefits the capital class, well that’s cuz your racist
It allows people who live in the right wing safe space to tell themselves that they actually listen to all points of view, because this guy who says everything they want to hear claims he's a centrist libertarian. It's the whole reason why Rubin and Pool have a career, and why Peterson stops understanding English when you ask him about his beliefs. Rogan's not far off from these grifters since at least a few years.
I remember around 2010 I discovered his reporting on the financial collapse of ‘08 and I learned SO much… after that I read a bunch of his stuff about the economic crash and the Iraq war and thought he was really talented. His downfall is one of the sadder journalistic losses post-Trump
I think Sam is being too nice to Taibbi. Matt always wilts when the pressure is on. I defended Taibbi for a long time, but, in hindsight, there were things about him that were problematic. I thought it was because he was not in the mainstream, but there are so many others who avoid controversy.
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wilting when the pressure is on and being problematic are two different things. your comment is confusing
@@whitesauce923 Problematic suggests Taibbi's guilty of the things he's accused of. If that's your point, ok, but if it isn't, then you've used the wrong word.
The more people like Matt Taibbi end up following this path, the more thankful I get for those who haven't lost their minds like this. Too many Jimmy Dores when we need more Kyle Kulinskis.
@@shinystarmiestudios4179 Kyle has never had a good head for foreign policy. That said, I don't think that's an accurate characterization of him, as he's certainly on the American side of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Yeah, I've seen this with a bunch of bloggers who I used to follow too. I remember one who was a pretty solid feminist blogger who said something kind of insensitive about trans people. She got called out on it, and rather than apologize or even let the event blow over, she doubled down. I checked back on her recently and she was into that whole "Imane Khelif is a trans woman" conspiracy. Another progressive blogger I followed was accused of being a bit creepy at a conference. He then went full "red pill" within a few months.
I notice this with Ana Kasparian right now. Do you know what I mean? It's probably more common than I realize since I'm not a political content creator. It's very human to want to double down instead of correct yourself, especially when a bunch of angry strangers are demanding that you apologize. It's also very ignorant. When you're wrong you're wrong. Spouting your opinions in public is a risk--if you're wrong you have a choice whether to accept it or deny it. But what feels worse--being wrong about something and then changing your mind and becoming right, or being wrong about something forever and pretending that it's right? If we're in it for truth and knowledge and making the world a better place, then changing your mind is fine--assessing and scrutinizing one's own views is what any rational, intelligent person would do. But if the goal is to puff up your chest and be the best, most correctest commentator who ever lived, then go ahead and keep pretending up is down and black is white and the earth is flat and trans women aren't women. Maybe the world will end up turning your way someday and you'll be on the right side of history. Probably not given where gen z and alpha are today. Accepting new information, seeing things from new perspectives, being wrong and changing your mind... that should all be normalized if it isn't already. It's not just okay to be wrong, it's good. The thing I always say is "being wrong is just an opportunity to become right". Instead of trying to prove how good we are, let's get better! Now if someone is serially wrong and yet keeps giving their opinions, it's fair game to clown on them COUGH Tim Pool
Matt got paid off, simple as that. And when it became obvious to everyone reading and watching him, he could have admitted it and destroyed his integrity publicly or just go down as an unrepentant grifter who cashed out. He seemed likable the same way Musk did when he was unknown and then ironically they both end up on Rogan and that was that.
@@bobbyologun1517 Well, if Tim Pool and Rubin got millions for doing garbage, Taibbi, who is an actual respected Rolling Stone columnist and online pundit, then there were likely a lot more sources under the maga flag trying to move him away from Never Trumperism. My guess is Putin's dark money because the first danger sign i witnessed with Matt was him mocking the Russian Collusion stuff like we're all so stupid for even considering Russia meddled in the electoral process when even Putin admitted it.
@@sabeto5527 so what do you expect anyone to do? Not read? Not get interested in politics? His early stuff was good and i would have hardly called him apolitical. He was clearly warning everyone about the dangers of corruption and fascism. How was anyone to know that what i would consider a real political punk would instantly flip one day? You cant live like that bruh.
I ran into Matt Taibbi at the 50th St subway station in NYC just before he did his heel turn. I got a selfie with him and sent it to friends. Now I'm embarrassed to have done that.
I remember him doing his podcast with Katie Halper. Halper has stuck to her principles and is still doing good journalism. Matt meanwhile is off in lala land.
This kind of "inside baseball" history is super important to record and share - I remember Taibbi as an investigative reporter doing important work shedding light on corruption and moral hazard. Interesting to hear what contributed to his integrity being lost.
Nah Dore was planning to grift all along. He was a "progressive" when it was mainstream during the Bernie years, now he's chasing the right wing money.
Thank you for this, Sam. I read Matt's books and loved them. I always thought of him as the voice of reason. I was really sad to see this turn from him. What you said here helps me understand a bit.
Same here. He had a unique perspective and was funny as hell. Turned me on to Nikolai Gogol, in fact. His writing from Moscow in the late 90s was transgressive and unhinged but he could also do some incisive and thorough reporting. His work on the Loans for Shares scandal in Russia prepared him for his analysis of the western financial crisis on 2008. What Sam said here does indeed help. I hope Matt finds his way back.
I suspect his past as a sex pest played a role. He knows that if you're a right-winger accused of sex crimes, you can just blame the woke left and say they're trying to cancel you.
I think he didn't want to have to apologize or account for how he wrote about women; I love Sam but this wasn't about "accusers". He wrote really sexist sh-t using "gonzo journalism" as a shield, & instead of examining his own attitudes towards using women as props or literary punchlines or spice or whatever, he went rightwing instead. He could've very easily gotten away with saying it was old writing, his co-writer wrote it, & he's not doing it anymore. Also I think people threw money at him during a vulnerable time. He was always pretty big on himself too, which muddies decision-making. None of those factors speak well of him.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 Can yall give specific examples? All the comments I see are just trash talking as if you guys are doing anything other than sitting at home making UA-cam comments.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 Nor of Seder, honestly. I'm disappointed to learn they were friends, precisely because of that vile shit he wrote about women during the '90s. I'm surprised Seder was okay with that stuff. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who wrote like that.
I always found him to be more interested in getting attention than being a real journalist. And frankly he always struck me as a closet right wing nut.
I rode with RFK Jr one time. He yelled at his dogs to shut up. There was a bottle of Tequila with a worm in it on the back seat. I was told snort the worm rather than drinking it would give a better buzz. After that Elon Musk called me to do a woke expose 🤔🤷🏻♂️
In all fairness, if you're willing to change your convictions over the actions of a few people that also hold those convictions, I have a hard time believing that you really did to begin with.
@@floraposteschild4184 The point I was making is that when you start getting cornered about sexual misconduct (true or not), you make a sharp right turn because you find a community of people who will defend you no matter what you've done.
You could have done a half hour on this as far as I am concerned . I loved MT’s writing way back in the Griftopia / Occupy Wall St era - he was laugh out loud funny with cut to the bone insights . Then - in the last 10 years he seems adrift …like he needs a one year sabbatical to get away , re set his moral compass , and come back with fresh eyes . What you said kind of makes sense - he does seem consistently pissed off at the Left while never really offering an alternative . And the “ agrievement “ narrative also fits Russel Brand and GG as you mentioned - burned by political correctness police and now angry outside the walls of the establishment lobbing attacks on all the perceived enemies .
I never thought he was - maybe I was not clear . What I was expressing was that he seems to have a special emotional motivation in the last decade towards the left that he does not display in his criticisms of the right.
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@@GardenerGeorge I wasn't meaning that as a correction.
@@bettyriley7295 Criticizing the Democratic Party does not make one on the right politically. I am a socialist and I am totally fed up with the Democrats. Greenwald and Dore are very much on the left. Tulsi has moved rightward but is not a right winger. I don't support Trump but am fed up with the outrageously inaccurate things Democrats say about him. And, really now, Democrats have become the war party; they believe in censorship; and they have thrown ordinary working people under the bus in order to get corporate funding.
Tulsi was only a lefty for a couple of weeks. Used Bernie to get in the national spotlight 'cause her whacky guru has groomed her to be president for decades. At least. that's what I heard.
Dore’s and Tulsi’s flips are the ones that ran me out of the room…the last two straws that broke the camel’s back, as it were. Now I don’t trust any of those so-called “left wing progressives.”
@@tonyjones1560 Dore didn't flip on anything. He criticizes Democrats FROM THE LEFT. Apparently you support Democrats even when they move to the right. Which is more important, progressivism or loyalty to the Democratic Party? You don’t get to choose both. Democrats have been moving rightward for 50 years.
“I Can’t Breathe” was one of the most powerful books about police abuse I have ever read. I cried at the end. I know nothing about the controversies surrounding it but I thought it was a very solid eye opener for me. Garner never deserved what happened to him.
I'm a total newcomer to this esoteric controversy, and this video gives me no reason at all to believe that anything is wrong with Matt Taibbi. A video so bereft of information is a complete waste of time.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, as someone who subscribed to Taibbi's substack until recently: I didn't buy the criticisms of Taibbi over his Russiagate or Twitter files material. I thought in both those cases he was standing up for genuine journalistic principles, and the Twitter files concern about National Security agencies having too much influence on what gets seen or not seen on social media made sense. I thought the way the Congressional Dems treated him over Twitter files was despicable (they should have taken that concern seriously and questioned him about details and the potential for security agency abuse of this influence, rather than the stupid personal attacks they did). Having said all that, unfortunately, I do see that Taibbi seems to have been swayed by being "welcomed" into right-wing circles when he was getting all that pushback and attacks from mainstream Democrats (and some on the left) -- and has lately been leaning into the right-wing side of various culture wars. His excuse for criticizing Democrats or liberals more on censorship than GOP or right-wing politicos is ridiculous (the idea that the GOP doesn't have as much institutional power, when they have the Supreme court, a majority in the House and a filibuster veto in the Senate, and multiple state houses that are passing a bunch of right-wing anti-education censorship legislation, is completely lame). I think Taibbi drifted right for personal reasons in reaction to criticism, some of which was bad faith criticism. I don't think it's "grift" or financially motivated. As a journalist, he should be more immune to the effects of those personal attacks -- but those who attacked him unfairly also should take a look at the effect of that. When you start labeling everyone who disagrees with you on anything as "right-wing," it's possible you might be pushing some people to actually become that.
that is a pretty stupid assumption. blueanon people are so cringe. your country sucks all on it's own. there doesnt have to be a sinister russian plot behind everything
Don't underrate insecure self-loathing. From 2016 on, there was a deep sense of anxiety about being a bourgie liberal amongst authentic red-blooded Americans at Trump rallies. Initially this manifested more subtly but I don't think he could ever really shake the sense thst he wasn't a real man or whatever in the throes of his midlife crisis.
The Bernie left loved Matt Taibbi because of his great 2008 reporting so he cozied up to the Bernie left after his me too incident. Then after Bernie’s loss in 2020 he realized it was now more lucrative to do the Dave Rubin why I left the left grift then it was to stay apart of the progressive left movement. Now if you asked him he will probably say either the left has gone crazy or he will say I never said I was on the left in fact I always saw myself as more of a libertarian. Matt taibbi is a good writer and journalist but he has also always been a wave rider.
I don't know, but the Left-turned-Rightwing grifters' trek often began in either 2016 or 2017. Rogan, Maher, Rubin, Greenwald, Taibbi. About 80% of Maddow's content at that time was RussiaGate. Nearly all of her guests have typically been Leftwing, Left-ish or Establishment journalists. So Greenwald was probably a reasonably-frequent guest, and suddenly his rhetoric is about how everything being reported about RussiaGate is an evil partisan hoax. Without knowing the answer, it certainly seems likely that this is how his appearances on her show ended.
@@stevensica5918 No, it was over Russian interference in the 2016 election. Greenwald denies it ever happened and Maddow was pushing for more investigation.
She turned into the Glenn Beck of Russiagate, peddling every ridiculous conspiracy theory defending it, destroying her credibility forever, when Glenn Greenwald was a critic of it. I don't like either of them.
Matt used to be a great writer and journalist. It was sad to see him go down a grifty whirlpool. To be fair, it's really hard to make good money with good writing and journalism.
Greenwald was always bad. Look into his tine as a Lawyer for Matthew F Hale year 2000. Glenn’s past is full of him siding with the far right over nad over again.
Dear UA-cam: Couple of things here, Pl pay attention, I speak for everyone; 1. You no longer need my permission to skip an ad, just skip by default 2. As consumers, any ad we see, that product will not be purchased by any of us, ever again. 3. Your ads are the insurance salesman in Groundhog Day. Pl copy and paste in every video you watch if you stand with us. We are sick of this shit, for real. Pl copy and paste this in the comments section. When you start to see it posted by others, your job is done. Thanks, and welcome aboard.
Temporary silly behavior due to resentment is normal. Pretty much everyone goes through it at least once. But you gotta get over it in time. Gotta transcend it. That’s how it is, children.
There have been lots of things that the left has done that have hurt me and pissed me off, but my core values are my core values and nothing could make me lose those. I guess Matt just never had any really strong, core values.
Taibbi and Greenwald are two of the few real journalists left today who are willing to do real journalism! Taibbi’s use of FOIA requests has resulted in a trove of important but unreported information. The Twitter files were another case of Taibbi doing real journalism
She’s always been problematic mentally and emotionally. It’s interesting how almost everyone involved in political commentary has obvious, almost cartoonish, psychological problems. Gotta take your mind off the world and everyone else, and look inward.
Mark Ames, the co-author of that text you inferred, has spoken about Taibbi's shift right-ward: Ames has actually only become more left-wing over time, despite attempts by a certain neoliberal establishment to destroy him, he was able to place it all in perspective. Ames believes that sometimes those who were raised in left-wing environments (as he claims Taibbi was) are never faced with the realities of right-wing politics, compared to those raised in highly conservative environments (Ames says that this is how he was raised, for example, in a right-wing culture...) and so when faced with comfort from the right, they eat it up... I've frankly noticed this in my personal life, especially those from more 'privileged' left-wing backgrounds (they just go with the flow of what's comfortable, tbh...) compared with those from right-wing environments (who sometimes thoroughly learn the horrors of that pathology from the inside...) or working class existences in general: those who join the left out of its being 'in vogue' will be exposed as closet-conservatives eventually, always...
He decided to be a social reactionary. He decided that being against liberals (which is good) meant accepting even conservative bullshit (which is not good, cause conservatives are also liberals economically speaking btw) instead of critizising them from the left.
That's such an interesting spin to it. This whole time I thought it was just money, which was not making sense because he was so anti-big money. Now that I know there were false allegations and ostracizement from the left it makes more sense.
Matt lost all credibility to me when he was in a relationship with Elon to spread some stupid nothing-story grift that no one cared about. It was clear he wanted to be part of Elon’s inner circle but instead Elon dumped his ass and broke his heart 😂
So you think he was lying about the whole Twitter files thing. Kinda shows me the lack of intellectual honesty of this whole thread. People don’t like it when the truth no longer lines up with their narrative.
This is the flip side of the "Don't kill the messenger" coin. We need to stop making heroes of people because we agree with them. Either their factual claims are correct, or they aren't. Either their arguments make sense, or they don't. Give credit (in the sense of accurately noting who said or did what) where it's due, but the messengers themselves DO NOT MATTER when it comes to the actual substance.
And when we disagree with them, well... either OUR factual claims and arguments are solid, or they aren't. We need to hold ourselves to the highest standards.
Great comment .
Its harder to do than it sounds -
To remain an island , always keep the critical thinking lenses on , never take one person’s version of reality as gospel without examining it .
It is human nature to want to relax and trust a chosen source …
Very underrated comment.
Brilliant comment👏🏽
TRUUUUUU
Love this comment. Most UA-cam comment sections are echo chambers (like this one), substance doesn't matter. Confirmation bias is easy, critical thinking is not.
There’s so much money on the right, they buy these grifters off whenever possible
It's effect is twofold: It removes a critical voice of the right and then adds a voice to "the team"
The left has the music, movie, AAA game industry, pro sports, 90% of mainstream news (cable, radio, and print) and every social media platform except X.. but it’s the right that’s grifting and throwing around money because of a few podcasts? Do you guys ever sound out what you say to see how unbelievably insane it sounds? The power imbalance regarding influence is so stacked in favor of the left.. seeing you guys say things like that is just embarrassing
That's a reductive assessment. As Sam said, there's also an emotional component. John Kiriakou comes to mind..after the way some of these individuals are treated it's quite natural to react with cold cynicism and greed.
@@cayetano6547 Yes, but his absolute shift does not make sense, it's not that he became a centrist or stopped talking/working with the people that wronged him, he did a 180 and became a full fledged right winger over the span of months not even a few years.
@@cayetano6547 I’m not sure, I think it’s simple. Lawyers argue against their own viewpoints all the time as long as their clients check’s cash. I think most people who work at oil companies believe in climate change but they do what they do to enrich themselves. If you pay 10k to make a right wing video, it would be hard for most people to turn it down. I will say grievance is a gateway drug to pull them in that direction though but I don’t think that alone can make people shift that drastically.
One of my favorite quotes actually comes from Matt Taibbi when he was talking about the Tea Party and he said something like “like dogs, they only understand tone of voice and emotional attitude.” So much for that I guess.
That’s when a moderate to leftist publication was paying his bills. Now that same tea party are. See how that works?
The hogs ruined him so he said ‘if I can’t beat em join em’. He really did only understand the tone of voice and emotional attitude apparently.
he actually really hasn’t changed at all idk what you’re talking about
@@user-ek9is2mn3y One doesn't become part of the Fox/far right pantheon without changing.
@@TheMcgojohoh ffs
Aggrievement and grift
The right wing: come for the aggrievement, stay for the grift
"Aggriftment"?
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 😂🤣😂🤣
Perfect!
His early screeds about Trumpism would always circle back around to ‘they’re too dumb to know better, it’s really the Democrats and wider Left at fault - look what you made them do’.
I saw a similar thing the other day in a comment that was defending not voting for Harris: the cause of Trumpism is centrism.
It's never their fault. The Left and even the Center made them do it.
There's a kernel of truth there if you can stand to hear it. At minimum, we should be smart about how we approach building political power.
@@southend26 howso?
@@rev0lve638 Civil Rights leaders in the 50s/60s understood how to do what I'm talking about. But it's hard, really f**cking hard, to do. Especially on an emotional level because women and marginalized people are truly victims. That said, politically, they need the support of people without anything like that experience of victimization. It's unfair, distasteful, and sometimes soul-crushing, but that's how power works.
The triangulation of the democrats to “the center” while the republicans continually march to the right continues to prove that democrats are into their own power and not representing an actual left.
Naomi Wolfe screwed up a fact in a book she wrote, she was called on it publicly. Now she's on The War Room all the time where no one fact checks anything.
A friend is going to lend me "Doppelgänger" as soon as she finishes it --- the Naomi Klein book she wrote bc folks were confusing her with "the other Naomi" (Wolf) while NW was going batty. It's supposed to be a really good book, Klein takes the personal + broadens it to larger societal commentary, & I'm desperate to read it the second my friend finishes it. The moment Wolf was rumbled on her misunderstanding that invalidated her research/book was captured live on British radio; I don't think I could listen to it again, it's excruciating.
Klein's given some book talks/interviews about it, pretty sure she was on MR to promote Doppelgänger.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 I read Doppelganger, actually because a friend lent it to me lol. I found it to be a good read, probably my second fav book of hers after the shock doctrine.
I used to be friends with NW on Facebook, we even private chatted a few times about a few things and suddenly she went completely off the wall bat sh*t 😢
right - and the trajectory of both Wolf and Taibi is what Naomi klein described in DOPPELGÄNGER
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426it’s awesome! i asked my library to buy it and they did. i didn’t see your comment before i wrote mine below.
There is a gravity hole of some kind on the right wing. It’s money, ego, anger, hate. Take a guess.
I think it's all of those four, and a _long_ list of secondary motivations. Like any singularity, it blocks out the light once you're inside the event horizon. Only what's inside matters. And thus, inevitably, it draws you in, deeper, and deeper, and deeper...
There is truth. You’ll get there.
Matt was so on the money (no pun intended) during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. He had the scoops during that crazy and confusing period. I don't get it.
@@rudebuddha4895 He spent the late 90s in Moscow reporting on the collapse of the Soviet Union. The scandals associated with that era made the 2008 crisis seem like ice cream and butterflies.
Lack of class consciousness.
Comparing Goldman Sachs to a vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity was iconic. Taibbi wrote that in 2010. I don't get it either.
@@Logotic nah the 2008 crisis is the biggest robbery in history. wtf u tlakin about
@@Logotic Ya cuz it was our companies raiding their economy with nobody in the Duma to stop it. At least we had some regulations left in the 00s, and more whistleblower protection. Those first 7 years post-Soviet Russia are why Putin has every Russian oligarch on a short leash, and he’s already tugged on several of them since 2022.
“Grow up, it’s not about you. Not when you do this type of stuff”. Well said.
Did not know Greenwalt’s turn was a temper tantrum about Rachel Maddow. That’s sad but pretty funny.
what type of stuff?
@@ininterestingtimesreportbl5847 I believe he meant "it's not about you(when you're advocating for societal changes that'll benefit everyone)." These people(Tucker, Taibbi, Rubin, Pool, etc etc) wanted to be seen as a star or some kind of genius for publishing what most people on the left generally thought. Then when they didn't get the credit, or money, they thought they deserved... they moved to the endless money trough the right-wing billionaires make available for anyone who is willing to pretend the right has better ideas for society
@@gateauxq4604That sounds like speculation. How can that be proven?
Ahh yes; Greenwood, RFK, Dore, Taibbi, Gabbard - their brains broke. I am the only one left with an unbroken brain. It’s definitely not about you dude. Time to take a long hard look in the mirror. Projection is a hell of a drug.
Aggrievement. Dave Chappelle, Rogan, Elon just to name a few of the most popular ones. Each were “okay,” then had a moment where they felt attacked. They moved away from the attackers, (liberals), & towards the ones who not only accepted their mistakes, but encouraged them, the right. It’s very easy to track chronologically. You can see the fork in the road.
Russel Brand …
@@GardenerGeorge yep. Perfect example. Took his aggrievement & turned his transition into a grift. Like so many others currently in the right wing media space.
"A moment they felt attacked" means "They got busted engaging in abusive behaviors" and rather than own up, take responsibility, grow and change they went to where such behaviors are acceptable... Republicans.
@@nsbd90now yes. Attacked, called out, challenged, held accountable…it’s that they felt attacked, despite the “attacks” being 100% warranted - it’s just that they disagree.
Dave Chappelle felt guilt about his comedy that targeted his own. He had some weird run away to Africa episode that turned his comedy against Hollywood rather than take responsibility for his part. Rogan & Brand have liberals and Hollywood to thank for their fortunes and careers. They were blackballed by Hollywood cuz they no longer were successful. They couldn't generate money so they turned to rightwingShysterism to prey on disaffected republicans and played to their grievance. Elon wants free reign to do whatever he wants. California, Hollywood and Silicon Valley wouldn't allow him that so he bought a sinking ship known as Twitter and moved to Texas. He is a deadbeat dad of 10 children and has issues in the brain.
He went full Greenwald. Never go full Greenwald.
Thanks, noted ✅️ 👌 💯
@@lawrencemckeon6802 I need to know what happened to that dude too. It can’t just be Rachel Maddow.
You mean be intelligent and have principles?
@@Pl-ax0Greenwald takes money from Peter Thiel.
Greenwald always had right wing inclinations. A lot of people overlooked it because he was on the right side of civil liberties and war issues, but those right wing views were always there.
Grifting for money.
Taibbi could make lots more money if he were to become a vote-blue-no-matter-who Democrat. He choses to preserve his integrity by seeking truth wherever it lies.
I’m curious what maga or right wing views taibbi now espouses?
That's redundant. What else would you grift for?
It’s actually heartbreaking because , as a young man, reading his writing on Goldman Sachs was formative
Yep, I thought I was reading the next RS legacy writer like Hunter S. Thompson or Lester Bangs. What a let down
WTF happened to Sam Seder? From 2004-era culture-jammer to 100% pure DNC hack.
Taibbi was always a scumbag... an egotistical, narcissistic trust-fund, bro-dude. Go read some of the stuff he wrote for The eXile with his partner in crime Mark Ames. They literally gloated about exploiting, and abusing women in Russia and having sex with underage Russian girls. I'll bet dollars to donuts that the gruesome twosome have both been comprised by the FSB. If you need more proof as to the true nature of Taibbi's character, read the story where Taibbi physically attacked a Vanity Fair writer who told Taibbi that his book, 'The eXile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia' wasn't any good. Oh, American citizens can be prosecuted by the American government for travelling abroad to engage in sex crimes with minors. I'm pretty sure there is no statute of limitations for such crimes. Let's hope both Taibbi and Ames end up in nice federally penitentiary somewhere.
That's the problem, some of y'all see anybody doing some good journalism and they instantly become your heroes. Future lesson- never trust anybody that both-sides everything
Same here. I bought all his stuff, even subscribing for a number of years. He left the reservation 3-4 years ago though. Very sad.
His spat with Musk when he was screwed by that nutcase was hilarious. At one point you could almost hear him crying.
He's been pretty silent about all the stuff promoting blue checks, all the algorithms boosting right-wing freaks that have come out, etc. since then.
cosmic comedy for sure. Musk can't resist pulling the trigger when he has the power to hurt somebody bad-- no matter what a useful sycophant they make themselves. You should see how he's treated Grimes even after her 4 years groveling & coming out as a WN, destroying her career, to try & win him back. The Musk drama train is an endless parade of the worst people alive facing incredible humiliations & torture. Something biblical about it.
WTF happened to Sam Seder? From 2004-era culture-jammer to 100% pure DNC hack.
I get hating the DNC and dems but any kind of advocation for Trump is nuts. Clear sign of griftification.
Yeah... That's where I am. The modern left is nuts, but how can you see the modern right as an acceptable alternative?
@@jaybleu6169 but in realitythe dems are not a left wing party . i am irish and the majority of the dems are centre right in our politics and republican party the trump verison anyways are facists
Well, there are only two parties in the US system, so if you really hate the Democrats, it's only natural that you'll end up supporting Republicans. The exception to this are people who are content to be on the fringes of politics, content to not support the winners of any elections and just let things happen to the government without their input.
@@jaybleu6169 Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by modern left and what are these crazy things?
@@jaybleu6169What is the "modern left" and why is it "nuts"? Very general, vague, broad-brush, no point insult.
Glenn Greenwald always had right wing libertarian inclinations and his criticisms of foreign intervention and mass surveillance are in line with those views. During the W Bush administration you couldn’t get on right wing platforms with that message so he embraced the left.
Now that there are right wing platforms that allow him to do that he doesn’t have to embrace the left or liberals. I don’t think Greenwald changed, he just went ‘home’ so to speak.
Interesting. I wasn't familiar with him before Snowden, so I don't know anything about his origins.
Why does he call himself a socialist?
@@jughead88 like when he mentioned that Tucker Carlson is a true socialist...
"his criticisms of foreign intervention and mass surveillance are in line with those views"
So the Left has no problem with foreign intervention and mass surveillance? FFS...
@@jughead88 why the 88?
Taibbi's descent has given me a new appreciation for journalists that are total squares. His style always placed too much emphasis on inserting himself and his hand-me-down Hunter S. Thompson-isms into his stories. He was like the ripped financial advisor bro of left wing journalists. Average, mundane, boring accountants will keep your money safe and average, mundane, boring journalists will deliver news without a self-serving slant.
This is the worst take of all time. Congrats.
I used to follow Taibbi on Twitter years ago. He was reasonable at that time. However, he slowly changed his positions as trolls on the site made specific points to which he started to agree. I always wondered if the trolls were an influence operation.
You mean someone said true things and he changed his mind?
Taibbi became “anti-woke” when he was accused of sexual harassment.
Falsely, yes. Makes a lot of sense to react that way to the “progressive” monsters ruining your life.
Now then just find Jesus as Russel Crow and all is set.
This guy is revealing too much . In case of emergency break glass & reach for the tried and trusted sexual deviant device. Losing its potency though, like cries of anti semitism. You can only make false claims for so long b4 people catch on to the actual grift. Russell brand is poor choice Asan example too . Man’s been banging on about his for about 10 years and there hasn’t been even a sniff of an actual charge. It is disappointing though to see him now . The Russell brand we in Europe remember would’ve been all over Israeli actions atm & calling them out.
Isn't it weird how often that happens
Matt is kind of funny looking
Same thing that happened to TYT:getting obsessed with being canceled/being anti-woke can easily lead to being reactionary
TYT might be okay if Ana left.
Never underestimate a narcissists burning lust to manufacture oppression for themselves when faced with even the most reasonable or minor criticism.
@@raydavison4288Cenk is still buying into crime panics
@raydavison4288 it seems to be rubbing off on Cenk too tho, he was defending some of Ana’s position during a chat with Hasan which was wild. Maybe they just have an echo chamber of two and he’ll get over it when she takes the inevitable offer from Fox. 😐
Cenk owns TYT and he is a Capitalist.
Capitalism is a RW-economic-system of politics.
Thus, Cenk is an economic-RWer.
And the only way for the corrupt wealthy-class to maintain their corrupt RW-economic-politics of inequality, is for them to also impose RW-social-systems of politics.
RW-politics are anti-working-class politics & RW-politics are pro-wealthy-class politics.
Monarchism, feudalism, capitalism, corporatism, fascism, and republicanism are ALL corrupt systems of RW-politics, and they ALL involve the corrupt wealthy-class enslaving the working-class.
Cenk is either a fool who doesn't comprehend that he's a RWer, or he is a knave who is pretending not to comprehend that he's a RWer because he benefits from the inherent corruption of RW-politics
And, whether they realize it or not, the working-class dupes who are employed by Cenk are helping to advance RW-politics. Just like the working-class dupes who continue to vote for the RW-extremist Repubs & the moderate RW-Dems.
BOTH of the major political-parties in the US are bought, owned, bribed, & controlled y the corrupt wealthy-class w/ their corrupt RW-politics.
The Vampire squid finally sunk its fangs into him and he became its minion.
Yeah right. Taibbi now works for Goldman Sachs, biting his teeth into the necks of ordinary working people to suck the lifeblood out of them.
Kompromat. Taibbi lived in Moscow and admitted previously that he was a sexual predator at the time. Then Me Too happened and he tried to play it off as a joke, but nobody was laughing.
Totally would not surprise me a bit to find that there are skeletons from Moscow haunting him.
I think in Moscow, sexism is considered the norm especially in the 90s and it’s very easy to go along with it.
I was wondering about his fashion choices, but Moscow explains that
I worked with foreign-students from Russia in the mid 2000. The Russian-boys would get their instructions from the American-bosses, and, then, when the American-bosses turned their backs, the Russian-boys would force the Russian-girls to do the work. A bunch of Russian-boys got sent back to Russia because they wouldn't work (much like lots of the American-boys wouldn't work).
Frankly, the US-boys were/are like a lot like the Russian-boys -- and the US is just as much of a sh!tehol as Russia -- because BOTH countries are bought, owned, bribed, & controlled by the corrupt wealthy-class & their corrupt RW-politics which they maintained via the division & segregation of sexism, genderism, patriarchy, misogyny, and slavery
@@elftaxSo, you lived there? Or, just talking out your ass for fun and the usual liberal Russia-bashing?
He got tired of being poor.
Well he was a heroin addict with many failed projects.
That wasn't too illuminating, Sam. All you did was vaguely allude to umspecified parts of out-of-print books, nebulous events and Taibbi's failure to take your advice about a "hard way to come back from that and an easier way" with no description of what the hell you were talking about! I've also _never_ liked Rachel Maddow but it's hard to believe her snubbing anyone would lead to their undoing. You may not want to be seen as engaging in gossip but you didn't avoid it here. All you did was give a rendition of the most typical kind of gossip of all: vague innuendo and nothing concrete, including your opinion.
I, for one, would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this matter but please express them clearly and, if you are too embarrassed, don't bring it up in the first place. If Matt Taibbi (or Glen Greenwald) was mistreated to the extent you seem to be saying, you'd be doing them and everybody else a favor by explaining, not gingerly insinuating he fell apart due to ... whatever you were trying to say.
Bingo
THANK YOU. I've read this entire thread down to here, trying to figure out WTF they're accusing him of, and all I'm seeing here is a bunch of snarky MSNBC shitlibs who are more concerned with laughable innuendo and nonsense ("he's Elon's pal", "He's a grifter", "a right winger") than, say, the fact that the Dems have become the party of censorship, disinformation and war. Anybody who wasn't horrified at that Twitter files Inquisition (lwherein they were apparently trying to outdo Republicans at their worst with McCarthyite tactics). where they (yes) attacked the messenger, impugned his reputation, and threatened him with prison time (for the most minuscule of errors), and he then received a visit from the IRS the next day -- all for doing his best to just report the facts -- has some seriously f'd up priorities.
I recommend you all read Chris Hedges' "The Crucifixion of Matt Taibbi", or his discussions with Hedges on the Twitter Files and Russiagate, or "Dems Smear Matt Taibbi" , THE HILL (Briahna Joy Grey).
(But I have a feeling you'd rather keep wallowing in the nonsense.)
the left made me racist or the left made me misogynist excuse is such a weird thing.
Right? Makes no sense
@@luna-pna it does. Once you make everything about race and power, How can you oppose a policy without being racist. You think immigration hurts the working class and benefits the capital class, well that’s cuz your racist
It allows people who live in the right wing safe space to tell themselves that they actually listen to all points of view, because this guy who says everything they want to hear claims he's a centrist libertarian. It's the whole reason why Rubin and Pool have a career, and why Peterson stops understanding English when you ask him about his beliefs. Rogan's not far off from these grifters since at least a few years.
I remember around 2010 I discovered his reporting on the financial collapse of ‘08 and I learned SO much… after that I read a bunch of his stuff about the economic crash and the Iraq war and thought he was really talented. His downfall is one of the sadder journalistic losses post-Trump
I think Sam is being too nice to Taibbi. Matt always wilts when the pressure is on. I defended Taibbi for a long time, but, in hindsight, there were things about him that were problematic. I thought it was because he was not in the mainstream, but there are so many others who avoid controversy.
wilting when the pressure is on and being problematic are two different things. your comment is confusing
Matt doesn’t defend himself. In that way, he validates accusations made against him. That’s problematic.
@@whitesauce923
It's stupid, not problematic, to fail to defend oneself against untrue accusations.
You choose your words; I’ll choose mine.
@@whitesauce923
Problematic suggests Taibbi's guilty of the things he's accused of. If that's your point, ok, but if it isn't, then you've used the wrong word.
The more people like Matt Taibbi end up following this path, the more thankful I get for those who haven't lost their minds like this. Too many Jimmy Dores when we need more Kyle Kulinskis.
Kyle has lost his mind on Foreign Policy, he went down the Hasan America is automatically wrong, how can I blame America for this, route
@@shinystarmiestudios4179that’s americas fault
@@shinystarmiestudios4179 Can you give me an example of something where America has been unfairly criticized by Hasan or Kyle for its foreign policy?
@@SteveGellerMusicGood question, curious about this too.
@@shinystarmiestudios4179 Kyle has never had a good head for foreign policy. That said, I don't think that's an accurate characterization of him, as he's certainly on the American side of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Called it when he started on the anti cancel culture stuff
What an odd thing to say
@@rich6485 why's that?
@@cambriaofthevastoceans6721 I've just noticed your profile Pic. No use in explaining
@@rich6485 ah, so nothing of substance then
@@rich6485 just noticed? Bit slow on the uptake eh?
Yeah, I've seen this with a bunch of bloggers who I used to follow too. I remember one who was a pretty solid feminist blogger who said something kind of insensitive about trans people. She got called out on it, and rather than apologize or even let the event blow over, she doubled down. I checked back on her recently and she was into that whole "Imane Khelif is a trans woman" conspiracy.
Another progressive blogger I followed was accused of being a bit creepy at a conference. He then went full "red pill" within a few months.
I notice this with Ana Kasparian right now. Do you know what I mean? It's probably more common than I realize since I'm not a political content creator.
It's very human to want to double down instead of correct yourself, especially when a bunch of angry strangers are demanding that you apologize. It's also very ignorant. When you're wrong you're wrong. Spouting your opinions in public is a risk--if you're wrong you have a choice whether to accept it or deny it. But what feels worse--being wrong about something and then changing your mind and becoming right, or being wrong about something forever and pretending that it's right? If we're in it for truth and knowledge and making the world a better place, then changing your mind is fine--assessing and scrutinizing one's own views is what any rational, intelligent person would do. But if the goal is to puff up your chest and be the best, most correctest commentator who ever lived, then go ahead and keep pretending up is down and black is white and the earth is flat and trans women aren't women. Maybe the world will end up turning your way someday and you'll be on the right side of history. Probably not given where gen z and alpha are today.
Accepting new information, seeing things from new perspectives, being wrong and changing your mind... that should all be normalized if it isn't already. It's not just okay to be wrong, it's good. The thing I always say is "being wrong is just an opportunity to become right". Instead of trying to prove how good we are, let's get better!
Now if someone is serially wrong and yet keeps giving their opinions, it's fair game to clown on them COUGH Tim Pool
Matt got paid off, simple as that. And when it became obvious to everyone reading and watching him, he could have admitted it and destroyed his integrity publicly or just go down as an unrepentant grifter who cashed out. He seemed likable the same way Musk did when he was unknown and then ironically they both end up on Rogan and that was that.
paid off by whom
@@bobbyologun1517 Well, if Tim Pool and Rubin got millions for doing garbage, Taibbi, who is an actual respected Rolling Stone columnist and online pundit, then there were likely a lot more sources under the maga flag trying to move him away from Never Trumperism. My guess is Putin's dark money because the first danger sign i witnessed with Matt was him mocking the Russian Collusion stuff like we're all so stupid for even considering Russia meddled in the electoral process when even Putin admitted it.
Ridiculous assertion. Who "paid him off ?
There's a bunch of libertarian, post-leftist types among podcasters - Greenwald, Taibbi, Dore, etc.
That’s because the left is getting insane. Pregnant men, race grifters, etc.
Yup!!!
Taibbi breaks my heart. Its a real bummer.
That's what you get for looking up to these apolitical, "both sides are wrong" "good Journalists" types
@@sabeto5527 so what do you expect anyone to do? Not read? Not get interested in politics?
His early stuff was good and i would have hardly called him apolitical. He was clearly warning everyone about the dangers of corruption and fascism.
How was anyone to know that what i would consider a real political punk would instantly flip one day?
You cant live like that bruh.
I ran into Matt Taibbi at the 50th St subway station in NYC just before he did his heel turn. I got a selfie with him and sent it to friends. Now I'm embarrassed to have done that.
Well, he wrote some great stuff before! How would you know he would turn? I'm still surprised and a bit sad about his downfall.
what heel turn? wtf is everyone talking about
Q: What happened to Matt Taibi?
A: Edward Gregorian 😂
I remember him doing his podcast with Katie Halper. Halper has stuck to her principles and is still doing good journalism. Matt meanwhile is off in lala land.
I was just thinking about that- he turned out to be an actual idiot.
Katie Halper -- the one who reported Tara Reade's claims without doing any journalistic due diligence on Reade? Those priniciples?
@@HypatiaMuse In what way?
This kind of "inside baseball" history is super important to record and share - I remember Taibbi as an investigative reporter doing important work shedding light on corruption and moral hazard. Interesting to hear what contributed to his integrity being lost.
And Jimmy Dores pivot was a result of Sam making a fool out of him in 2016.
Jimmy Dore head exploded because everyone rejected his FTV idea and decided to sellout instead because is easier and more profitable.
Even before that, he would frequently “joke” about how he wished he would be offered millions to sell out. Turns out he wasn’t joking
Nah Dore was planning to grift all along. He was a "progressive" when it was mainstream during the Bernie years, now he's chasing the right wing money.
He was never serious
@shadowstalker1515 Yes. He always said “if I was making millions to parrot establishment talking points like Bill Maher, I’d sell out too”
Saying he broke his brain…. Maybe your brain is broke.
Thank you for this, Sam. I read Matt's books and loved them. I always thought of him as the voice of reason. I was really sad to see this turn from him. What you said here helps me understand a bit.
Same here. He had a unique perspective and was funny as hell. Turned me on to Nikolai Gogol, in fact. His writing from Moscow in the late 90s was transgressive and unhinged but he could also do some incisive and thorough reporting. His work on the Loans for Shares scandal in Russia prepared him for his analysis of the western financial crisis on 2008. What Sam said here does indeed help. I hope Matt finds his way back.
Taibbetes
He was always sus. It’s there in his early books if you’re paying attention.
I suspect his past as a sex pest played a role. He knows that if you're a right-winger accused of sex crimes, you can just blame the woke left and say they're trying to cancel you.
I think he didn't want to have to apologize or account for how he wrote about women; I love Sam but this wasn't about "accusers". He wrote really sexist sh-t using "gonzo journalism" as a shield, & instead of examining his own attitudes towards using women as props or literary punchlines or spice or whatever, he went rightwing instead. He could've very easily gotten away with saying it was old writing, his co-writer wrote it, & he's not doing it anymore.
Also I think people threw money at him during a vulnerable time.
He was always pretty big on himself too, which muddies decision-making.
None of those factors speak well of him.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 Can yall give specific examples? All the comments I see are just trash talking as if you guys are doing anything other than sitting at home making UA-cam comments.
@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 Nor of Seder, honestly. I'm disappointed to learn they were friends, precisely because of that vile shit he wrote about women during the '90s. I'm surprised Seder was okay with that stuff. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who wrote like that.
@@Marbles471 grow up, it's not about you.
MYSTERY, I met Taibbi at an environmental film festival several years ago....he was total Eco guy, progressive. WTF???????
He hasn't changed.. The progressives have. Intolerant identity politics is so banal.
Question has been on my mind for a while. Thanks!!
Why does SAM say Taibbi "WAS MY FRIEND"? Does SAM dump friends who don't agree with his IDEALOLOGY???
Sounds to me like a friendship breakup that hurt his feelings . . . He should get over it.
I always found him to be more interested in getting attention than being a real journalist. And frankly he always struck me as a closet right wing nut.
He’s one of the only real journalists out there. You’re showing your left wing bias. Wake up.
True.
I thought it was his weird vocal fry that did him in
It's why I couldn't listen to him speak.
@@NikaHollywood This peculiar fashion has descended on us like the black plague
I bet Matt Taibbi votes blue still. Sam is nailing it. Bill Maher got radicalized by having his feelings hurt too.
BM is an entertainer *not* a journalist. there is no reason his name should come up.
Actually the question is WTF happened to you Sam Seder ? There is nothing resembling journalism left on your channel
Damn, you aren't getting enough journalism from an online political commentary "show"
I rode with RFK Jr one time. He yelled at his dogs to shut up. There was a bottle of Tequila with a worm in it on the back seat. I was told snort the worm rather than drinking it would give a better buzz. After that Elon Musk called me to do a woke expose 🤔🤷🏻♂️
Glenn Greenwald has always seemed so angry and aggrieved about everything.
Glenn Greenwald, Matthew f hake, year 2000, murder plot. Look it up.
With Glenn I can understand that, because he grew up gay in Florida. With Matt the aggrievement just seems contrived.
You mean the Insane Clown Posse guy without any makeup on? That guy?
In all fairness, if you're willing to change your convictions over the actions of a few people that also hold those convictions, I have a hard time believing that you really did to begin with.
This is EXACTLY what happened to Russel Brand
Was Matt Taibbi also a gross sexual harasser, or worse, since he was a teenager? Huh. This keeps "happening" to some men.
@@floraposteschild4184 The point I was making is that when you start getting cornered about sexual misconduct (true or not), you make a sharp right turn because you find a community of people who will defend you no matter what you've done.
You could have done a half hour on this as far as I am concerned .
I loved MT’s writing way back in the Griftopia / Occupy Wall St era - he was laugh out loud funny with cut to the bone insights .
Then - in the last 10 years he seems adrift …like he needs a one year sabbatical to get away , re set his moral compass , and come back with fresh eyes .
What you said kind of makes sense - he does seem consistently pissed off at the Left while never really offering an alternative .
And the “ agrievement “ narrative also fits Russel Brand and GG as you mentioned - burned by political correctness police and now angry outside the walls of the establishment lobbing attacks on all the perceived enemies .
Matt Taibbi was never a leftist.
I never thought he was - maybe I was not clear .
What I was expressing was that he seems to have a special emotional motivation in the last decade towards the left that he does not display in his criticisms of the right.
@@GardenerGeorge
I wasn't meaning that as a correction.
Matt Taibbiov just earning his rubles
He seems dumb enough to do it for free.
That is hilariously put.
@@pjmmaloney4458 Cc: John Cleese
Kompromatt Taibbi
The same thing that happened to Glen Greenwald, Tulsi, and Jimmy Dore.
@@bettyriley7295 Criticizing the Democratic Party does not make one on the right politically. I am a socialist and I am totally fed up with the Democrats. Greenwald and Dore are very much on the left. Tulsi has moved rightward but is not a right winger. I don't support Trump but am fed up with the outrageously inaccurate things Democrats say about him. And, really now, Democrats have become the war party; they believe in censorship; and they have thrown ordinary working people under the bus in order to get corporate funding.
Tulsi was only a lefty for a couple of weeks. Used Bernie to get in the national spotlight 'cause her whacky guru has groomed her to be president for decades. At least. that's what I heard.
Dore’s and Tulsi’s flips are the ones that ran me out of the room…the last two straws that broke the camel’s back, as it were. Now I don’t trust any of those so-called “left wing progressives.”
@@tonyjones1560 Dore didn't flip on anything. He criticizes Democrats FROM THE LEFT. Apparently you support Democrats even when they move to the right. Which is more important, progressivism or loyalty to the Democratic Party? You don’t get to choose both. Democrats have been moving rightward for 50 years.
"There's an easy way and a hard way to come back from that." So true.
Nothing happened to him! He is a great journalist!!! You just disagree… I think you may think everyone has to think like you….
Shhh the adults are talking
And many of the comments seem to be from people who think everyone has to think like them! 🤮
@@Pedro91795 if those are the adults….I’ll gladly go to the kids table.. tyvm! 🙄
“I Can’t Breathe” was one of the most powerful books about police abuse I have ever read. I cried at the end. I know nothing about the controversies surrounding it but I thought it was a very solid eye opener for me.
Garner never deserved what happened to him.
He stuck around long enough to become the villain.
I'm a total newcomer to this esoteric controversy, and this video gives me no reason at all to believe that anything is wrong with Matt Taibbi. A video so bereft of information is a complete waste of time.
There is so very much right about Matt Taibbi. People should be grateful for the guy.
I realize Matt Taibbi did some good work, but my introduction to him as when he wrote for the NewYork Press and I always thought he was a snarky POS!
Maybe an unpopular opinion, as someone who subscribed to Taibbi's substack until recently: I didn't buy the criticisms of Taibbi over his Russiagate or Twitter files material. I thought in both those cases he was standing up for genuine journalistic principles, and the Twitter files concern about National Security agencies having too much influence on what gets seen or not seen on social media made sense. I thought the way the Congressional Dems treated him over Twitter files was despicable (they should have taken that concern seriously and questioned him about details and the potential for security agency abuse of this influence, rather than the stupid personal attacks they did). Having said all that, unfortunately, I do see that Taibbi seems to have been swayed by being "welcomed" into right-wing circles when he was getting all that pushback and attacks from mainstream Democrats (and some on the left) -- and has lately been leaning into the right-wing side of various culture wars. His excuse for criticizing Democrats or liberals more on censorship than GOP or right-wing politicos is ridiculous (the idea that the GOP doesn't have as much institutional power, when they have the Supreme court, a majority in the House and a filibuster veto in the Senate, and multiple state houses that are passing a bunch of right-wing anti-education censorship legislation, is completely lame). I think Taibbi drifted right for personal reasons in reaction to criticism, some of which was bad faith criticism. I don't think it's "grift" or financially motivated. As a journalist, he should be more immune to the effects of those personal attacks -- but those who attacked him unfairly also should take a look at the effect of that. When you start labeling everyone who disagrees with you on anything as "right-wing," it's possible you might be pushing some people to actually become that.
A shitload of russian money happened to him, I suspect.
Exactly, Russian money broke his brain
naaah, like so many others, the left turned on him, so he turned to the right.
Matt Taibbi doesn’t need Russian money. Right or wrong if he says it, he believes it.
that is a pretty stupid assumption. blueanon people are so cringe. your country sucks all on it's own. there doesnt have to be a sinister russian plot behind everything
More likely a manilla envelope from FSB with photos of him doing career destroying illegal things.
Don't underrate insecure self-loathing. From 2016 on, there was a deep sense of anxiety about being a bourgie liberal amongst authentic red-blooded Americans at Trump rallies. Initially this manifested more subtly but I don't think he could ever really shake the sense thst he wasn't a real man or whatever in the throes of his midlife crisis.
Idk... he has this strange musk.
The Bernie left loved Matt Taibbi because of his great 2008 reporting so he cozied up to the Bernie left after his me too incident. Then after Bernie’s loss in 2020 he realized it was now more lucrative to do the Dave Rubin why I left the left grift then it was to stay apart of the progressive left movement. Now if you asked him he will probably say either the left has gone crazy or he will say I never said I was on the left in fact I always saw myself as more of a libertarian. Matt taibbi is a good writer and journalist but he has also always been a wave rider.
Why did Maddow stop having Glenn Greenwald on her show?
I don't know, but the Left-turned-Rightwing grifters' trek often began in either 2016 or 2017. Rogan, Maher, Rubin, Greenwald, Taibbi. About 80% of Maddow's content at that time was RussiaGate. Nearly all of her guests have typically been Leftwing, Left-ish or Establishment journalists. So Greenwald was probably a reasonably-frequent guest, and suddenly his rhetoric is about how everything being reported about RussiaGate is an evil partisan hoax. Without knowing the answer, it certainly seems likely that this is how his appearances on her show ended.
If you're neoliberal, authoritarian presenting as "leftist," you can't allow anyone on the show who will criticize you from the left.
GG occasionally criticizes Israel, and for Maddow that is the ULTIMATE RED LINE.
@@stevensica5918 No, it was over Russian interference in the 2016 election. Greenwald denies it ever happened and Maddow was pushing for more investigation.
She turned into the Glenn Beck of Russiagate, peddling every ridiculous conspiracy theory defending it, destroying her credibility forever, when Glenn Greenwald was a critic of it. I don't like either of them.
Today i learn i've been pronouncing Taibbi name wrong this whole time lol
"he never paid me.... I told him dont worry about it" god damnit i hate this guy.
It’s much easier to be excepted for sexual misconduct by the right
Matt used to be a great writer and journalist. It was sad to see him go down a grifty whirlpool. To be fair, it's really hard to make good money with good writing and journalism.
Taibbi, Greenwald, Blumenthal-how far they've fallen
@@SG-pq1kr He lost it when he "reported" on Elons hand picked Twitter files. Now no one will take him seriously as a journalist.
@@SG-pq1krno. They were about making democrats look bad. lol.
Greenwald was always bad. Look into his tine as a Lawyer for Matthew F Hale year 2000. Glenn’s past is full of him siding with the far right over nad over again.
At least Max and Greenwald are calling out Kamal and Trump aggressively for their actions toward Gaza while Sam here is giving “her” a pass.
what happened with max blumenthal
When folks start calling someone else a “____ wing grifter” view them with suspicion.
Dear UA-cam: Couple of things here, Pl pay attention, I speak for everyone;
1. You no longer need my permission to skip an ad, just skip by default
2. As consumers, any ad we see, that product will not be purchased by any of us, ever again.
3. Your ads are the insurance salesman in Groundhog Day.
Pl copy and paste in every video you watch if you stand with us. We are sick of this shit, for real.
Pl copy and paste this in the comments section. When you start to see it posted by others, your job is done. Thanks, and welcome aboard.
I see a MR clip about Taibbi I click for the Emma impression, even if she's not there to do it.
The self emulation if three US citizens shouldn't go unnoticed. I hope you can talk about it extensively 💔
Did you mean immolation?
“Self emulation” is an interesting philosophical concept.😂
Temporary silly behavior due to resentment is normal. Pretty much everyone goes through it at least once.
But you gotta get over it in time.
Gotta transcend it.
That’s how it is, children.
There are two situations in which people show who they really are:
- When give power.
- In times of "crisis".
There have been lots of things that the left has done that have hurt me and pissed me off, but my core values are my core values and nothing could make me lose those. I guess Matt just never had any really strong, core values.
Taibbi and Greenwald are two of the few real journalists left today who are willing to do real journalism! Taibbi’s use of FOIA requests has resulted in a trove of important but unreported information. The Twitter files were another case of Taibbi doing real journalism
Would like to hear more on this
Covid, more specifically anti covid measures. It happened to a lot of people and none of the covidians will admit to any error even now.
I’m not sure what I just watched. No questions were answered
Taibbi and Greenwald haven't changed at all.
Unless you’re PJ O’ Rourke you don’t write for Rolling Stone from the far right
The brain just breaks. Ana Kasperian is on that train rn. The whole "birthing persons" thing did something to her. It happens
She’s always been problematic mentally and emotionally.
It’s interesting how almost everyone involved in political commentary has obvious, almost cartoonish, psychological problems.
Gotta take your mind off the world and everyone else, and look inward.
Mark Ames, the co-author of that text you inferred, has spoken about Taibbi's shift right-ward: Ames has actually only become more left-wing over time, despite attempts by a certain neoliberal establishment to destroy him, he was able to place it all in perspective.
Ames believes that sometimes those who were raised in left-wing environments (as he claims Taibbi was) are never faced with the realities of right-wing politics, compared to those raised in highly conservative environments (Ames says that this is how he was raised, for example, in a right-wing culture...) and so when faced with comfort from the right, they eat it up...
I've frankly noticed this in my personal life, especially those from more 'privileged' left-wing backgrounds (they just go with the flow of what's comfortable, tbh...) compared with those from right-wing environments (who sometimes thoroughly learn the horrors of that pathology from the inside...) or working class existences in general: those who join the left out of its being 'in vogue' will be exposed as closet-conservatives eventually, always...
Matt is now doing QVC infomercials for autographed Trump digital cards.
Are you serious???😂
cap
Matt seems a straight laced honest guy. Told too many home truths .
He entertained the idea that Joe Biden is dead. He's literally engaging in conspiracy theories on his Substack now.
Need more info on Greenwald and Maddow
I saw him on a right wing show a few months ago and wondered the same thing. WTF happened?
taibbi got eaten by mehdi hasan. I watched it. It was brutal.
He decided to be a social reactionary. He decided that being against liberals (which is good) meant accepting even conservative bullshit (which is not good, cause conservatives are also liberals economically speaking btw) instead of critizising them from the left.
The best summation of Matt’s turn I’ve seen in these comments.
Big Influence on Russell Brand and his Rightward Shift....😢
That's such an interesting spin to it. This whole time I thought it was just money, which was not making sense because he was so anti-big money. Now that I know there were false allegations and ostracizement from the left it makes more sense.
His book "The Divide" was so good. Still important reading.
I read his articles in Rolling Stone and really liked him. Then the Twitter shit hit the fan and I was shocked. :(
"It's not about you."
That's Sam Seder for you. Precise and clear.
Matt lost all credibility to me when he was in a relationship with Elon to spread some stupid nothing-story grift that no one cared about. It was clear he wanted to be part of Elon’s inner circle but instead Elon dumped his ass and broke his heart 😂
So you think he was lying about the whole Twitter files thing. Kinda shows me the lack of intellectual honesty of this whole thread. People don’t like it when the truth no longer lines up with their narrative.