Interview · moment 10 of 14

Who's the Left's Answer to Bannon?

from Living on the Edge of Death · #112

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

6 min

Guest

Tim and Ray lament that the left lacks a strong debater like Obama to counter Bannon, discuss Bannon's radical post-WWII worldview, and riff on nation-states, national identity, and modern warfare being historically recent constructs.

In this bit10 moments
  • 29:57Tim argues the left has no equivalent to Bannon—no bold speaker willing to engage in debate.
  • 30:44Bannon is radical and smart, believing post-WWII American policies have weakened the country.
  • 31:41Tim has never felt Bannon speaks from neo-Nazi conviction or shock value, unlike Ann Coulter.
  • 32:13Breitbart gave Milo Yiannopoulos a platform, but his content is mostly cartoonish conservative talking points.
  • 33:08Lumping all right-leaning people into one group becomes self-fulfilling—they become the group you've accused them of being.
  • 33:37Figures like Milo use humor to break down psychological barriers before introducing ideology to audiences.
  • 33:53Trump at Charlottesville normalized white nationalist violence while claiming some protesters were good people.
  • 34:27Trump's immigration rhetoric followed neo-fascist patterns of appeal to crime and dehumanization.
  • 34:52Bannon and others vigorously endorsed Trump and set back racial progress in the country.
  • 35:13The same standard should apply to Iraq War architects—they shouldn't be in polite society either.
Mentioned here

Donald TrumpSteve BannonBarack ObamaMilo YiannopoulosHillary Clinton

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