2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumTea Party activist Larry Klayman heckles CNN’s Don Lemon: ‘You’re an ultra-leftist’
By Arturo Garcia
Tuesday, December 17, 2013 22:34 EST
Tea Party activist Larry Klayman took offense to CNN reporting on his long history as a professional litigant against three different presidential administrations on Tuesday, leading to his interview with anchor Don Lemon degenerating from the outset.
Its important to note that youre a big supporter of [President Barack] Obama, Klayman told Lemon. You have favored him in every respect. You have to try to do a hit piece to diminish a very important decision.
Are you talking about me, personally? Lemon asked, cutting in.
Im talking about you personally, Klayman confirmed.
You can continue on. None of that is true, but go on, Lemon retorted, waving his hand.
It is true, Don. Ive watched you for many years, Klayman said. Youre an ultra-leftist and youre a big supporter of Obama.
A federal judge ruled in Klaymans favor on Monday, ruling that the data-gathering operations conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) are likely in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Klayman had filed suit challenging an April 2013 NSA demand that his phone service provider, Verizon Wireless, provide the agency with his phone records.
This was a victory for the American people, Klayman told Lemon and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. It wasnt for me. And you as somebody from the left and Ive gotten compliments from the left the past few days, and even from the right should appreciate that you dont have a police state in this country thats going to be able to intimidate Americans, to chill their free speech rights, their associational rights.
However, in reporting on the story, CNN also mentioned Klaymans prodigious past and various lawsuits against the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, including his suit saying Obama had not been confirmed as being born in Hawaii, despite it being confirmed on multiple occasions.
But instead of talking about the NSA lawsuit, Klayman argued, CNN preferred to take out somebody whos gonna challenge President Obama. In October, Klayman demanded during a Tea Party rally that Obama put the Quran down, get up off his knees, and figuratively come out with his hands up from the White House.
Im not here to get into an argument with you, Lemon told Klayman. Nothing you have said has been correct about me or the reason were doing this story. You can continue to attack me or attack CNN or whatever you want to do but let me just say this: the only person who decides my political leanings, whether Im left or right, (is) me.
You know what, Don? Im not attacking CNN, Klayman responded, as Toobin waved in the background, saying, pick me after going silent for the segment up to that point.
Watch the interview, as aired on CNN on Tuesday, below.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/17/tea-party-activist-larry-klayman-heckles-cnns-don-lemon-youre-an-ultra-leftist/
Complete article posted with permission of Raw Story
erpowers
(9,350 posts)What Larry Klayman said about Don Lemon is not in the least bit true. At first, I thought Klayman must not watch a large amount of CNN when Don Lemon is on set. Now I am thinking that all might have been for the right wingers who never watch CNN or Don Lemon and will actually believe Don Lemon attacked Klayman because he (Klayman) had the audacity to oppose President Obama.
So, here is my real scoop on Don Lemon. He might not actually be a right winger, but in my opinion anybody who spends time watching CNN when he is hosting will very seldomly ask if he is a left wing supporter of President Obama. In my opinion Don Lemon says some of the stupidest right wing leaning things on CNN. Maybe he tries to play Devil's advocate on many occasions without telling everyone, maybe he is the anchor that is most afraid of the right wing so he tries to promote some of their talking points, maybe he feels he is trying to be fair and balanced, or maybe CNN has an only Nixon can go to China feeling about him(he can say things other anchors cannot).
Many on DU may know that Don Lemon has, on a number of occasions, blamed black people for the problems in their communities. However, he also asked if Republicans had become more progressive towards women than Democrats because in 2010, by a margin of one or two elections, more Republican females were elected to Congress than Democratic females. Even Bay Bucahnan disagreed with him. She pointed out that the Democratic Party had far more women in Congress than the Republican Party. I think she even said the Republican Party had a long way to go before it would be more progressive towards women than the Democratic Party. He has said some other things, but I cannot remember them at the moment.
In terms of last night's interview, Lemon made the right decision to cut Klayman's microphone and remove his picture from the screen. The mistake came in bringing Klayman back and giving him the last word. Klayman clearly did not want to discuss the ruling. All he wanted to do was claim CNN, Don Lemon, and Jeffrey Toobin were trying to attack him. By the time Lemon asked that Klayman be removed from the show he (Klayman) had said little about the lawsuit and a great deal about Lemon and Toobin. If Klayman was only going to spend his time claiming he was being attacked because he opposed President Obama there was not point in attempting to interview him.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)In the eyes of a fucking idiot like Larry Klayman, he might as well be Karl Marx.
Klayman is more than an attention whoring clown.
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)It's not so much that Mr. Lemon is an "ultra-leftist" (far from it)--it's just that you are an extremist, fear-mongering victim of Obama Derangement Syndrome.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)is like being called a prince by a toad. Just sayin.
Myrina
(12,296 posts)We have to stop letting the RWNJ's apply labels that "define" good and evil (in their minds).
Being called a "Leftist" - regular or ultra - is nothing to be ashamed of, or defend yourself from.
When are we going to stand up and say "DAMNED RIGHT I AM AND YOU FUCKING CRAZY PEOPLE & YOUR DRACONIAN POLICIES ARE 100% WRONG."