DEAR JIMMY, PT. II:
I don't actually expect Jimmy Dore to ever read this - I'm just some chick in Chicago. I'm also not "clutching my pearls" - I'm just telling you what the "yes men" around him won't say.
Thank you to all of the people I’m lucky enough to call friends and colleagues for the insight you’ve given me. When I write — my goal is to channel the voices of everyday people who are just trying to make the world a better place. I’m fortunate enough to not be surrounded by a bunch of “yes men” — so thanks to those of you who reminded me why I wanted to write the original article in the first place. I didn’t even realize I’d (briefly) fallen under the JD spell that I’ve seen so many smaller independent journalists, content creators, and audience members fall under. I’m not here to hero-worship and NO ONE is above criticism — not even Jimmy Dore. I’m not here to try to take down Jimmy Dore (not like little old me could even do that) or “divide the left” — if anything, I think “the left” is doing a fine job of dividing itself on its’ own. I do, ALWAYS, welcome feedback. Having said that, I understand the need to limit one’s personal feelings when it comes to reporting — but I find it ironic that my use of emotion in this specific instance will be critiqued — yet the very same people critiquing are the ones who love Jimmy’s emotional authenticity more than anything else. Let’s hope I’ll be granted the same.
Look, JD has every right to “defend himself” from the smear campaign he’s become embroiled in with his former network, The Young Turks. Yet what could’ve been a simple “oops, I screwed up” moment has transformed into a lens that nearly every smaller “lefty” channel is now filtering their information through. Want to talk about an issue? Better check whether Jimmy Dore covered it first — and better yet — did he cover it better than TYT? I wish I were kidding, but that’s what we’ve been seeing for the last three weeks. ANY type of critique towards JD, to his loyal fans, now equates to either being a “shit lib” or “siding with TYT.”
I went from thinking that JD just wanted to explain himself after the infamous “news skirt” segment — but it’s gone from bad to worse, leaving most with more questions than answers. Oh — and for the record, it is possible to critique someone without trying to tarnish their name or, as Aaron Mate recently referenced, “enable the smear artists” (by not speaking out against TYT if they don’t want to be involved)… Really? That sounds reminiscent of George W. Bush’s “You’re either with us or against us,” type of mentality. Look, I understand that being smeared is one of the worst things that can happen to you in any profession—but especially in the journalism community. Having said that, is anyone really pretending that TYT is still a relevant news organization? I’m sorry, but now that we’re on Day #20 (something like that), I’ve gotta just say it: Jimmy Dore, Aaron Mate, Max Blumenthal, and the rest of The Grayzone seem to be doing much better than ever since this all started. Tell me again — are they really victims when they’ve been smeared by the joke of an organization that is TYT? (No, Ana’s not a victim, so don’t even start…)
I’ve been reminded, multiple times, that TYT was trying to be the Howard Stern show at one point in time. So, can someone please tell me how it’s surprising in any way that we’re seeing these videos of Ana and Cenk talking about Howard Stern-like topics? Do two wrongs make a right? Why won’t anyone in Jimmy’s circle point this out to him? People can tell me until they’re blue in the face that what Jimmy did was justified because of what TYT originally did — and for what Ana tried to pull — but I’m done watching people act like it’s normal to blame a woman for her outfit as justification for ANYTHING. Do you not see where that logic might lead? We all know JD isn’t some creepy sexual harasser — so why is it that hard to admit he screwed up?
Just my opinion - but I personally don’t see why it’s necessary for Aaron Mate and Jimmy Dore to suggest that others join them on their (very personal) crusade against an already-failing TYT. Why? Many of us have known TYT was trash for years now - so why is it just now that Jimmy Dore (aside from the Ana incident) is on this crusade to prop up The Grayzone, Glenn Greenwald, and anyone else who tweets a good word for JD? You’ve got a lot of different creators and journalists out there who are thirsty for an audience who’ve been left feeling disillusioned, disheartened — and most of all, angry.
What Ana tried to pull was nonsense — anyone can see that. TYT’s numbers are tanking, they’ve been wrong on far too many issues to even count — and it’s clear that Jimmy’s success has bothered dolts like Ana and Cenk. Are we really surprised she would send him a message like that? JD has every right to defend himself—I’ve written extensively on the issue of MeToo and how its’ destroyed relations with men and women in the workplace. Women who lie about sexual assault discredit the stories and trauma of real women who want to speak out. But Jimmy, for the love of God, would it kill you to just admit that you screwed up without blaming Ana for what she wore?
It’s never ANYONE else’s fault when it comes to taking responsibility for something YOU say. “Ana Kasparian used to dress unbelievably inappropriately for work. I literally saw her ass…and I go, “Hey Ana, nice news skirt! And everyone laughed. Like..louder than I thought they would.”
Are you really surprised that people might be offended like that? Yes, I know you’re a comedian, but read the room a little bit, eh? You mentioned in your recent interview with my friend and fellow MCSC network content creator, Franc Analysis, that you felt like Kyle Kulinski was victim-blaming—but Jimmy, you sounded reminiscent of someone who blames a victim after being attacked or sexually assaulted. You got mad at Kyle Kulinski for the very same thing you’re doing right now — but you’re too caught up in your own emotions to see this clearly — and the people around you don’t seem like they’re intent on telling you anything else other than, “Yes! Get ‘em, Jimmy!” I don’t think what you said is anything worth worrying over — to be completely honest with you. You’re not going to get canceled for making a stupid comment (YES I KNOW, ANA SAID SHE FORGAVE HIM) — but, and I say this with love, are you done talking about yourself yet? I’m not saying this because I want to see you get “#MeToo’d” or canceled — I just want you to understand that maybe people were critical of the way you framed how the story went down because they expected you to empathize with some people in your audience who have been told that, in real cases of sexual harassment or assault, it was something about what they were wearing that caused someone else. to commit the act. It doesn’t mean I think that’s what you did — no matter how many people might try to tell you otherwise.
As far as the skirt incident, I’ll leave it at that — I understand that you’re from a different generation, JD — but I’m onto the PR tour that you’ve got going on right now. I’m not mad at you about it — I just question why you’re making rounds to all of these smaller channels without actually promoting the channels themselves. If you do share the channel links — that’s a big IF — you tend to do it after the show is already over. I’m hoping whoever your PR person sees this and starts to promote the channels who have been kind of enough to have YOU come on their show to have you tell the same story you’ve been telling for the last three weeks. If you don’t extend that courtesy to these smaller channels, are you really being helpful?
I know you mean well, but it usually goes like this: JD visits a smaller channel who has said something nice about him, JD's audience stops by the channel and floods the comments section. Anyone who questions JD gets called a “bot” or a “TYT simp”, the show ends, and the audience leaves. They might subscribe — but are they really on board with the creator? Or are they just there to get their JD fix? I’d love to be wrong on this — so if someone’s got a rebuttal, I’m here for it.
I get that you’re being charitable with your time, JD— but again, what good is it to stop by a channel that lets you go off for 60 minutes without answering any tough questions — only for you to continue propping up and hosting the same four or five journalists on YOUR show? Not to discredit the positives that have come to light thanks to their work — but let’s not pretend you’ll be bringing on any of the creators you’ve visited over the last two weeks anytime soon. I’d love to be wrong, but history shows me otherwise. That might be something to think about. Moreover, do you know the full history of those journalists you constantly bring on (Aaron Mate/Glenn Greenwald, to be specific) with respect to how they’ve treated smaller creators?
Speaking of that: has anyone asked Aaron Mate how he thinks Eva Bartlett or Vanessa Beeley are feeling these days? Why do some journalists get to expose the crimes without a peep but others are targets? See below. These are valid questions.
And—I have to add this: You’re frustrated with Kyle and Krystal for “ghosting” you—but Jimmy—did you not do the same to Whitney Webb? It is what it is — but the lack of consistency is something I have to mention. Sure, you didn’t ghost her — but in that situation — I would’ve almost preferred to have been ghosted rather than replaced last minute — and it sounds like that’s what happened. Whitney was scheduled to come and at the last minute, you ended up bringing on Aaron Mate instead.
I’m getting off-topic here — but my main point is that in Jimmy Dore’s crusade to bring down TYT — he’s fostering a community of people who simply cannot see beyond the JD versus TYT lens that we’re now filtering information through. It’s becoming a “sin” to question the guy — EVEN if you do find him funny, which I typically do. I thought we were all here to get closer to the truth? When you have “the guy” who claims he’s the “only one” covering topics (which, to his credit, he’s one of the only comedians who has made such a successful career in the independent media space), you have to be a little more willing, in my opinion, to accept some constructive criticism.
Another piece of unfinished business that I’ve been meaning to address…
Why won’t JD go after Sam Seder? What about guys like Tim Pool or Steven Crowder? I ask because I think someone with a position like the one JD is in leaves room for the takedown of many organizations - not just TYT. Sam Seder, Tim Pool, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro — all of them push establishment, war propaganda in their own ways. Sam Seder “differs” from the others that I’ve mentioned politically, but other than that, they’re all quite similar. Why wouldn’t you want to demolish as much of the clutter as possible? You already have plenty of Trump supporters on your side — why not take this opportunity to show them, as you would with any Biden supporter, how they’re falling for propaganda?
I think you mean well, JD. I really do. I think you’re so insulated from what’s happening on the ground that you might not see the types of people gravitating towards you in your quest for truth. As I mentioned in my previous article — people cling to your every word — you’re far more than some “jagoff comedian.” You may not have wanted to be in this position — but you’re here now. It might be time to re-evaluate some of the people you’re surrounding yourself with and double-check before signing on to support an organization (like The People’s Party) without looking into the obvious problems within the group. I’m tired of people letting you get a free pass because they’re scared of the angry Jimmy Dore army or being grouped in with TYT/Kyle Kulinski/MSM lite. All I’m really suggesting is that you and your colleagues come back down to earth for a bit before you accidentally become like the very same people you’re fighting against.
Cheers,
-Aly
Hi Aly, I have this really vivid memory from 3 years ago when I starting becoming a lot more engaged with indy media on video, where previously I was longtime reader of indy media exclusively. I started watching a lot of Debbie Lusignan, the Sane Progressive starting in maybe 2016 and things snowballed from there. Anyway, by 2018 she was becoming quite known and was seen as controversial due to her increasingly post-partisan takes and psy-op investigations. She did a deep dive into Nick Brana and his various associates in MPP. She laid out a strong case for why MPP was suspect and a diversion from building genuine political/social change from the bottom up. Jimmy was well-acquainted with who she was because of all the work she'd advanced around the rigging of the 2016 Dem primary. People were begging him publicly to bring her on to talk about a variety of issues, including MPP, but he wouldn't do it. I have gotten a lot of of JD's show, but with that incident, the cancelling of Whitney Webb, etc., it's not too hard to see that there is some fear in the JD booking practice to go too far down the rabbit hole. Yet, we also know he's capable of greater risk-taking. I thought it was great when, after taking enormous amounts of shit for interviewing Magnus, his rebuttal to critics was to bring on a gentleman who, as an African American, was engaging with and changing minds of white supremacists. That was a bold move. All of which is to say, nice job. Your constructive criticism is helpful. I've seen JD evolve politically in real time these past few years. Once things calm down, he could be in a position to evolve further and make an even more powerful contribution to the small, but passionate and growing group of people in this country who want to stop the killing machine the U.S. has become (and, in many ways, has always been).
Thanks for articulating the unease that I've been experiencing recently with JD, Aly. Love that he doesn't back down from progressive causes--I'm old enough to remember the 1980s when whimpering liberals passed for the opposition opinion on network TV--but the endless repeat of the TYT spat, blindly endorsing MPP and locking out Whitney Webb is concerning. Your two articles get to the point and create great space for an honest discussion. Well done.