Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein Hash Out Their Charlie Kirk Disagreement

[Ish Gibor]

I'll have to watch this, but before I do, are you saying these Antifa people are capable of leading in the Left?

I'm trying to get my hands around the conversation that you and I are having.

I’m just now looking at the documentary, but I know for sure I am not supporting the Far Right extremist. The one issue I am having with Antifa is, some are Marxists and against any form of capitalism. They are an amalgamation of different factors, which include Anarchist.

If they are capable of leading the Left? Sure, there are a lot of educated people on the Left and some moved to the Far Left. Another issue I have with the extreme Far Left is, they want a "no border no money policy". Basically go back to how it was before colonial times. Anarchist align a lot with Rastafariasm on a lot of principles. I believe in hierarchy and structure, socialism.

I am pro-life, but exceptions need to be made. I am all for women taking accountability, and not in a Manosphere type of way, but based on principles. A woman should be able to run over her own body.

"Polls show about seven in 10 Americans say abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest. But since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, nine states have banned abortion in those cases. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association calculates there have been more than 64,000 rape-related pregnancies in areas with bans. John Yang discussed the study with Dr. Samuel dikkman."

Study estimates 64,000 pregnancies from rape in states that enacted abortion bans post-Roe

Polls show about seven in 10 Americans say abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest. But since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, nine states have banned abortion in those cases. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association calculates there have been more than...

www.pbs.org

The History Of Antifa​

Antifa: A Look at the Antifascist Movement Confronting White Supremacists in the Streets​

Part 2—Antifa: A Look at the Anti-Fascist Movement Confronting White Supremacists in the Streets​

"Clashes broke out between the white nationalists and counter-protesters; the “Unite the Right” rally at a park once named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was deemed unlawful. At one point in the afternoon, a vehicle drove into a crowd of counter-protesters marching through the downtown area before speeding away, resulting in one death and leaving more than a dozen others injured. State police later reported the crash of a helicopter that was monitoring the events in Charlottesville, killing two troopers."

Scenes From the Deadly Unrest in Charlottesville

Clashes over a show of white nationalism in Virginia turned deadly

time.com

"The violence in Charlottesville this weekend was “absolutely repulsive,” a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today, as other German politicians condemned the neo-Nazi sympathies on display in the Virginia city and President Donald Trump’s response."

Germany responds to Charlottesville violence with sharp condemnation

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the violence in Charlottesville this weekend “absolutely repulsive."

abcnews.go.com

"As white supremacist groups marched openly, invoking First Amendment rights, the resulting violence raised urgent questions about whether all forms of speech deserve equal protection—particularly when they incite hatred and division. It forced the country to confront the complexities of upholding free expression in a democracy, especially when it clashes with public safety and societal values. Beyond Charlottesville, a crucial challenge remains: how should America reconcile its commitment to free speech with the necessity of curbing extremist ideologies that threaten its core principles?"

Charlottesville and Beyond - The Free Speech Project

freespeechproject.georgetown.edu

"Users have created a flag for the fictional country of Kekistan, where political correctness is supposedly decried. The flag is based on the Nazi swastika."

Identifying far-right symbols that appeared at the U.S. Capitol riot

Why the Neo-Nazis Picked Charlottesville in the First Place (It Wasn’t the Statue)

A new book explains what, specifically, the organizers of Unite the Right sought to invert.

slate.com

 

[WIA20XX]

I just now looking at the documentary, but I know for sure I am not supporting the Far Right extremist. The one issue I am having with Antifa is, some are Marxists and against any form of capitalism. They are an amalgamation of different factors, which include Anarchist. IF they are capable of leading the Left, sure there are a lot of educated people on the Left and some moved to the Far Left.

I'm not personally concerned with Antifa, but thanks for adding this to the conversation.

 

[Wargames]

I'm not exactly clear on what you're saying, but

Klein is like we need to win seats in Red States, so run "purple" candidates.

Coates is saying that when you run "pro-life" candidates in red states, that are Dems, - you're fukking over women that want abortions in those states, and in all states.

Klein's argument is that these "pro-life" candidates will end up confirming pro-choice judges.

....

I'm not saying either.

What I'm saying is that we've had plenty of Joe Lieberman's and Joe Manchins that stand in the way of Democractic Party goals.

The Right has a word for this, Repubicans in Name Only, RINOS.

Klein is naive enough to think that our Purple Democrats aren't really DINOs, democrats in name only.

Exactly! That is the issue with Klein’s entire philosophy. It’s naive. Like he is less of a pundit and more of a fan rooting for a team and not someone who’s actually seen how his compromises creates the groundwork for conservatives to still dictate law and policy.

Like he doesn’t care if a democrat is a conservative, he just wants more blue seats. It completely ignores history and the continued outside influence of things like Citizen United where there are significant incentives to be a democrat in name only. It’s the typical benign neglect we all subconsciously connect to democrats that makes us assume (usually correctly) that they will fail due to being weak or self sabotaging.

Meanwhile, Coates keeps trying to drag him into reality and it sounds like he eventually gives up and decides to be polite for the sake of peace. Which ironically enough feeds into the dynamic Klein is promoting. I say that to say this Klein is part of the political movement of Moderates that MLK was talking about in his letter from a Birmingham Jail who were as detrimental to the civil rights movement as the racists. Klein continues to just remake those same arguments just for a modern era.

 

[MajesticLion]

Zero clicks.

 

[HarlemHottie]

• I Really Mean It > HarlemHottie​

• Anonymously: No
• Points: -5
• Message: #56674334
• Sep 28, 2025

shut your dumb ass up.





edit to tag that BAN, @I Really Mean It. Stop being a scary ass bytch. You ain't posted since Kamala lost! Have some pride about yourself.

 

[TripleAgent]

Yall continue to be the duh's in the class. Did the last several elections teach you nothing? Americans would rather vote for the real Republican than a mealy-mouthed fake one. Newsome even figured it out.

Something Jason Black has said for years, but, you know, he's a paid MAGA operative

 

[WIA20XX]

Meanwhile, Coates keeps trying to drag him into reality and it sounds like he eventually gives up and decides to be polite for the sake of peace. Which ironically enough feeds into the dynamic Klein is promoting. I say that to say this Klein is part of the political movement of Moderates that MLK was talking about in his letter from a Birmingham Jail who were as detrimental to the civil rights movement as the racists. Klein continues to just remake those same arguments just for a modern era.

Folks (black presumably) mention it throughout this thread

 

[Mowgli]

Y'all throw the word c00n around too loosely. Like most critics coates doesn't have a roadmap forward but he covered his bases in addressing the elites on the issue of Kirk.

 

[Loose]

Coli abuses the word c00n

 

[Goat poster]

Ezra Klien and his ilk have RUINED the "left"

This interview is further proof that "liberal" whites are just as dangerous

 

[the bossman]

He runs to these people

bruhhhh He lost me completely when he brought on the Utah governor acting like he was some voice of reason when he was just talking like Trump's lapdog

 

[WIA20XX]

bruhhhh He lost me completely when he brought on the Utah governor acting like he was some voice of reason when he was just talking like Trump's lapdog

He still doesn't understand the backlash.

And I still don't understand his many supporters.
A lot of them are also screaming autocracy one second, but legit thoughts and prayers for Kirk.

And these are the people that are supposed to be down with me, supposedly? (C) Sadat X

 

[Gloxina]

Listened and might have to tap out at 14 minutes. Ta-Nehisi talks about how Black Americans that are linked back to slavery have a life experience and family historically intrinsically linked to political violence which means more awareness of how widespread it is

Then Ezra's direct response is just saying that looking at too much history makes the present too deterministic and he basically wants to focus on why democrats lost in the past 12 years or so


fukk you bytch. you know how much Black pain Ta-Nehisi brought up there? And you just hand wave it and wanna focus on why the good whites are losing ground to the evil whites in elections? its because TOO MANY OF YOUR RACE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE EVIL AND HOW THEY TREAT MINORITIES (AND GET AWAY WITH IT) DEMONSTRATES IT!!!!!

I watched the whole thing, but that’s where I tapped out as well.

He can’t be that stupid. He isn’t. He knows they are racist but he can’t acknowledge that without literally calling for them to become better people. And that would take too much time and effort. So for him, politics is literally about your team winning. On the surface I get it; your party winning means your party has control (and we would’ve avoid the shyt storm we are in now). But if we fail to go deeper than that there can’t be an actual shift in the consciousness of this nation.

The fact that we ended up with Trump as the Republican nominee and President speaks to a deep issue in this country and it’s bigger than whites in the Midwest feeling abandoned or overlooked by the Dems. Klein doesn’t want to even attempt to unpack that. “Lie or not, what can we say/do to get those ppl to vote for us?”

 

[Gloxina]

Is Coates holding his ground or does Klein get what he wanted with the podcast offer: a friendly agree to disagree mixed in with some "well I will concede that x and you concede that yz..."

Klein is on record this year saying all types of shyt that he would likely declare hyperbolic if a more liberal (or leftist) unpopular politician said it. And frankly I'm tired of the framing that a lot of Americans think x so [enter normalization attempt]. What did a lot of Americans think in 1963, and was that enough to justify not supporting civil rights?

If he was asked that directly he probably wouldn’t give a straight answer because he would have to seriously reflect on his recent comments

 

[Gloxina]

He still doesn't understand the backlash.

And I still don't understand his many supporters.
A lot of them are also screaming autocracy one second, but legit thoughts and prayers for Kirk.

And these are the people that are supposed to be down with me, supposedly? (C) Sadat X

White ppl have to call White ppl out.


This is what it boils down to.


I said it.

This is the battle between racist Whites who would rather burn this place down than have an equitable society and the Whites who understand that this shyt has to stop if we are going to move forward in harmony/peace as a nation.


They crack jokes about the liberal white ppl who have to tolerate their racist relatives during holiday dinners, etc. But that’s exactly what this is. And now they have gotten out of control and it’s on them to shut this shyt down.

Klein and those like him refuse to call it like it is because they don’t want that responsibility or that target on their back.



Regular, average White folks are saying it everyday on social media. I don’t know if we have had a prominent White voice come out and call it for what it is.


MAGA appeals to racist Whites, and there are more of them than ppl wanted to acknowledge. They are being used to usher in destructive policies that are hurting them as well, but they were too blinded by their hate to see it. Klein doesn’t want to engage with them by speaking the truth. He thinks appealing to them is the way to bring them into the fold. But this mess is too far gone at this point.