On Friday, Glenn welcomed Dallas Mavericks owner and businessman Mark Cuban to Mercury Studios for lunch. In the past, Cuban has described himself as an “independent leaning to libertarian,” and while he and Glenn did not see eye-to-eye on everything, they found common ground. On radio this morning, Glenn shared details of his conversation with Cuban and explained why the best thing we can do is simply talk to one another.
One of things Glenn was most surprised to learn about Cuban was his stance on healthcare. While Cuban has spoken openly about his desire to see less government – not more – he is an advocate for a single payer system.
“I had lunch with Mark Cuban on Friday. Spent two hours with him. One of the first things he said to me was, ‘You and I disagree on an awful lot, especially where the President is concerned.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I thought you were a libertarian.’ He said, ‘I am,’” Glenn explained. “And then he talked to me about how he's for universal health care, and he's been to the White House several times and talked to the President… He's very well thought out on these things. [But] I disagree with almost everything that he said.”
When it comes to the NSA and government surveillance, however, Cuban seemed to have a much more libertarian view.
“It was such a bizarre meeting because I really was thrown. I really had heard that he was much more of a small government guy. He's not,” Glenn said. “But when it comes to the NSA, I said, ‘So you're for the NSA spying, then.’ He says, ‘Oh, my gosh. Absolutely not.’ This must be where he deems himself libertarian… He is a guy you could stand with on surveillance… He's also very strong on business.”
Cuban agreed to spend an hour with Glenn on air sometime in the near future, which promises to be a very interesting conversation. In addition to his support of universal healthcare, Cuban also told Glenn he favors the $15 an hour minimum wage recently passed in Seattle.
As Glenn explained, there are a lot of things he and Cuban disagree on, but dismissing someone because opposing viewpoints is playing right into the progressives' hand. They are banking on the fact that people will never actually take the time to have a conversation with one another and realize the common ground they share.
“Now, this is really radical thinking. But it is the thinking that they're not expecting. It is the thinking that that they haven't prepared for,” Glenn said. “Look at Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck. We all know the players that try to keep us apart… What did they assume we would never do? They assumed that we would be so arrogant that we would never talk to one another, find out the truth, and compare notes.”
The same can be said of all Americans.
“They're not expecting Americans to start reaching out and talking to one another. They're expecting Americans to grab their guns and become violent that… That will not work,” Glenn concluded. “So the point is… we could just be against Mark Cuban… or I could say, ‘Mark Cuban is a friend with the NSA’… Let's start making friends. Let's start looking for strange bedfellows that we can unite with. We've got to stop the division.”
