Humor: Our Patron Saint, Jon Stewart

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Our Compilation of Political Humor! Add yours. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Bill Moyers & Jon Stewart transcript Jon Stewart's Brutal Interview with Crossfire hosts |
| MOYERS: Which is funnier? CROSSFIRE or HARDBALL? STEWART: CROSSFIRE or HARDBALL? Which is funnier? Which is more soul-crushing, do you mean? Both are equally dispiriting in their… you know, the whole idea that political discourse has degenerated into shows that have to be entitled CROSSFIRE and HARDBALL. And you know, "I'm Gonna Beat Your Ass" or whatever they're calling them these days is mind-boggling.
Our Patron Saint of Humor, Jon Stewart Shockingly, we have discovered a hero among us. Not an action hero, a Hollywood star, a political statesman - no, it's a comedian who takes his comedy so seriously that he can treat crucial subjects and inform us to boot. Even more amazing, he doesn't always play for laughs; when given the opportunity to speak the truth to NON-fake-newsmen, he skewers them with the realities of their own hypocrisy and shortcomings. Just seeing puffed-up public figures deflated in an instant by the truths their own networks and sycophants would not dream of sharing with them, gives hope to us all. We barely believed in heros before; seeing one take on the responsibility of his power and his voice means that now we have to consider our own responsibility to speak out and claim the power of our own voice. Jon Stewart and the excellent writers of The Daily Show have also given anyone paying attention an essential piece of strategy: sometimes the truth can ONLY be delivered through comedy. While 'real' news shows refuse to check political claims against reality, it has taken a 'fake' news show to do actual research necessary to prove many of the lies politicians tell. Here's the transcript of a Daily Show clip in which the show puts quotes from George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas, up against quotes from the now-sitting-President, George W. Bush. The power of Bush's own words show either his altered beliefs (flipflop??) or his hypocrisy: [VIDEO CLIP] Stewart: We're gonna have an honest, open debate between the President of the United States and the one man we believe has the insight and the cahones to stand up to him. Thank you, Governor. Mr. President, you won the coin toss. The first question will go to you. Stewart: Why is the United States of America using its power to change governments in foreign countries? President Bush: We must stand up for our security and for the permanent rights and the hopes of mankind. Stewart: Well, certainly that represents a bold new doctrine in foreign policy, Mr. President. Governor Bush, do you agree with that? 'Governor' Bush: Yeah, I'm not so sure that the role of the United States is to go around the world and say, "This is the way it's gotta be." Stewart: Well, that's interesting. Well, that's a difference of opinion, and certainly that's what this country is about. Differences of opinion. Mr. President, let me just get specific. Why are in Iraq? President Bush: We will be umm, changing the regime of Iraq for the good of the Iraqi people. Stewart: Governor, then I'd like to hear your response on that. 'Governor' Bush: If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. I think one way for us to end up being viewed as the ugly American is to go around the world saying we do it this way, so should you. [END VIDEO CLIP] The popularity of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has taught us something else: a spoonful of honey (or comedy) can make very bitter medicine go down. Even the most dedicated news junkie can only take so much of the depressing, hypocritical, asinine and juvenile actions and media that pass for 'politics' these days. When we get overwhelmed, the tendency is to turn off the news, and frankly, refuse to pay attention or understand the implications of all this horrible 'news'. It may be that the only way many of us can handle today's news is with a hefty dose of satire and comedic juxtaposition of 'reality' and 'political reality'. Thanks for showing the way, Jon. :) Bill O'Reilly Calls Viewers of 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart' A Bunch of 'Stoned Slackers' and 'Dopey Kids' During Interview With Jon Stewart on 'The O'Reilly Factor' Meanwhile the research shows that viewers of "The Daily Show" are actually smarter and more affluent than those of "The Factor." The Annennberg Public Policy Center research (released days after O'Reilly's snide comments) showed exactly the opposite of O'Reilly's assertions: 'Daily Show' viewers have higher campaign knowledge than national news viewers and newspaper readers -- even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age, and gender are taken into consideration." O'Reilly's watchers, on the other hand, have lower education, household income, and political knowledge (see http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040930/nyth190_1.html. So who are the real slackers?

Participant Comments follow below

TV,>http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/ezak28_20041028.htm">TV, Money, and Crossfire Politics

- Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek analyzes why Jon Stewart points to basic truths damaging to U.S. democracy
11/03/04 00:03:31 GMT