Jon Stewart for President

I watched Crossfire today, since Jon Stewart was the scheduled guest.  It was unnerving.  From the beginning, his body language was serious -- very serious.  But neither the audience nor the hosts could adapt to this unexpected attitude.  Tucker Carlson was incredibly obnoxious (maybe he always is?)  Paul Begala may have wanted to interact seriously with him, but was largely unsuccessful.

Stewart wanted them to hear him.  He wanted them to consider the possibility that they could use their show in a productive and informative way, instead of doing political "pro-wrestling."  "You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate. What you do is not honest.  What you do is political hackery."

Carlson interrupts:  "You have John Kerry on your show, and you sniff his throne, and you're accusing us of political hackery?! You've got to be kidding!"

Stewart:  "You're on CNN!  The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. What is wrong with you? . . . You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably . . . the thing that I want to say is, when you have people on, for just knee-jerk, reactionary talk . . ."

Carlson interrupts again:  "I thought you were going to be funny."

Stewart:  "We need what you do, this is such a great opportunity that you have here, to actually get politicians off of their marketing strategy . . .

Carlson interrupts again:  "Is this really Jon Stewart here?"

Stewart:  "I'm someone who watches your show and just can't take it anymore.  I can't . . ."

The hosts interrupt with something like "didn't we promise naked pictures . . . "  and "Yes, can't we get to those?"

Stewart:  "Why can't, why can't we just talk, please, I beg of you guys . . . "

Carlson interrupts again for a break as Stewart puts his hands together and begs "No, no, no, please, please stop . . . "

After the break:  Carlson says "We're talking to Jon Stewart who was just lecturing us on our moral inferiority," and then turns to Stewart and asks, "Tell us, what do you think of the Bill O'Reilly vibrator story?"

Stewart visibly grits his teeth, says "I don't."  Begala switches to questions about Stewart as a comedian.  Stewart seems to have given up. 

But he hasn't given up.  He talks about "spin alley" -- i.e., "deception lane" -- "Don't you see that's the issue I'm trying to talk to you guys . . . " 

Interrupted by Begala, who defends Bush spokespeople by saying "They actually believe what they're saying, they're trying to persuade you, that's what they're doing by 'spinning' . . ."   

Stewart:  "What I believe is that they're not making honest arguments.  . . . in their minds, the ends justify the means . . ." [Clarification:  Stewart was speaking here about both the Bush and Kerry camps]

Carlson interrupts:  "I do think you're more fun on your show."  Then goes to a break.  I hear Stewart say in the background "But you're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show."  Carlson laughs and says "Now you're getting into it, I like that."

Back from the break, audience questions, "What do you think the hump on George W.'s back during the debate was?"  Stewart is bewildered, Begala fields the question, "If he [Bush] was being fed lines from Karl Rove, he wouldn't have been so inarticulate, guys.  It's a myth."

Next question:  "Why do you think it's so hard, or difficult, or impossible for a politician to answer a straight, simple question?"

Stewart:  "I don't think it's hard; I just think that nobody holds their feet to the fire to do it, so they don't have to.  They get to come on, you know, shows that don't . . . "

And the show is over.

*****************************

I've only recently discovered The Daily Show, and avoid Crossfire because of its pointless aggression.  I am now a confirmed Jon Stewart fan.  I felt for him, watching this; as he tried again and again to say something that was very important to him, and was dismissed, run-over, and insulted in return.  He attempted a real political discussion on a show that pretends to be a venue for that. 

Perhaps his inability to manage anything real here just proves his point.

UPDATE:  Ok, folks -- from the comments at BOP News, here is the CNN transcript; here is a clip; here is BitTorrent download info. (I don't know what BitTorrent is, exactly, but it's apparently useful for some folks, so there it is.)

I'm delighted to see this getting some attention around the Blogosphere.

Comments

[michelle]

Just reading that gave me a stomach ache.
CNN should cancel crossfire and give Stewart the slot.

[jenett]

I just happened to have seen that too -- I don't think I've ever seen Stewart that serious (though he's always that intelligent) -- it's a shame they didn't have the discussion he was trying to have. It could have been good.

Nice coverage of it in your post, btw...;~))

[Ellen Dana Nagler]

Thanks for the trackback -- there's a thread ("Recommended Diaries") on Daily Kos that has about a gazillion comments. I haven't read them. Too much howling for my taste. I appreciate that comments on BOP are usually cogent, thoughtful, and go to the issues expressed or underlying the author's reason for posting. And your post here is excellent. You capture the frustration Stewart was obviously feeling, and that those of us who watch the media feel all the time. (Stewart expresses it better!)

Begala and Carlson were not ready for it, they didn't know what to do when Stewart wouldn't play the game. Bravo Jon!!!

[deb]

I wish I'd seen it. I really like Jon Stewart! He's right on the mark in what he was trying to put forth. It's a shame he wasn't taken seriously :(

[Maggie]

I found a link to multiple streaming media of Stewart's Crossfire appearance and it's here on my blog: Dept. of Free Speech.

It was a great day for thinking people of conscience.

[SB]

Thanks, Maggie!

[optimus]

In a seminar I attended earlier this fall, we started discussing the he-said-she-said debate format, and how it perpetuates the muddled centrism of the public: Set the range of opinion by presenting two positions as 'extremes' (no matter their relative ideological proximity), and the average viewer assumes that the 'correct' position is somewhere in between the two views.

Our professor, having recently chatted with a welfare state researcher from Texas, affected the latter's drawl, and quoted his response to this approach:

"Ain't nothing in the middle of the road but yelluh lines and dead armadill-uhs."

I loved seeing Stewart pull the farce that is Crossfire apart. Someone book this man on Hardball, stat.

[A Nony Mouse]

Hi everyone, so glad this is getting the attention it deserves. It's like the emperor's new clothes...it takes the comedian to point out what no one else gets to say. Anyone who didn't get to see the CNN clip, just go on a file sharing program (for kaz.aa lite go to www.aldovargas.com) and there are lots of us sharing it so it can get spread around. And for fellow Daily Show fans and those with Tivo access, Please! Share Daily Show episodes on kaz.aa and do your part in bringing more political material (e.g. the debates, important interviews, etc) to the net for easy public access.

But more about Jon Stewart... He really has such integrity, despite how he mocks himself and everyone else. As opposed to certain politicians who can't think of a mistake they've ever made even when given the question ahead of time (ahem). I wish the country could just drop Bush & Kerry and have a bi-partisan nomination of Jon Stewart. Jon Stewart for president!!! I for one would vote for him. There are even some tshirts online for sale with Stewart/Collbert 2004 or 2008. I will buy one and wear it with pride. I am so glad he is getting the attention that he deserves, and I hope that the media attention to his show will plant the seed of self evaluation in their minds, leading to less spin on everyone's behalf. And please remember. Everyone is biased. It's whether they try to fool you into not realizing that counts. Like Jon said, they believe what they're saying but it's like the ends justify the means (lying/spin) in their minds. VIVA JON STEWART!

[Steph]

Jon rocked that place. The Crossfire people are just insane, I think I preffered O'reily calling Daily show watchers "Stoned Slackers" than watching those morons just wanting john to be their monkey.

[Q]

The funniest moments were of Tucker insistent that JS "wasn't funny or wasn't being funny". What he failed to see was JS relegating them to their oft rehearsed roles of nonsensical monkeys. Yes senor Tucker and monsieur Begala, we weren't laughing with you, we were laughing at you :)

[chris]

in addition to being a stoned-slacker daily show fan, i am also a post-grad stud. js is great, since i don't watch tv i only found out about js vs crossfire recently. bummer aboot the election. i hear canada is not so willing to accept us citizens