Jon Stewart, Guardian of Journalism
Now that the inheritor of Murrow's legacy, Dan Rather, is a wee bit tarnished, we now depend upon - uh - Jon Stewart (?) to challenge journalists to excel.
I was just reading a TV Guide discussion between Stewart and Ted Koppel in which Stewart appears to be urging Koppel to ask tougher questions during interviews, and to seek "the truth." I guess Stewart does look a little like David Duchovny.
Now Jennifer and others are focusing on Stewart's next target. Unlike the news organizations that claim to report all the truth that's fit to print (but actually report oatmeal), Stewart spent Friday focusing on the political battlefield shows that make the recent Presidential debates almost seem...Presidential.
Excerpts from the transcript. My comments are in bold.
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST: Welcome to CROSSFIRE.
Less than three weeks before the election, we're going to take a break from campaign politics, sort of. Joining us will be Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central and co-author of a new best-seller entitled "America (The Book)."
PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST: We will spend the next half-hour with the most trusted man in fake news. And he has got pictures of all nine Supreme Court justices naked.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: Worth staying tuned for....
[OE: Maybe I'm being hypercritical, but they're missing the point. Stewart and company are not always highbrow, but they often display their skills in pinpricking the absurd statements that politicians often make. Crossfire, however, characterizes Stewart as Mister Yuk Yuk.]
BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.
STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks....
CARLSON: You [Stewart] have a chance to interview the Democratic nominee. You asked him questions such as -- quote -- "How are you holding up? Is it hard not to take the attacks personally?"
STEWART: Yes.
CARLSON: "Have you ever flip-flopped?" et cetera, et cetera.
STEWART: Yes.
CARLSON: Didn't you feel like -- you got the chance to interview the guy. Why not ask him a real question, instead of just suck up to him?...
STEWART: You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility....I didn't realize that -- and maybe this explains quite a bit....is that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: So what I would suggest is, when you talk about you're holding politicians' feet to fire, I think that's disingenuous....
BEGALA: Let me get this straight. If the indictment is -- if the indictment is -- and I have seen you say this -- that...
STEWART: Yes.
BEGALA: And that CROSSFIRE reduces everything, as I said in the intro, to left, right, black, white.
STEWART: Yes.
BEGALA: Well, it's because, see, we're a debate show.
STEWART: No, no, no, no, that would be great.
[OE: A bit of historical perspective. The first opinion show that I remember was Agronsky and Company, which can best be described as a civilized version of the McLaughlin Group. The discussions on Agronsky were actually thoughtful. McLaughlin itself can be thoughtful on occasion. However, Crossfire and the like are so wedded to the "I'm on the left"/"I'm on the right" vision that the views expressed are extremely limited.]
BEGALA: It's like saying The Weather Channel reduces everything to a storm front.
STEWART: I would love to see a debate show.
BEGALA: We're 30 minutes in a 24-hour day where we have each side on, as best we can get them, and have them fight it out.
STEWART: No, no, no, no, that would be great. To do a debate would be great. But that's like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition.
(LAUGHTER)
CARLSON: Jon, Jon, Jon, I'm sorry. I think you're a good comedian. I think your lectures are boring....
BEGALA: Which candidate do you suppose would provide you better material if he won?
STEWART: Mr. T. I think he'd be the funniest. I don't...
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: Don't you have a stake in it that way, as not just a citizen, but as a professional comic?
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: Right, which I hold to be much more important than as a citizen.
BEGALA: Well, there you go.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: But who would you provide you better material, do you suppose?
STEWART: I don't really know. That's kind of not how we look at it. We look at, the absurdity of the system provides us the most material. And that is best served by sort of the theater of it all, you know, which, by the way, thank you both, because it's been helpful.
[OE: Good one, Jon.]
(LAUGHTER)
CARLSON: But, if Kerry gets elected, is it going to -- you have said you're voting for him. You obviously support him. It's clear. Will it be harder for you to mock his administration if he becomes president?...
[OE: TV Guide addressed this subject, and those comedians/political commentators who are identified as partisan DID admit that it would be difficult to skewer an administration that shared the commentator's ideology. I speak here of Al Franken and Dennis Miller, who both admitted that they were at times reluctant to make fun of Kerry and Bush, respectively. The Daily Show, however, skewers the entire process - left, right, Green, Nader, whatever - and is not necessarily bound by ideology. SNL operates similarly.]
STEWART: The only way it would be harder is if his administration is less absurd than this one. So, in that case, if it's less absurd, then, yes, I think it would be harder.
But, I mean, it would be hard to top this group, quite frankly.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
STEWART: In terms of absurdity and their world matching up to the one that -- you know, it was interesting. President Bush was saying, John Kerry's rhetoric doesn't match his record.
But I've heard President Bush describe his record. His record doesn't match his record.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: So I don't worry about it in that respect.
But let me ask you guys, again, a question, because we talked a little bit about, you're actually doing honest debate and all that. But, after the debates, where do you guys head to right afterwards?....You go to spin alley, the place called spin alley. Now, don't you think that, for people watching at home, that's kind of a drag, that you're literally walking to a place called deception lane?
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Like, it's spin alley. It's -- don't you see, that's the issue I'm trying to talk to you guys....
BEGALA: They actually believe what they're saying. They want to persuade you. That's what they're trying to do by spinning. But I don't doubt for a minute these people who work for President Bush, who I disagree with on everything, they believe that stuff, Jon. This is not a lie or a deception at all. They believe in him, just like I believe in my guy.
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: I think they believe President Bush would do a better job.
And I believe the Kerry guys believe President Kerry would do a better job. But what I believe is, they're not making honest arguments. So what they're doing is, in their mind, the ends justify the means....
QUESTION: Renee (ph) from Texas. Why do you think it's hard or difficult or impossible for politicians 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 shows that don't...
BEGALA: They're too easy on them....
In short, an intelligent man named Jon Stewart is looking for a serious news commentary show that he himself would be interested in watching. A commentary show that features thoughtful, multi-faceted discussion of various issues. He's not finding it.
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