Jon Stewart on Crossfire, lambasting the media in general and the Crossfire boys in particular.
http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=2652831&htv=12&htv=12
I loved the bit about the bow tie on Carlson. Classic stuff.
That’s great! The fall out of the crossfire boys spinning themselves into a ‘win’, is amusing to read too.
I picked this up via google searching for more
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_stewart.html
Look at the date!! July last year. It’s like the last 15 months needn’t have happened…
Wow,
I haven’t seen the video yet, but I read the transcript! Sounds like the only people that enjoyed that exchange were the audience!
Very nice though! I’m tired of the small minded rhetoric in this election and somebody finally had the balls to confront the media feeding the propoganda machine (in a very blatant fashion) Good thing he wasn’t on Fox… He would been “whacked” before he left the building. 
Holy shit. That was uncomfortable. But awesome.
“You’re as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.”
http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=2652831&htv=12&htv=12
EXCELLENT!!!
STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.
STEWART: But the thing is that this – you’re doing theater, when you should be doing debate, which would be great.
STEWART: It’s not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it.
This is great!
It’s the most dowloaded clip on the Internet these days. apparently Carlson wants a “rematch”… wants to get him on his show on PBS. Can you say sour grapes?
I was pleasantly surprised with Jon Stewart’s seriousness in this clip… And he still manages to be funny. At Carlson’s expense of course.
I must be the only one who though Stewart came off as smug and self-righteous.
Maybe a little. He’s absolutely right, though. Shows like Crossfire and Hardball are not real debates… they’re the intellectual equivalent of professional wrestling.
My only problem after watching that clip is that John Stewart wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to critique the media, and fall back on the “my show is only comedy” defense. If that’s the case then it’s either 1) a comedian slamming news media, and we should take it as just that, only Jon as making more comedy, or 2) Jon trying to be serious about the media and “hurting us” or whatever whining he was doing there, which then I don’t think he can fall back on his “don’t compare your show to mine” bit.
Stewart’s show is not just comedy, and he knows that. His show can be great at times for the questions it does ask, using humor and sarcasm to do so. But he does make a lot of political statements on his show, and does play kitten with his fav guests. So I just took this crossfire clip of his as him trying to have it both ways.
I’ve never watched crossfire, I can’t comment on it. But it’s just TV, like The Daily Show. (Which I frequently watch).
Where, oh where, is my Craig Kilborn. Where, oh where can he be…
I see what you’re saying, but Stewart has a good point.
Crossfire markets itself as a very serious show about debate. But in reality, it’s not. It’s partisan hackery, and it’s done for the purpose of entertainment, not information. Maybe that’s what “debate” has become. I don’t know. I’m not saying that entertainment and information need to be mutually exclusive, but IMHO, Crossfire nothing more than a professional version of this chat room done on TV?
The Daily Show, is of course, a satirical show. It’s marketed that way, and… it’s on the Comedy Channel. People like it, and they’re entertained by it… but I don’t think anyone watches it for the purpose of becoming informed. The producers have never said that the show is anything other than a “fake news” show. Do they make some serious points using comedy? Yes… But the stated purpose of the show is comedy and entertainment… not news. In that respect, at least the show is honest… unlike Crossfire.
It’s sad that we think his show is more than comedy.
I agree with you, it is more than comedy, but I think that reflects on what we have as “news” media, not what his show is. I see nothing wrong with saying his show is comedy, and that fact that the crossfire gang doesn’t realize it says more about crossfire than the daily show.
I’m amazed at what goes on in europe. I doubt any of our pols could handle that type of scrutiny.
It’s sad that we think his show is more than comedy.
—Sad? That’s not sad.
I agree with you, it is more than comedy, but I think that reflects on what we have as “news” media, not what his show is. I see nothing wrong with saying his show is comedy, and that fact that the crossfire gang doesn’t realize it says more about crossfire than the daily show.
—I don’t understand that second sentence means. But I’m not real familar with Crossfire. What I felt crossfire was “thinking” was that his show is comedy, but at the same time his show is political commentary, and when Jon has a political guest on, he is not comedy, he is trying to inform. He is media.
I’m amazed at what goes on in europe. I doubt any of our pols could handle that type of scrutiny.
—I don’t know what goes on in Europe? What do you mean? I’m all for becoming learnt.
Watch any interview with Tony Blair. Better yet, watch the british parliment. Those guys attack each other and lay it all on the line. Imagine if Michael Moore got to interview Bush 1 on 1 or if Limbaugh got to interview Kerry.
I doubt either of our candidates could handle it. Tony Blair is absolutely brilliant in the parliment though.
re: daily show.
I think we should view it only as comedy with a political undertone. I’m afraid it’s become much more than that. I may be wrong. Though I get the feeling that there’s a lot of people that get a lot of their political information from Stewart, because he’s just as reliable as anybody else. THat’s what I think is sad.
Love the show though.
Watch any interview with Tony Blair. Better yet, watch the british parliment. Those guys attack each other and lay it all on the line. Imagine if Michael Moore got to interview Bush 1 on 1 or if Limbaugh got to interview Kerry.
–haha. Both of those would be worth watching.
I doubt either of our candidates could handle it. Tony Blair is absolutely brilliant in the parliment though.
—yep. I have seen some of that. Fun to watch.
re: daily show.
I think we should view it only as comedy with a political undertone. I’m afraid it’s become much more than that. I may be wrong. Though I get the feeling that there’s a lot of people that get a lot of their political information from Stewart, because he’s just as reliable as anybody else. THat’s what I think is sad.
Love the show though.
—I agree with you. We should view it as a comedy with political undertone. I wish the show was just that. But it is/has become more than that. However, I don’t fault the viewers for that. Which is why I think if Jon wants to hold news media responsible, he has to hold himself responsible as well.
It is a great show. I love the expose interviews. What was that one a while back? Republican Punk or something. Hilarious. There was one last week I couldn’t stop laughing…“What do you mean you’ve never heard of Iron Maiden!?” haha.
I had a couple similar thoughts after watching the clip.
First Stewart would like to believe that his show is just a comedy show. For whatever reason, it has become more than that. It has become a place where people look for some level of political commentary. Maybe that’s not what he intended, but that’s where he is. Does that mean he now has some responsibility to change his focus?? I don’t think so. His focus is comedy, news should focus on the news, and debate shows like Crossfire should focus on debate and public discourse.
I think his point is that some news shows and debate shows are failing at what they ought to be doing. In the case of Crossfire, this is ceratainly a political show that is part of the political machine. The hosts would like to believe it’s not, but they use the same language and focus on the exact same things as the politicians. They do not represent an unbiased view, they represent the Republican and Democratic parties.
One of the things that makes Stewart so refreshing, and sadly different, is that his humor often uses common sense and logic. It makes fun of the rhetoric and partisan politics, while shows like Crossfire promote and relish it. An example of this that always sticks with me was back during the whole Richard Clarke thing. The White House was claiming that Clarke was “out of the loop” and therefore not credible, while the Democrats were busy pointing at things that would make him credible. Steward simply asked, and I’m paraphrasing, “why was one of your best counterterrorism experts out of the loop? Wouldn’t you wan’t to talk to him about these things?”
I think his point is that some news shows and debate shows are failing at what they ought to be doing. In the case of Crossfire, this is ceratainly a political show that is part of the political machine. The hosts would like to believe it’s not, but they use the same language and focus on the exact same things as the politicians. They do not represent an unbiased view, they represent the Republican and Democratic parties.
—See, this I didn’t know. As I’ve never seen the show. Stewart could actually be right on point with his comments to those two guys.
One of the things that makes Stewart so refreshing, and sadly different, is that his humor often uses common sense and logic.
–Exactly!
By the way. What IS up with that bowtie. sheesh.
I think his point is that some news shows and debate shows are failing at what they ought to be doing. In the case of Crossfire, this is ceratainly a political show that is part of the political machine. The hosts would like to believe it’s not, but they use the same language and focus on the exact same things as the politicians. They do not represent an unbiased view, they represent the Republican and Democratic parties.
I think Jon’s point is that ‘Crossfire’ is the ultimate tool of the system because the entire format is designed to make you believe that there are two, and only two, sides to every issue; the liberal/Dem side and the conservative/GOP side. If you don’t fall neatly into one of those categories, then you’re not welcome (as Carlson’s comments made all too clear). As such, it’s just a reflection of the American political system at large; not true choice, but the illusion of choice.
If this was really a ‘debate show’, as the hosts contend, there would be multiple points of view, and no issue would be so simplistic as they try to make it seem.
Actually, I think Stewart’s point is that these two guys, who are undoubtedly intelligent, have this daily forum to hash out issues and provide a useful service to the American people and electorate.
But instead of sitting around and analysing issues - determining what are the relevant issues/problems and advantages/disadvantages with particular policy initiatives, they just get pure partisans from both sides who have a vested interest in utterly and completely avoiding any real analysis of the issues, and instead they sit around and spout and respout talking points, while taking every opportunity to drop ad hominem insults (at least the Repubs do).
As a result, the American people know little more at the end about the issue at hand than they did at the beginning. They only know that there are two extreme viewpoints to the issue, not who is hurt or helped and by how much. Oh and they know that Kerry is a traitor.
And in this way Stewart is suggesting in strong terms that they have abrogated a certain public trust, an opportunity to help people really understand the issue in non-partisan terms. Instead, it becomes the political equivalent of professional wrestling - you know exactly what each party is going to say before he says it, and the outcome is not of any particular interest.
I loved what he said the next day on the Daily Show - “tomorrow I’ll go back to being funny, but their show will still BLOW!”.
Well said.
I think the problem with “Crossfire” as described by Stewart is evident throughout the major media outlets. I see several poll reports on who is leading the Presidential race every day, but I rarely hear substantive discussion of the issues and the candidates’ positions (other than each side’s allegations about the other). I hear reports on what Bush said vs. what Kerry said about something, but then no independent account of who is correct, and why. This is what journalisim used to be, and it is on the verge of extinction in the mainstream media in this country.
Interesting note - Stewart’s book, now a #1 best-seller, has been refused to be sold by Wal-Mart, because it has some kind of nude photos of the supreme court justices on one page. I got mine at Costco, but haven’t read it yet. Sure to be a good one.