Troy: My list wasn't meant to be comprehensive, but yeah, I agree about Scarborough. I wasn't demeaning Begala's smarts (and certainly not Carville's). I was only saying there are degrees of spinners and that someone acknowledging party ID ought not to be grounds for dismissing anything they might say. Someone posts a Fox News article here, the left blows it off. Someone posts a NYT one, the right does. Post any opinion piece whatsoever and the other side dismisses it by calling it partisan. Even Will's stuff -- the guy who argues the right is winning the abortion wars, the guy who heartily supported the Iraq war -- is dismissed as blah blah same old same old Bush bashing. It's stupid.
I think there is "passionate" and there is "loud". Crossfire is just "loud". Stewart accuses them of theater, which is false passion.
I never thought you were demeaning them. I was just pointing out that Begala is a brilliant guy ( who happened to go to The University of Texas).
CNN's Tucker Carlson, Jon Stewart Feuding Tue Oct 19, 8:23 AM ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer NEW YORK - How's this for a feud that straddles the line between politics and entertainment: CNN's bow-tied conservative Tucker Carlson vs. "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. Carlson on Monday fanned embers still hot from their "Crossfire" confrontation, saying Stewart looked ridiculous during his CNN appearance and was a sellout for publicly backing Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) for president. Stewart, appearing on the debate show Friday, angered Carlson by saying "Crossfire" is "partisan hackery" that does little to advance the cause of democracy. And that was the mild stuff. "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably," Stewart said. Responded Carlson: "You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think." "You need to go to one," Stewart shot back. Carlson complained that for a comedian, Stewart wasn't being very funny. "Come on," he said. "Be funny." "No," Stewart said. "I'm not going to be your monkey." Carlson chided Stewart for lobbing softball questions when Kerry appeared on "The Daily Show" last month. Later, Carlson told Stewart he was "more fun" on his Comedy Central show, and Stewart called him a jerk — although he used a more vulgar term. "I thought that he looked ridiculous," Carlson said in an interview Monday, "and I think the tape makes that clear." Carlson said Stewart continued lecturing the "Crossfire" crew after the show went off the air. "I wasn't offended as much as I was unimpressed," he said. Stewart wasn't talking about the confrontation on Monday, a spokesman said. Comedy Central executive Tony Fox said there may be some regret over the vulgarity, but that Stewart has been a longtime critic of cable news networks and their political argument shows. The comedian hasn't gone out of his way to endorse Kerry. In a public forum last week in New York, he was asked who he would vote for, and he said he'd back the Democrat. Carlson noted that many of the great comedians kept their political opinions to themselves, not for fear of offending anyone, but because it could hurt their art. "You're selling out," he said. "If you are a satirist or an acute social observer, and he is, and all of a sudden you suspend disbelief on someone or suck up rather than prod or poke someone, people will look at you and say, `Even if I agree with you, I don't like it,'" he said. Fox said "The Daily Show" poked fun at people in power, regardless of their party. Most people who watch Stewart are aware that he leans to the left politically. "I don't think it really impacts the show at all," he said. "The show does what it does regardless of Jon's political persuasion." link
What does Stewart have to gain from engaging in battle with Tucker Carlson? Makes no sense. He is a comedian who relies on the goodwill of his audience to laugh at his jokes. Change their outlook on him and the same joke suddenly isn't as funny as when they were neutral. Nice move Jon, by 'winning' your little debate with Tucker, you lost big. Understanding the benefits (costs) of winning is half the battle.
Not if Dan Rather is any example. Drudge had a story about how Stewart's ratings have been dramatically falling even after the large amount of publicity he's been receiving from his book and the talk-show circuit. Polarizing your audience does not bring you more viewers.
I usually miss funny things live on TV, but I caught this one. Stewart was on for 3 segments, even after he called Carlson a "dick" so I thought it was a joke. Those 10-15 minutes of awkwardness were awesome.
I used to love the Daily Show. It's writing always had an unabashedly liberal undertone to it, but Stewart was the balancing force. Since he got his peabody award, which was not warranted quite honestly, he's been entertaining this grandiose vision of himself as the mouthpiece of common sense. Well guess what Johnny boy- I'm for public discourse as much as the next guy, but you've got no masters degree, no political science background, and no right to speak on issues that are well over your head, so do me a favor: Retire, pretend you have a realistic shot at replacing Letterman, make "Death to Smoochie- the Return", do whatever.... Just don't get high and mighty with people who can intellectually rape you.
So only people with Masters Degrees and Poli Sci backgrounds can talk about issues now, including make fun of them? Well since anyone that has taken a middle school government class knows about the first amendment that gives EVERYONE the "right to speak on issues" whether or not they are "well over your head", I say you are wrong. Hey your alternative is cool with me. If all it takes is a Poli Sci degree or a Master's, this countries gonna be GREAT when I'm running things!
I call BS, the true experts who actually make an effort to be impartial aren't the people on tv that Stewart is talking about. The people Stewart calls out are obviously partisan. The majority of people in politics don't have masters degrees in Political Science.
Oh no, I've provoked the ire of Polyanna and a Jim Lehrer ass-kisser. I remember the days when this site was all about polemics and personal attacks. That's when you have fun people. Not this amiable andy bull****. As far as "running the country" goes, let me just say this- you two will be the first against the wall when the tpl revolution comes.
Do you guys mind if we actually get back on topic? Stewart's one mistake he made was calling the guy a dick. Now, everyone is focusing on that instead of what point Jon was desperately trying to get across. "why did he do that? was it justified? he shouldn't do that, bla bla bla" WHO CARES?? You guys are missing the entire point of what he was trying to do. Congratulations, you've made his appearance on that show a wash. He was 100% right. A lot of Americans are confused about the issues, and the media does nothing to help clear this up for them. Crossfire, as he said it, has the potential to be perfect for the public, to explain issues in detail and of what each side is trying to accomplish. This would help people get a better understanding of each canidate's position, and we could see through all the campaigning BS. But no, they scream at each other for half an hour and call it a rap. Then they go off to the next day, with nothing accomplished. They rely on the entertainment value instead of the actual substance. They're wasting the potential in that they could really help the public in important issues. THIS is what we should be talking about in Stewart's appearance. Not if he was justified in calling the guy a dick. Not if he's voting for Kerry. Not if his show is one-sided. He wasn't talking about his show, he was blasting the media in general and he was dead on. It's a shame some of you get wrapped up in a few words to see the big picture.
