There's all kinds of statistics out there about people who are watching Comedy Central's The Daily Show for their news fix. While Jon Stewart himself regards his show as something closer to a political cartoon, I think many of his viewers know better. People know something isn't right with network and cable news. It's little more than compressed "tell it in two minutes" fluff, flying 3D graphics titles, and a banal obsession with all things superficial and/or tragic. As Don Henley's incensed insight from Dirty Laundry claimed: "It's interesting when people die." It's trite and phony.
In the age of corporate news acting as little more than political machinery, Stewart's earnest approach to the insanity of the day rings true.
At times, his Buster Keaton act fails him and the jokes are off the desk, as they did last Wednesday when John McCain tried to answer questions with talking points.
Stewart: All I'm saying is you cannot look a soldier in the eye and say questioning the president is less supportive to you than extending your tour for three months when you should be coming home to your family.
McCain: Every American..
Stewart: And that's not fair to put on people that criticize…
McCain: Jon…
Stewart: And you know I love you and respect your service and would never question any of that—this is not about questioning the troops and their ability to fight and their ability to be supported. And that is what the administration does and that is almost criminal.
As someone who used to like McCain (I even voted for him in the 2000 primary, albeit in order to use my vote to undermine Bush) I have found it sad and disappointing to see his slow eight year decent from "The Straight Talk Express" to... well... something that smells political... in the most pitiful sense of the word.
I'm grateful Jon was able to call him on it. He's one of the few journalists to do so, even if that's the last thing he'd want to be tagged as. As for McCain, time to get real again. Either way I doubt he'll be back on Comedy Central any time soon.
Haven't found it on YouTube, but you can catch the interview HERE.
1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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