Jon Stewart on Crossfire 10/15 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Derwood · 10-15-2004, 12:59 PM

I just finished watching Crossfire Live on CNN and Jon Stewart was the guest. It was brilliant. He wouldn't answer any of their stupid questions, instead choosing to slam their show for it's "partisan hackery" and stating that he thought that American citizen's find it to be "a drag" to watch Crossfire and shows like it after the debates, etc.

He really had them rattled, and they started getting pissed, saying things like "you're much more fun on your show than you are today." Stewart retorts with "and you're a bigger dick when I'm on the show than you are when I watch you on TV".

Jon Stewart is my hero!

Rodney · 10-15-2004, 01:03 PM

Are they rerunning this? Because I have to see it!

kutulu · 10-15-2004, 01:04 PM

I'm pissed that this happened while I'm at work

Ace_O_Spades · 10-15-2004, 01:05 PM

Oh snap, mods can lock/delete my thread, I totally spaced out and didn't check to see if there was a thread already

JumpinJesus · 10-15-2004, 02:18 PM

What's sad is that there is more honesty and nonpartisanship in his satire than on the "real" news.

The Daily Show is one of the funniest shows on television. I'm reading "America" right now and it is one of the best satirical works I've ever read.

I'm glad Mtv let him go years ago. He's honed his comedy and has gone from being a bit player in Adam Sandler films to a full fledged icon himself.

filtherton · 10-15-2004, 02:39 PM

The transcript:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../15/cf.01.html

Quote:

Jon Stewart's America

Aired October 15, 2004 - 16:30 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: CROSSFIRE. On the left, James Carville and Paul Begala; on the right, Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson.

In the CROSSFIRE:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART")

JON STEWART, HOST: To their credit, once they found out Cat Stevens, who is of Islam, was on the plane, they immediately called out the Air Force and had the plane followed by a (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Are world events really a laughing matter? They are if you're Jon Stewart. "The Daily Show" host comes out from behind the desk of comedy's favorite news show for our full half-hour today on CROSSFIRE.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from the George Washington University, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson.

(APPLAUSE)

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.

First, though, we will begin, as we always do, with the best little political briefing in television, the CROSSFIRE "Political Alert."

When he wants to look moderate, Dick Cheney invokes his lesbian daughter, Mary, on the campaign trail. When Republican Senate candidate Alan Keyes viciously attacked their daughter, Dick and Lynne Cheney said nothing. When John Edwards praised their evident love for their daughter, Vice President Cheney said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEGALA: But now, suddenly, after four debate losses and 18 days until the election, the Cheneys are shocked, shocked, that John Kerry mentioned their daughter in a debate.

There is an important lesson here. If you're gay and you want your rights protected by the Republicans, it helps to have a daddy who wants to distract the country from the millions he made from Halliburton, the billions he ran up in debt, and the war he lied us into.

(CROSSTALK)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: I have to say, it takes -- it takes -- I admire your stones for defending the indefensible. Even you know that it's wrong, at the very least it's unseemly, to bring up this guy's daughter in two separate debates. And the fact they didn't get into an argument with lunatic Alan Keyes when he attacked their daughter proves nothing, other than they have good manners.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: And the fact -- I'm serious.

BEGALA: No, they have very good manners, Dick Cheney, sure. Really?

CARLSON: What is he supposed to say when John Edwards says, hey, how's your lesbian daughter?

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: He said thank you very much.

(BELL RINGING)

BEGALA: Cheney has raised the issue in the context of campaign appearances.

CARLSON: He has never a single time volunteered anything about his daughter's sexuality.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: And you know that that is true.

BEGALA: August 24, 2004.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: In response to a question. He never a single time...

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: He brought her up on the campaign trail.

CARLSON: Yes, I'm sure he did.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: That's just the one that I -- yes, he did. Check it out on Google.

CARLSON: Yes, my lesbian daughter.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: August 24, 2001.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: All right.

Well, there are legitimate, even powerful arguments, to be made against the Bush administration's foreign policy. But those arguments are complicated, hard to explain, and, in the end, not all that sensational.

It's a lot easier just to make things up. And so John Kerry has decided to do just that. In an interview with "The Des Moines Register" yesterday, Kerry warned that there is -- quote -- "a great potential that Americans will be drafted into the armed forces if Bush is reelected president." This is a total crock, as Kerry himself knows well. Virtually no one favors returning to the draft.

Bush is against it. Congress is against it. The Pentagon is completely against it. It is not happening now or anywhere in the near future. Again, John Kerry knows this very well, and yet he pretends otherwise in order to scare college students into voting for him. And they probably will vote for him, but it's still pretty dishonorable.

BEGALA: Well, first off, what is Bush's plan for helping out the Guard and Reserve?

CARLSON: That's a separate...

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Kerry has a proposal to add 40,000 troops to the Army...

CARLSON: You're making a separate argument.

BEGALA: ... Bush stretched past the limit. What is Bush going to do? What's he going to do?

CARLSON: Well, you're making a separate argument. You're attacking Bush's policy towards the National Guard and Reserves, which I think is completely fair and deserves to be attacked, frankly. But there are no plans to reinstate draft because the Pentagon says that an all-volunteer Army is more effective. It's not going to happen, as you know.

BEGALA: Help me out, though. The guy who says we're not going to have a draft is the same guy who said there were weapons of mass destruction and there was a huge threat from Saddam Hussein.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: You know what?

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Bush has no credibility, Tucker.

CARLSON: It's not simply the decision of one man, OK?

(BELL RINGING)

CARLSON: It's a decision that, in the end, Congress will make. And there is no possibility it will make that decision, as you know.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Be see.

BEGALA: We'll see.

Terrorists exploded two bombs in the heart of heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad yesterday. Another bombing killed another American soldier in eastern Baghdad. Meanwhile, on the home front, the price of oil is hovering around $55 a barrel. The Bush administration has hit the debt limit of $7.4 trillion. They are using accounting tricks to keep the United States of America from going into default like a degenerate gambler with a bookie named Knuckles.

We are critically short of the flu vaccine. Health and Human Services says not to expect any vaccine from Canada, despite what President Bush said in the debate. And yet our president thinks he deserves reelection. In fact, he told reporters -- and I'm quoting here -- "I feel great about where we are."

Well, Newt Gingrich has a different take. "If you don't have some anxiety," the former speaker said, "you're not in touch with reality." Well, Newt, I couldn't have said it better myself.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Well, of course, everyone has some anxiety, but that's not the point Bush is making, as you know.

I found it actually really interesting. There was a poll released today. I'm not exactly sure what it proves, but it does say something interesting; 69 percent of members of the armed services right now support Bush, as compared to less than 30 for Kerry, and that overall they were far more hopeful about the direction the country is moving than the average person. These are people, as you know, who are risking their lives in Iraq. It's not a defense of the Iraq policy, but it does say...

(BELL RINGING)

CARLSON: It says something interesting about perspectives.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: It says that people in military are overwhelmingly Republican.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Which is an interesting question. Why? Why is that?

BEGALA: Because the military has always attracted a disproportionate number of Republicans.

CARLSON: I wonder why, though.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Well, first off, because they tend to poll the officer corps a lot more than the enlisted corps.

Look at Michael Moore's new book, "Letters From the Front: Will They Ever Trust Us Again?" Those are enlisted people who have a very different view than the elite officer corps do.

CARLSON: I'll get right on Michael Moore's new book.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Yes, definitely. I'll take it out of my local library.

BEGALA: You should.

CARLSON: Well, Winona LaDuke, remember that name? Even to students of presidential politics, it might not immediately ring a bell, so here is a refresher. LaDuke is the two-time Green Party candidate for vice president.

Four years ago, she ran with Ralph Nader on the party's stridently pro-hemp ticket. A longtime Indian rights activist, LaDuke rarely joined Nader on the campaign trail, owing in part to legal difficulties she had with her common law husband. He was head of the police at the time.

On one of the few occasions LaDuke did speak to the national press, she offered at least one policy proposal. If elected, LaDuke promised to remove pictures of white people from the White House and replace them with portraits of famous minorities. Down with George Washington. Up with Grover Washington.

This year, LaDuke is working on a wind power project and will not be running for office again. But in statement released this week, she declared that she's no longer supporting Ralph Nader. She's supporting John Kerry. Keep that in mind Election Day. John Kerry, if he's good enough for Winona LaDuke, he's good enough for you.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BEGALA: Come on. I mean, that's...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Someone has got to keep track of the celebrity endorsements here, OK?

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: That would be like me saying David Duke endorses George W. Bush.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: You're missing it. You're missing it. You're missing it, Paul.

BEGALA: The Duke family is all over the...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Day after day, you make the argument, look, Barbra Streisand is voting for John Kerry. You should, too. And I'm just saying, there are other people who are voting for John Kerry. It's not just Barbra Streisand. It's also Winona LaDuke.

BEGALA: You know, David Lesar, the CEO of Halliburton, I believe is for George W. Bush.

CARLSON: I hope so.

BEGALA: So, you can go to Halliburton or you can go with David and Winona LaDuke, whoever they are.

CARLSON: Winona LaDuke.

BEGALA: I suspect they're not related, actually.

(BELL RINGING)

CARLSON: Well, he's been called the most trusted name in fake news.

Next, we're joined by Jon Stewart for his one-of-a-kind take on politics, the press and America.

We'll be right back.

(APPLAUSE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART")

STEWART: Meanwhile, the president's challenger was also in New York, also facing some difficult questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How to you stay in shape?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you eat something?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a routine? Do you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: It's like Nerf CROSSFIRE.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

BEGALA: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.

As both of our loyal viewers, of course, know, our show is about all left vs. white, black vs. white, paper vs. plastic, Red Sox against the Yankees. That's why every day, we have two guests with their own unique perspective on the news. But today, CROSSFIRE is very difficult. We have just one guest.

He's either the funniest smart guy on TV or the smartest funnyman. We'll find out which in a minute. But he's certainly an Emmy Award winner, the host of Comedy Central's "Daily Show" and the co-author of the new mega best-seller "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," at your bookstores everywhere.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the CROSSFIRE Jon Stewart.

STEWART: Thank you.

CARLSON: Thank you for joining us.

STEWART: Thank you very much. That was very kind of you to say.

Can I say something very quickly? Why do we have to fight?

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: The two of you? Can't we just -- say something nice about John Kerry right now.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: I like John. I care about John Kerry.

STEWART: And something about President Bush.

BEGALA: He'll be unemployed soon?

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: I failed the test. I'm sorry.

CARLSON: See, I made the effort anyway.

BEGALA: No, actually, I knew Bush in Texas a little bit. And the truth is, he's actually a great guy. He's not a very good president. But he's actually a very good person. I don't think you should have to hate to oppose somebody, but it makes it easier.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Why do you argue, the two of you?

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: I hate to see it.

CARLSON: We enjoy it.

STEWART: Let me ask you a question.

CARLSON: Well, let me ask you a question first.

STEWART: All right.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Is John Kerry -- is John Kerry really the best? I mean, John Kerry has...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Is he the best? I thought Lincoln was good.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Is he the best the Democrats can do?

STEWART: Is he the best the Democrats can do?

CARLSON: Yes, this year of the whole field.

STEWART: I had always thought, in a democracy -- and, again, I don't know -- I've only lived in this country -- that there's a process. They call them primaries.

CARLSON: Right.

STEWART: And they don't always go with the best, but they go with whoever won. So is he the best? According to the process.

CARLSON: Right. But of the nine guys running, who do you think was best. Do you think he was the best, the most impressive?

STEWART: The most impressive?

CARLSON: Yes.

STEWART: I thought Al Sharpton was very impressive.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: I enjoyed his way of speaking.

I think, oftentimes, the person that knows they can't win is allowed to speak the most freely, because, otherwise, shows with titles, such as CROSSFIRE.

BEGALA: CROSSFIRE.

STEWART: Or "HARDBALL" or "I'm Going to Kick Your Ass" or...

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Will jump on it.

In many ways, it's funny. And I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: We have noticed.

STEWART: And I wanted to -- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't -- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: But in its defense...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: So I wanted to come here today and say...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.

CARLSON: Yes.

STEWART: Stop.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.

BEGALA: OK. Now

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: And come work for us, because we, as the people...

CARLSON: How do you pay?

STEWART: The people -- not well.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Better than CNN, I'm sure.

STEWART: But you can sleep at night.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.

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.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Wait, Jon, let me tell you something valuable that I think we do that I'd like to see you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Something valuable?

CARLSON: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: I would like to hear it.

CARLSON: And I'll tell you.

When politicians come on...

STEWART: Yes.

CARLSON: It's nice to get them to try and answer the question. And in order to do that, we try and ask them pointed questions. I want to contrast our questions with some questions you asked John Kerry recently.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: ... up on the screen.

STEWART: If you want to compare your show to a comedy show, you're more than welcome to.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: No, no, no, here's the point.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: If that's your goal.

CARLSON: It's not.

STEWART: I wouldn't aim for us. I'd aim for "Seinfeld." That's a very good show.

CARLSON: Kerry won't come on this show. He will come on your show.

STEWART: Right.

CARLSON: Let me suggest why he wants to come on your show.

STEWART: Well, we have civilized discourse.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Well, here's an example of the civilized discourse.

Here are three of the questions you asked John Kerry.

STEWART: Yes.

CARLSON: You 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: Yes. "How are you holding up?" is a real suck-up. And I actually giving him a hot stone massage as we were doing it.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: It sounded that way. It did.

STEWART: You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility.

CARLSON: I felt the sparks between you.

STEWART: I didn't realize that -- and maybe this explains quite a bit.

CARLSON: No, the opportunity to...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: ... 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. I think you're...

CARLSON: "How are you holding up?" I mean, come on.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: No, no, no. But my role isn't, I don't think...

CARLSON: But you can ask him a real question, don't you think, instead of saying...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: I don't think I have to. By the way, I also asked him, "Were you in Cambodia?" But I didn't really care.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: Because I don't care, because I think it's stupid.

CARLSON: I can tell.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: But my point is this. If your idea of confronting me is that I don't ask hard-hitting enough news questions, we're in bad shape, fellows. (LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: We're here to love you, not confront you.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: We're here to be nice.

STEWART: No, no, no, but what I'm saying is this. I'm not. I'm here to confront you, because we need help from the media and they're hurting us. And it's -- the idea is...

(APPLAUSE)

(CROSSTALK)

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.

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.

STEWART: Yes.

CARLSON: Let me ask you a question on the news.

STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. How old are you?

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Thirty-five. STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Yes, I do. I do.

STEWART: So this is...

CARLSON: I know. I know. I know. You're a...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: So this is theater.

CARLSON: Now, let me just...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Now, come on.

STEWART: Now, listen, I'm not suggesting that you're not a smart guy, because those are not easy to tie.

CARLSON: They're difficult.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: But the thing is that this -- you're doing theater, when you should be doing debate, which would be great.

BEGALA: We do, do...

(CROSSTALK)

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.

CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?

STEWART: Absolutely.

CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: What is wrong with you?

(APPLAUSE) CARLSON: Well, I'm just saying, there's no reason for you -- when you have this marvelous opportunity not to be the guy's butt boy, to go ahead and be his butt boy. Come on. It's embarrassing.

STEWART: I was absolutely his butt boy. I was so far -- you would not believe what he ate two weeks ago.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

STEWART: You need to go to one.

The thing that I want to say is, when you have people on for just knee-jerk, reactionary talk...

CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.

STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Go ahead. Go ahead.

STEWART: I watch your show every day. And it kills me.

CARLSON: I can tell you love it.

STEWART: It's so -- oh, it's so painful to watch.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: You know, because we need what you do. This is such a great opportunity you have here to actually get politicians off of their marketing and strategy.

CARLSON: Is this really Jon Stewart? What is this, anyway?

STEWART: Yes, it's someone who watches your show and cannot take it anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: I just can't.

CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities? STEWART: If I think they are.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: I wouldn't want to eat with you, man. That's horrible.

STEWART: I know. And you won't. But the thing I want to get to...

BEGALA: We did promise naked pictures of the Supreme Court justices.

CARLSON: Yes, we did. Let's get to those.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: They're in this book, which is a very funny book.

STEWART: Why can't we just talk -- please, I beg of you guys, please.

CARLSON: I think you watch too much CROSSFIRE.

We're going to take a quick break.

STEWART: No, no, no, please.

CARLSON: No, no, hold on. We've got commercials.

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Please. Please stop.

CARLSON: Next, Jon Stewart in the "Rapid Fire."

STEWART: Please stop.

CARLSON: Hopefully, he'll be here, we hope, we think.

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: And then, did U.S. soldiers refuse an order in Iraq. Wolf Blitzer has the latest on this investigation right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Coming up at the top of the hour, the Pentagon investigator a report that U.S. soldiers refused to go on a dangerous mission in Iraq. We'll have details. In medical news, the FDA prescribes a strongly worded label on antidepressant drugs. And why some experts think the flu vaccine shortage is a grim warning about U.S. vulnerability to bioterrorism.

All those stories, much more, only minutes away on "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS."

Now back to CROSSFIRE.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE.

We're talking to Jon Stewart, who was just lecturing us on our moral inferiority.

Jon, you're bumming us out. Tell us, what do you think about the Bill O'Reilly vibrator story?

STEWART: I'm sorry. I don't.

CARLSON: Oh, OK.

STEWART: What do you think?

BEGALA: Let me change the subject.

STEWART: Where's your moral outrage on this?

CARLSON: I don't have any.

STEWART: I know.

BEGALA: Which candidate do you suppose would provide you better material?

STEWART: I'm sorry?

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.

(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?

STEWART: No. Why would it be harder?

CARLSON: Because you support...

(CROSSTALK)

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?

CARLSON: The men's room.

STEWART: Right after that?

BEGALA: Home.

STEWART: Spin alley.

BEGALA: Home.

STEWART: No, spin alley.

BEGALA: What are you talking about? You mean at these debates?

STEWART: Yes. 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: No, I actually believe -- I have a lot of friends who work for President Bush. I went to college with some of them.

CARLSON: Neither of us was ever in the spin room, actually.

(BELL RINGING)

BEGALA: No, I did -- I went to do the Larry King show.

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.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: I don't think so at all.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: OK, up next, Jon Stewart goes one on one with his fans...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Now, you're getting into it. I like that.

STEWART: Yes.

CARLSON: OK. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEGALA: Welcome back to CROSSFIRE. We are joined by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" and author of No. 1 bestseller, "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction."

CARLSON: And a ton of fun, I like that too.

BEGALA: Some questions from our audience. Yes sir, what's your name, what's your name?

QUESTION: Hi, my name's David. I'm from Boston.

STEWART: Hi, David.

QUESTION: My question is, what do you think the hump on G.W.'s back during the debate was?

STEWART: Say it again?

QUESTION: What do you think the hump on George's back during the debate was?

STEWART: The hump on his back?

BEGALA: Oh, you're familiar? This is (INAUDIBLE) conspiracy theory. Can I take this one?

STEWART: Yes, please.

BEGALA: It was nothing, his suit was puckering. A lot of people believe he had one of these in his ear. If he was being fed lines by Karl Rove, he would not have been so inarticulate, guys. It's a myth.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: It's not true. There's this huge myth out on the left.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: Yes, ma'am.

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.

CARLSON: Yes. Ask them how you hold...

STEWART: Not easy on them...

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: ... saying we were too hard on people and too (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: I think you're - yes.

CARLSON: All right. Jon Stewart, come back soon.

BEGALA: Jon Stewart, good of you to join us. Thank you very much. The book is "America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction."

From the left I am Paul Begala, that's it for CROSSFIRE.

CARLSON: And from the right I'm Tucker Carlson, have a great weekend. See you Monday.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

All i can say is, owned. He owned those douchebags.

A highlight:

Quote:

STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. How old are you?

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Thirty-five. STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Yes, I do. I do.

I wish i could've seen it live.

powerclown · 10-15-2004, 02:39 PM

What an angry, unfunny little pecker.
Weird.

Lebell · 10-15-2004, 02:47 PM

crikey, that's a long read.

Church · 10-15-2004, 02:58 PM

Wasn't the Crossfire host a guest on Jon's show a few weeks ago? lol

SecretMethod70 · 10-15-2004, 03:50 PM

That. Was. Awesome.

I find it really hilarious that they think he, the host of a comedy show, should apparently be held to a higher standard of journalism than they are.

kutulu · 10-15-2004, 04:04 PM

or any standard

"The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls."

That's all that needs to be said about the Daily show. It's not meant to be taken seriously. They don't seem to take themselves seriously. Shows like Crossfire do.

Halx · 10-15-2004, 04:10 PM

This is why I love Jon Stewart. His compassion will be legendary.

maximusveritas · 10-15-2004, 04:31 PM

I found a torrent for it here (100 MB avi, with commercials):
http://bitflood.org:8080/file?info_h...%F7%1Es%96A%85

mattevil · 10-15-2004, 04:34 PM

It was funny to see both of those guys scrambling to defend their show. Jon Stewart kicked them a new one.

powerclown · 10-15-2004, 05:46 PM

Stewart is such a whiny little hypocrite. He says that his show is a 'comedy show' and shouldn't be held up to scrutiny, while at the same time he knows full well that millions of young and impressionable people follow his show and base much of their political views on his political views. And then he's got the balls to say that because he's just a COMIC, nobody has the right to call him out, and if they do he hides behind his "I'm Just A Comic, I'm Not Supposed to be Taken Seriously, Silly!" bullshit. He works for a giant corporation just like those guys on Crossfire do, and the day he goes against the political agenda of his corporate bosses, he's out on his ass. And he thinks he's better than those two on Crossfire who he mocks. Please.

mused76 · 10-15-2004, 06:10 PM

Jon Stewart did a great job - making others look like fools while maintaining a sense of dignity. He's great - who else would admit to their facts not being totally honest? I vote for JS.

Willravel · 10-15-2004, 06:12 PM

If he can convince one person not to watch the REAL hypocritical crossfire, he's done his job. Stewart is simply backing up what his show said.
Millions of impressionable people watch Lost and America's Top Model. Does that make them irresponsible for portraying islands as having monsters and being skinny as being beautiful? Please. Let's look at this realisticly. Clearly The Daily Show is a political comedy show. It does report on actual events, but it usualyl spinns them in ways that would make wolf blitzer cringe, and they are very conspicuous about it. Also, Jon Stwewrt is not the only writer on TDS. Crossfire is a serious 'debate' show on a news network. It is made to be taken seriously. If you think that a giant corperation controls TDS directly, you've never seen the show. I've seen them bash sponsers and their parent companies.
Kudos John Stwewrt, you owned them!

Halx · 10-15-2004, 06:19 PM

willravel: 1 powerclown: 0

Great points, will. I will never understand why people insist that a show on a channel famous for obnoxious, ridiculous and frivolous programming be held to any standards at all. To hold such a show to said standards would result in something we all call "selling out." Let's all be grateful that there are still some shows out there who are true to their light-hearted selves.

Willravel · 10-15-2004, 06:22 PM

Thanks, Halx! And happy b-day.

Halx · 10-15-2004, 06:32 PM

After watching the video with my boss sitting next to me, we had a little discussion about the issues that were raised. We can both agree that Stewart could have done a lot better. He set up his points, but never explained them. Sure, we all know what he's talking about, but I could only count about 2 times when he made his point clear to those who cannot or refuse to read between the lines. He had a chance to make his points inarguable, but he stopped there.. that, or Tucker Carlson was just talking over him.

Furthermore, I think something happened during that last commercial break. After Stewart called Carlson a dick, he didn't say much else. He was quiet and reluctant when he tried to answer that one lady's question. Was he threatened during the break or something? He just seemed like he has just gotten kicked in the ribs.

Overall, those of us who are familiar with the points that he was trying to make heard him loud and clear. He was awesome.

martinguerre · 10-15-2004, 06:50 PM

reading the transcript...yeah. i think its interesting that begala didn't take the bait as much. there's no reason carlson should be taking the heat exclusively...but he seemed to lead himself down that path.

"millions of young and impressionable"

Yeah, well...bite me. I'm sorry...but simply trotting out a stereotype of the viewers as stupid is not going to make your arguement hold water. Rush has millions of "impressionable" listeners...do i hear tears beind shed for his partisan antics?

That said, what bit me most was carlson's objections to the kerry interview. McCain has been on there multiple times...the questions were just as softball.

FoolThemAll · 10-15-2004, 06:57 PM

Reading this transcript, Stewart was pretty funny. I probably would've laughed quite a bit, had I seen it.

I think the idea that Stewart needs standards comes from the fact that many really do take the non-joke portions of the show to be legitimate journalism. I've even seen some here claim that it's more accurate and less biased than network news. Which is moronic. Stewart's hilarious, but he's a hack when it comes to actually reporting the news.

Halx · 10-15-2004, 07:07 PM

There ya go, still trying to hold the Daily Show up to the standard of a real news broadcast.

FoolThemAll · 10-15-2004, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halx

There ya go, still trying to hold the Daily Show up to the standard of a real news broadcast.

I'd agree that it's not really Stewart's fault, and I'm not really the least bit interested in asking for him to have standards. I just understand the desire to ask for such. The left can have their lemmings, it's not like the right doesn't have their own.

SecretMethod70 · 10-15-2004, 07:31 PM

The fact the Daily Show is one of the best sources of election information has nothing to do with it being a real news source or that it should be considered one, but, rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how POORLY the current REAL news sources are doing their jobs.

powerclown · 10-15-2004, 07:59 PM

Wasn't Bill Mahrer's show (the last one on network tv, before HBO) political satire? It wasn't hard news. It was supposed to be lighthearted comedy, like Stewart's show. But his political views got him canned. The line between satire and sincerity is in the eye of the beholder. Sure Stewart's show is meant to be lighthearted comedy, but just the fact that Stewart came on CNN, broke with his comic persona and almost had a nervous breakdown attacking a supposed agenda of a CNN program is bizarre at best.

Why did he come on the show in the first place? Most would have thought, ok TGIF, end of the work week, lets hear a few political jokes from the comedian. But instead, he wants to put forth his own political agenda. He came on the show looking for a fight. Why? He should know what CNN is all about; As if he's going to change their programming or something? He made a complete ass of himself. Even Bill Mahrer is smart enough not to do something so stupid.

Picture Letterman doing what Stewart did. Can you picture Letterman, who, on his show jokes about politics all the time, coming onto ANY political talk show to talk hard politics with ANYONE? Hell no, he knows he's no politcal activist, he's a comedian for christ sake. Very weird all around.

martinguerre · 10-15-2004, 08:16 PM

Quote:

But instead, he wants to put forth his own political agenda.

My goodness. He had an opinion on a political show. Stop the presses...

Journeyman · 10-15-2004, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerclown

Why did he come on the show in the first place?

Quote:

STEWART: In many ways, it's funny. And I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad.
BEGALA: We have noticed.
STEWART: And I wanted to -- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't -- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America.
CARLSON: But in its defense...
STEWART: So I wanted to come here today and say... Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.
CARLSON: Yes.
STEWART: Stop.

Quote:

The fact the Daily Show is one of the best sources of election information has nothing to do with it being a real news source or that it should be considered one, but, rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how POORLY the current REAL news sources are doing their jobs.

Jon Stewart, as a successful comedian, was given the oppurtunity to reach an audience that seeks out information and political discourse/debate, and siezed that oppurtunity to give the audience a heads up on a thing or two about where they're looking.

Paradise Lost · 10-15-2004, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

The fact the Daily Show is one of the best sources of election information has nothing to do with it being a real news source or that it should be considered one, but, rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how POORLY the current REAL news sources are doing their jobs.

This is exactly what Stewart eluded to about many times throughout the interview. He was saying about
how a news organization is looking "to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity", is in bad shape.
Any time your news program is aired directly after puppets making crank calls is also a bad sign that
you really shouldn't be taken seriously, and the fact that they ARE, is making the 'real' news guys look
really bad. And being a fake news organization, they don't really feel the need to press the 'hard' issues
onto candidates, like it'll make a difference. I love it when Ed Gillespe is on the show, because he knows
that it's not really something to take seriously, and he has fun with it. You see him on CNN the next day
in a news clip and he's a totally different guy, being your stereotyped 'Republican' as the media would
showhim. But on the Daily Show, he's just having fun, because he knows better than to take it
seriously.

Powerclown, he came on the show probably because they asked him to. Also, he didn't make a fool
of himself, and I'm sure he knew that nothing was going to be changed (probably the same reason
he doesn't get tough on the candidates or any politcal figure for that matter,) but what he's trying
to do is just show what a joke these Crossfire guys are, and it's true, they're all morons. It's not
really a debate, it's more like the "Debate Sketch" from The Flying Circus, just yelling yes and no
at each other without really answering or questioning anything.

SecretMethod70 · 10-15-2004, 08:41 PM

Journeyman, not sure if you were trying to debate me or agreeing with me. If you were trying to debate me though I think you misunderstood what I said.

powerclown: there's a big difference between letterman and stewart. Stewart's show FOCUSES on politics and Letterman's show HAPPENS to sometimes mention it. Letterman is a comedian, and Stewart is a POLITICAL comedian. He oberves politics constantly and finds humor in it - and a lot of it. Thus, he is doing what any other political celebrity does and going on a show to talk about it. Only, he's doing it intelligently, unlike, say, Cameron Diaz. I don't think his presence on Crossfire is in any way contradictory to the fact his show is comedy. It's not his fault the other news networks and shows suck so much that they can't even top a COMEDY show when it comes to dispersing information on the presidential election (if you don't know, there was a study done on this).

quicksteal · 10-15-2004, 08:42 PM

Jon Stewart definitely stuck it to them...and he's right, too (just look at the first segment before he comes on, it's exactly what he's talking about). But he can't expect Crossfire to change, it's how the show has been since I've watched it. I'd like to see Stewart put his money where his mouth is and start the show that he's talking about.

powerclown · 10-15-2004, 08:45 PM

I'll say this much then step down: I wasn't aware that Stewart's basic schtick was to rip on the political scene in general, so this deal with CNN seems to be in character for the guy. That's fine. I thought it was more a case of a mainstream 'straight' talk-show host like a Kilborn or Letterman jumping completely out of character and going nuts on CNN for political points. I see now this was to be expected from Stewart.

ed. - Let me also say real quick that I've watched Crossfire for a while as well. It's a bipartisan, mainstream discussion of the issues. You've got a right-wing guy who can be overbearing and obnoxious at times, and he's balanced by an intelligent left-wing co-host. (By the way, the left on Crossfire also has James Carville, who can kick some ass.) I don't see what the problem is in Crossfire being part of the political landscape.

guthmund · 10-15-2004, 08:51 PM

I thought it was funny.

I too noticed that after that last commercial break, Stewart was a little less conspicuous. I don't know if I'd attribute that to him being bullied. I don't know the guy from Adam, but he did call Tucker Carlson a dick on national television. I wouldn't think he'd shirk from some suit threatening him from a different network. Maybe he was just tired of trying to shout over Carlson.

The Daily Show is what it is. It's funny. It's a slanted sideways look at the absurd events of the day. It's not meant to be taken seriously, but it is, I believe, intended to get the public talking and independently thinking.

CNN is supposed to be a globally respected news organization. "More people get their news from CNN...." blah blah blah. Instead of the continuous repetition of talking points and the endless regurgitation of non-issues, they should be discussing the election and world events. They should position themselves to helping the general public to understand and inform, not whipping them up into a frenzy and giving them a target.

You may not agree with Jon Stewart. You may not like Jon Stewart, but you have to respect Jon Stewart for coming into a hostile situation and holding his own.

FoolThemAll · 10-15-2004, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

The fact the Daily Show is one of the best sources of election information has nothing to do with it being a real news source or that it should be considered one, but, rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how POORLY the current REAL news sources are doing their jobs.

But that's just it. It ISN'T one of the best sources of election information. It's not even close. It's a horrible source.

SecretMethod70 · 10-15-2004, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoolThemAll

But that's just it. It ISN'T one of the best sources of election information. It's not even close. It's a horrible source.

As I mentioned in a later post, it actually IS. There was a study done on it - a study done by such a reputable source, in fact, that I spent an entire political science class discussing this. Taking into account education, and various other demographics, the Daily Show viewers were more informed about the presidential election than viewers of any other show.

And you're right - it's a horrible source of info - which is what makes this so sad.

edit: got it - University of Pennsylvania National Annenberg Election Survey....

Quote:

The Annenberg survey found that people who watch The Daily Show are more interested in the presidential campaign, more educated, younger, and more liberal than the average American or than Leno or Letterman viewers. “However, these factors do not explain the difference in levels of campaign knowledge between people who watch The Daily Show and people who do not,” Young pointed out. “In fact, Daily Show viewers have higher campaign knowledge than national news viewers and newspaper readers -- even when education, party identification, following politics, watching cable news, receiving campaign information online, age, and gender are taken into consideration.”

Quote:

Young people who watched The Daily Show scored 48% correct on the campaign knowledge test while young people who did not watch any late-night comedy scored 39% correct. Meanwhile, young people who watched four of more days of network news scored 40% correct, equally frequent cable news viewers 48% correct and newspaper readers 46% correct.

irateplatypus · 10-15-2004, 10:06 PM

jon stewart has become such a tool. the argument that he is absolved from presenting the truth because he is on a comedy channel is bogus. jon stewart actively involves himself in the political process and relishes his role, but has the luxury of hiding behind this smokescreen of supposed irrelevancy. whether he likes it or not, people (sadly) do take his show seriously. he has no right to criticize any other personality for not doing their most to effect a positive change on politics while he continues to deny the effect he himself has on it.

he represents what is wrong with the current political climate. you're kidding yourself if you think he is somehow a catalyst for independent thought or strictly pointing out absurdity. stewart is merely an extension, the logical conclusion to the process that is in its more infant stages on cnn. this notion that news and politics can be reduced to soundbites and a laugh... they're all in the entertainment business.

stewart has come to believe his own press. he fancies himself as a reformer of what is wrong with mainstream media not realizing he himself is the wretched product of their triviality.

Journeyman · 10-15-2004, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

Journeyman, not sure if you were trying to debate me or agreeing with me. If you were trying to debate me though I think you misunderstood what I said.

Agreeing with you. As you said, it's bad that people look to Stewart, a comedian, for journalistic integrity. I'm saying that Stewart knows this, and as a conscionable citizen, accepted the invitation from Crossfire so that he can address the issue a little bit.

OpieCunningham · 10-15-2004, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irateplatypus

jon stewart has become such a tool. the argument that he is absolved from presenting the truth because he is on a comedy channel is bogus. jon stewart actively involves himself in the political process and relishes his role, but has the luxury of hiding behind this smokescreen of supposed irrelevancy. whether he likes it or not, people (sadly) do take his show seriously. he has no right to criticize any other personality for not doing their most to effect a positive change on politics while he continues to deny the effect he himself has on it.

he represents what is wrong with the current political climate. you're kidding yourself if you think he is somehow a catalyst for independent thought or strictly pointing out absurdity. stewart is merely an extension, the logical conclusion to the process that is in its more infant stages on cnn. this notion that news and politics can be reduced to soundbites and a laugh... they're all in the entertainment business.

stewart has come to believe his own press. he fancies himself as a reformer of what is wrong with mainstream media not realizing he himself is the wretched product of their triviality.

Or...

He knows he's the 'logical conclusion to the process that is in its more infant stages on cnn', and that is precisely his point. In essence, he's saying - Hey guys, you're only a hop, skip and a step away from my show, but you have the gall to claim you're serious and then turn around and question MY integrity?

In which case, Stewart is a almost a genius.

martinguerre · 10-16-2004, 12:42 AM

irate...i guess i don't see your point. are you saying that satire and comedic revue don't have a legitimate role to play? if stewart was the only news media around...you would be right...he's far too flip and insubstantial. but why is his claim to being a satirist not sufficient for you? because it's popular? because some people don't fully get that it's a joke?

Halx · 10-16-2004, 01:30 AM

powerclown.. so you just said all of that trash about Jon Stewart without knowing the slightest bit of information about him? Yikes.

10-15-2004, 12:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
Derwood Who You Crappin? Location: Everywhere and Nowhere	Jon Stewart on Crossfire 10/15 I just finished watching Crossfire Live on CNN and Jon Stewart was the guest. It was brilliant. He wouldn't answer any of their stupid questions, instead choosing to slam their show for it's "partisan hackery" and stating that he thought that American citizen's find it to be "a drag" to watch Crossfire and shows like it after the debates, etc. He really had them rattled, and they started getting pissed, saying things like "you're much more fun on your show than you are today." Stewart retorts with "and you're a bigger dick when I'm on the show than you are when I watch you on TV". Jon Stewart is my hero! __________________ "You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

10-15-2004, 01:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ace_O_Spades The Death Card Location: EH!?!?	Oh snap, mods can lock/delete my thread, I totally spaced out and didn't check to see if there was a thread already __________________ Feh.

10-15-2004, 02:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
JumpinJesus Junkie Location: Chicago	What's sad is that there is more honesty and nonpartisanship in his satire than on the "real" news. The Daily Show is one of the funniest shows on television. I'm reading "America" right now and it is one of the best satirical works I've ever read. I'm glad Mtv let him go years ago. He's honed his comedy and has gone from being a bit player in Adam Sandler films to a full fledged icon himself. __________________ "I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

10-15-2004, 02:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	crikey, that's a long read. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

10-15-2004, 02:58 PM	#9 (permalink)
Church Tilted F*ckhead Location: New Jersey	Wasn't the Crossfire host a guest on Jon's show a few weeks ago? lol __________________ Through counter-intelligence, it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble makers, and neutralize them.

10-15-2004, 01:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Are they rerunning this? Because I have to see it!

10-15-2004, 01:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	I'm pissed that this happened while I'm at work

10-15-2004, 02:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
powerclown Junkie Location: Detroit, MI	What an angry, unfunny little pecker. Weird.

10-15-2004, 03:50 PM	#10 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	That. Was. Awesome. I find it really hilarious that they think he, the host of a comedy show, should apparently be held to a higher standard of journalism than they are. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

10-15-2004, 04:04 PM	#11 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	or any standard "The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls." That's all that needs to be said about the Daily show. It's not meant to be taken seriously. They don't seem to take themselves seriously. Shows like Crossfire do.

10-15-2004, 04:10 PM	#12 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	This is why I love Jon Stewart. His compassion will be legendary. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

10-15-2004, 04:31 PM	#13 (permalink)
maximusveritas Winner	I found a torrent for it here (100 MB avi, with commercials): http://bitflood.org:8080/file?info_h...%F7%1Es%96A%85

10-15-2004, 04:34 PM	#14 (permalink)
mattevil Addict Location: Virginia	It was funny to see both of those guys scrambling to defend their show. Jon Stewart kicked them a new one.

10-15-2004, 05:46 PM	#15 (permalink)
powerclown Junkie Location: Detroit, MI	Stewart is such a whiny little hypocrite. He says that his show is a 'comedy show' and shouldn't be held up to scrutiny, while at the same time he knows full well that millions of young and impressionable people follow his show and base much of their political views on his political views. And then he's got the balls to say that because he's just a COMIC, nobody has the right to call him out, and if they do he hides behind his "I'm Just A Comic, I'm Not Supposed to be Taken Seriously, Silly!" bullshit. He works for a giant corporation just like those guys on Crossfire do, and the day he goes against the political agenda of his corporate bosses, he's out on his ass. And he thinks he's better than those two on Crossfire who he mocks. Please.

10-15-2004, 06:10 PM	#16 (permalink)
mused76 Crazy Location: NE Ohio	Jon Stewart did a great job - making others look like fools while maintaining a sense of dignity. He's great - who else would admit to their facts not being totally honest? I vote for JS.

10-15-2004, 06:12 PM	#17 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	If he can convince one person not to watch the REAL hypocritical crossfire, he's done his job. Stewart is simply backing up what his show said. Millions of impressionable people watch Lost and America's Top Model. Does that make them irresponsible for portraying islands as having monsters and being skinny as being beautiful? Please. Let's look at this realisticly. Clearly The Daily Show is a political comedy show. It does report on actual events, but it usualyl spinns them in ways that would make wolf blitzer cringe, and they are very conspicuous about it. Also, Jon Stwewrt is not the only writer on TDS. Crossfire is a serious 'debate' show on a news network. It is made to be taken seriously. If you think that a giant corperation controls TDS directly, you've never seen the show. I've seen them bash sponsers and their parent companies. Kudos John Stwewrt, you owned them!

10-15-2004, 06:19 PM	#18 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	willravel: 1 powerclown: 0 Great points, will. I will never understand why people insist that a show on a channel famous for obnoxious, ridiculous and frivolous programming be held to any standards at all. To hold such a show to said standards would result in something we all call "selling out." Let's all be grateful that there are still some shows out there who are true to their light-hearted selves. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals] Last edited by Halx; 10-15-2004 at 06:25 PM..

10-15-2004, 06:22 PM	#19 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	Thanks, Halx! And happy b-day.

10-15-2004, 06:32 PM	#20 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	After watching the video with my boss sitting next to me, we had a little discussion about the issues that were raised. We can both agree that Stewart could have done a lot better. He set up his points, but never explained them. Sure, we all know what he's talking about, but I could only count about 2 times when he made his point clear to those who cannot or refuse to read between the lines. He had a chance to make his points inarguable, but he stopped there.. that, or Tucker Carlson was just talking over him. Furthermore, I think something happened during that last commercial break. After Stewart called Carlson a dick, he didn't say much else. He was quiet and reluctant when he tried to answer that one lady's question. Was he threatened during the break or something? He just seemed like he has just gotten kicked in the ribs. Overall, those of us who are familiar with the points that he was trying to make heard him loud and clear. He was awesome. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

10-15-2004, 06:50 PM	#21 (permalink)
martinguerre whosoever Location: New England	reading the transcript...yeah. i think its interesting that begala didn't take the bait as much. there's no reason carlson should be taking the heat exclusively...but he seemed to lead himself down that path. "millions of young and impressionable" Yeah, well...bite me. I'm sorry...but simply trotting out a stereotype of the viewers as stupid is not going to make your arguement hold water. Rush has millions of "impressionable" listeners...do i hear tears beind shed for his partisan antics? That said, what bit me most was carlson's objections to the kerry interview. McCain has been on there multiple times...the questions were just as softball.

10-15-2004, 06:57 PM	#22 (permalink)
FoolThemAll Walking is Still Honest Location: Seattle, WA	Reading this transcript, Stewart was pretty funny. I probably would've laughed quite a bit, had I seen it. I think the idea that Stewart needs standards comes from the fact that many really do take the non-joke portions of the show to be legitimate journalism. I've even seen some here claim that it's more accurate and less biased than network news. Which is moronic. Stewart's hilarious, but he's a hack when it comes to actually reporting the news. __________________ I wonder if we're stuck in Rome.

10-15-2004, 07:07 PM	#23 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	There ya go, still trying to hold the Daily Show up to the standard of a real news broadcast. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

10-15-2004, 07:31 PM	#25 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	The fact the Daily Show is one of the best sources of election information has nothing to do with it being a real news source or that it should be considered one, but, rather, it has EVERYTHING to do with how POORLY the current REAL news sources are doing their jobs. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

10-15-2004, 07:59 PM	#26 (permalink)
powerclown Junkie Location: Detroit, MI	Wasn't Bill Mahrer's show (the last one on network tv, before HBO) political satire? It wasn't hard news. It was supposed to be lighthearted comedy, like Stewart's show. But his political views got him canned. The line between satire and sincerity is in the eye of the beholder. Sure Stewart's show is meant to be lighthearted comedy, but just the fact that Stewart came on CNN, broke with his comic persona and almost had a nervous breakdown attacking a supposed agenda of a CNN program is bizarre at best. Why did he come on the show in the first place? Most would have thought, ok TGIF, end of the work week, lets hear a few political jokes from the comedian. But instead, he wants to put forth his own political agenda. He came on the show looking for a fight. Why? He should know what CNN is all about; As if he's going to change their programming or something? He made a complete ass of himself. Even Bill Mahrer is smart enough not to do something so stupid. Picture Letterman doing what Stewart did. Can you picture Letterman, who, on his show jokes about politics all the time, coming onto ANY political talk show to talk hard politics with ANYONE? Hell no, he knows he's no politcal activist, he's a comedian for christ sake. Very weird all around. Last edited by powerclown; 10-15-2004 at 08:06 PM..

10-15-2004, 08:41 PM	#30 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	Journeyman, not sure if you were trying to debate me or agreeing with me. If you were trying to debate me though I think you misunderstood what I said. powerclown: there's a big difference between letterman and stewart. Stewart's show FOCUSES on politics and Letterman's show HAPPENS to sometimes mention it. Letterman is a comedian, and Stewart is a POLITICAL comedian. He oberves politics constantly and finds humor in it - and a lot of it. Thus, he is doing what any other political celebrity does and going on a show to talk about it. Only, he's doing it intelligently, unlike, say, Cameron Diaz. I don't think his presence on Crossfire is in any way contradictory to the fact his show is comedy. It's not his fault the other news networks and shows suck so much that they can't even top a COMEDY show when it comes to dispersing information on the presidential election (if you don't know, there was a study done on this). __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 10-15-2004 at 08:43 PM..

10-15-2004, 08:42 PM	#31 (permalink)
quicksteal Crazy Location: Auburn, AL	Jon Stewart definitely stuck it to them...and he's right, too (just look at the first segment before he comes on, it's exactly what he's talking about). But he can't expect Crossfire to change, it's how the show has been since I've watched it. I'd like to see Stewart put his money where his mouth is and start the show that he's talking about.

10-15-2004, 08:45 PM	#32 (permalink)
powerclown Junkie Location: Detroit, MI	I'll say this much then step down: I wasn't aware that Stewart's basic schtick was to rip on the political scene in general, so this deal with CNN seems to be in character for the guy. That's fine. I thought it was more a case of a mainstream 'straight' talk-show host like a Kilborn or Letterman jumping completely out of character and going nuts on CNN for political points. I see now this was to be expected from Stewart. ed. - Let me also say real quick that I've watched Crossfire for a while as well. It's a bipartisan, mainstream discussion of the issues. You've got a right-wing guy who can be overbearing and obnoxious at times, and he's balanced by an intelligent left-wing co-host. (By the way, the left on Crossfire also has James Carville, who can kick some ass.) I don't see what the problem is in Crossfire being part of the political landscape. Last edited by powerclown; 10-16-2004 at 08:17 AM..

10-15-2004, 08:51 PM	#33 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	I thought it was funny. I too noticed that after that last commercial break, Stewart was a little less conspicuous. I don't know if I'd attribute that to him being bullied. I don't know the guy from Adam, but he did call Tucker Carlson a dick on national television. I wouldn't think he'd shirk from some suit threatening him from a different network. Maybe he was just tired of trying to shout over Carlson. The Daily Show is what it is. It's funny. It's a slanted sideways look at the absurd events of the day. It's not meant to be taken seriously, but it is, I believe, intended to get the public talking and independently thinking. CNN is supposed to be a globally respected news organization. "More people get their news from CNN...." blah blah blah. Instead of the continuous repetition of talking points and the endless regurgitation of non-issues, they should be discussing the election and world events. They should position themselves to helping the general public to understand and inform, not whipping them up into a frenzy and giving them a target. You may not agree with Jon Stewart. You may not like Jon Stewart, but you have to respect Jon Stewart for coming into a hostile situation and holding his own. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

10-15-2004, 10:06 PM	#36 (permalink)
irateplatypus can't help but laugh Location: dar al-harb	jon stewart has become such a tool. the argument that he is absolved from presenting the truth because he is on a comedy channel is bogus. jon stewart actively involves himself in the political process and relishes his role, but has the luxury of hiding behind this smokescreen of supposed irrelevancy. whether he likes it or not, people (sadly) do take his show seriously. he has no right to criticize any other personality for not doing their most to effect a positive change on politics while he continues to deny the effect he himself has on it. he represents what is wrong with the current political climate. you're kidding yourself if you think he is somehow a catalyst for independent thought or strictly pointing out absurdity. stewart is merely an extension, the logical conclusion to the process that is in its more infant stages on cnn. this notion that news and politics can be reduced to soundbites and a laugh... they're all in the entertainment business. stewart has come to believe his own press. he fancies himself as a reformer of what is wrong with mainstream media not realizing he himself is the wretched product of their triviality. __________________ If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill

10-16-2004, 12:42 AM	#39 (permalink)
martinguerre whosoever Location: New England	irate...i guess i don't see your point. are you saying that satire and comedic revue don't have a legitimate role to play? if stewart was the only news media around...you would be right...he's far too flip and insubstantial. but why is his claim to being a satirist not sufficient for you? because it's popular? because some people don't fully get that it's a joke?

10-16-2004, 01:30 AM	#40 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	powerclown.. so you just said all of that trash about Jon Stewart without knowing the slightest bit of information about him? Yikes. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]