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Saturday, November 20, 2010
The truth hurts, Mr. Beck
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess that I have never watched Glenn Beck in full. What I see of Glenn Beck is what I see on The Daily Show and Countdown. For all I know, outside of the clips these programs show, Mr. Beck is a serious political analyst on a par with, oh, say, Jim Lehrer or the late Daniel Schorr. But somehow I doubt it.
It's hard for me to imagine that Beck's schtick is meant seriously. It's so over-the-top, so completely lunatic, that it comes across as performance art -- something the late Andy Kaufman would have put together. One has to wonder: if Glenn Beck is for real, how is someone this insane even able to function in day-to-day life, let alone put a show together every day. Are Jim Earl and Barry Lank perhaps writing for Glenn Beck now, only Beck thinks the stuff they give him to read off a teleprompter is for real? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Because Beck's televised obsession with George Soros is pure comedy gold, as Jon Stewart pointed out the other night in yet another brilliant Beck spoof:
Apparently Mr. Beck, whose gift of projection is seen in the above segment in his accusations about George Soros, is unhappy with Stewart's spot-on parody:
Stewart and fellow satirist/provocateur Stephen Colbert have jointly been nominated for Time magazine's annual "Person of the Year" award. Right now they're at #4. You know what to do.
It's hard for me to imagine that Beck's schtick is meant seriously. It's so over-the-top, so completely lunatic, that it comes across as performance art -- something the late Andy Kaufman would have put together. One has to wonder: if Glenn Beck is for real, how is someone this insane even able to function in day-to-day life, let alone put a show together every day. Are Jim Earl and Barry Lank perhaps writing for Glenn Beck now, only Beck thinks the stuff they give him to read off a teleprompter is for real? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Because Beck's televised obsession with George Soros is pure comedy gold, as Jon Stewart pointed out the other night in yet another brilliant Beck spoof:
Apparently Mr. Beck, whose gift of projection is seen in the above segment in his accusations about George Soros, is unhappy with Stewart's spot-on parody:
Today Beck sent out an email blast asking if he should get a restraining order against Stewart, because Stewart spent 66% of a show on Beck. Apparently Beck crunched the numbers, came up with 66% of the minutes in a single show, and felt that was a powerful statistic that would prove Beck's point about how "creepy" Jon Stewart is! Okayy.....
He also gave the story prominent coverage in The Blaze:
Jon Stewart spent over seven minutes mocking Fox News and Glenn Beck’s recent George Soros expose.
Stewart and fellow satirist/provocateur Stephen Colbert have jointly been nominated for Time magazine's annual "Person of the Year" award. Right now they're at #4. You know what to do.
Labels: Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert
Friday, November 12, 2010
First thoughts
Last night's discussion between Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart was something we haven't seen before -- a civil discussion between intelligent people of good will. I can't help but have the sense that Jon Stewart is telling liberals to take a knife to a gunfight -- for all that he's always bashing Barack Obama for doing exactly that.
Jon Stewart has been making the point for years that the nonstop cacophony of screeching on cable news over the last decade does nothing to address the problems we face -- and that's true. But what he seems to be asking Rachel Maddow and the other prime time hosts on MSNBC to do is unilaterally disarm and leave the screeching to Fox News, which he describes as "ideological" rather than "partisan", for all that the network pays almost all of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates as "correspondents" or show hosts and donates to groups like the Republican Governors Association.
Stewart's goal to turn the "You're a traitor!" "No, YOU'RE the traitor!" trading of accusations that takes the place of reasoned argument based on interpretation of evidence into the latter may be laudable. But there's a huge difference between calling George W. Bush a war criminal based on his now-admitted approval of torture (when torture is defined according to international law as a war crime) and Glenn Beck painting himself as an authoritative voice of fact and then doing a presentation which blames George Soros for everything Beck hates (George Soros being the favorite right-wing euphemism for "All-Powerful Jew"). And what Stewart seems to be saying is that since MSNBC still considers itself a news network, it should tone down the incendiary rhetoric and leave the screeching to Fox News. What he DOESN'T seem to realize is that not to answer the Fox News hosts' habit of pulling stuff out of their asses and then hammering it over and over again as fact (see also: the "Obama's trip to Asia is costing $200 million a day" lie) is to give it credence.
Is Stewart saying that we should just let accusations like that lie? Ask John Kerry how his assumption that the American people were too smart to believe the Swift Boaters lies worked out for him.
I understand why Jon Stewart, who has two young children and who devours cable news every day to obtain material for his show, has a vested interest in not seeing the outright evil of a president who takes a nation to war based on lies told to the citizenry. I understand him wanting to set Pol Pot as a benchmark, and create some arbitrary number of deaths that one has to cross to become truly "evil" or create distinctions between being a mass murderer of your own people vs. another country's. Because if you have children, and you believe that a president is capable of doing so, that a Congress that's supposed to provide checks and balances can blindly go along, and that the media will just regurgitate Defense Department talking points, then you will go insane projecting out the kind of country your children will inherit. It's much easier to believe that George W. Bush came from a position of goodwill and just made an itty bitty mistakey. The problem with that line of thinking is that you have to start believing that he made an awful lot of mistakeys for someone who cares about human life the way George Bush said he did.
I'm not sure what actually came out of last night's conversation, other than an increasing sense that for all his cynicism, Jon Stewart still retains the stubborn idea that the participants in the national shoutfest all come from a place of goodwill, that American politics is still a place where Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy can be great friends after disagreeing profoundly about politics. Fox News has made politics a blood sport, in which the opposition must not just be defeated, but pummelled to death and then having its corpse ass-raped repeatedly until it falls apart under the onslaught. Any media outlet worth its salt is going to combat Fox News' penchant for outright lies with demonstrable facts -- and even if you think Keith Olbermann is a self-iomportant bombastic jackass or that Rachel Maddow gets too passionate about the gay issues that affect her own life every day, the difference that Jon Stewart refuses to see between the MSNBC opinion show hosts and those at Fox is that at MSNBC, they don't just pull stuff out of their asses. Yes, it is opinion journalism over there at MSNBC, but at least they don't trot out a tagline like "fair and balanced" and expect people to believe it even in the face of a lineup that daily tells America that the president is a secret Muslim terrorist.
Jon Stewart has been making the point for years that the nonstop cacophony of screeching on cable news over the last decade does nothing to address the problems we face -- and that's true. But what he seems to be asking Rachel Maddow and the other prime time hosts on MSNBC to do is unilaterally disarm and leave the screeching to Fox News, which he describes as "ideological" rather than "partisan", for all that the network pays almost all of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates as "correspondents" or show hosts and donates to groups like the Republican Governors Association.
Stewart's goal to turn the "You're a traitor!" "No, YOU'RE the traitor!" trading of accusations that takes the place of reasoned argument based on interpretation of evidence into the latter may be laudable. But there's a huge difference between calling George W. Bush a war criminal based on his now-admitted approval of torture (when torture is defined according to international law as a war crime) and Glenn Beck painting himself as an authoritative voice of fact and then doing a presentation which blames George Soros for everything Beck hates (George Soros being the favorite right-wing euphemism for "All-Powerful Jew"). And what Stewart seems to be saying is that since MSNBC still considers itself a news network, it should tone down the incendiary rhetoric and leave the screeching to Fox News. What he DOESN'T seem to realize is that not to answer the Fox News hosts' habit of pulling stuff out of their asses and then hammering it over and over again as fact (see also: the "Obama's trip to Asia is costing $200 million a day" lie) is to give it credence.
Is Stewart saying that we should just let accusations like that lie? Ask John Kerry how his assumption that the American people were too smart to believe the Swift Boaters lies worked out for him.
I understand why Jon Stewart, who has two young children and who devours cable news every day to obtain material for his show, has a vested interest in not seeing the outright evil of a president who takes a nation to war based on lies told to the citizenry. I understand him wanting to set Pol Pot as a benchmark, and create some arbitrary number of deaths that one has to cross to become truly "evil" or create distinctions between being a mass murderer of your own people vs. another country's. Because if you have children, and you believe that a president is capable of doing so, that a Congress that's supposed to provide checks and balances can blindly go along, and that the media will just regurgitate Defense Department talking points, then you will go insane projecting out the kind of country your children will inherit. It's much easier to believe that George W. Bush came from a position of goodwill and just made an itty bitty mistakey. The problem with that line of thinking is that you have to start believing that he made an awful lot of mistakeys for someone who cares about human life the way George Bush said he did.
I'm not sure what actually came out of last night's conversation, other than an increasing sense that for all his cynicism, Jon Stewart still retains the stubborn idea that the participants in the national shoutfest all come from a place of goodwill, that American politics is still a place where Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy can be great friends after disagreeing profoundly about politics. Fox News has made politics a blood sport, in which the opposition must not just be defeated, but pummelled to death and then having its corpse ass-raped repeatedly until it falls apart under the onslaught. Any media outlet worth its salt is going to combat Fox News' penchant for outright lies with demonstrable facts -- and even if you think Keith Olbermann is a self-iomportant bombastic jackass or that Rachel Maddow gets too passionate about the gay issues that affect her own life every day, the difference that Jon Stewart refuses to see between the MSNBC opinion show hosts and those at Fox is that at MSNBC, they don't just pull stuff out of their asses. Yes, it is opinion journalism over there at MSNBC, but at least they don't trot out a tagline like "fair and balanced" and expect people to believe it even in the face of a lineup that daily tells America that the president is a secret Muslim terrorist.
Labels: Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow
Saturday, October 30, 2010
The Pied Piper of the Future
Competing by relative headcounts at rallies seems to me to be a bit like the people who used to fight with each other over the relative box office of Star Wars vs. Titanic. What the hell difference does it make? You're not getting the money anyway.
From where I was watching comfortably at home, a rally that spills over off the National Mall and into the streets, where a wave takes almost a full minute to make its way through the crowd (courtesy of the Mythbusters), is one hell of a lot of people -- not that you'll get any crowd estimates from the media pundits that Jon Stewart ended the rally today by blasting in a speech that is sure to revive the Stewart/Colbert 2012 bumper stickers once again. The Murdoch St. Journal has pretty much refused to do so at all:
How many people are on the National Mall for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? The final answer? We don’t know.
CBC News, being outside the US, doesn't have the same qualms as the US press, and estimates the crowd at over 200,000.
I'm sure in days to come we'll see dueling aerial shots as the Who Got More Glenn Beck Or Jon Stewart debate plays out amidst the same cable news blather that was the subject of more than one photo montage today. Relative crowd counts for the two rallies are important to the extent that the Tea Party has been treated as a huge majority of Americans by the press, receiving attention far in excess of its actual numbers. Christine O'Donnell is likely to lose, but you'd never know it from the press attention she's received.
Here's what DOES matter about the comparative crowds, however.
Age.
While attendees at both rallies skewed predominantly white, many of the Beck rally's attendees were older, a good number of them on Hoveround-type scooters. Today's rallygoers skewed far younger, for all that our very own jurassicpork, who is no spring chicken, attended (and hopefully can be talked into writing a report, including photos), today's rally represented the future, while Beck's rally represents the past -- some of which never even existed the way it was remembered.
I said to Mr. Brilliant this morning that Jon Stewart would walk away today either having jumped the shark, or as the most important man in the country.
Was there ever any doubt that it would be the latter?
.
Whatever happens next Tuesday, think about the young faces you saw in the crowd shots from Washington DC today. The people on the Hoverounds who watch Glenn Beck and believe that Barack Obama must be a secret Muslim terrorist because he has a name that isn't English...or Irish...or Italian...or Polish; who still don't want black people moving into their neighborhoods, who are grossed out by two guys kissing because they're not used to seeing it, and who think that this is Jesus' America and long for the 1950's? Their day is over and a new one is ahead of us. They know it, and that's why they're so afraid. What we know, and what they don't yet, is that there's nothing about that new one that they should fear.
I know that there are young teabaggers, like the young Joe Miller supporter Rachel Maddow talked to in Alaska the other night who hates Obama for nominating Eric Holder, who will to take people's guns away -- but can't identify one thing Holder has done or said about guns. But the National Mall and surrounding streets were teeming with fresh young faces; yes, mostly Causasian ones, but sprinkled with black and Latino and Asian ones too. They get it. That they are this nation's future gives me at least some hope that we just might be able to survive the dying embers of hatred, greed, and bigotry.
And whether he likes it or not, whether he realizes it yet or not, a short Jewish comedian from Jersey is going to lead them.
(UPDATE: Chris Good of The Atlantic says "The immediate takeaway: The crowd was massive. Way bigger than the Glenn Beck rally in July." Of course in the alternative universe of the Teabaggers, Chris Good is a subversive liberal commie anti-American traitor for even suggesting such a thing.)
Happy Rally Day!
Whether you're going to the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear today or, like we in the Brilliant household, watching it on TV because a) I am headed out of town tomorrow and need some time to decompress before leaving; b) the thought of five hours in DC with no place to pee is terrifying; and c) I've been working like a dog and I'm just plain tired; there's something that feels, well, ALMOST hopey-changey today. I say almost because I am tired of hoping things will ever get better when we live in a nation of willfully ignorant people ruled by their prejudices. But it's expected to be a really nice day in DC today, and whether there's just a comedy show with some nice music or something that feels like a groundswell of something yet to be determined, something feels significant about this rally.
I don't know if it's because of the fits that mainstream journalists are having about it (Tobin Harshaw in the New York Times is the latest, citing the Still Angry About Hillary Taylor Marsh as an unimpeachable source), though I suspect that has something to do with it. These are people trapped in a dying industry; an industry dying of largely self-inflicted wounds. It was one thing when journalists could legitimately pat themselves on the back for breaking actual stories. Bob Woodward may be a shameless hack now, but at one time, he and Carl Bernstein broke the kind of story that journalists today would be afraid to touch and made a generation of young people want to be journalists. The problem is that journalism, particularly Washington journalism, forgot what its job was -- to report the news and to keep the feet of politicians to the fire and keep them honest. We'll report what you do, said journalists, but if you fuck up or you betray the public trust, we will pillory you just as you deserve.
Something happened along the way. Journalists were invited into the corridors of power and decided they liked it there. Sally Quinn, who married Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, held parties that were the toast of Washington, and she decided early on that the Clintons weren't her kind of people, so the press did her bidding. David Gregory danced with Karl Rove at a Washington dinner and later on became the moderator of the once-venerable Meet the Press. But it wasn't just WaPo or television networks owned by defense contractors, or even Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The New York Times ran a story about how the Clintons lost money in a land deal, and next thing you know, the paper is at the forefront of what will go down in history as the biggest partisan witch hunt ever perpetrated on a president. Judith Miller schmoozed with Scooter Libby, and soon the front page of the New York Times was carrying the Bush Administration's water on the false claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Howard Dean dares to run for president, and Times reporter Jodi Wilgoren makes it her business to bring him down.
If journalism hadn't completely blown its credibility on stories like Whitewater and Gary Condit and shark attacks, while carrying the Bush Junta's water on Iraq, a bunch of people in bathrobes making use of this new technology called the Internet couldn't have replaced the increasing triviality and utter horseshit dished up by so-called news outlets.
Jason Linkins over at That Thing Arianna Huffington Publishes That No One Reads has been documenting the roots of this rally. He cites Jon Stewart's first broadcast after the 9/11 attacks:
...noting, quite accurately in my opinion:
I kind of disagree, though. This rally isn't about gaining political power, it's about a five-foot-six-inch Jewish comedian and a Catholic sunday school teacher from Montclair, New Jersey, who have been having to do the job that people they once believed, and want to believe again, are their betters. Those people aren't the politicians, however. The people who are going to be made fun of today aren't easy targets like Louie Gohmert and Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle. That's like shooting fish in a barrel. I think what you're going to see is more along the lines of the TRUE roots of this rally:
I don't know if it's because of the fits that mainstream journalists are having about it (Tobin Harshaw in the New York Times is the latest, citing the Still Angry About Hillary Taylor Marsh as an unimpeachable source), though I suspect that has something to do with it. These are people trapped in a dying industry; an industry dying of largely self-inflicted wounds. It was one thing when journalists could legitimately pat themselves on the back for breaking actual stories. Bob Woodward may be a shameless hack now, but at one time, he and Carl Bernstein broke the kind of story that journalists today would be afraid to touch and made a generation of young people want to be journalists. The problem is that journalism, particularly Washington journalism, forgot what its job was -- to report the news and to keep the feet of politicians to the fire and keep them honest. We'll report what you do, said journalists, but if you fuck up or you betray the public trust, we will pillory you just as you deserve.
Something happened along the way. Journalists were invited into the corridors of power and decided they liked it there. Sally Quinn, who married Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, held parties that were the toast of Washington, and she decided early on that the Clintons weren't her kind of people, so the press did her bidding. David Gregory danced with Karl Rove at a Washington dinner and later on became the moderator of the once-venerable Meet the Press. But it wasn't just WaPo or television networks owned by defense contractors, or even Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The New York Times ran a story about how the Clintons lost money in a land deal, and next thing you know, the paper is at the forefront of what will go down in history as the biggest partisan witch hunt ever perpetrated on a president. Judith Miller schmoozed with Scooter Libby, and soon the front page of the New York Times was carrying the Bush Administration's water on the false claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Howard Dean dares to run for president, and Times reporter Jodi Wilgoren makes it her business to bring him down.
If journalism hadn't completely blown its credibility on stories like Whitewater and Gary Condit and shark attacks, while carrying the Bush Junta's water on Iraq, a bunch of people in bathrobes making use of this new technology called the Internet couldn't have replaced the increasing triviality and utter horseshit dished up by so-called news outlets.
Jason Linkins over at That Thing Arianna Huffington Publishes That No One Reads has been documenting the roots of this rally. He cites Jon Stewart's first broadcast after the 9/11 attacks:
...noting, quite accurately in my opinion:
...when I watched this again, after so many years, I couldn't help but think that maybe someone has recently stolen this segment, stripped it of its sincerity, and turned it into self-serving schtick. Maybe someone should go and steal it back.
I kind of disagree, though. This rally isn't about gaining political power, it's about a five-foot-six-inch Jewish comedian and a Catholic sunday school teacher from Montclair, New Jersey, who have been having to do the job that people they once believed, and want to believe again, are their betters. Those people aren't the politicians, however. The people who are going to be made fun of today aren't easy targets like Louie Gohmert and Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle. That's like shooting fish in a barrel. I think what you're going to see is more along the lines of the TRUE roots of this rally:
Labels: Jon Stewart, real journalism, Stephen Colbert
Friday, October 29, 2010
This is why the so-called journalists are having fits about tomorrow's rally
Funny, clever, snarky -- and touching:
John Stewart may very well find himself at the end of the day tomorrow in the position of being the most powerful messenger in the country. And THAT'S what's giving the press fits. Because their bread and butter is inanity, preposterousness, and famewhoring. Imagine if this rally actually gets people to, well, dial it back a notch and start using some part of their brain other than the basal ganglia.
John Stewart may very well find himself at the end of the day tomorrow in the position of being the most powerful messenger in the country. And THAT'S what's giving the press fits. Because their bread and butter is inanity, preposterousness, and famewhoring. Imagine if this rally actually gets people to, well, dial it back a notch and start using some part of their brain other than the basal ganglia.
Labels: Jon Stewart
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Why he's the best
When Brian Williams or David Gregory interviews the President, it's all about finding the "Gotcha!" moment that can be played in an endless loop on Morning Joe and the Today show and the following night's evening news. It's not about discussing policy, it's about rumor and setting traps and about "Some people say...".
Not one major network talking head with a reputation as a journalist has conducted an interview with Barack Obama that is as substantive as this one:
Not one major network talking head with a reputation as a journalist has conducted an interview with Barack Obama that is as substantive as this one:
Labels: Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, real journalism
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
This is what eleven years of trying to restore sanity will do to you
Jon Stewart's Daily Show debut, January 11, 1999:
Look at how young he was, and look at what the 2000 election, eight years of George W. Bush, and two years America's Collective Nervous Breakdown® have done to him:
Look at how young he was, and look at what the 2000 election, eight years of George W. Bush, and two years America's Collective Nervous Breakdown® have done to him:
Labels: Jon Stewart
Friday, September 17, 2010
So....will this just be live versions of the shows, or participatory performance art on a massive scale?
If the former, you'll see it better on TV. If the latter, well....
(click images for more information...)
(click images for more information...)
Labels: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Greatest Daily Show Bit You Have Ever Seen
Lately it's often seemed that Jon Stewart really doesn't enjoy his job anymore. It's hard to be funny when it's just not funny anymore. I mean, when crazy people who talk about grandma not being shovel-ready are actually making law and policy, we're so clearly looking down The Abyss of Stoopid™ that it's hard to be funny.
But even from his apparent slough of despond, sometimes Stewart and the rest of the Daily Show writers can still not only rise to the occasion, but produce brilliance. And this is right up there with Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner masterpiece:
But even from his apparent slough of despond, sometimes Stewart and the rest of the Daily Show writers can still not only rise to the occasion, but produce brilliance. And this is right up there with Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner masterpiece:
Labels: Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, satire
Friday, March 12, 2010
Massa; Tickling as Abuse
I hate to break my perfect silence here, but I have something to say. With all the crap flying round my life, I am happy to report that I knew little of this Massa issue that is buzzing in the background everywhere I go. But there is one thing that Ive been hearing, that has been sticking out and gnawing at me, and its making me pretty crazy: ticklefight...it was only a ticklefight.
Whatever really happened in this case that seems to have caught the attention of the main stream media, I haven't heard anyone commenting on the fact that tickling someone until they cant breathe is, in fact, abuse. Tickling children is abusive bullying and besides siblings going through phases of evenly matched tickling, its not something that people really do anymore. There is something inherently sexual in tickling, and there is a dominance issue, considering that its actually painful. I don't think that people should do this to anyone who isn't a willing participant, and to hear an adult talking about something like this is downright creepy
That's all, really....Massa is a freak and he belongs on the supermarket checkout news, not the national news!
On the other hand, as Larry O'Donnell just said on Countdown, he gave the comedians of the world a huge gift with the funniest sex scandal ever. I haven't laughed out loud like this since I don't know when. Maybe I have to start paying attention again.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Sour Gropes | ||||
| ||||
at least to Jon Stewart...
c/p RIPCoco
Labels: batshit crazies, comedy, Jon Stewart
Thursday, March 11, 2010
CNN runs a crawl: "Department of Jihad", but on the comedy show, you get this
There is something very wrong in a country when "The Most Trusted Name in News" is trying to hard to be Glenn Beck that it adopts the terminology of that Oedipal mess Liz Cheney, while thoughtful, rational discussion -- and evisceration -- of claims of infiltration of the Justice Department by Al Qaeda operatives under President Dark Skin Funnyname has to be done ON A COMEDY SHOW:
More here and here.
More here and here.
Labels: Comedians, Jon Stewart, real journalism, wingnuttia
Friday, January 22, 2010
Still the best.
Here at B@B, we loves us some Keith Olbermann, but this is hilarious:
Labels: comedy, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann
Thursday, July 23, 2009
So what is Rachel Maddow, chopped liver?
Here at Casa la Brilliant, we don't play favorites. Thanks to the DVR, we watch Keith AND Rachel AND Jon AND Stephen. But as much as we love all of them, none of them is Walter Cronkite, though I hope that in time Rachel Maddow becomes known nationwide, despite her leftward leaning, the media voice that can always be relied on to not overdramatize, not pull stuff out of her ass, and not blindly read press releases from the power structures of EITHER party. I'd say she's off to a brilliant start.
But as much as we love Jon Stewart, and think no one skewers the ridiculousness of the news, better than he does, he would probably be the first one to admit that he is NOT Walter Cronkite. But America disagrees.
You'd think that the major networks would realize that when a former stand-up comedian is the nation's most trusted newscaster, perhaps they ought to rethink their policy of carrying water for Republicans (*cough* Chuck Todd *cough*).
But as much as we love Jon Stewart, and think no one skewers the ridiculousness of the news, better than he does, he would probably be the first one to admit that he is NOT Walter Cronkite. But America disagrees.
You'd think that the major networks would realize that when a former stand-up comedian is the nation's most trusted newscaster, perhaps they ought to rethink their policy of carrying water for Republicans (*cough* Chuck Todd *cough*).
Labels: Jon Stewart, Television News
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Idiot Scarborough, Reagan Lite, Brewed by Stewart!!
I could just spit! I heard this on the radio today while driving around and absolutely couldn't believe it....actually I do believe it; it makes perfect sense somehow, but I also see a nightmare possibility of the American people actually falling for this in the coming years if its packaged correctly! Today in the Daily Beast, Christopher Buckley, quite seriously suggested that Joe Scarborough is the new savior of the Republican Party.
I think he was being serious when he said that Scar has been "hiding" on MSNBC from 6 to 9, weekdays!
Hiding, my ass! Scarborough is the reason that I turned off MSNBC in the mornings, not only for his mysogynistic treatment of Mika Brezezinski , and not only for his bull-headed neo-con attitudes, but because his lack of understanding and knowledge of what hes talking about is staggering. But then, Buckley calls him "Reagan Lite" and says that he likes him because of his book. Well, that's really all you need to run the country, right? Likability and a little knowledge about alot of things?...an opinion and the ability to shoot your mouth off?
I guess that if your last name is Buckley, people take notice when you proclaim the new savior of the dying old elephant, but really, the Bush days are over and its gonna be a good long time before we invite the likes of "Reagan Lite" back into an office that is still reeling from the policies that Reagan heavy put in place!
Speaking of the idiot retard, Scarborough, last night Jon Stewart answered him on the Starbucks issue...yes he did:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Morning Joe's Sarcastic Starbucks Sponsorship | ||||
| ||||
I'm now officially boycotting Starbucks for giving that idiot retard Scarborough 10 million dollars...TEN MILLION DOLLARS...to say "Morning Joe, Brewed by Starbucks!"
If that's who represents Starbucks, they've lost me. I already stopped buying my coffee beans from them in favor of Just Coffee, who sponsors Break Room Live, and actually offers a much better bean than Starbucks ever has. There are Maron and Seder themed blends with really cool packaging, but I'm awfully fond of the Maya Dark, and I get it in the big 2 lb tube! Pow!! (...as Maron says...)
Someone just tell me that we are not gonna end up with a Scarborough presidency in 8 years...the American people are not that stupid are they? Well, are we??...shit!
To get in touch with Starbucks to let them know what you think of them "Brewing Morning Joe" click here.
c/p RIP Coco
Labels: idiocy, Joe Scarborough, Jon Stewart
Friday, March 13, 2009
Why is the comedian the most incisive interviewer on television
Jim Cramer may have dismissed Jon Stewart as "a comedian" (something Stewart never denies), but the comedian raked him over the coals last night:
The full interview, including material not broadcast on television, can be seen here.
Money quote:
Why on earth does it take a Jewish ex-stand-up comic from Jersey to say this?
The full interview, including material not broadcast on television, can be seen here.
Money quote:
"These guys at these companies were on a Sherman's March through their companies financed by our 401Ks... And they burned the fucking house down with our money and walked away rich as hell and you guys knew that that was going on."
Why on earth does it take a Jewish ex-stand-up comic from Jersey to say this?
Labels: Jim Cramer, Jon Stewart, smackdown
Of course you know, this means WAR
Jim Cramer and Crybaby Joe Scarborough have forgotten that unlike Morning Schmegegge, The Daily Show never claims to be a news program.
Jim 'n' Joe whine about how MEAN the short Jewish guy on Comedy Central is:
And Jon Stewart, the badass, responds:
Jim 'n' Joe whine about how MEAN the short Jewish guy on Comedy Central is:
And Jon Stewart, the badass, responds:
Labels: Jim Cramer, Joe Scarborough, Jon Stewart
Thursday, February 26, 2009
And you thought there'd be no comedy in this country without George W. Bush
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