Thursday, July 27, 2006

Jon Stewart's Greatest Political Hits

Jon Stewart is beloved for his wit. His show is an essential antidote to the crazy world of news and politics. But one criticism of the iconic host of The Daily Show sticks.

Early last year Dan Kennedy of The Boston Phoenix said "If Stewart’s take on the news is inspired, the interviews that fill up the second half of the program are not … He does suck-up interviews with everybody.” When he challenged Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on Crossfire, saying that their type of discussion was “hurting America” Carlson ripped into him for his soft interview with then Presidential Nominee John Kerry.

Recently, however, Stewart has dramatically improved his interviews and has brought outspoken pundits to their rhetorical knees.

Three examples that are worth watching again:

(3) Stewart vs. Bill Bennett

From Stewart’s interview with Bill Bennett, a steadfast critic of gay marriage:

Bennett: Look, it’s a debate about whether you think marriage is between a man and a woman.

Stewart: I disagree I think it’s a debate about whether you think gay people are part of the human condition or just a random fetish.

This interview ran wild in the blogosphere. Crooks and Liars observed: “Jon always boils the debate down to it’s (sic) simplest form which usually causes people like Bennett to look foolish. It doesn’t say much for the class of pundits representing Democratic values when Stewart so easily defeats them.”

(2) Stewart vs. Bernard Goldberg

Stewart makes quick work of conservative author Bernard Goldberg who tackles culture. When Goldberg asks Stewart if culture is an important force, Stewart responds:

"I wish more smart guys like you spent more time — not worrying about Barbra Streisand — but worrying about, you know, Richard Perle, Karl Rove, or whoever the Democrats would have had in that position in the Clinton years."

(1) Stewart vs. Christopher Hitchens

Perhaps Stewart’s finest interview was the shellacking of the impressive and intimidating wordsmith, Christopher Hitchens.

Stewart: The people who say we shouldn't fight in Iraq aren't saying it's our fault. That is the conflation that is the most disturbing to me.

Hitchens: Don't you hear people saying that we made them [the terrorists] nasty...?

Stewart: I hear people saying a lot of stupid [bleep]... But there is reasonable dissent in this country about the way this war has been conducted, that has nothing to do with people believing that we should cut and run from the terrorists, or that we should show weakness in the face of terrorism, or that we believe that we have in some way brought this upon ourselves.

Not bad for a comic who famously (and truthfully) quipped that his show comes on after "puppets making crank phone calls."

Posted by Michael Corcoran at 05:11 PM

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