Jon Stewart v Cramer

[BWE]

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/03/its_true_jon_stewart_has_becom.php

OMFG. Did anyone watch this?

[BWE]

It's a sad state of affairs when you need a comedy show to get the news.

[LoneWolf]

There are two problems with posting from work:

1. You don't get much work done.

2. You can't watch video clips.

I am eager to check this out once I get home. Thanks for the link.

[BWE]

It's unreal. He's got the perfect venue.

[Jacey]

Cramer did about as well as he could. He was in an unwinnable situation and he squeezed out some respect

[BWE]

Hmmm. You mean he didn't take off his pants?

[Puck]

I caught bits of it. Impressive work on Stewart's part. Cramer got his balls nailed to the wall, and he only had two options that I could see. He took the best route, I suppose.

I've not watched the whole thing online, yet. Supposedly there's more than was on the show itself. I love the end though, where Stewart asked the guy to do his job properly, so Stewart could go back to making funny faces and fart jokes.

[sohy]

I watched it twice. It was great. It was like a sinner in the hands of an angry god.

I watch CNBC all the time and although he knows how to pretend to act like he's sincere, I think Cramer's just a big faker who came from that twisted Goldman Sachs culture. At least he's not as bad as Larry Kudlow. I have to mute out the sound when Kudlow is on. :D

[Puck]

http://punditkitchen.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/political-pictures-edward-r-murrow-comedians-questions.jpg

[Tod]

I saw the interview when it aired, and it was awesome. I only wish that every year, in addition to the State of the Union address (perhaps afterwards), the president himself, whoever he (or she, when that happens) is, had to undergo such a grilling as Cramer endured about his policies, actions, words, etc. The last time I recall that happening was with Nixon and Frost, and even that occurred after Nixon was no longer president.

As long as we're (or I'm) fantasizing, I'd really like to see the presidential debates actually be conducted as a true debate. If the candidate is evasive, the moderator pushes him or her to address the question, accepting no excuses or evasions, and ending with "clearly you can't or won't address the question, so we'll move on noting your evasion" if they continue to evade. If the candidate doesn't address the question, the moderator calls him on it, and makes him address it again. If the candidate doesn't address the oppositions arguments, the same happens. In my imaginary world, there would be a nonpartisan or bipartisan fact check team (reps from factcheck.org would work) present during the debate checking the candidates facts as they go, pointing out errors and inconsistencies as they arise, with a total tally at the end of false, misleading, etc claims on behalf of both candidates. As it stands now, it seems as if political "debates" are really simply duel campaign ads where the candidates exchange sound bites.

Then, to put a cherry on top, maybe a news organization that isn't a comedy show will actually follow the Daily Show's lead and behave as the publics' "watchdogs," taking the candidates/politicians to task, fact-checking their claims, pointing out their contradictions, etc. I dare to dream, even though I doubt I'll see such a thing in my lifetime (maybe my daughter will; I can only hope).

When Kerry and Bush debated, I was checking snopes.com and factcheck.org as they went along, and literally EVERY claim that came out of BOTH of their mouths was either an exaggeration, distorted representation, or outright lie. That entire campaign season was based on lies, and it was sickening. For such an advanced nation we are really, really stupid as a group here in the U.S.

[tjakey]

John Steward makes his millions with sarcasm, humor, and occasionally beating the snot out of someone Not-Too-Important (Remember Crossfire?) so he can stay on the air and sell Stuff-No-One-Needs for his sponsors.

Most of the rest of the media make their millions by being cozy with The-Powers-That-Be so they will continue to come on their shows and help them sell Stuff-No-One-Needs for their sponsors.

What we don't have are reporters who can make millions by beating the snot out of The-Powers-That-Be, since no one will come on their shows more than once. (Remember the reporter who dared asked gw the shrub a tough question? She was banned to the back of the room and never called on again. Kind of hard to hold a job from there.)

In our consumer society one can't beat the snot out of the Powers-That-Be and still sell Stuff-No-One-Needs, and so earn millions of dollars. Thus John Stewart is the best we can do.