"Could he be coming out of the closet? ... A neoconservative is a liberal mugged by reality."
Bill Kristol comments to Howard Kurtz who's trying to figure out what it means that Jon Stewart is making fun of Barack Obama.
I'd say it mainly means that Barack Obama is President of the United States. "The Daily Show" isn't going to work unless it makes fun of the powerful.
February 1, 2010
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What a silly column.
And ideology aside, it was hard early on for comedians to get a fix on an eloquent new president with no outsize mannerisms.
Oh bullshit. Obama is nothing but a parody of a politician.
Stewart is making fun of Obama because he's gotten tired of sucking his dick like the rest of the media.
This is a sly way to approach a story revealing a new lack of solidarity among the partisan media jerks who for two years have attacked every move made by Bush and Palin and held their breath when mentioning the greatness of The One. It is the old accusation about church members who leave: "They went out from us because they were never one of us".
His ratings probably fell during the fellation. Biting gets better ratings from everyone except the formerly fellated bitten one.
(I can see all the men cringing.)
Sort of frightening when the Washington Post writes a piece looking at which way a fake newscaster is leaning.
Doubly frightening when Billy Kristol wants so much to claim the faker for his side.
Goes to show you how big the leadership hole in big media is. I think that if Walter Cronkite were still around, people would want to know what way he was leaning, and wouldn't be paying so much attention to a comedian.
oh c'mon, he's a COMEDIAN. When given a chance to make a joke he'll likely go for it. (And the podium bit was funny)
He want after the ACORN scandal also.
Stewart's clearly a liberal but he's not going to miss many opportunities to make a joke.
I haven't got a clue where Kristol came up with the "crypto-neocon" bit. Unless he was being ironic
Bill Kristol is a Prophet. In reverse.
If Obama wants to avoid Stewart's jokes, he could allow Biden more access to the media. Stewart would have a field day.
JRH...I agree about Walter Cronkite's sincerity and gravitas. Today's media have become the first line players in a game of Ridicule the Other Guys candidate so he loses all respect. For Stewart to go off the media reservation like this may mean that he wants to take a Jay Leno's job soon. The money is better and the writers are better on the Tonight Show. Who would be better able to grab the 24-35 demographic which hasn't been turned on by Leno or by his younger replacement planned for grabbing them.
If Jon Stewart is a neocon,Norman Podhoretz ain't a neocon
So the theme today is obviously white guys with puffy brown hair.
Jon Stewart has always been a crypto creep.
Kind of funny, listening to Long Haired Redneck while reading this.
Although, come to think of it, I'm pretty liberal and also a bit neo conny so perhaps Stewart is as well.
Hmmm.
If the Republicans would agree that the defense budget isn't sacrosanct (not like I get any different from the Dems); science is better than superstition; Constitutional law should bend a bit against the ancient timber of the actual Constitution; and not all social welfare programs are inherently bad, I'd vote Republican in a heartbeat.
Chris - what if we all agreed that all men are not made of straw?
Allens,
Biden is a joke. No comedians necessary to have a field day with him. He is a barrel of laughs all by himself. He is also an embarrassment.
He makes Sara Palin look acceptable.
The blog is freaking out again. You need to get rid of the "Don Surber" post because that is what is showing up on the right side of the blog. Just sayn'
I blame Bush.
Kurtz made sure he described the Fox Nation blog as conservative but he did not feel the need to call Avarosis & Americablog liberal.
Constitutional law should bend a bit against the ancient timber of the actual Constitution
I chose this one out your hilarious list, Chris, because it's such fundamental comedy gold.
If you want to change the Constitution, there are three ways to do it. Otherwise, the law is the law and it sucks to be you if not enough people in our democratic republic want to change it.
Move to Venezuela, dude. Lots of arbitrary change to be had there without the consent of the stupid, shallow hoi polloi.
Or is your post merely ironic?
Wait a minute. Crypto-neocon? That's what liberals call Jewish people.
Anyone...hello...Buellar....Buellar....Cedarford?
Sorry. Here's something to bring the liberals and conservative old white men who post here together in perfect harmony.
Susan Sarradon's breasts!
Can you give me an Amen, Garage?
John Stewart was funny in the late 90's and early 2000's because everyone was in on the joke- it was a fake newscast.
Then, at some point during the Bush admin, a number of stories started coming out that college students got their actual news from the Daily Show, and Stewart & Co. started to forget that they were just a comical parody. (He started to interview real guests, rather than just celebrities, for example). The jokes devolved into takeing clips of Bush, heavily edited, and finding some way to say "Bush is stupid/evil."
Now, they has new material, and, since they can't just say "Obama is stupid/evil," they're forced to re-assess their role as a comedy show, and do actual comedy.
"The blog is freaking out again. You need to get rid of the "Don Surber" post because that is what is showing up on the right side of the blog..."
Thanks.
I "fixed" it earlier by limiting what was displayed on the first page, but that was a big sacrifice and I was unhappy with it. And I was getting email that something was wrong with the blog because of *that.*
Thanks for letting me know it screwed up again because I am still trying to fix it.
Susan Sarandon was never hot.
@Seven Machos, I was being silly but not ironic. I'm no originalist. I have no problem with the way the SCOTUS has shepherded our nation through the last 200+ years. God made the sabbath for man and not man for the sabbath and all that jazz. You aren't suggesting that the USA is like Venezuela are you? We have a system and it seems to work. I mean who's to say Marbury v Madison wasn't judicial activism?
I blame Meade. I thought he was a handyman?
What's up with that?
I know the screw up occurs at Don Surber, whom I'm starting to irrationally hate....
But it could be the post above or below that is the real problem.
I did something to Don's post. Tell me if it's still screwing up.
I'd like to say ditto to Althouse on this.
I've been enjoying Stewart lately, at least, from time to time.
His take down of Olbermann was hysterical.
It's his job to be funny and his job to make fun of those in power.
Marbury v Madison wasn't judicial activism
The part of Marbury that gets cited all the time is dicta and it only picked up steam in the latter half of the 20th Century.
It's certainly not the role of the Supreme Court to say what the law is. But that's a-whole-nother argument for a-whole-nother time.
How do you know when Obama has realy sank?
When the MSM cardinal Howard Kurts is analyzing a comic that purports to be going after the Pope.. I mean the president.
"Susan Sarandon was never hot."
Well we have to agree to disagree. She is certainly not to the standard of beauty of a Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly or even a young Joey Heatherton but on my pocket bangability decoder ring she is off the charts in a slutty well ridden and put away wet sort of way. Somewhere between Sheree North and Carol Wayne. Just sayn.
Cryptoneoconism caused all sorts of problems in Milwaukee.
Why doesn't Bill Kristol like Old Milwaukee? He's probably a Yuengling Black and Tan kind of guy. Bilge.
Trooper, Sherree North's voice always bugged me, especially when she was Lou Grant's girlfriend. Why would Lou pick her over Mary?
Put-away-wet is perfect. Sarandon's primary problem is that she always looked over 40.
Don't get me wrong, Trooper. I'd hit it. But that's saying virtually nothing.
@Seven Machos, the law is what they say it is. You might be right about the ought but you ain't right about the is. This is why I prefer to give great credence to ancient texts but put my money on the guns.
Neocons are heretics.
If you are a Jew you better get back in line.
It's still bulging to the sides like Jennifer Tilly in an ill fitting bra.
I blame Meade. I thought he was a handyman?
He is a slow hand man.
HE IS A SLOW HAND MAN
I have no problem with the Supreme Court being an enforcer of the Constitution, provided that it actually does that. But that's not saying "what the law is." It's saying "when laws violate the Constitution."
The world has enough legislators.
Luckily the young are no more withit and hip percentagewise than their elders. Stewart may be a pied piper to those who are desperate to align themselves with every last correct position and therefore would never, like Stewart, vote for a dreaded Republican no matter how much they may mock Obama; but most of the young can see their future, ya know, little inconsequential things like a job, being closed off by the statist thug and will vote accordingly.
Give me young Julie Christie.
Wait - I just caught part of Glenn Beck's radio show and he was discussing how progressives are now starting to identify themselves with/as (Tea Party) populists. Now Jon Stewart is a closet conservative? Well, that was quick:
The NewAge Left's practice of re-branding has already begun.
Folks, I've said it before, and I'm gonna keep saying it until it sticks:
If we just beat the Democrats, you can be sure they'll be back to haunt us - wrapped possibly as something else - but eliminate NewAge and we're done with the lot of 'em.
And - if you can't stomach eliminating them - fine:
I'll gladly settle for facial scarring.
Not to interrupt the old gang spirit here, but don't you think that the best comedians are the ones who are unpredictable in their targets? The predictable (comedians, bloggers, you name it) are boring.
Stewart criticizes Obama for not being liberal enough. I suppose one could speculate if that's neo if not pseudo or crypto.
"Trooper, Sherree North's voice always bugged me, especially when she was Lou Grant's girlfriend. Why would Lou pick her over Mary?"
Madison Man, you have to realize that Lou Grant was presented as a man of the world. Sheree North is one of a long line of experianced women that only a accomplished and confident dude could handle. Someone like a Joan Blondell or a
Julie London or a Susan Sarradon. Sitting at the end of the bar, sucking on a cigarette and nursing a cocktail, she is not for your wimpy scaredy cats. She would eat him alive. Mary Tyler Moore and Marlo Thomas and all of them are for you sensitive types. Your Ted Bessells. You know what I mean?
@Seven Machos, no ideological differences between us can outweigh a young Julie Christie. Her and Monica Vitti and me.
The re-branding bit is so true. The whole point is to take from the producers. The left keeps making up new theories to do that after the old one prove horridly destructive.
Global warming is the latest way.
Recall that Marx wrapped his bullshit in what he called science.
Dear Crack,
The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend. With the lefties we get nutocracy and with the righties we get theocracy. Pick em.
Now we see the anti-science inherent in the system. The scientific method may not always be right but it is going to be less wrong. Marx being wrong doesn't make Darwin wrong.
with the righties we get theocracy
Please describe one instance.
How long will the spectre of religion scare the left without one single solitary piece of evidence that it's a problem in government?
What part of science do you accuse the right of disagreeing with?
Are you one of the ones worried about the horrors of creationism? Because that makes a huge difference in the daily life of anyone. Or something.
Meade Serenading
@7 (sorry about the shortform), I was being glib. I fear theocracy and having been born Mormon worry about such things. The Mormons had a pretty decent theocracy going for a while. In any case, my personal view is that there is crazy on both extremes and I prefer moderation.
I'd add that not believing in evolution scares the hell out of me but not as much as it scares the hell out of the PZ Myers of the world. That said, I don't see how one could teach biology without teaching evolution and at some point I have to compare crazy superstitions in our country with crazy superstitions around the world. It is true that we are not going to be killing witches (even though letting them live is a much a sin as homosexuality I would guess) but you never know when the worm will turn so it makes sense to stay as far away from the tipping point as you can. Give me reason and enlightenment values and I'm happy enough and to be fair it isn't clear which party is worse on those standards.
I can sing all them songs about Texas...…they’d never come to see me in this dive- where bikers stare at cowboys, who are laughing at the hippies, who are praying they’ll get out of her alive…
Sorry to say Mary is right at 7:28
The problem with the page is back.
You see Mary Tyler Moore has spunk.
Sheree North has spunk in her hair.
No offense, Ann, but to suggest that Stewart is any kind of con, neo or otherwise, is beyond naive. As Boss Hawg used to say, "You don't know grits from shoe pawlish!"
All the cool kids hate the man right?
This is not a left right convention but rather a generational one. Daily Show is there trying to
display irreverance toward the powers that be.
Some people are easier to make fun of than others.
Sheree was doing the Daisy Duke thing long before the Dukes of Hazard first fired up the General Lee!
The Surber thing is gone on my computer. I suspect it's the large collection of pics of Sarandon's rack that is still messing with Trooper's vision.
BTW Sarandon is a sexy sexy woman Trooper. The kind who has never bought a drink or a meal in her life and that is the way it should be.
"nina said...
Not to interrupt the old gang spirit here, but don't you think that the best comedians are the ones who are unpredictable in their targets?"
I think being unpredictable is good but The Daily Show had been predictable in fawning over Obama, which was also unfunny. I think unpredictability in the form of the choice of target isn't as important as the material itself, and The Daily Show, being about politics needs to go after the powerful politicians. The President *has* to be a target. Plus, there's a lot of great raw material there, and it's really tedious -- and maybe even racist! — to be kind to Obama.
I tried something else. I had to do with the post above the Surber thing. It had to do with an apostrophe.
I heard the burritos in California can fly like the birds…In Texas the talk turned to outlaws like Willie and Waylon, and me…
wv:hedistri=the history of head
Sarandon dropped that dork Tim Robbins for a ping pong player. She liked the sound of his balls on table.
@Althouse-
It had to do with an apostrophe.
Ha! A little apostrophe causing you so much blog-trouble... how... dare I say it???... ironic!!!
Mitch Hedberg was a classic unpredictable comedian. May he rest in peace.
Why is John Stewart taken remotely seriously at all?
The blog look fine now.
Why is John Stewart taken remotely seriously at all?
He does PSAs ;)
This posting completes today's theme: "irony!"
Gotta love a blog where a post about Jon Stewart can spur comments praising Joan Blondell and Mitch Hedberg.
Only in Althousia.
2/1/10 9:29 PM
Jeanine...Stewart is funny and he is a good performer. His act gets thru to many younger people that think like he thinks in a cynical supeficial opinion that most political images and memes we see are only an unreal mirage. That is why his thoughts are valuable to the political propaganda industry. There is an ability in his humor to get people to listen to otherwise heavy criticism said while joking. We welcome him on board the Ridicule Obama Express.
Jon Stewart has always reminded me of Dennis Miller on SNL's Weekend Update, minus the deft references and funny bits.
It has to be more than just speaking goof to power. He lost that for a few years, and it will take quite awhile for me to ever give a shit enough to tune in again.
And ideology aside, it was hard early on for comedians to get a fix on an eloquent new president with no outsize mannerisms.
I don't remember comedians having any difficulty poking fun at Ronald Reagan.
It is true that we are not going to be killing witches (even though letting them live is a much a sin as homosexuality I would guess
Er, no. *Practicing* witchcraft is as much a sin as homosexuality.
Letting homosexuals live is not only not sinful, but required. Jesus was quite clear that it was God's job to punish sinners -- not humans'.
Plus, Obama's pretty easy to draw; an editorial cartoonist's dream.
They hated Ford for his generic face.
No excuses, court jesters.
Get mocking!
The apostrophe problem was the quote within a quote in the Bernanke post (just above the Surber). It had an open single quotation mark but I left out the close quotation mark. That sent IE haywire.
"I left out the close quotation mark. That sent IE haywire."
Microsoft, the anal-retentive grammarian, pitches a hissy fit.
Sorry. Here's something to bring the liberals and conservative old white men who post here together in perfect harmony.
Susan Sarradon's breasts!
Those are scary. I have been more scared, but I sure wouldn't want to wake along side them.
One of the times that I was more scared was remeeting a woman maybe 3 years ago I had dated ten years before. Maybe it is the style now of showing off breasts, but I swear she had gone up maybe 8 breast sizes since I had dated her before. And, I don't think she was the worst I have met up with.
Jon Stewart has always reminded me of Dennis Miller on SNL's Weekend Update, minus the deft references and funny bits.
I think it must be my age, but those two could not be more different. What I love about Miller these days is that he comes across as really a kind person. You don't see that much in a comic. Stewart on the other hand is most often the furthest thing from kind.
But it really is a bad thing for President Obama and the Democrats that Stewart has started to use them in his humor. I think that a lot of the younger crowd took their lead from him, deciding that Democrats, and esp. Obama, were cool, and Republicans were horrible. And that was a decent part of their victory 15 months ago.
But realistically, the Democrats in Congress tend to be noticeably older, and arguably more corrupt (esp. since length of term in Congress often translates into corruption of one type or another).
"Fish Oil May Prevent Psychosis"
Then I say--force feed cod liver oil to all our representatives and the media.
"I think it must be my age, but those two could not be more different."
Me too. My post was a joke, meant to say Stewart is copying the old SNL Weekend Update but it's not as funny in the most convoluted way possible.
Stewart a crypto-neocon? LMAO! Well as true to form, the lefty cannibals eat another of their own.
Probably a matter of time until Jon starts gettng airbrushed out of photos.
BS - even when Stewart makes fun of Pres. Obama he is actually gushing over him.
"You thought you could win us over with rational policy decisions and an even temperament?"
Even when he calls Obama out for lying to get elected (transparency and healthcare bill) he isn't viscous like he was for attacking Bush even when Bush doing what he pledged to do.
"You know, he hasn't fulfilled not one of those [promises] that we showed. What sorts of things should he be saying?"
So that's the Jon Steward slap to a Democrat. He says ironically that they are so smart and even tempered and then has a segment asking for silly advice about what the President should do.
Republicans are evil, stupid morons while Dems are just in need of advice.
Some people are just so annoyed to see anything not completely glowing about the Pres, and others are just so happy to see anything that feels negative.
But Stewart will always be a (mildly humorous) tool of the Dems unless he can actually sharpen his attack.
traditionalguy said,
"..the writers are better on the Tonight Show."
No.
Not in a million fever dreams.
"(Sarandon) is certainly not to the standard of beauty of a Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly or even a young Joey Heatherton".
Wha---?!
Ayiyiyi!!!
"Gotta love a blog where a post about Jon Stewart can spur comments praising Joan Blondell....
Joan Blondell, now there was a sexy woman!
Hey, Cookie, check out this photo of Joan Blondell stroking her pussy!
(believe it or not, safe for work)
Plus a bonus photo with Joan in her nightie and a mystery woman who no one can seem to identify.
TY
Barbara Stanwyck Night Nurse 1931?
TY
I should’ve said "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" about that Stanwyck movie since Clark Gable had a small part in it as an ambulance driver. (Ya gotta start somewhere.).
Or I shoudda changed my nom de bloge to "Former Movie Student" since I had an invalided aunt who watched the Early Show, The Late Show, The Late Late Show, & Million Dollar Movie "Day In, Day Out" (an old Rube Bloom/Jonnie Mercer song) & we had an informal club in college of old movie buffs, a/k/a, weirdoes.
TY
Here’s a trivia question I asked people over the years & never got an answer to:
In what movie does Doris Day marry Errol Flynn?
I hate to spoil your fun like mine was when one of my daughters told me d that you can Google that phrase & come up with the answer.
The same with Google-ing the phrase “In what movie Does Joan Blondell see a skeleton in a bed”, though I really knew the answer, having seen the movie, without Google-ing that phrase, since I am a Former Movie Student!
TY
You never answered my cheesecake challenge about S&S
Former Cheesecake Student
(My cholesterol is too high to enjoy it now except on special occasions!)
FY you are indeed correct that is Barbara Stanwyck.
I thought everyone would get it because I gave a great clue by saying it was an actress that gave Lee Majors a rim job while filming the Big Valley.
You think they would pay attention.
I haven't had a chance to try that cheesecake but I promise that I will soon.
Court Pastry Cheesecake is made with the fluffiest, lightest ricotta cheese and is by far the best I have ever tasted. It shows up Juniors as the inferior product it really is.
Juniors cheesecake is the JD Salinger of cheesecakes.
TY
You really know how to hurt a cheesecake!
Junior's was big stuff in the 1960's & meant something to every NYer then & sometime later but if you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is what I was doing when I first ate it in my phony adulthood & in the colloquiums of the day, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. . . . I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography as it relates to Junior's.
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