And of course, when Stewart DOES address substantive issues - vis a vis, his appearance on Crossfire - people tear the shit out of him. He can't win, so he might as well continue doing what he (and we) love.

That guy is a wussy with a capital P. Stewart is a one-note hack with an ever-increasing lib agenda. When will you people realize that the main issue is crazy muslims and the best way to kill them - who does it best...Republicans of course. Where have you gone Scoop Jackson?

I recall when Phil Collins was pilloried in England for making all those "fun" songs when there was still all this suffering in the world.
Nothing more insufferable than those people who glory in their compassion for all the woes in the world and feel they have to drag you into it too.
Hey, I've got an idea - let's have no fun at all until every problem of the human condition has been completely solved!!

Scoop Jackson killed crazy Muslims?

" Jackson's support of a strong defense did not necessarily translate into an appetite for marching into war -- especially in the Middle East. In 1982, Jackson slammed President Reagan's decision to send peacekeepers into Lebanon, and for reasons that might resonate today. Citing the volatile mix of Christians, Shiites, Sunnis and Druze, he insisted that Lebanon was no place for American troops in a police role.

"The danger of Americans being killed, the danger of divisiveness that would accrue from those developments ... are all too real," Jackson said on "Face the Nation." "A superpower should not play that kind of role in a cauldron of trouble, because sooner or later we are going to get hurt." "

Who says you have to agree with someone before you can think he's funny? Lewis Black is a socialist, but I think he's hilarious. This is a classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WbYYlUuG0

"I actually feel sorry for her. Once your career is based on denigrating 9/11 widows, what's your second act? Unless you dig up Mother Teresa and stick a dildo in her eye, nothing could be more offensive."

a better joke would have been:

I actually feel sorry for her. Once your career is based on denigrating 9/11 widows, what's your second act? Unless you dig up Mother Teresa and stick a dildo in her eye, but unfortunately Chris Hitchens already did that.

Who is this Jon Stewart person? Is he on TV? Based on what you've quoted that you say he said, I'd say he's an insufferable bore. His attempts - feeble as they were - at humor are akin to a teenager streaking the halls of his high school. All shock value and not very funny. He could learn a lot from Richard Pryor or Mel Brooks - really funny people. He reinforces my self-imposed ban on watching the boob tube.

I think Stewart is hilarious (and so do millions of other Americans). But, that said, alot of his humor comes from his delivery. Reading his remarks is never as entertaining as watching him deliver them.

Sooner or later, President Bush and the GOP will be out of power. I wonder if Jon Stewart has a fallback career option.

Tushar D: I was also at the interview, and your excellent question was posed to Stewart by Remnick. Stewart said something like, "I have every confidence that the Democrats if they take power will provide us with ample material."

What Mr. Stewart does is in American tradition of Petroleum Nasby, Thomas Nast, Mark Twain, Peter Finley Dunne, Kin Hubbard, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Art Buchwald and Gary Trudeau among many others. Without jesters, politics and the follies of our elected leaders would scare the hell out of us.

"He reinforces my self-imposed ban on watching the boob tube."

Oooohh!! Michael, you are such a great guy! I wish I was like you!

I'm a conservative (but of a more libertarian rather than social conservative stripe). I have to say that, although I'm 180 degrees away from him politically, I find Stewart to be very funny. Last night he was on fire.

I'm also a conservative and have no problem with Stewart himself. My problem is with people who cheerfully say they get all the news they need from his show. Ironically, many of these people apparently consider themselves intellectuals.

I applaud Stwart's ability to remember who he is, despite the fawning of a lazy and deluded fan base. Unlike Keith Olbermann (whose Bush Derangement Syndrome has, as it so often does with those who contract it, driven him to become the very thing he claims to despise: power-mad, insular and credulous of his own side's most incredible arguments) Stewart has remained humble. In the best tradition of satirists, he gores everybody's ox pretty equally. When the current administration departs, he'll be just as deft at making fun of the next one, no matter what its ideology. But the question will be: Will the ideologues of the left, who have embraced him as a truth-teller and actually consider his show more substantive than actual news shows, finally realize he is just a satirist and nothing more, or will they brand him a traitor?

What could be more offensive than insulting a group of anti-Bush widows who were organized for political purposes?
How about jokes about buggering your own pages?

[We are a comedy show,] and that to me is enough

Look, the guy, his staff and his show are funny.

What he and his show are not is balanced or fair. They essentially don't skewer the other side (if they do, the percentage is ridiculous).

Finally, a person can stand on the sidelines, generate bile(sa)tire, and that's fine, as long as he doesn't expect anyone to take him seriously. To earn that, you have to provide real alternative solutions, and Stewart never does that.

What I like about Stewart is that he has a certain appropriate level of contempt for his audience. He's said more than once that he hates it when people cheer instead of laugh at one of his lines. When a studio audience starts excessively hootin' and hollerin' like a bunch of slack-jawed yokels at some pointed but not exactly hilarious politcal comment he's made, you'll see him not only express faux-faux anger and tell them to stop, but the shadow of an expression passes over his face that I always read as: You fucking morons have no appreciation for my real art.

But I do, Jon. Keep it up.

C'mon, Bill. Do you really know anyone who claims to get all their news from the Daily Show? I watch it a couple times a week, and it seems to me that you need to have at least some knowledge of the issues being addressed to find the show funny.

Paul: The reason he doesn't "skewer the other side" except at a ridiculous percentage is because there's a ridiculous percentage of "that side" currently in power. There's a lot to make fun of!

On the other hand, he also mocks "the other side" for not having any power and not even making a concerted attempt to get it.

Jon jokes about everyone. Despite personal beliefs, the only imbalance present in his show is the one present in international politics. If Democrats rule the country in 2008, you can be sure he'll be there to point out every time they do something stupid.

Actually, The Daily Show (which I watch religiously) might be even BETTER in a Democratic administration. It would be a purer form of "humor," rather than humor diluted by despair and/or bitterness.

"But the question will be: Will the ideologues of the left, who have embraced him as a truth-teller and actually consider his show more substantive than actual news shows, finally realize he is just a satirist and nothing more, or will they brand him a traitor?"

Speaking as a former liberal, who was excommunicated and threatened with death if I ever returned to the DC metro area just for saying Bush was right to invade Afghanistan to take down the Taliban, I'll put my money on the "traitor" option.

Someone should do a Colbert Show for the left. Bleeding-heart liberals are just as easy to satirize as conservative wing-nuts.

Ah yes, Jon Stewart: the lone brave soul who speaks to truth to power.

So the betting money is that Jon Stewart will seamlessly shift to skewering the Dems when they eventually gain control of the WH, the Congress, or both? We shall see, shall we not? My money says that JS is lefty liberal to his core and the only shift will be that he begins to skewer those who are out of power. His target will still be the GOP because that is what he does. Of course, I could be wrong.

By the way, there is a show that skewers, inter alia, lefty liberals: it is called "South Park." There is also a formerly liberal comedian who now skewers liberals: Dennis Miller. But we don't see much of old Dennis on HBO these days, do we? One wonders why.

We don't see much of Miller on HBO because he is not funny.

I hear this a lot: after Bush and Cheney leave office, Stewart won't have any more material.

Well, Clinton was in office when Stewart joined the Daily Show, and there was plenty of material there. And whatever bozo/bozo-ess takes office in '09, I'm sure they'll be just as ripe for the mocking.

All of you who are so sure that Stewart's just pushing some liberal, Bush-hating agenda obviously don't really watch the show. Or, you're so busy french-kissing GOP ass that every joke mocking Bush's very limited intellect and even more limited ethics (to put it lightly) has you gargling in righteous rage, and you then miss the fact that a fair amount of jokes are at Democrats' expense as well. It's a political satire; it mocks all politicians.

Even more to the point, GOP lovers (i.e., neanderthals who are destroying America), you're all thrilled that the Repubs have control of all 3 government branches (all 4, if you consider the legislative as both the Senate and House). It's so great, right? America's just the way you wanted it to be. Good job. Ok then, accept the fact that the party in power will be mocked, and stop whining like a bunch of babies. Jon Stewart's funny as hell, with or without your sadass daddy figures spoonfeeding him material.

"he gores everybody's ox pretty equally"

Rigghhttt. He used to - no question about it. But since the 2000 election there has clearly been a home team and a visitor, though to be fair I stopped watching on a regular basis shortly thereafter. I know exactly when I bailed: after the Clinton Presidency special from Winter 2001. I knew Stewart had a soft spot for Clinton - he is and was an extraordinary politician so I take no issue with that - but the only goring was to the Republican ox. Clinton's ox was seen lying on a silk sheeted bed, feather boa wrapped around the neck, smoking a cigarette. Naked.

Based on this account, Stewart is not a fan of Hillary Clinton. If HRC wins in 2008, I think we can expect a lot of quality mockery of her.

South Park's classic target actually was Christian conservatives, which were more the type that lived in South Park. When they go after liberals, it generally involves an external force invading (ManBearPig, Rob Reiner) or South Parkers leaving town (cloud of smug over San Francisco). I think it has something to do with the maxim "Write what you know" -- when the creators were closer to their origins, they thought most about the follies of their old neighbors, who were small town, redneck Christian conservatives. Now that they're big names in entertainment, they think about the follies of their new neighbors, who are Hollywood liberals obsessed with their own celebrity and righteousness. I've never heard of South Park's skewering liberalism on economic issues -- though Rush Limbaugh seems to find fertile ground in making fun of welfare mothers, labor issues, taxes, etc. -- perhaps because those aren't often championed as social liberals' causes, despite being the backbone of the Democratic party.

As luck would have it, Dennis Miller was just on Stewart's show last week (from memory). Most righties act nervous and defensive on the show - into the lion's den, think Clinton on FN - and they come off looking stupid. But Miller slayed both Stewart and the audience. Amazingly he slipped in (paraphrase) 'mistakes have been made but Bush is my guy and I'm sticking with him' and it was met without the booing that this statement would normally have been greeted with.

Are you guys seriously claiming that Stewart never mocked John Kerry?

You don't really... watch his show, do you?

Everybody mocked John Kerry. It would be malpractice for a comedian not to get digs in at him.

But even the best politicians can be mocked for some flaw or another. E.g., Bill Clinton. Stewart will be funny no matter who's in power.

Admittedly, it was a different sort of mockery, like bashing your own team's quarterback. It was always clear that he wanted Kerry to win, but he also made it clear that he thought it was a hopeless cause, that the Democrats had a clunker steered by a dunce and they were up against the meanest political machine since Boss Tweed.

Underdog humor. The kind of stuff PJ O'Rourke used to do, back when he was funny.

Stewart had better sign a BIG $$$, long term contract RIGHT NOW! January 20th, 2009 is his expiration date, I mean, with Hillary in the White House, he won't have anything to say!

"I've never heard of South Park's skewering liberalism on economic issues"

"Here Comes the Neighborhood". "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls". "Gnomes". "Butt Out". "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes". "Smug Alert!".

You actually have to watch the show.

Conservatives, please stop trying to smear the Daily Show as some Bush bashing liberal cesspool. It is just good comedy, and if it takes lots of shots at Republicans, well come on, they're kind of asking for it. I mean, Frist, DeLay, Stevens, Cheney ... these are opportunists who try to make headlines to win votes (Schiavo, gay marriage, etc.) It's good to have a counter to that, someone in the media who will actually call them out on their blatant posturing.

And even if it IS a liberal show ... so what??? Conservatives have tons ... O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Blitzer, Robertson, Hannity -- hell, ALL of Fox News ... so there's ONE show with a liberal perspective. Oh, heaven forbid. Geez, get over it and play fair for once.

"so there's ONE show with a liberal perspective..."

lol...only one eh?

the ABC, NBC and CBS evening news broadcasts....everything at MSNBC save Scarborough and T. Carlson....CNN, almost all of it (and if you think Wolf Blitzer is conservative then you need someone to explain to you what a conservative is)...PBS, almost every show tilts left.

Almost all the people in the American media are biased to the left as Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings have admitted. Oddly, they only seem to find the guts to admit after they retire, ala Cronkite.

Pop quiz for Scott. Katie Couric let Rush Limbaugh and Rudy Giuliani come recite GOP talking points on her oh-so-liberal CBS Evening News. How many liberals did she bring in to rebut them? Ten? Twenty?

Zero.

This concludes tonight's lesson in actually being able to back up your arguments.

I admit I don't watch South Park religiously, but I can say that some of the episodes you mentioned are not skewering liberalism on its economic policies. "Here Comes the Neighborhood" has nothing to do with political parties, but rather is about race and class -- the running joke of the whole episode is that the black people are rich, the white people are poor and want the black people to leave because of their money, not their race.

"Smug Alert" is about self-righteous environmentalism. No mention of economics -- indeed, it's assumed to be economically possible for everyone to drive a hybrid (even though they cost more).

"Butt Out," again is not about economics -- indeed, instead of wanting to make cigarettes highly taxed and expensive, the liberals just want to ban them.

"Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" -- like "Here Comes the Neighborhood," about outsiders' invading with a different (more monied) culture. Still didn't catch anything about actual liberal economic positions, unless you're arguing that Redford's alleged desire to turn all of the Rockies into tourist traps is a liberal economic position. (Sounds more like a conservative one to me -- aren't liberals supposed to be destroying small businesses and jobs in rural areas with their environmental regulations?)

Judging by the Wikipedia entry, "Gnomes" is talking about precisely that tendency in liberal economic policy, to want to preserve what exists even if better jobs/ products could be had. Of all the episodes you suggested, it comes closest to satirizing liberal economic policy, though it has nothing about Harbucks's treatment of workers (which is the most significant economic issue for the large corporation vs. small business debate -- if WalMart were unionized, it no longer would be treated as Public Enemy #1).
"Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" -- obviously, same theme, except the satire actually seems to be of the American desire for cheap crap, as the spirit of Wall-Mart tells the boys before immolating.

Oh, I know exactly what a conservative is: one who rejects progress in favor of comfortably clinging to some fictional, mythological status quo. One who rejects science for the nonsensical fear that it will damage the country's "religious values" (and then proceeds to take full use of medical science, modern engineering and electronics, etc.) One who is so cluelessly egotistical, he/she believes that his/her specific opinion constitutes a moral correctness that must be shoved down the throats of the rest of the country -- whether they like it or not. One who is completely ignorant about this country's founding principles and the secular, mixed government theory behind it.

There's also fiscal conservatism, in which government spending is strictly controlled and regulated, but that doesn't really apply to U.S. politics today, since we haven't had any true fiscal conservatives in office since Pres. Clinton. When it comes to spending, Bush and his legislative enablers are about as "liberal" as it gets ... they just choose to spend our money on "faith-based" initiatives rather than welfare-type programs. And war. The result: massive, massive deficits.

And give me a break with the "liberal media" boogeyman BS. Be an adult and face reality as it is, instead of blaming everything on some sinister, shadowy, church-hating press corps. The likes of Limbaugh, Coulter and OReilly have created these talking points hoping that they'll be parroted by people who are either too lazy or (ahem) unintelligent to gather their own facts. So get your own opinion. (If it's possible for a "conservative" to do so.)

Wolf Blitzer may not be a conservative. But he sure kisses lots of Republican ass.

Michael, I don't watch tv either. Don't own one. But that's a choice, not a flippin' virtue.

Another non-TV-owner here who wholeheartedly agrees with the above. Memo to Mr. Special: anytime you don't know what people are discussing in an online forum, it's always a good idea to use a search engine before you offer up your uninformed two cents and embarrass yourself.

One would think anyone as fond of taking pictures of cats as you appear to be would know better than to bandy about the concept of "INSUFFERABLY BORING".