Thursday, March 19, 2009

Tucker Carlson Takes a Shot at Jon Stewart

I like Tucker Carlson, he's witty and funny. I was disappointed back in 2004 when Jon Stewart went berserk on CNN Crossfire, and ambushed Tucker and Paul Begala. I thought it was funny, in a shocking way, but way over the top. Anyway, Tucker hasn't forgotten, and in light of the the Jim Cramer smackdown, he points out some annoying things about Stewart:

Four years later, Stewart had become, if anything, even softer. Over the course of a reverential eight-and-a-half minute interview with Barack Obama six days before the election, Stewart failed to ask a single substantive question, much less venture into policy (though, as with Kerry, he did open with, “How are you holding up?”). Instead, like the cable-news morons that he often criticizes, Stewart stuck strictly to the horserace, at one point even resorting to a sports metaphor.

And he sucked up, hard. “So much of this has been about fear of you,” Stewart empathized. “Has any of this fear stuff stuck with the electorate?”

Facing puffballs like this, Obama coasted through with snippets from his stump speech. The result wasn’t simply uninformative, it was boring. Obama didn’t say a single interesting thing, and Stewart wasn’t funny.

If you didn’t actually see the show, you wouldn’t know any of this, since there is a virtual ban on critical stories about Jon Stewart in the press. Nobody in memory has received a longer free ride....

(...)

His studio audience loved it, though that isn’t saying much. Stewart’s audience would erupt if he read the phone book, or did his monologue in German, a response that over time is a threat to any man’s soul. During many segments, Stewart’s audience doesn’t laugh so much as cheer, a distinction that would bother most comedians. Stewart keeps them around anyway. Uncritical praise corrupts absolutely.

As Stewart becomes more self-righteous, he inevitably becomes less funny. Sanctimony is the death of humor, and also of innovation. Where a show like South Park challenges its audience’s every conceivable assumption, The Daily Show has become safer than Jay Leno, pandering night after night to the converted. Can you remember the last time Stewart said anything his viewers might disagree with?

4 comments:

  1. I think Fucker Carlson might be a little jealous on this one. Stewart asked some real questions on the Cramer interview. All TV media people should be asking questions with real substance.
    Carlson always throws insults at Canadians, because he knows he does not have to answer to Canadians. It makes him look like a ruff hard hitting journalist. He just likes to bash something that won`t bite back.
    Also, can someone please tell Carlson the 1970s are over. It is time to get a haircut.

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  3. I'm not too concerned about his hair. But the excerpts I put in, I fully agree with. Stewart kisses Obama's ass and his audience kisses his.

    Tucker fills in as a guest host for the Dennis Miller Show and I think he's really good.

    I don't agree with Tucker's assessment of the Cramer interview, but I do believe Stewart is immune to real criticism.

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  4. Stewart is in comedy, so he is really not accountable to any reporting standards. It just seems to be a given that Hollywood and media types are for Obama. Lets not forget the right wingers kissing Bush`s ass, despite his massive increase in government spending.

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