For the first time in four years of watching him, I thought that Jon Stewart said something genuinely ridiculous when he said that television on the left and the right are both nuts; that Keith Olbermann is the equivalent of Sean Hannity on the other side of the issues. Finally, Bill Maher has responded. Here is the video, which appeared in The Nation and was sent to me by RSN.
As we’ve previously reported, Keith makes his return to MSNBC’s Countdown tonight at 8 EDT, after a two day suspension for breaking an election campaign donation rule he said he had never heard of. That story is a few posts down.
Its a matter of taste really. Personally, I dont find John Stewart as funny as he is loud and obnoxious, so I dont watch him much. Maher, Olbermann and Rachel make me smile and laugh inside while they tell me the truth and spark me up.
Agree with your comments Eric. Stewart is a journalist using comedy as a literary style.
Yes you would wrap your brain in it before you mindfuck…
The problem with Fixed News is that it is pure toxicity. There is no remedy for that except Level A protection.
eric:
If you’re talking about a full-sized mind condom, should we invent and take out a patent? This could mean millions for PW.
No he’s not a comedian. He’s a fully informed journalist using comedy as a literary style, just like I am a journalist using astrology as a literary style.
There is no factual validity to what he said. Keith and Rachel are doing honest viewpoint journalism; but to be fair, ALL journalism is viewpoint journalism. Objectivity is a myth blown long ago. You find that out once you start fact checking ANY story from WSJ or NYT you see that there is a viewpoint. Sometimes it’s utterly outrageous, such as “dioxin is good for you.”
The problem with Fixed News is that it is pure toxicity. There is no remedy for that except Level A protection.
But I have have question, which is: why are there no comedians on the right? Because that whole “movement” such as it is lacks any sense of humor, irony or the ability laugh at itself…
I think Stewart was really quite wrong in claiming equivalence between the right and the left. I was there the day of the rally, and I had exactly the same reaction as our progressive media leaders. I said so to a bunch of people at an after-party I attended and most people agreed with my criticism.
Stewart’s being disingenuous here. He was legitimately wrong, got called out, and now he’s blowing the whole thing off as if it’s all some kind of laughable misunderstanding. I realize he’s a comedian. But I expect more of him than this. It’s not a crime to be wrong or to admit a mistake.
I hope he can put this whole dust-up to rest when he goes on Maddow later this week.
We have to sort this out. One of the problems with our time in history is the virtuality of it all; there is a kind of postmodern insanity that ‘truth does not exist’ and this is a big integrity problem. So I think this is a healthy discussion. It hasn’t been funny for a while, either. But we have to learn to laugh at it, so we’re not paralyzed by fear.
Part of the fear is ‘I don’t know enough to take a stand’. This is all pure instigated confusion, though it connects with a commitment struggle. Action is the fruit of knowledge, so if you admit knowledge…
One could say that it is getting to the point where it just isnt funny anymore. And, like Eric pointed out last week, politics isnt just a spectator sport.
Thank you, Eric. This is an event worth noting. There is a question of where one chooses allocate energy. There is also a question of where provocative leaves off and triggered begins. Mr. Maher does combine sound reasoning and passion with admirable balance and courage, one can say that. But just how fastidious is it necessary to be?
Ok the batshit comment (as were so many in this) was priceless!