He's Not The Messiah. He's A Very Naughty Boy
The blogosphere has been abuzz over the last several days about The Daily Show's Jon Stewart appearing on CNN's Crossfire "program".

As part of my ongoing effort to keep my readers abreast of 3-4 day old news (there's a Janet Jackson joke in there somewhere, I know it), I have decided to write about it. Other blogs have posted links transcripts of the exchange between Jon and Tucker Carlson, the only grown man outside the Nation of Islam to wear a bowtie in the last 75 years. To make up for my tardiness, I have chosen to reproduce the transcript here for your perusal.

...

JON STEWART: Oh look, this isn't an argument.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes it is.

JS: No it isn't. It's just contradiction.

TC: No it isn't.

JS: It is!

TC: It is not.

JS: Look, you just contradicted me.

TC: I did not.

JS: Oh you did!!

TC: No, no, no.

JS: You did just then.

TC: Nonsense!

JS: Oh, this is futile!

TC: No it isn't.

JS: I came here for a good argument.

TC: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.

JS: An argument isn't just contradiction.

TC: It can be.

JS: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.

TC: No it isn't.

JS: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.

TC: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.

JS: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'

TC: Yes it is!

JS: No it isn't! Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.

(short pause)

TC: No it isn't.

JS: It is.

TC: Not at all.

JS: Now look.

TC: (Rings bell) Good Morning.

JS: What?

TC: That's it. Good morning.

JS: I was just getting interested.

TC: Sorry, the five minutes is up.

...

OK, so that wasn't really the transcript. In fact, that's a 30-year old satire piece that is probably copyrighted material reprinted and altered without permission. If this blog suddenly disappears, you'll know why.

In case you're one of the four people who don't know, Jon called Tucker "a dick" after Tucker said Jon was John Kerry's "butt boy". I always thought a "butt boy" was the guy aging actors bring in when they have to do a shower scene to stand in for their own sagging posteriors, so I'm not sure how Tucker's epithet was meant to insult. As far as I can tell, he was saying Jon had a really nice ass... or at least an appreciably nicer ass than John Kerry which, if I am allowed to say, is no small compliment.

But really, it's scary how close the Python sketch comes to the point Jon was trying to make to the Crossfire people, not only Republican Jackass Carlson, but also Democrat Jackass Paul Begala concerning the ironic pointlessness of a debate show that eschews actual debate in favor of "the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes."

Of course neither of them got it and Crossfire rolls on. And if either of them had "gotten it", I'm confident they would have immediately been fired and replaced with someone who doesn't.

In all honesty though, I am somewhat disappointed in Jon Stewart. On the one hand he did get to do what many, many people have wanted to do, which is to go on one of those shows and ask--just ask--What the hell are you people doing?

But on the other hand, Jon went on a show with a guy whose job it is to bait people and Jon got baited.

Yes, Tucker Carlson is a dick, but now his dick-ness has become the point rather than the utter uselessness of crosstalk television, which (I think) was the point Jon was trying to make.

So... there it is. I watch The Daily Show on a one-day delay (the next day at 4 pm on my otherwise useless Dish Network), so I haven't seen his response yet although my close personal friend MPH assures me that he had one.

There MPH, are you happy? You got a mention and a link. I'll get you again on Thursday.


This post on the Narcissus Scale: 5.0


Pops

- posted by Pops @ 1:33 PM