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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Incredible Effect Jon Stewart Had on Society
http://www.alternet.org/culture/incredible-effect-jon-stewart-had-societyThe Incredible Effect Jon Stewart Had on Society
There's something very interesting about the Daily Show's final episodes.
By Marty Kaplan / AlterNet
June 22, 2015
What will we do without Jon Stewart?
I hear that a lot. Of course I hope his writers will be able to make more magic with his successor, Trevor Noah. And no matter what happens on "The Daily Show," we will still have John Oliver and Larry Wilmore, and I'm praying that Stephen Colbert will find room for political satire on The Late Show. We can keep counting on the openers on Saturday Night Live, the closers on Bill Maher and the vicious brilliance of South Park. But the question remains: How will we survive the mendacity and imbecility of American politics and the media that cover it without Jon Stewart?
snip//
Last week, on the day that nine African-Americans were slaughtered in their Charleston church by a white supremacist, a somber Stewart quieted his audience at the shows start. I have a pretty simple job, he said.
I come in in the morning, and we look at the news, and I write jokes about it . But I didnt do my job today, so I apologize. I got nuthin for you . And maybe if I wasnt nearing the end of the run, or this werent such a common occurrence, maybe I could get pulled out of the spiral, but I didnt. And so I honestly have nothing other than just sadness once again that we have to peer into the abyss of the depraved violence that we do to each other, and the gaping racial wound that will not heal yet we pretend doesnt exist. Im confident that by acknowledging that, by staring into it, we still wont do jacksh--. Yeah, thats us . You know this is going to go down the same path.
Its kin to a sentiment that President Obama another short-timer contemplating the end of his run was criticized for voicing. I find no more reason to be optimistic about gun control or racism than they do. No evidence, arguments or historical facts, and no comedy, will defeat the gun lobby and its enablers; learning curves are for pussies.
But there are other ways to confront evil: Stewart spent the rest of the show interviewing Malala Yousafzi, the 17-year-old Pakistani shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting education for girls. She survived, won the Nobel Peace Prize and launched the Malala Fund. The power of ridicule, Stewart rightly says, has dispiriting limits. But Stewart also possesses the power of attention. In the clamorous info-marketplace, nothing is more scarce, or more valuable, than attention. By giving her his platform, Stewart cleared a quiet place for us to hear her story and learn hope from her.
I know Jon Stewart has always been adamant that hes a fake journalist, not a real one, so Im sure hell like even less what these final shows leave me wanting to call him.
Teacher.
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The Incredible Effect Jon Stewart Had on Society (Original Post)
babylonsister
Jun 2015
OP
Evergreen Emerald
(13,070 posts)1. "had?"
The past tense makes me sad.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)2. Wonderful piece! Thank you so much for posting it!
More from the article:
But twice during the last couple of weeks, Stewart has gone serious on us, and delved into what The Daily Show or any political satire is good for.
Now that hes in the final run of shows, he said on June 11, hes been thinking about things hes done right and done wrong. Among the latter: his interview with Donald Rumsfeld. Stewart had thought he could dissolve an architect of the Iraq War into a puddle of atonement by confronting him with the most Socratic line of questioning. As it turned out, Rummy easily evaded him, leaving Stewart thinking hed never get his chance again. But when Rumsfeld told the Times of London earlier this month that the idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic, Stewart pounced on his retroactive skepticism: Time for Stewart v Rumsfeld, Round 2: The Grudge Match.
The pounding Stewart gave him was a classic Daily Show deconstruction. Rumsfeld ran to Fox to deny the Times of London quote; he claimed that what hed actually said was, I didnt want the Iraqis to believe, inaccurately, that the U.S. intends to impose its form of democracy on their country. And where might Iraqis have inaccurately gotten that impression? Cue Rumsfeld clips touting American-style democracy for Iraq on April 10, 2003, November 23, 2004, December 8, 2004, February 6, 2005 and March 20, 2005. Knockout. I never thought I would say this, Stewart crowed, but we got you, Donald Rumsfeld, we got you.
But as We Got Him! and fireworks flashed on the screen, Stewart found himself unable to gloat, calling it a strangely hollow win. You know, he said, I placed a lot of stock in the idea that catching Rumsfeld or Bush, Cheney or Rice, or Douglas Feith or Judith Miller, or Richard Perle or Paul Bremer or any of the other architects or enablers of the Iraq War in some sort of logical trap, or forcing them to admit the errors of their ways, would be an ultimate victory. But now I wonder . If you can get one of these guys to admit their mistakes, you may have a moment of satisfaction and catharsis. But it doesnt mitigate the horrible consequences of the decision, and doesnt seem to stop the next guy from repeating the mistake.
Now that hes in the final run of shows, he said on June 11, hes been thinking about things hes done right and done wrong. Among the latter: his interview with Donald Rumsfeld. Stewart had thought he could dissolve an architect of the Iraq War into a puddle of atonement by confronting him with the most Socratic line of questioning. As it turned out, Rummy easily evaded him, leaving Stewart thinking hed never get his chance again. But when Rumsfeld told the Times of London earlier this month that the idea that we could fashion a democracy in Iraq seemed to me unrealistic, Stewart pounced on his retroactive skepticism: Time for Stewart v Rumsfeld, Round 2: The Grudge Match.
The pounding Stewart gave him was a classic Daily Show deconstruction. Rumsfeld ran to Fox to deny the Times of London quote; he claimed that what hed actually said was, I didnt want the Iraqis to believe, inaccurately, that the U.S. intends to impose its form of democracy on their country. And where might Iraqis have inaccurately gotten that impression? Cue Rumsfeld clips touting American-style democracy for Iraq on April 10, 2003, November 23, 2004, December 8, 2004, February 6, 2005 and March 20, 2005. Knockout. I never thought I would say this, Stewart crowed, but we got you, Donald Rumsfeld, we got you.
But as We Got Him! and fireworks flashed on the screen, Stewart found himself unable to gloat, calling it a strangely hollow win. You know, he said, I placed a lot of stock in the idea that catching Rumsfeld or Bush, Cheney or Rice, or Douglas Feith or Judith Miller, or Richard Perle or Paul Bremer or any of the other architects or enablers of the Iraq War in some sort of logical trap, or forcing them to admit the errors of their ways, would be an ultimate victory. But now I wonder . If you can get one of these guys to admit their mistakes, you may have a moment of satisfaction and catharsis. But it doesnt mitigate the horrible consequences of the decision, and doesnt seem to stop the next guy from repeating the mistake.
Baitball Blogger
(46,758 posts)3. Jon Stewart kept me sane during the troubled Bush years.
When nothing made sense, Stewart grounded everything with his electrifying sarcastic wit. And for that I will be eternally grateful.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)4. "we look at the news, and I write news about it..."
That's all the credit he gives the whole team of writers who made him who he is?
Meh.