There are some topics that are tremendously difficult to make funny. Case in point: Barack Obama’s relationship with Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers. On Tuesday night, Jon Stewart utterly failed to make the Ayers story funny. He tried to center himself a little by calling Ayers a "s—thead" (bleeped), but he mostly made fun of McCain and Palin and their "angry mob" of supporters. The screen graphic read "6 Degrees of Desperation."
Stewart played clips of Palin denouncing Ayers based on the Saturday New York Times. (When the Palin crowd booed the Times, he tried the joke "Are they booing reading?") Then he made fun of her manner of speaking about Ayers: "Is there anything this woman can’t make sound folksy? ‘Let’s not forget that doggone genocide in Rwanda.’ She’s the Church Lady."
For a few seconds, Stewart tried to explain soberly to his news-challenged audience: "The subject of Palin's concern is the Democratic candidate's relationship with this guy, William Ayers, a founding member of the 1960s radical organization of the Weather Underground the group responsible for numerous bombings 35 years ago."
Then came the lame jokes: "Ayers is now professor at the University of Chicago – threatening public safety school! [Wrong. It’s the University of Illinois at Chicago.] And a recipient of the 1997 Chicago Citizen of the Year Award. Of course that was the year he was up against the guy who chased Michael Jordan out of town and Al Capone's ghost. All right. So his terror record is about four decades old, but based on this seven-year-old photo of him standing on an American flag, he's clearly still a s—head. Senator Obama served on the same board as a charity for Ayers, who also hosted a meet-and-greet for Obama at the beginning of his political career. You know who might be very interested to hear about Barack Obama's political ties to a former inciter of violence? An angry mob."
Stewart then showed clips of Republican crowds booing when McCain and Palin explained the Ayers-Obama relationship, and black-and-white old movie footage of a mob with torches, and joked "Oh, angry mob, is there any problem your wisdom and torches can't solve?"
Stewart then asked why McCain is bringing this up late in the campaign. What followed was a segment on how still-undecided voters are "stupid," and hence will fall for this phony Ayers issue. This was slightly funnier, unless you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, who were lumped in with "tiger petters" and other categories of the terminally stupid.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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A little off topic , but
October 8, 2008 - 11:32 ET by sjanus11Here's a link to join Zogby polls and cast your opinion, why just let the kos kids flood these polls. Right now Zogby has barry only up by 2.........let's see if we can fix that. http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1575 Steve
"If your 20 and not a Liberal, You have no Heart. If you are 40 and not a Conservative, You have no Brain" Sir Winston Churchhill
I'm going to do the Nov 4th poll
October 8, 2008 - 12:33 ET by nwahsI'm going to wait and do the Nov 4th poll ;)
Sir Winston Churchill
October 8, 2008 - 15:25 ET by AvitarThe English conservative or Tory is a very different ideology than the American conservative. American conservatives incorporate what has worked for the Federal Government but also what has worked at the state level. The incorporation of what has worked at the state level allows the American conservative to make policy moves at an almost radical rate compared to the British conservative.
We are also prone to reject policies that work but require too much control. Just because it worked under kings for two hundred years does not make a good idea. In America conservitives have the heart at 20 and the brains at 40. Testicle fortitude and immpudence we seem to be a little short at times.
Sowell had an article the
October 8, 2008 - 11:39 ET by Ruths husband BenSowell had an article the other day that said in effect, it's not about who Barack associates with, it's about about who he has alliances with. In other words, these people (Ayers, Wright, Michelle Obama) are the foundation that Obama built his political house on. They, to a some extent, own him. The American people should be concerned about that.
The media has failed miserably to vet any of this and the result is that McCain and Palin have the miserable job of having to bring it up, because it has never been adequately aired. I mean, the best the media has done (besides one good piece by CNN) is say, "Well Obama says there's nothing to it, he was only eight years old when Ayers did these things." And that is exactly NOT THE POINT!
“But maybe you obviously have a better memory about that."- Wolf Blitzer
The Daily Show got it's
October 8, 2008 - 12:42 ET by ApacheThe Daily Show got it's start mocking the news media under Kilborn. Kilborn was an unknown and some people confused his egotistical and shallow act as being real when it was actually just mocking news anchors. It was fairly well written. I loved how proud they were of their color laser copier in the opening credits just like the local news is so proud of whatever their latest gadget is. When Stewart took over, he gradulaly turned it into MSNBC with added smirks and snark. It no longer needs to be funny or creative as the target audience just looks for an echo chamber.
Oh, isn't Stewart's mugging
October 8, 2008 - 12:03 ET by Chris NormanOh, isn't Stewart's mugging just so cute? Once he loses Bush to pile on, I'm sure we can expect scathing "humor" directed at a President Obama. I'm sure his audience will roar with laughter at his barbs - "That Obama is soooo smart....".
McNotObama '08
Ayers is not a new story.
October 8, 2008 - 12:22 ET by kgAyers is not a new story. It has only come to light because Palin mentions it and not the masses are starting to see this suppressed information about Obama's judgment.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
Ayers a free man?
October 8, 2008 - 12:28 ET by young_schoolYoung School
Let us not forget that ayers and wife were not sent to jail because of "prosecutorial misconduct" (newly inserted wording on liberalapedia) or in other words, a technicality of improper evidence collection. Ask yourself why are these people free today? Just ask the Murtagh family what they think...
JON LEIBOWITZ...
October 8, 2008 - 12:37 ET by danybhoyThe only thing funny about Ayers & the Weatherman as when a few(3 or 4 I think) of them were killed when a bomb they were building accidently went off.
As for the studio audience, they might be dumber then those attending The View. I point to a show where Stewert had Evo Morales, the Bolivian president & a marxist. Morales took several softballs & spit out standard issue marxist talking points. Jon Stewert-Leibowitz & his live studio audience lapped it up like a porn starlet. It might have been the most pathetic thing I have ever seen on a television talk show. I'm still pissed that people who have been educated could buy into the crap that Morales was spitting out, but I am no longer suprised
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
Leibowitz?
October 8, 2008 - 13:43 ET by nicholas nicklebyhis legal name is Stewart, I believe--although he's joked about his name sounding "too Hollywood," he's also (iirc) made comments about how he changed his name due to his non-relationship with his estranged dad, who abandoned his family in the '70s (when Jon was around 10).
But thanks, Dany, for reminding us that he's Jewish. I suppose for people who care about that sort of thing, it's important to know.
NICHALAS NICKLEBY...
October 8, 2008 - 14:27 ET by danybhoyIt has nothing to do with him being a Jew, half of my dad's side of the family is Jewish, so that's not the point. But a Jew in the entertainment industry? I'm shocked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
okay...
October 8, 2008 - 14:36 ET by nicholas nicklebyso, it's not important that he's a Jew--some of your best friends/relatives are Jews!
so, why did you use his more-Jewish-sounding birthname?
Maybe to get an
October 8, 2008 - 16:23 ET by ApacheMaybe to get an over-reaction from the PC police?
no, that doesn't sound right
October 8, 2008 - 16:31 ET by nicholas nicklebyWait, are you saying that Dany wanted to get an over-reaction from the PC police? Why would he do that? Does he like feeling victimized and oppressed? (Does he have a martyr complex?)
But if he were actually victimized and oppressed by the PC police, why would he have to say something extra to get their attention?
Frankly, Apache, I don't know if I can buy your supposition--if it were true it would mean that, in his heart of hearts, Danybhoy knows that he's not actually victimized and oppressed, but is, in fact, just shamming his martyrdom to make himself feel better. It would mean, in fact, that he was baiting the PC police--or perhaps, imagining them.
No, I don't think that can be right.
No, it's usually done as if
October 8, 2008 - 16:49 ET by balboaNo, it's usually done as if the poster is "exposing" a "fraudulent" person, or to "expose the vanity of Hollywood."
He changed his name. Big deal.
JOOOOS...
October 9, 2008 - 07:43 ET by danybhoyBecause I'm playing to my Irish side of the family, just one of my euro-mixed backround. But as someone who was baptised Catholic but never confirmed, I don't play to religious groups of any kind. I also have friends of many faiths, including Islam, & I have friends with no faith.
As for me "shamming his martyrdom to make himself feel better", I would have to actually feel I'm a victim in order to see myself as a martyr. I have never considered myself a victim & never presented myself as such here or anywhere else. I don't imagine the PC Police, I know those self appointed facists are out there, & I don't care what they say. So troll someone else.
One other thing, I don't use my surname in online forums.
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
just to be clear, i never said you were shamming anything
October 9, 2008 - 13:32 ET by nicholas nicklebyhey dany,
no offense intended--the whole "martyr" thing wasn't aimed at you, it was aimed at the guy who snidely implied i was a pc fascist. (which is why I posed it to him as a hypothetical situation which I then refused in your case. I only said it to that guy because the idea that people are going to arrest you for being a jerk is manifestly ridiculous.)
to be clear, i never said you were an anti-Semite, i only asked why you thought it was necessary--in your condemnation of a South American socialist--to make a reference to Jon's more-Jewish-sounding birth-name. It seemed unnecessary to me, and the subtexts there--Jews and socialists, Jews and anti-Americanism, Jews and their sneaky name-changes, Jews and the Hollywood elite--didn't seem pretty.
NICHALAS NICKLEBY...
October 8, 2008 - 14:27 ET by danybhoyIt has nothing to do with him being a Jew, half of my dad's side of the family is Jewish, so that's not the point. But a Jew in the entertainment industry? I'm shocked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
morales is a hero who represents more bolivians...
October 8, 2008 - 15:20 ET by abeautifulperson... than any bolivian leader has in recent memory.
let's not forget, it wasn't so long ago that bolivians couldn't collect rainwater because water distribution was privatized. hurray for capitalism.
that alone, is enough to turn someone in the direction of socialism. morales is the george washington of bolivia and man to be respected. america would be so lucky to have such devoted, well intentioned and honest representatives.
COMRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 9, 2008 - 07:56 ET by danybhoyEvo Morales is just another in a long line of South American marxist dictators who are going down the same failed road of a top down, state controled economy that ha never worked anywhere it has been tried.
You are right, America would be well served to have such devoted, well intentioned & honest representatives. A 9% approval rating in Congress & about a 27% approval rating for the President speaks to that, but socialism is NEVER the answer. It is the even distribution of poverty, count me out. I'll take the uneven distribution of wealth anyday. If you can do it better, or build a better mouse trap, & the masses buy it & you get wealthy doing so, more power to you. You earned it.
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
billy ayres blew stuff up when 0bama was 8 , funny?
October 8, 2008 - 12:50 ET by upcountrywaternow he teaches school very funny...
giving away 100 million to 0bama funny.
i think i shall stop now my sides are hurting
Wel well i quess Jon crowd ain't 100% brain washed YET!
CLIMATE CRISIS
IranianUranium
Stewart and "humor"
October 8, 2008 - 12:55 ET by AFBayouPatriotJohn, no matter how much humor lipstick you put on that pig of a terrorist, Ayers will always be a domestic terrorist bomber with ties to Barrack Hussein Obama.
Bill Ayers
October 8, 2008 - 13:03 ET by RHRobinsonMDJon Stewart Can't Make Bomber Bill Ayers Funny
Yeah, I have that same problem.
First, what is it you want us to pay taxes for? Tell me what I get and perhaps I'll buy it. - Robert Heinlein
Ayers and Stewart
October 8, 2008 - 14:56 ET by nandrelliWell, Jon, the reason McCain is bringing up this issue so late in the campaign is that the left-wing MSM refuses to bring it up at all!!!
This has indeed been a topic of conversation on the dreaded right-wing talk radio for months, but because weenies like you don't pay attention to conservative talk radio, just ridicule it, you never learn what it is they have to say. As a result, you live in your little cocoon and actually think you are smart and funny.
Are the 1980s Recent Enough For Ya, Jon?
October 8, 2008 - 17:53 ET by Chris Judd"William Ayers, a founding member of the 1960s radical organization of the Weather Underground the group responsible for numerous bombings 35 years ago."
Ayer's wife went to prison for refusing to testify against the people who murdered two police officers during a holdup in the 1980s.
Yuk it up, Jon! Dead cops! AND a security guard! Obama sipped coffee in the living room of Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, the woman who would not testify against her cop-killing, political allies.
What a bunch of uptight Republicans! That gag just writes itself!
The question McCain must ask Obama.
October 8, 2008 - 19:04 ET by nwahsHere's the question McCain has to ask Obama in a public forum.
Who said "Dig It.
First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room
with them, they even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!" ?
Who said that Obama? Where does that quote come from, Obama? What type of atonement would be needed to make you discard such a grizzly quote? Would "I was just kidding" do it?
You can talk all you want about the Ayers/Obama connection and its almost stereotyped at this point. You've got to get this quote attributed to Ayer's wife, out there. This shows what a barbaric culture they come from. You need to let people hear this quote.
These are the people Obama felt were celebrities.
The Obama campaign isn't comming unraveled because Ayers is being defined as a "domestic terrorist." They're comming unraveled because Ayers and his wife might be painted as Charles Manson fans, and that is something people won't ignore.