Daily Show

Comedian Jon Stewart Thursday absolutely tore Keith Olbermann apart for his disgraceful rants against Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown.

As NewsBusters reported here, here, and here, the "Countdown" host this week repeatedly attacked the Senator-elect as "an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees."

On Thursday, the "Daily Show" host scolded Olbermann for his atrocious behavior saying, "I think that's the harshest description of anyone I've ever heard uttered on MSNBC, and that includes descriptions of the guys that star in your weekend prison program."

Maybe even more shocking, Stewart ripped the MSNBCer for attacking other conservatives including Roger Ailes, the owner of Fox News.

Better still, the Comedy Central star surprisingly defended Michelle Malkin stating that Olbermann's October 13 comments regarding her sounded "a lot more like violence against women than anything Scott Brown ever said" (video embedded below the fold with transcribed highlights, h/t Story Balloon):

Comedian Jon Stewart on Thursday mocked MSNBC's Rachel Maddow for using the tragedy in earthquake-rattled Haiti to bash former President George W. Bush.

Not appreciating the ribbing, Maddow foolishly responded on her own program Friday proving once and for all that liberal media members love Jon Stewart -- as long as his target is conservatives, that is.

Precipitating the spat was the MSNBCer on Wednesday politicizing the growing Haitian crisis by saying, "All of that central to what the Obama administration says it wants to do differently than what Bush and Cheney did."

The "Daily Show" host marvelously noted, "Not the right time." Stewart concluded by mocking Maddow's audience, "Congratulations MSNBC viewers -- you're on the right side of this terrible, terrible tragedy" (videos of Stewart's segment and Maddow's response embedded below the fold): 

Regular viewers of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are accustomed by now to the verbal battles that ensue when Stewart brings conservative guests on his show. The guests usually leave with a bit of egg on their faces, and Stewart comes off as the hard hitting, divisive and sarcastic critic.

But viewers were treated to a rare dose of sincerity and intelligent debate on Monday, when Stewart hosted former legal counsel for the Bush Justice Department John Yoo. Following up on what was a meaningful and intelligent interview Monday night, Stewart apologized to his audience on Tuesday for not being his usual cutthroat self, and daring to discuss issues in a civilized tone.

Yoo and Stewart duked it out for almost 30 minutes (videos below the fold), but the host did not manage to get the better of Yoo, who is now infamous among liberal circles for writing the legal briefs justifying expanded executive powers to combat terrorism under the previous administration.

Stewart ended the segment with a very uncharacteristic--given his tendency to demonize conservatives--call for civility in the public discourse (brief partial transcript after videos):

As the one year anniversary of Barack Obama's inauguration nears, it is a metaphysical certitude his fawning media will look back upon the past 365 days with the starry-eyed impartiality of a teenybopper in the presence of a rock star.

Before the President's fans in the press embarrass themselves, maybe they should take a cue from comedian Jon Stewart who on Thursday exposed numerous campaign promises the former junior senator from Illinois has broken that have not surprisingly missed the scrutiny of those supposedly in the business of disseminating "real" news to the public.

With the help of his "senior political analyst" Samantha Bee, "The Daily Show" host ably demonstrated how going back on his pledge to broadcast healthcare deliberations on C-SPAN is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to promises Obama cast aside like so much garbage shortly after he took the oath of office (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Story Balloon, vulgarity alert):

The exposure of ClimateGate and the impending failure of the Copenhagen climate summit have the global warming community on the ropes. And to add insult to their injury, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., has taken his one-man truth squad to Copenhagen, to continue to underscore just how absurd the idea of anthropogenic global warming is.

That has drawn the ire of the left, which knows it's losing momentum here and abroad as the Copenhagen summit is nearing the end. And that has enticed two prominent left-wing heroes, MSNBC "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart to taking on Inhofe.

On Olbermann's Dec. 14 broadcast, he awarded Inhofe the second-place prize in his "Worst Persons in the World" segment, based on Inhofe disputing the so-called "warmest decade on record" talking point that is a favorite of global warming alarmists and is based on narrowly interpreted climate data.

While most of the Obama-loving media predictably gushed and fawned over the President's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo Thursday, comedian Jon Stewart mocked the obvious absurdity of a man receiving such an honor while he's sending more troops to Afghanistan.

"Let's see how Mr. Europe balances accepting a peace prize while overseeing one war and escalating another war," said "The Daily Show" host before showing some clips of Obama's speech. "My guess is he's going to be drinking from a big mea culpa."

When his prediction proved false, and the President said war can be "morally justified," the Comedy Central star quipped, "Hey Rambo - ixnay on the waray" (video embedded below the fold courtesy our friend Story Balloon, partial transcript):

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart used crude sexual humor Monday to bash President Obama's jobs summit.

After playing a videotape of the President asking those in attendance at last Thursday's forum "for specific recommendations that can be implemented that will spur on job growth as quickly as possible," Stewart offered a somewhat vulgar idea.

Delicately paraphrased, "The Daily Show" host suggested that people masturbating or performing oral sex be included in the government's jobs statistics (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, vulgarity alert, h/t Story Balloon):

On Newsweek.com, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams absolutely gushed over the lefty comedy of the "indispensable" Jon Stewart. The post, which was promoted in the December 7, 2009 edition of the magazine, featured Williams fawning, "In just the span of a short few years, Jon Stewart has gone from optional to indispensable."

Not holding back his hyperbole, Williams rhapsodized about the harsh interview the Daily Show host conducted with CNBC host Jim Cramer. He compared Stewart’s attack on Cramer to that of another moment liberals love: "And yet, in the niche-y, hip, and in-the-know world of late-night, media-skewering comedy, it had the impact of Cronkite turning against Vietnam." Coming from Williams, that certainly is high praise. Appearing on the July 17, 2009 edition of Larry King, the NBC anchor enthused that he was honored "just was able to breathe the air [Cronkite] exhaled."

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart on Wednesday absolutely tore apart President Obama's speech on Afghanistan for being a virtual rehashing of former President George W. Bush's 2007 address concerning a troop surge in Iraq. 

In the opening segment of "The Daily Show," Stewart asked, "[I]s 30,000 troops the military equivalent of two Advil?"

From there, Stewart used videoclips to show just how much Obama's speech resembled what Bush said more than two years ago concerning Iraq.

"The Daily Show" host also surprisingly demonstrated how people on both sides of the aisle -- politicians and pundits alike -- hated what Obama had to say (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Story Balloon):

If you needed any more assurance the growing ClimateGate scandal is far more significant than America's media has been portraying, you got it Tuesday night from Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.

Somewhat surprisingly, "The Daily Show" host in his opening sketch tore apart the scientists involved in sending the obtained e-mail messages for showing "a clear effort to raise fears about global warming, and hide evidence against it."

Stewart even mocked the man responsible for spreading more fear on this subject than anyone on the planet: 

Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. OH. OH the irony. 

Irony indeed (video embedded below the fold with transcript, vulgarity alert, h/t Story Balloon):

UPDATE AT END OF POST: Video of this interview now available.

Outgoing White House communications director Anita Dunn on Friday praised the "fact-checking investigative journalism" skills of Comedy Central's Jon Stewart while she pushed back against any suggestion MSNBC was at all biased.

For those that have forgotten, this is the same Administration official who a month ago said Fox "is not a news network." 

The following is a partial transcript of an interview Dunn did Friday with Bloomberg's Al Hunt (h/t Washington Times):

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart absolutely trashed Sean Hannity on Thursday's "The Daily Show."

What was Hannity's crime this time?

Well, the Fox News personality actually apologized to Stewart for a mistake that was made in a "Hannity" segment aired last week and "reported" by "The Daily Show" host on his program Tuesday.

Rather than graciously accepting Hannity's apology, Stewart attacked him with a segment that included a "young," 22-year old producer -- having aged 50 to 60 years watching "Hannity" the last five months -- asking Stewart to kill him so he wouldn't have to watch any more (video embedded below the fold with transcript):

The Situation Room on CNN’s “fact checking” of Saturday Night Live’s skit from October 3, which made fun of President Obama as a “do-nothing,” has generated criticism, according to the TVNewser blog on Wednesday. Meanwhile, CNN’s sister network, CNN International, has been airing a “global edition” of Comedy Central’s Daily Show since 2002, a program which has apparently received less scrutiny.

TVNewser’s Kevin Allocca highlighted the criticism the “fact check” report filed by CNN correspondent Kareen Wynter in an article titled “CNN’s SNL ‘Fact Check’ Generates Backlash.” Allocca cited the Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto (who labeled the “fact check” a “bizarre exercise.”), the Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik (“Fact checking a comedy sketch -- I will say no more.”), and Fox News Channel’s Greg Gutfeld, who snarked, “Seriously, reviewing an ‘SNL’ skit for accuracy is like reviewing McDonald’s for their wine list.” The TVNewser blogger also noted the Web meme that has taken off on Twitter that was inspired by Wynter’s segment.

"ACORN appears to be a corrupt organization that aids and abets criminals and gets millions of dollars in taxpayer money."

Such was reported Tuesday evening, but not by one of the mainstream television news outlets.

That was Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," who in a fabulous six-minute segment not only covered the story of ACORN representatives giving business advice to folks trying to set up a child-prostitution ring, but also lambasted the media for getting scooped so embarrassingly by "two kids from the cast of ‘High School Musical III.'"

After walking through some of the videos captured at numerous ACORN offices by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, Stewart said (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):

Is there a new cable battle brewing between Fox News's Bill O'Reilly and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart?

Such appeared to be the case last week when Stewart on Wednesday's "Daily Show" harshly criticized O'Reilly and FNC for suddenly coming out in support of protesters, and O'Reilly struck back on Thursday's "Factor."

Who's right?

We report, you decide (videos embedded below the fold, Stewart first followed by O'Reilly with a full transcript):

"I wasn't at the press conference last night, and I also don't have all the facts, but I think it's fair to say that Obama handled that question -- oh, what's the word I'm looking for -- stupidly?"

So quite surpisingly said Comedy Central's Jon Stewart on Thursday's "Daily Show" in reference to the President's statement at Wednesday's press conference that the police officers involved in Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates's arrest "acted stupidly."

I kid you not.

In a fabulous display of bipartisan comedy -- Stewart deliciously lambasted Republicans, Democrats, Fox News, CNN, Brian Williams, healthcare reform, and, yes, the President -- Stewart ended the segment criticizing Obama's answer to Lynn Sweet's question about what the Gates incident says about race relations in America (video embedded below the fold, relevant section at 6:12, vulgarity warning, h/t NBer balboa):

NBC's Brian Williams "clearly has the hots" for President Barack Obama.

So said Comedy Central's Jon Stewart Thursday in a total skewering of NBC's "Inside the Obama White House" special report.

Not only did "The Daily Show" host totally lambaste Williams for using "this kind of unprecedented access" to the president to "cross-promote" other NBC programs, but also marvelously depicted the entire presentation as being like MTV's reality show "Real World."

Most deliciously, "the show's host clearly has the hots for the breakout star."   

The video of this segment is embedded below the fold with some transcribed highlights (h/t Hot Air):

Usually when CNBC's Jim Cramer is making headlines, it's for his outrageous antics or over-the-top statements. Not this time.

Time magazine's Justin Fox interviewed Cramer asking him questions submitted by readers which was posted on Time.com May 14. Two of those questions dealt with his March 12 appearance on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." In his answers, Cramer accused Jon Stewart of personal attacks, being "vicious," and said that ultimately he had been had."

Fox asked Cramer if this was just a case of him taking "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart's criticism of the entire CNBC network too personally.

When you're one of the left's favorite politicians, and you get skewered by one of the left's favorite comedians, you know you're in quicksand sinking fast.

Such was the case Tuesday evening when the "Daily Show"'s Jon Stewart, in a segment delicously called "Waffle House," lampooned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Cal.) ever-changing answers to what she knew about detainee interrogations and when she knew it (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t NBer mvfreeman):

As NewsBusters previously reported, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart called former President Harry Truman a war criminal on Tuesday, and although the "Daily Show" host has apologized for his comments, they continue to evoke criticism and rebuttal across the country.

One such came from PJTV's Bill Whittle who created an absolutely must-see video on Friday marvelously fact-checking the actual history involving America's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. 

In his spectacular piece, Whittle discussed how Japanese citizens were indeed warned about the coming bombings by millions of leaflets (pictured right) dropped on Japanese cities by our Office of War Information (OWI).

NewsBusters reader Robert Fraser, whose father was "slated to invade Japan after he got through with the Nazis," sent me a link to the text of this leaflet:

On Thursday, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart apologized for earlier in the week calling former President Harry Truman a war criminal.

As NewsBusters previously reported, Stewart during Tuesday's interview with Foundation for the Defense of Democracies' Clifford May said that Truman should have done an offshore warning of the atomic bomb in 1945 before dropping it on Hiroshima, and that not doing so was criminal.

Apparently, Stewart has rethought his position, and said the following on Thursday's "Daily Show" (video embedded below the fold with transcript, vulgarity warning):

Although historians have debated the issue for decades, Jon Stewart has no question about this controversial matter: former President Harry S. Truman is a war criminal for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.

Such was discussed on Tuesday's "The Daily Show" with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies' Clifford May in a lively exchange about interrogation procedures.

Although it was not aired on Tuesday due to the length of their extraordinary conversation, the entire interview was posted at Comedy Central's website in two parts (video part II embedded below the fold, relevant section at 5:40, h/t Hot Air):

Back in 2007, lefty comedian Jon Stewart mercilessly mocked lefty talk show host Chris Matthews over the title of his book when Matthews appeared to flog the tome on Stewart's The Daily Show. The ribbing was so unexpected and so mean spirited that Matthews later said it was a "book interview from hell."

Now Matthews is releasing the book in paperback but amazingly there is a tiny difference between this version of the book and the original. The pulper was originally titled, "Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success." But now, all of a sudden the paperback version of this thing is heading to stores as, "The Hardball Handbook: How to Win at Life."

So, what gives? Is Matthews afraid of Stewart's renewed attack on his book? Did Matthews change the book's title for fear of a comedian?

As you might expect, Jon Stewart and CNN commentator Jack Cafferty’s combined act on Monday’s Daily Show consisted of some serious discussion of the economy intermixed with unoriginal jabs at former President George W. Bush’s speech pattern and high praise for the Obamas. Stewart even half-jokingly suggested that if Obama “doesn’t do well,” (perish the thought!), “we can still blame it on Bush” [audio available here].

Cafferty was on the Comedy Central program to promote his new book, “Now or Never.” After the two initially joked about this title and the title of his last book (“It’s Getting Ugly Out There”), the commentator made his first joke about Bush. Stewart asked, “Are you feeling less confident in our ability to pull this out? Is your perspective that we truly are in a nosedive?” Cafferty replied, “I don’t know. You know, I’ve got -- I’ve got some faith, I think, in the new president. He’s capable of making a declarative sentence, a cohesive thought.” When the audience applauded, Stewart quipped, “Big grammar fans.”

The CNN commentator then continued to gush over Obama: “I like Obama. I think he’s a bright guy. He’s a former editor of the Harvard Law Review, former senator, president of the United States, and he goes on The Tonight Show and says, arguably, the stupidest thing he’s ever said in his entire adult life.” Oh, it’s definitely arguable, Jack

When Jon Stewart eviscerated Jim Cramer for not doing a better job of warning Americans about the looming financial crisis, the "Mad Money" host should have brought videos and transcripts of some of his highly-publicized rants in order to thoroughly disprove the comedian's premise.

In fact, as former investigative reporter turned actor and producer Dan Gifford revealed at Big Hollywood Sunday, Cramer should have wiped the floor with Stewart and put an end to all the CNBC bashing.

For instance, the "Mad Money" host could have shared with Stewart's audience this tirade from August 2007 (video embedded right):

The ongoing battle between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer took an interesting turn Tuesday when NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said that it was absurd for anyone to blame the financial crisis on CNBC.

Speaking at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit, Zucker defended the financial news network saying, "I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done."

Zucker also stood up for Cramer:

Here's a headline I bet you didn't expect to see at one of America's leading newspapers:

Don't Blame Jim Cramer

To be perfectly honest, I rarely agree with Richard Cohen, but on St. Patrick's Day 2009, the Washington Post columnist wrote truths virtually no mainstream media member has dared utter since the "Mad Money" host first left the Obama reservation:

As much as the 2008 presidential election was a battle between socialism and capitalism in America, so too is the highly-publicized feud between Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and CNBC's Jim Cramer.

Even their last names begin with the same letters as the economic philosophies they're defending.

Of course, the press coverage of the main event -- Cramer appearing on "The Daily Show" Thursday to face his accuser -- is also emblematic of this war with the liberal media cheering for Stewart, and those on the right clearly in the "Mad Money" host's corner.

What's a little salt on the wound after a seemingly humiliating performance by CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Comedy Central's March 12 "The Daily Show?" At least that's the way White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acted when he took the opportunity to comment on last night's "Daily Show" during his March 13 press briefing.

Gibbs was asked what he thought of the interview, where "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart called CNBC "disingenuous at best and criminal at worst." Gibbs apparently appreciated Stewart's hyperbolic attacks on CNBC and Cramer.

"The president and I talked earlier in the day yesterday about watching it," Gibbs said. "I forgot to e-mail him to remind him it was on, so I don't know if he's seen it. I enjoyed it thoroughly."

Gibbs praised "The Daily Show" host for handling an "uncomfortable" situation and took a jab at CNBC's decision not to post it on CNBC.com.