Comedian Jon Stewart on Monday said what most in the liberal media continue to deny: as it pertains to the Shirley Sherrod affair, Fox News snookered no one.
Even more surprising, the "Daily Show" host claimed conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart "may be the most honest person in this entire story."
In a lengthy segment about the controversy, after haranguing the Obama administration's handling of the affair, Stewart moved to what the NAACP said when it retracted its initial condemnation of Sherrod (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JON STEWART, HOST: What about the NAACP?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN FEMALE: We were snookered by Fox News and Tea Party activist Andrew Breitbart into believing she, Sherrod, had harmed white farmers because of racial bias.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: You were snookered? What are you an old lady in a Groucho Marx movie that got her pearls swiped on an ocean liner? "Oh, he told me he was a millionaire and then he stole my necklace. I've been snookered."
First of all, Fox News is too busy with their Black Panther hard-on to bother much with this, and Andrew Breitbart, the guy who leaked the edited tape, may be the most honest person in this entire story. This is what he said five months ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW BREITBART: I want it to be in the history books of saying I took down the institutional Left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: See, he didn't say, "I want to be in the history books as a paragon of honesty." He didn't say, "I'd like to be in the Museum of Broadcasting and be known by children around the world as Arnold B. Truthington of Accuracy Lane." No. He said, out loud, "I want to bring down the institutional Left." So, if you are on the institutional Left and you receive a package from him, watch the whole f**king tape! How is that snookering?
[Laughter]
[Cheers and applause]
STEWART: Is it hard to take a man with Marshmallow Fluff on his face seriously? You weren't snookered. That'd be like, "This is a Trojan horse with no horse." It's a guy knocking on the gates of your city saying, "Uh, yeah, I've got a present for you from the King of Greece. It's his army. They are well armed and would like to come to your city whilst you sleep. So, uh, I'm gonna need your signature on this."
Delicious. Truly delicious.
As Hot Air's Allahpundit wrote Tuesday, "This is just his way of disciplining Vilsack and the NAACP for bungling the initial response to the Sherrod clip and then making lame excuses afterwards."
Indeed, but at least he's come around to what is still escaping people like Howard Dean, Joan Walsh, and the entire "Inside Washington" panel save Charles Krauthammer.
As such, this separates Stewart from most of the dishonest media members out there.
Bravo, Jon. Bravo.
Interested readers can watch the entire segment at The Right Scoop.
