I have no obligation to the Democrats or progressives or unions. We’re not warriors in their cause[.] – Jon Stewart defending his anti-Beck rally
You work on the message, I’ll work on the logistics. — Arianna Huffington to Jon Stewart regarding her offer to provide buses to his rally.
Jon Stewart always tries to make it seem like he rises above it all, and that’s not the case. He certainly has a point of view that’s fairly strident.” — Tea Party Organizer Jamie Radtke.
…And therein lies Jon Stewart’s problem: We are on to him. And it appears as though his fans in the media are also finding it difficult to carry his I’m just a performer water this time, as well.
The mistake Stewart made, I think, was letting his hubris get ahead of him. The whole DC rally idea is too clever by half and and now the state-sanctioned comedian’s credibility is taking on a little water as he’s found himself in the unwinnable position of having to explain his motivations again and again and again.
For so long Stewart’s floated above it all, for so long he’s been the MSM’s darling and so he probably started to see himself as invincible and just assumed his media friends would help keep the clown mask in place no matter how audaciously politicized his antics became (they are on the same side, after all). But even the media can only swallow so much, and to ask them to swallow the story that Saturday’s Restore Sanity rally is an apolitical event and not in any way inspired by, or a left-wing response to, the incredible success of Beck-a-Palooza, pretty much insults everyone’s intelligence.
Mr. SmugFaceClownBoyFunnyMan can protest all he wants about his Mock The People rally being hijacked by the left, but Stewart’s no idiot and some journalist worth his or her salt might want to follow the following up with, What did you expect?:
But some liberal groups are doing their best to adopt the rally as their own. Democratic clubs from colleges across the country are sending buses to the event, offering a seat in exchange for a few hours of volunteer time. …
His efforts to shape expectations of the rally have been overshadowed by figures such as Huffington and Oprah Winfrey, an Obama ally who is also paying for hundreds of people to attend the rally. …
“This is basically the anti-tea party rally. It’s saying, These people are absolutely crazy and we can’t have them in the government,” said Emma Ellman-Golan, president of the Democratic club at the University of Pennsylvania.
Gee, why would these groups think they’ve found such a kindred spirit in Jon Stewart? Well, maybe they watch “The Daily Show.”
And as we can see, it’s not just people on the right who see through Stewart, it’s his own people, as well — hardcore Leftists eager to lock arms with the star and sneer at the workaday moms and dads who count themselves among the Tea Partiers. Even WaPo had to admit the Stewart event has a political “tinge”:
It was, of course, inevitable that a politically tinged event on the Mall three days before the midterm elections would turn, well, political. In a year when conservatives have been more enthusiastic, liberals were quick to view the rally as a call to arms - even if it is inspired by a man who has lately been skewering the Obama administration[.]
Yeah, inspired by a man who’s been so hard on the Obama administration that President Obama himself – the same President Obama who endorsed Stewart’s rally – will be a guest on the “Daily Show” just a few days before the rally, which coincidentally just happens to take place a few days before the crucial midterms.
I may vigorously disagree with Bill Maher but he does deserve points for not hiding behind a clown mask. Maher has the stones to come right at you ready to roll – he suits up, steps into the ring and says, “Take that teabaggers.” Stewart, on the other hand, is a spy — a leftist wolf in above-it-all sheep’s clothing. He’s terrified of having to defend his ideas or answer for his insults so he refuses to wear the uniform:
Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, I’m only a performer!
…which has never been the case.
Exceptions prove the rule and always have. The fact that we righties are positively giddy whenever Stewart launches an effective attack on the Left proves just how seldom he does. Hey, I loved the Race Card and Union sketches as much as anyone, but that’s TWO sketches out of how many on a show with the word DAILY in the title. And sure, Stewart may hit Obama now and again, but only when His One’s not liberal enough.
Another way to look at it is that whereas Bill Maher is MSNBC, Jon Stewart is NPR, another media giant hiding behind the false veil of objectivity but only because they believe that particular posture gives them some sort of advantage in the war to destroy the right and advance the left. Thankfully, most people saw through NPR some time ago, and now we’re finally getting a chance to see the phony shine start to fade from Stewart.
Stewart’s problem, however, doesn’t end there. Obama’s Jester has just caught himself a tiger by the tail. What’s been described as a Million Moderates March will be nothing of the kind. HuffPo, the unions, fringe groups such as PETA and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and Tea Party-haters like the woman quoted above are likely to represent a majority of the crowd. If Stewart’s going to break any kind of a record Saturday it will be for gathering together the largest group of people incapable of laughing at themselves. They’re going to want red meat, not apolitical, down-the-middle pablum.
So what’s he gonna do? Play Mr. Non-Partisan and risk Oscar-night flashbacks complete with flop-sweat, or play to his rabidly left-wing audience? Stewart’s a smart guy. He might just be able to thread that needle. But the damage to his credibility’s already been done.
The worst part of it for Stewart is that he’s not used to being a subject of ridicule, but this charade has everyone chuckling at him. Time to man up, Stewart. Time to drop the mask and put on the uniform — if only for the good it will do your own self-respect.
Cross-posted from Big Hollywood.
