was Wednesday night’s The Daily Show in which host John Stewart devoted about half the program to shredding CNBC’s blind cheerleading of the stock market during the Great Crash that is upon us. Sure he did it because he was pissy that Rick Santelli cancelled out on guesting on the show, but he makes valid points about the value of business “journalists” who have access to CEO’s and instead of asking real questions, soft-ball questions that would embarrass an Entertainment Tonight host.
Will Bunch weighs in with his analysis here, and you can go watch it here (scroll down to the (03/04/09) clip 1/4).
Blevkog 
“… The intelligence of a box of parrots.”
Absolutely brilliant. A sad reminder of the crucial role of the jester in speaking truth to power.
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one would think Santelli and CNBC would have learned a lesson from the whole McCain/Letterman fiasco – but hey, between this and the Levin vs Frum vs Rush vs everybody this past week – if the Right wants to paint themselves as a pack of inbred idiots, that’s fine by me.
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The writers at The Daily Show have to be just about the best in the biz, and Colbert and Stewart are utterly unafraid to go after guests -> Santelli was in a no-win situation. I expect he might be surprised at the depth of the attack, however.
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Colbert maybe – Stewart is actually more respectful of guests when they actually show up – witness the times Bill O’Reilly’s been on the program. Supposedly CNBC was the one who put the brakes on it – they may have been wanting it to blow over, in which case they gravely miscalculated; see my previous comment on the McCain/Letterman thing.
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True. I cringe when Stewart has some more loathesome guests on. There are people who really don’t deserve the respect he affords, sometimes.
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Stewart tries, most of the time, to keep the dialog civil, which I think is a good thing. He doesn’t shy away from telling someone that he doesn’t agree with them, and he certainly doesn’t appear afraid to spar point-for-point. That said, I don’t think he’s as sharp as Colbert in his interviews as well.
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He might not be as sharp, but I think he’s more effective – Colbert does satire, and he’s a bit more willing to let his subject’s run with their argument if it makes for entertainment. Stewart’s a lot harder to fool that way – which is probably why Santelli bailed out to begin with. As for the issue of his giving his guests too much respects – I agree with Kev, his keeping it civil is a good thing. The last thing we need is a left-wing version of Limbaugh or Hannity.
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That’s Colberts’s job. Sort of.
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true – but Colbert knows that he’s playing it as satire, and the audience is in on the joke. Limbaugh and O’Reilly, on the other hand, from some reports may have started as an schtick, but I really think they’ve actually bought into their act – and their audience believes them wholeheartedly.
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In some ways, the game that Colbert and Stewart play is a bit unfair – they pick the shit out of the MSM and then stand back with their hands up saying “Hey, I’m just a comedy show.” In any case, they provide a (lamentadly) much-needed service.
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True – but on the other hand, they’ve never made any secret of the fact that they *are* a comedy show – and generally, the MSM that they mock deserve it – one thing, particularly in the case of Jon Stewart, is that he doesn’t give liberals a free ride in that regard – I remember during the whole ‘Rathergate’ affair, Stewart was brutally savage towards CBS and Dan Rather – and rightfully so.
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Daily Kos story on Cramer’s history on Wall Street.
Complete with his tactics as a naked short seller (which is not as funny as it sounds). I always thought the guy was a sociopath when I’d flick past his show. Good to see my instincts aren’t too far off the mark. Jon’s poking fun at Cramer really is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Cramer’s tried to launch a defence now that just made him look more stupid (i wouldn’t have thought that was possible). I love how he keeps trying to dismiss Stewart as ‘just a comedian’, which is priceless, coming from someone who puts on a carnival freakshow and looks and sounds like the love child of Joan Rivers and the guy from those Oxyclean commercials…
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