I turned in late to the Daily Show to see JS taling with John Kennedy Jr about the autism/Hg link. He seemed to give him a lot of slack. The link is extremely controverisial to be (kind). How did the beginning go?
So, The Daily Shows is conducting seances now?
I think you mean Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
D’oh :smack:
I just watched it (it’s actually the July 20th episode), and yeah, it was pretty shameful. Lots of softballs, virtually no jokes, tons of misleading information. I can only assume Jon’s not terribly well-informed on the issue (IMHO, mercury from coal is a much likelier candidate than the infinitesimal dose in vaccines), and didn’t do his research this time. That, and one wants to cut RFK jr some slack.
The begininng pretty much just launched into the autism rant.
I thought this was a soft interview too. I thought it was just Jon cutting an earnest Kennedy with a slight speech impediment some slack.
RKJr. never seems comfortable when he does interviews and such. Maybe it was just Jon making him feel as comfortable as possible.
But that’s no excuse, seeing as RKJr. is making some fairly controversial claims, and Lord knows Jon usually doesn’t let anyone of the hook with making controversial claims without some sort of devil’s-advocate resistance.
I really was surprised after this segment ended, though.
Now Monday! That’s gonna be entertaining. (Sen. Rick Santorum!!! (R-PA))
Happy
I can tell you didn’t see him interview Michael Moore.
No he isn’t! I gotta set my VCR for that one. You think the audience is going to hiss and boo when he comes out?
They hissed and booed when, last night, he announced Santorum as a guest!!
I hope Jon brings up Dan Savage. And explains what “Santorum” is if Rick don’t already know.
I can tell you didn’t see my ‘usually.’ He’s given libs some shit before, if for no other reason than to play devil’s advocate.
Given that it’s the first thing that comes up when you google his last name, I’m not sure how he could not know.
That should definitely be worth watching.
I found Kennedy’s voice difficult to listen to, so I spaced out on most of that interview. Twice. Even though I meant to pay attention the second time. :smack:
Yeah, when I heard Jon announce that I actually said “No shit??” out loud (with both question marks and everything).
A thread I started in great debates on the Kennedy interview (which originally aired on 7/20, if I may pick a nit.) :
[thread]326619[/thread]
As DSeid notes, this quack idea has been torn to shreds here on the SDMB several times. Search with terms “vaccine” and “autism.” Google using those terms and you will also find plenty of ammo to debunk this absurd claim.
I was very disappointed in Stewart for giving Kennedy a forum to air his dangerous crackpot ideas, and not challenging him at all. For crying out loud, even Matt Lauer sort of stood up to Tom Cruise! I sent them an angry email, but somehow I doubt the intern who reads Daily Show email is going to send it to Jon Stewart. But doesn’t anyone on the Daily Show know how to use Google?
I still love Jon Stewart, but I worry that some parent will refuse to vaccinate their child based on the misinformation Kennedy is peddling.
Actually, i think Jon lets everybody off the hook. I love the guy, but i’ve said before on these forums (in this thread) that i think he’s a softball interviewer, and that the interview section is my least favorite part of the show.
I am, though, looking forward to seeing Santorum on the show.
And i also think it would be good to have the Pennsylvania Senator on the show.
Rick Santorum?
Oh man. For the first time in a long while I really am sad about not having a TV. I’m going to have to see if I can’t watch this at a friend’s house.
Tom Cruise is an actor and a douchebag who obviously did not know what he was talking about, but was spouting religious dogma. RFK Jr. has some credentials, and I agree that Jon probably does not know the science behind this controversy.
Stewart’s interviews are either really good or just pisspoor. It sound like this one was pisspoor. Anyone remember a few weeks ago when he interviews an Iranian American about his book. The author cliamed that ALL Iranians except the Mullahs LOVE America. They LOVE IT! Jon didn’t even raise an eyebrow on that one.
Don’t worry - it’s about guaranteed it’ll be all over the internets within moments of airtime.
Yeah, what was the deal with that? Throat cancer? Yeesh.
RFKjr seemed really uncomfortable. His voice sounded like he was about to cry.
Kennedy’s theorizing was only slightly less absurd then Cruise’s, and only because there weren’t Thetans at the base of it. The argument was basically “Big Pharma is trying to poison your children and the CDC and The FDA are all part of it!!!” I’m not a doctor or biologist, but a few minutes on google was all I needed to debunk Kennedy’s claims. I can’t believe someone of Stewart’s obvious intelligence wasn’t able to smell a conspiracy theory a mile away.
Normally I don’t mind crackpot theories and indeed, like many dopers, I find them very entertaining. But dispensing crackpot medical theories is dangerous and potentially deadly. Stewart has a well deserved reputation for intelligence, so I worry that some viewers migh think “well if Jon’s not challenging him on this, there might be something to it.”