At least three of the last five times I’ve watched the Daily Show, he’s led with one of his “Look how hypocritical FOX News is!” bits, wherein he shows clips of Glenn Beck and the other FOXies saying contradictary things from when Bush was president vs. what they say now that Obama is president.
Mind you, he’s not necessarily wrong, and the bits are often funny. But it just seems like an awfully easy target, and he’s been going to this well really often lately. Stewart and the rest of the show’s contributors are too talented to get into a rut like this.
It may be an easy target, but it’s also a target that nobody else is willing to bring attention to (aside from Colbert). And if it’s happening with more frequency, it’s because Fox is getting more desperate and ridiculous in its pretzel-like contortions to cover such rampant propaganda and hypocrisy.
But the key point is–he still makes it funny, and the rants, takedowns, and parodies are still varied and clever enough that I personallyl can’t complain.
Much like FOX news repeats things till people accept it as fact, John Stewart is doing the same in pointing out FOX’s hypocrisy. Maybe if the other actual news agencies had the balls to do their jobs John Stewart wouldn’t have to pick up the slack to get the message out.
It is tiring but no one else is willing to pick up that torch.
I’ll give them a pass on occasion, if only because I can’t think of anyone else managing to be consistently funny for a half hour for four days a week. Stewart himself has admitted that some days they produce humor, other days a “comedy-like polymer product”.
The Daily Show’s hit/miss ratio is dramatically better than any of the late night hosts or SNL.
I think this little factoid doesn’t really represent things. The statistics I’ve read compare FOX to every other network individually, but actually FOX just has a small percentage of dedicated followers. The general media is still much stronger. I wish John would go after the MSM more for letting the conservatives get away with their shit. The whole idea that in order to present balanced news you have to give equal time to both sides is a crock of shit when one side is making easily deconstructed lies.
I will never tire of his mocking of Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or Dick Cheney. Never. I also like the he doesn’t give the Dems or Progressives a pass when they do stupid stuff.
And his is the most consistently funny show around (Colbert can wear me out and it’s past my bedtime–I barely make it long enough to watch Stewart).
Eh, Stewart works with what is out there. He can’t make it up, and CNN and MSNBC aren’t completely full of shit. If it isn’t always hilarious at least with FOX he’s driving home the important point that saying something often doesn’t make it true.
Was the OP in reference to yesterday’s episode? Because he did a ten-minute segment in part on Fox News’ coverage of the president’s health care reform program, and how Fox News isn’t just reporting the news but slanting it and actively campaigning against health care reform. I thought it was hilarious but also said something about Fox News that no one else is saying.
Supposedly, the purpose is that very deconstruction . . . expose the idiots for what they are. Unfortunately too often both sides are represented by idiots.
Stewart’s audience is all people who don’t watch Fox News, but we’re surrounded by people who do (in my case, it’s my parents). He lets us know what sort of garbage Fox is feeding our loved ones and sums it up for us so we can successfully win debates with these people without having to sit around and watch Fox News.
It’s sort of like a “here’s what your retired parents are being told” primer for those of us who can’t sit around all day make sure mom & dad aren’t sneaking peeks at the bad stuff. He’s the closest thing we have to Net Nanny for cable news.
It’s not just Fox; Stewart won’t hesitate for a second to show stupid or hypocritical comments from CNN or MSNBC. He particularly detests Nancy Grace, but he’ll even show footage of Anderson Cooper or other more respected CNeeNers if it warrants it.
Some of my favorite moments are his montages of contrived talking points in which the same catchphrase is used on 12 different shows on several networks.
That factoid represents things clearly and accurately. Nobody hears “CBS is the most-watched network” or “CBS is #1” and thinks that CBS has more viewers than NBC, ABC and FOX combined. Saying “Fox is the number one source of news in this country” is accurate, consistent with common vernacular, and in no way misleading.