# Jon Stewart 9/6/05 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476 "2005-09-07T05:03:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/21 "2005-09-07T14:23:24Z")
The fact that they could alphabetically name 11 existing administration disasters, speaks great volumes on the administration. The fact they could finish off the alphabet, speaks volumes for the show. Zero People Left On Earth made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe, and though I was gonna die. Good ep. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/22 "2005-09-07T16:04:36Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > The fact that they could alphabetically name 11 existing administration disasters, speaks great volumes on the administration. The fact they could finish off the alphabet, speaks volumes for the show. Zero People Left On Earth made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe, and though I was gonna die. Good ep. Especially since it came right after “yam shortage.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/23 "2005-09-07T16:48:54Z")
Now you kids stop your peacocking this instant! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/24 "2005-09-07T16:55:30Z")
I haven’t seen this ep yet (Tivo’d it last night, watch it tonight) but now I can’t wait. But I wanted to jump in to add this: last night, my local news station pulled a TDS on Scott McClellan – they edited his news conference, putting together a montage of him saying “Blame Game” repeatedly. This is from a RealNews show…holy crap! TDS is taking over! ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/25 "2005-09-07T18:13:55Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Maybe it was just me, but I thought the show was average at best. The only thing that made me loose it completely was the named list of presidental crisises (“Queer Revolt”). Anybody have a link to the full list and/or remember it? [![](http://server5.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=alphabet.jpg) ](http://server5.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=alphabet.jpg) > [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I found that line kinda ‘meh’. It should have been: > > What’s the difference between Monica Lewinski and Hurricane Katrina? Monica only blew _one_ person. I liked it because it fit into the scolding tone of the monologue. The “blow” pun may be slightly funnier from a joke-crafting standpoint, but the “thousands of people weren’t stranded!” is more in tune with Jon’s anger. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/26 "2005-09-07T19:03:33Z")
Video clip is up on the Comedy Central web site… ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/27 "2005-09-07T19:22:08Z")
That was a great show - the alphabetical list was really clever. I think Stewart is just getting more and more fed up with the comedy of errors that is the Bush Administration, and he’s now at the point where he simply isn’t holding back at all. Personally, I can’t blame him. At this point, it’s just surreal. I don’t blame people for being confused with the Daily Show schedule. I understand how the schedule works, but the thing that bugs me is that every show starts with the date, but then they inexplicably edit out the date when they are showing a repeat. I’ve never been able to figure out why they do that. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/28 "2005-09-07T20:16:20Z")
I thought the show was inconsistent. I loved the 26 crises, including Rodents of Unusual Size. But I thought that as for the actual political commentary, it was pretty weak. Basically, Jon Stewart stood up and said “Bush screwed up inarguably”. Well, if it was inarguable, then it should be EASY for you to CONVINCE us of it. (Not that I don’t think Bush screwed up, but I like to see cites.) ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/29 "2005-09-07T20:42:20Z")
thank God for TDS, that’s all I have to say. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/30 "2005-09-07T20:49:50Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I thought the show was inconsistent. I loved the 26 crises, including Rodents of Unusual Size. But I thought that as for the actual political commentary, it was pretty weak. Basically, Jon Stewart stood up and said “Bush screwed up inarguably”. Well, if it was inarguable, then it should be EASY for you to CONVINCE us of it. > > (Not that I don’t think Bush screwed up, but I like to see cites.) What about that “Timeline of Disaster” thing they did in the second(?) segment? That was pretty inarguable. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/31 "2005-09-07T21:11:09Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > The fact that they could alphabetically name 11 existing administration disasters, speaks great volumes on the administration. Of course, the joke comes from the fact that hurricanes are named alphabetically. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/32 "2005-09-07T21:23:51Z")
**MaxtheVool:** > [@](#): > > I thought the show was inconsistent. I loved the 26 crises, including Rodents of Unusual Size. But I thought that as for the actual political commentary, it was pretty weak. Basically, Jon Stewart stood up and said “Bush screwed up inarguably”. Well, if it was inarguable, then it should be EASY for you to CONVINCE us of it. > > (Not that I don’t think Bush screwed up, but I like to see cites.) We’re not going to have a political argument in Cafe Society, but – “cites”? For the love of Christ, have you watched, listened to or read any news in the past ten days? My favorite line was something like “Administration spokesmen wished to emphasize that at no time did the dead walk the earth, feasting on the flesh of the living.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/33 "2005-09-07T21:30:46Z")
Hey, they left “G” off the timeline of disaster list. **This show sucks!** ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/34 "2005-09-07T21:33:18Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Hey, they left “G” off the timeline of disaster list. Probably because that one’s so obvious and overriding that it’s safe to let it remain unstated. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/35 "2005-09-07T21:50:48Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > \*\*MaxtheVool:\*\*We’re not going to have a political argument in Cafe Society, but – “cites”? For the love of Christ, have you watched, listened to or read any news in the past ten days? Yes. And I agree that Bush screwed up. Badly. BUT, I felt that without Jon Stewart actually making a convincing argument about those screw-ups, he was doing what the right wingers always (and usually incorrectly) accuse him of, namely, just being a liberal weenie with a “yes, all sensible people already know Bush is a fuck-up, so let’s just revel in it without actually attempting to demonstrate it” attitude. More on that below: > [@Tracy Lord](#): > > What about that “Timeline of Disaster” thing they did in the second(?) segment? That was pretty inarguable. It was convincing that Bush did a poor job of appearing presidential in the days leading up to and following Katrina. What it did NOT do is convince me that anything he did actually mattered. What we needed was something like: “Here is Bush sitting around on his ranch doing nothing on Sunday as the hurricane bears down on New Orleans… _and here is a warehouse full of FEMA supplies sitting in Alabama waiting to be mobilized and shipped out, which it can be on 12 hour notice, but no one gave that notice, and the FEMA director reports directly to President Bush_” or something like that. (I’m making up that example). Did The Daily Show convince me that Bush appears to have done little and been out of touch? Yes. Did it convince me that Bush actually failed in important substantive and practical things that he could and should have done, and that if someone else had been president the people of New Orleans would have been better off in an immediate and material fashion? No. I strongly suspect that that’s true, but I felt like Jon Stewart was taking that fact for granted, and also taking for granted that everyone else would also take it for granted, because of how much we all hate Bush. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/36 "2005-09-07T22:29:39Z")
I think referring to the show as “fake news” during virtually every episode, and the fact that it is a comedy presentation, exempts it from having to spend a lot of time making a convincing argument for anything. If they want to, fine. If they don’t want to, people with access to the Daily Show also have access to any number of actual news outlets, where they can research the topic and form their own opinions if they feel inspired to do so. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/37 "2005-09-07T22:31:25Z")
Also: 1,000 posts for me! Wooooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/38 "2005-09-07T22:42:49Z")
I think that the unexpected phenomena that they touched on at the beginning of the show (ie; the American press actually rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and vociferously addressing what a cataclysmic failure had taken place) obviated the need for a lot of exposition. When you’ve got 22 minutes to work with, and you’re supposed to be funny, it’s nice when you can actually depend on actual journalists to do the actual journalism. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/39 "2005-09-07T22:45:25Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > I think referring to the show as “fake news” during virtually every episode, and the fact that it is a comedy presentation, exempts it from having to spend a lot of time making a convincing argument for anything. If they want to, fine. If they don’t want to, people with access to the Daily Show also have access to any number of actual news outlets, where they can research the topic and form their own opinions if they feel inspired to do so. Yes, but (keeping in mind I like TDS just as much as the next guy) the problem with that argument is that whenever anyone calls them on anything (misrepresentation of facts, leaving out important facts “to make the joke better,” etc.), they can reply “hey, hey, hey! We’re just a comedy show here, buddy, lighten up!” Someone mentioned it in another Daily Show thread a while back: Jon can hit pretty hard with his questions and seems to like making some guests squirm (deservedly). However, if a guest hits back, Jon backs off and makes a quick joke to derail the point. Whoever it was said it a lot more eloquently than I just did, but Jon does, sometimes (and unfairly, IMO) hide behind the “fake news” aspect…when it’s convenient. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476/40 "2005-09-07T23:06:45Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Yes, but (keeping in mind I like TDS just as much as the next guy) the problem with that argument is that whenever anyone calls them on anything (misrepresentation of facts, leaving out important facts “to make the joke better,” etc.), they can reply “hey, hey, hey! We’re just a comedy show here, buddy, lighten up!” This is true. But the difference between TDS and the politicians (and others) that TDS goes after is that TDS doesn’t **cause** the problems and situations they’re making fun of. Stewart can back off and plead comedy because nobody gets hurt. When the government lies and obfuscates and makes excuses, it has an effect. Did anyone see Ted Koppel try to get an answer from that bureaucrat in Gretna, about evacuees being turned back at gunpoint? Ted must have asked him three times about what really happened, and the man talked and talked but didn’t even get close to responding. I thought for a minute I was watching the Colbert Report. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-9-6-05/320476.md?page=3)