# Jon Stewart pandering to conservatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296 "2012-06-25T21:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/41 "2012-06-26T04:18:22Z")
Either Stewart or Colbert did some jokes about that insane conspiracy theory idea. I can’t remember which one of them it was now (if it was Stewart I may have linked to it), but I know I’ve heard that idea and it’s not from this thread. > [@Revtim](#): > > Sad, isn’t it, that some seem to not even consider the possibility of Stewart simply reporting what he feels to be the truth. It all has to be “taking sides”. It’s kind of sad. I do have to object here, though- Jon Stewart and The Daily Show don’t report the news. They comment on it and make fun of it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/42 "2012-06-26T04:23:06Z")
> [@XT](#): > > What’s the ‘Fast Furious gun walking story’?? [This.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fast_and_Furious) And, from Jon Stewart, [this](http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-june-20-2012-steve-carell) and [this.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-june-21-2012-bassem-youssef) ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/43 "2012-06-26T04:43:21Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s kind of sad. I do have to object here, though- Jon Stewart and The Daily Show don’t report the news. They comment on it and make fun of it. And to a larger extent, and what constantly seems to be missed about the show, is that they make fun of news _coverage_ more than the people making the news themselves - a meta-commentary on how issues are covered in the media. The politicians do get their takedowns, but the primary target is the hacky and poorly thought out coverage of regular topics. Which is why I was really confused when people wondered what he was going to do when Obama was elected - like, journalists were still going to be asking stupid questions, right? ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/44 "2012-06-26T04:52:35Z")
As more anecdata, Stewart’s coverage of the Charlie Rangel scandal a few years back was hilarious and most definitely not Democrat-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/45 "2012-06-26T06:01:33Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > And to a larger extent, and what constantly seems to be missed about the show, is that they make fun of news _coverage_ more than the people making the news themselves - a meta-commentary on how issues are covered in the media. The politicians do get their takedowns, but the primary target is the hacky and poorly thought out coverage of regular topics. It’s nearly impossible to talk about the media talking about something without providing a little background on what that something is, after all. You can’t rely on your audience knowing something ahead of time. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/46 "2012-06-26T06:09:59Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It’s nearly impossible to talk about the media talking about something without providing a little background on what that something is, after all. You can’t rely on your audience knowing something ahead of time. There have been studies showing that Daily Show viewers are generally much more informed about current events than the viewers of virtually any other “real” news programs (particularly obliterating Fox News viewers). I think this isn’t so much an indication that Stewart is a particularly good news source, but that he appeals to people who at least follow the news somewhat. Sometimes when I catch a re-run from a time when I was too busy to actually follow the news, I’ll have no idea what he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/47 "2012-06-26T20:54:47Z")
This thread confirms that centrists and left-wingers do not understand right-wing thought. A man whose job is to point out stupidities by politicians and government officials points out such a stupidity. This is startling to right-wingers because … ? Yes, Stewart is “leftish” and, yes, the right-wing commits more stupidities to poke fun at. (And, BTW, there is a cause-effect relationship between these two facts, left as an exercise. 🆒 ) ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/48 "2012-06-27T16:09:58Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > For starters Bill is more of a libertarian than a liberal and quite often sounds like Archie Bunker. Bill is not a libertarian…unless you think the only thing libertarians want is drug legalization. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/49 "2012-06-27T16:20:36Z")
[The Daily Show tackled the conspiracy theory thing last night.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-26-2012/the-wrath-of-cons---operation-fast-and-furious) ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/50 "2012-06-27T16:49:44Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > This thread confirms that centrists and left-wingers do not understand right-wing thought. A man whose job is to point out stupidities by politicians and government officials points out such a stupidity. This is startling to right-wingers because … ? 😕 Which right-wingers are supposedly startled? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/51 "2012-06-27T17:29:07Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [The Daily Show tackled the conspiracy theory thing last night.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-26-2012/the-wrath-of-cons---operation-fast-and-furious) Jon did a bang-bang-up job, too, of skewering the way the Pubs and Faux News are spinning this, without in any way defending the Obama Admin’s or Holder’s actions here. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/52 "2012-06-27T17:35:04Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It’s pandering to conservatives only as much as Democrats approve of dead border agents. This, +1, the thread should have ended right here, etc. Are people on the left not allowed to criticize other people on the left now? I don’t care if Bush did it too. I support Obama because he’s supposed to be an improvement over Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296/53 "2012-06-27T21:37:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Jon did a bang-bang-up job, too, of skewering the way the Pubs and Faux News are spinning this, without in any way defending the Obama Admin’s or Holder’s actions here. That was an excellent clip. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-pandering-to-conservatives/626296.md?page=2)