# Jon Stewart - Return to the Daily Show - The Pit Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 15, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614 "2024-02-15T18:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/41 "2024-02-15T21:08:34Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Well that’s not how the world works. I will pull the lever for Not Trump but I’m not going to pretend there are no issues with the president. I don’t want an obvious intelligent and insightful person like Jon Stewart to go on TV and pretend there is no issue. He is there to comment on the election. The whole election. I will also agree, and I would add that this was an issue also in the last election. So, nothing new with this one, acknowledging an issue like being old, is important. It is not a deal braker as many feared or wanted it to be as much as Republicans would want. > **[Exclusive: Polls show what Americans think about Trump and Biden's ages](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/joe-biden-age-trump-2020-election-polls-older-b1457890.html)** > > Exclusive poll: Most Americans say candidates aged 80 and older shouldn’t run ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/42 "2024-02-15T21:29:17Z")
> [@Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-returns-to-the-daily-show/996614/68): > > > [@Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-returns-to-the-daily-show/996614/68): > > > > > [@Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-returns-to-the-daily-show/996614/68): > > > > > > Is Stewart’s job to be a shill for Biden or the party? ⁢ > > > > Sure. But these are unprecedented times, with extremely high stakes. JS has the possibility to have an impact on the results of the next election. If we end up with Trump, I hope he will look back fondly on having “commented on reality as he sees it.” > > > > Moreover, 70s-80s is older than I desire my lawmakers. But despite his apparent gaffes (which are not new), it is hard to claim Biden has not surrounded himself with competent people and stewarded a positive agenda. Being glib on-the-spot may not be all that important WRT being a good president. ⁢ > > I shall try to tiptoe the line to keep this just about Jon Stewart. He is pointing out issues that are clear and apparent to everybody outside of the Dope. Not mentioning them does not make them go away. It is clear to me that there are things that are new and not due to his stuttering. It’s hard not to see after watching Biden my entire adult life. I don’t expect Stewart to close his eyes and stick his fingers in his ears. He’s going to comment on what is actually happening. It’s not all perfect on one side which is going to be a problem during the election. Pretending it isn’t will not make it go away. ⁢ Since this is in the Pit, I can finally call this out for what this is. This is a fucking strawman. It’s a dishonest manner of arguing. The issue is not that Biden is old, or stumbles over his words. It’s that Jon decided to frame this as Biden going senile. We all know that Biden has stutter, and that said stutter has gotten worse over time. You are exactly the reason why this is a problem. You believe this very strongly. Jon has a responsibility to show the other side. THAT’S HIS FUCKING JOB. Someone literally posted a doctors report showing that Biden is not in cognitive decline. He is not senile nor does he have dementia. You dismissed that with a single line. That’s what’s dangerous about this talking point. People have a tendency to believe things they think they came up with themselves over experts. Stewart, with his platform, could have helped fix that. Instead, he played into it. He did exactly what I hated Bill Maher for doing, when he played into the San Fransisco argument. The issue was not the facts, but the framing. You guys keep on acting like framing and facts are the same thing They aren’t. The issue is not Jon discussing the facts. It’s him framing it as the conclusion that Biden has “lost a step”–which is calling him senile. Which is a Republican framing to try and help Trump win. Basic logic here: if you don’t want Trump to win, you don’t play into his talking points. This is like if Jon talked about the invasion at the border, instead of just discussing immigration issues. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/43 "2024-02-15T21:43:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The independents, swing voters and maybe I’ll stay at homers don’t need smoke blown up their ass. I’m not advocating blowing smoke up their asses. I think I address this either/or argument in [**post #29**](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/29). I think there’s a way to concede – not deny, _ad infinitum_ – the _valid parts of_ the point (not the cartoonish, histrionic RW version) without making the Republicans’ argument _for_ them. It’s tantamount to parrying, in fencing. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/44 "2024-02-15T21:50:06Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > The independents, swing voters and maybe I’ll stay at homers don’t need smoke blown up their ass. ⁢ > > I’m not advocating blowing smoke up their asses. > > I think I address this either/or argument in [**post #29**](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/29). > > I think there’s a way to concede – not deny, _ad infinitum_ – the _valid parts of_ the point (not the cartoonish, histrionic RW version) without making the Republicans’ argument _for_ them. > > It’s tantamount to parrying, in fencing. ⁢ Exactly. I must’ve scrolled past your post. You get it. You get the actual issue. Yes, unfortunately we have to discuss the actual facts. But we can do that without playing into the talking points. It’s not an either/or situation. This is politics. Framing matters more than facts in what gets people to vote. Otherwise Trump wouldn’t have anyone voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/45 "2024-02-15T21:50:24Z")
Biden’s gaffes are legendary. That is to say, they’re like Nessie or Bigfoot: Everyone talks about them, but nobody ever seems to give examples. It’s always just “Well, everyone knows Biden has lots of gaffes”. What are they? How many? What’s the normal amount for someone whose every waking moment is recorded? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/46 "2024-02-15T21:53:30Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > But I struggle with the notion that we’re _not_ the automaton party, particularly witnessing how much damage the MAGA folks have done, are doing, and could do with their blind allegiance to this … candidate. > > Should we – just this once – be able to STFU, line up, and overwhelm this guy at the ballot box? Yeah. We should. > > Is tacit acceptance of our own candidate’s shortcoming _essential_ for that to happen? > > That … I truly don’t know. I think this is a good response to this (not directly in response but gets the idea across): > But savvy remains Stewart’s secret weapon, evident as he pivoted his easy giggles at the expense of doddering oldsters into a sturdier, more salient point about both parties’ demands for lockstep support from their base. More pressing than Biden occasionally drifting off is the Democrat leadership’s insistence that no one remark on it, the consolidation of authority taking precedence over the party’s best interests. On the way to his conclusion that a worthy politician should be able to withstand scrutiny from their side of the aisle, Stewart exercises his latitude to address elephants in the room with bracing, blunt terms. The nine months leading up to the election “are going to suck”, he warns us. “And even if your guy wins, the country is in no way saved.” He alone can verbalize the question on everyone’s minds: “What the fuck are we doing here, people?” - [SOURCE](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/feb/13/jon-stewart-daily-show-return) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/47 "2024-02-15T22:17:32Z")
From a purely strategic perspective, Stewart disarmed the right’s inevitable accusation that he’s ‘just a shill for the administration’ on his first night. This was especially important because lots of Republicans and independents tuned in to see his return. If he had just gone after the right and ignored the major news about the Hur report and the press conference, or tried to play it off as nothing to see, he would have lost all that audience, and then had no opportunity to win them over later. And I can report from also reading the right, that there was a lot of, “Hey, Stewart was pretty fair” coming from them. And he was funny. They’ll keep watching, at least for now. He bought himself a lot of running room to go after Trump while the people who need to hear it are still listening. And if he needs to go after Biden a bit when deserved to keep those people, well… his Democratic audience is never voting for Trump anyway. TV has way too many people on both sides acting as mouthpieces for their party and preaching to the choir. No one’s talking to the other side any more. If Stewart can lower the heat while also laying more damage on Trump than the Democrat, that’s kind of a win-win except for the fringes on both sides who just want to tear things down. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/48 "2024-02-15T22:19:40Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Trudeau in Canada has been pushing the media to be biased in his favor, Thank you for the view from the National Post. It’s horseshit, of course. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/49 "2024-02-15T22:38:17Z")
My concern is that “both candidates are very old, everyone hates them both” has become such a meme, such a bit-of-accepted-wisdom; that it’s very hard for someone even as deft as Stew-beef to try to say something vaguely similar to that, but acknowledging (as I hope he more clearly will) that Trump is a zillion times worse than Biden, without everyone just hearing “yeah, he also agrees that everyone is old”. Maybe he’s doing it strategically to gain the trust of the right, as Sam\_Stone suggests, but… didn’t sound like that to me. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/50 "2024-02-15T22:53:43Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > An interesting side note in the NYT piece was a reference to the time when Trump tried to call Stewart out on Twitter by baiting him about him not using his given name of Lieberman. Leibowitz, not Lieberman. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/51 "2024-02-15T22:57:47Z")
Yeah, we’re going to disagree on that. Let’s just leave it at that. Too subjective. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/52 "2024-02-15T23:56:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Leibowitz, not Lieberman. Thanks. I knew I should fact-check that. Faulty memory strikes again. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/53 "2024-02-16T00:03:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > Leibowitz, not Lieberman. > > Thanks. I knew I should fact-check that. Faulty memory strikes again. Well there goes your presidential hopes. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/54 "2024-02-16T00:13:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > This thread is a good idea, but as the OP of the original one in Cafe Society, I’d encourage relevant commentary about Jon Stewart and the show itself to go there. In fact, wouldn’t it be a good idea to title this something like “the Pit Edition, now with Politics”? 😀 Not really. The thing is, with the way moderating goes here (and there are some good reasons for it being that way) it makes the most sense to start many threads in the Pit because that’s the only way we can talk about things without being forced to only say Dope-Approved things. A thread with “The Pit Edition” at the end of the title is your Seal of Approval for Interesting and Comprehensive Debate. I still think that at some point, just about any thread that includes robust discussion and a heathy back-and-forth will need to be in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/55 "2024-02-16T00:48:02Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Stewart is an influential voice. Legitimizing Trump to any extent is beyond the pale. Seriously undermining Biden for giggles is extremely irresponsible. But certainly Stewart didn’t do this or even come close, right? You’re just saying legitimizing Trump is bad in general, right? I sure hope so. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/56 "2024-02-16T01:12:04Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Well there goes your presidential hopes. I don’t think the Swedish Chef is a natural born American anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/57 "2024-02-16T04:34:25Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I still think that at some point, just about any thread that includes robust discussion and a heathy back-and-forth will need to be in the Pit. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > that’s the only way we can talk about things without being forced to only say Dope-Approved things. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/58 "2024-02-16T04:39:33Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I still think that at some point, just about any thread that includes robust discussion and a heathy back-and-forth will need to be in the Pit. I mostly agree but the Pit allows for complete hijacks of a thread. I am certainly guilty of hijacks but I can see the value of having a mod trying to keep things on track somewhat. That will not happen in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/59 "2024-02-16T04:42:08Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > That will not happen in the Pit. The Pit has the Best Moderator on the Entire Board. **Miller.** ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614/60 "2024-02-16T04:42:45Z")
I believe Jon Stewart came back expressly to put his finger on the scale against Trump. He prolly has regreats for not having covered 2016 to the bloody end. And I really find it hard to believe that a Butthole Surfers fanboy financially set for life would come out of his hobby retirement to help Trump get elected this time around. In order to not be viewed as a purely a propaganda puppet, and in the hopes of influencing some “undecided voters”, Jon at least needs to pretend to see the mote in Biden’s eye. And, to be frank, I think the vast majority of us would like a Biden that was a decade or two younger (and I write this as a 60+ year old). So, in the interest of the big goal, which is to see Trump lose at the ballot box, Jon is playing the legitimacy card while shaving the dice. YMMV [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-return-to-the-daily-show-the-pit-edition/997614.md?page=4)