Anybody else see it?
I thought it was pretty gracious give and take for host and guest and the Vader was a nice icebreaker, and Stewart was disappointingly polite and restrained. Nevertheless I LOVED the audience groan at her gaffe “I was referring to American interests”.
I think that was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever seen Jon be during an interview. I’m trying to remember what she said towards the end of the interview that she obviously thought would be a G.A.G. (Guaranteed Applause Getter) - oh yeah, “We have not been attacked in six years”. You could hear the crickets chirping.
He tiptoed through that very well and made some very good points. I thought he did a great job under very tense conditions.
Jon needed to decide beforehand weather or not he wanted to ask her tough questions and debate her or just tell jokes and talk about Wyoming. Instead you could almost see him physically oscillate uncomfortably between the two .
He actually does the same thing (though not quite as badly) whenever there’s a really bigname political guest on. He obviously feels that he should ask them some tough questions, but his show isn’t really formatted for any sort of in depth discussion (even the longer interviews must be less then 10 minutes after commercials), and his audience is mainly tuning in for the jokes and/or having someone get made fun of in the interviews.
What in the hell is Lynne Cheney up to? There was a photo spread of the Vice President’s mansion in newspapers this past weekend, then she was on CBS Sunday Morning and now TDS. Is she selling a book, or is this the administration’s weird idea of humanizing He Who Shall Not Be Named?
Jenna Bush also has a book out showing what a wonderful person she is and has been doing the talk show circuit. Maybe they’re trying to make us forget that people are dying in Iraq.
She’s selling a book. Stewart routinely interviews authors of new books. And I thought he took the right approach to the interview. As he himself said, she’s not her husband, and shouldn’t be held to account for his crap.
They couldn’t do that if they had a h0t w3t 4sum with Michelle Malkin and Dana Perino in the Rose Garden on Fox News.
not that I’m saying they shouldn’t try, of course. 
Something to the effect of “History books will show that 6 years after 9-11 there had not been another attack, and that the administraton’s policies had a lot to do with that”. Silence. Jon Stewart [very meekly]: …okay… [Huge applause]
Then he pointed out that for 8 years after the first WTC bombing there was not another attack on American soil, when she countered with embassy bombings and the USS Cole. He counter-countered with the attacks in Spain and London to which she responded “I’m referring to American interests” and he counter-counter-countered with “I thought they were our allies.”
Then it became more of a “let’s be nice to the wrong but nice rich old lady who’s not going to change her mind” tactics.
I think he was at his most uncomfortable when mentioning Ma & Pa Cheney’s Original Old Fashioned Lesbian Daughter Mary®™©, but she was gracious.
Why oh why oh why didn’t he ask her what Cheney keeps in that man-sized safe?
I was falling asleep and so may have dreamed it, but wasn’t there a collective groan from the audience when she came out with that?
Yep- very audible.
You know, it occurred to me that if there is a left wing equivalent to Rush Limbaugh in terms of popularity and influence, then it is John Stewart. Obviously he is not even REMOTELY comparable in just about any other way, and this interview is a fine example of that.
It looks like Lynne followed Weebl and Bob’s immortal advice:
When come back, bring pie.
Jon was in a real tough spot. He couldn’t have skewered her for looking like a bully and, like he pointed out, she’s not Richard.
It was weak, but under the circumstances, it went well.
The lesson learned: wait, our allies aren’t our interests? This makes some things clear now…
…and unfortunately some things very muddled.
I loved the way he told people how he was going to handle it with the “You don’t know Richard” bit before the interview. So it was all planned. Just as well, she isn’t the Evil One, after all, and this eliminated all the “Lefties are evil for beating up Republican women” segments we would have seen.
I just wonder why they bothered to book her.
I wonder who approached whom. Obviously, Dick himself isn’t going to appear, but somebody on his staff might have thought it would be good PR. And if they made the first overture, then “The Daily Show” couldn’t turn it down without looking foolish or scared.
She said something like “Everybody was afraid there’d be another attack within six months, or for that matter six weeks. But there hasn’t been an attack in six years, and this administration’s policies have had a lot to do with it.” On my couch, I spouted, “There was another attack within six weeks, and it’s still unsolved. Has everybody forgotten about the anthrax?” Then Stewart mentioned the same thing.
Does this mean there’s going to be an Is Lynne Cheney a Doper? thread?
Saw it and I could feel the tension miles away through the TV set.
Now I’m a self-professed lefty and I love Jon Stewart, but I have to confess I get where she’s coming from when it comes to distinguishing between attacking the U.S. vs. attacking our allies. Meaning, I’m sure that the administration feels like the Patriot Act and the wiretaps and torture (and all the other stuff that I don’t like) is the reason we haven’t had any more Big Explosions in the U.S. But since we can’t force our allies to enact similar measures, what happens our allies falls somewhat beyond the administration’s scope of influence.
Please note: I’m not saying I agree that these policies are preventing Big Explosions, I just think she wasn’t saying “our allies don’t count.”
But she sure didn’t waste any time getting offstage when she left though, did she?
No, no she’s not and she shouldn’t. She’s her own special little walking horror show, and her attempts to be charming because she’s pimping her book shouldn’t fool anybody who can do a Google search.