And all those authors and actors who come on the show are just there because they want to chat with Jon, not because they have a book or show to plug?
There are no election ethics laws in place for actors and authors, nor laws that dictate that televistion stations must offer equal air time for opposing television shows. There’s a difference between hawking a book or movie and trying to win an election.
In theory, anyway.
:eek: Ya wanna suck all the fun out of the job?!
Somewhere in America right now there’s a little boy or girl dreaming, “When I grow up, I want to blow chunks all over a foreign head of state!”
The show ran a few minutes long, so they had to cut the original intro.
Also, was I the only one to notice that an extra panel was put in front of the guest chair on the anchor desk?
You mean like this? Congress | Fox News
In fairness, it wasn’t right before a mid-term. It was right before Bush’s reelection in 2004. It was also well over an hour, I believe (it was aired in three parts).
Can’t recall if liberals cried “foul” or not, to be honest. I personally was completely unsurprised.
My favorite exchange was:
Obama: “Let me talk about Congress–”
Stewart: “Are you gunna curse?”
Obama: “I’m not gunna curse.”
While I agree Obama did seem a little uptight (which I can’t possibly understand why- I mean, what does that guy have to be stressed about?), I was genuinely surprised by how well the two played off of each other when they did. Their timing with one another was really good. Clearly Obama was the straight guy, but he played it well.
I can understand your confusion - every potential Republican candidate is employed by Fox News, and no doubt has an agent.
Yeah, Obama just did it backwards. The correct approach is TV first (or movies, of course, like St. Reagan), then president.
I remember that interview. I actually tuned in, because I was genuinely interested in what Bush had to say, and thinking that they’re might be something substance in there. But I changed the channel after about five minutes of hearing O’Reilly in the intro lambaste Kerry for not coming on, even though he had been completely fair to him and even once stood up for him on some non-issue. I figured short of Bush coming out and admitting, while riding a unicycle and wearing a rainbow afro wig, that he had fucked up by going into Iraq, nothing he could say or do was worth sitting through this.
The King of Jordan episode of TDS, by the way, was spectacular. I strongly recommend watching it.
How about “Cribs”? Has that gone off the air?
This attitude reminds me of a bit that John Oliver did on TDS a few months ago, when Gordon Brown was voted out of office.
I don’t know the history behind that, what’s the story there?
I, as a complete political noob, and insanely uninformed, thought it was a good interview. To me, it seemed as if Jon was asking real questions and the President answered them.
I thought Obama moving the cup away was funny seeing as how Jon poured water from one cup to another. I dunno, I just found it amusing.
It’s what Bush said to Brown after Katrina, shortly before he fired him for incompetence.
I think you guys have got it wrong. My impression was that the president was trying not to put out the image that he doesn’t take the issues they were discussing seriously enough. Joking is Jon’s job. Obama is the president, and he should be serious. There’s that “dignity” that PunditLisa is talking about.
It’s the way Bush described Mike Brown’s efforts as head of FEMA in handling the Katrina disaster shortly before Brown resigned in disgrace.Link
Damn, I just read that transcript. Could this have been anymore of an ass-kissing session. Jon Stewart was a motherfuckin’ pit bull compared to this. Whenever someone bitches about him treating liberals like softies, you should show them that link.
I would see your point, except that Jon Stewart asked some pretty straightforward, probing questions, and even got quite a few laughs out of the audience at Obama’s expense. He didn’t stand up and yell at the president, but he kept him on his toes, and very plainly expressed a lot of the concerns that his detractors have.
He might not have asked the questions a conservative pundit would have, but by no means was it a “free one-hour campaign commercial.” Obama had to answer for quite a few things in this interview.
And I add my voice to those who say that appearing on TDS is not as undignified as it might seem. Granted, it is a comedy show, but the interviews are excellent. On any “real” news program, things would have fast degraded to a lot of yelling and screaming.
I thought he was trying to set it up for the camera to get a good shot, since he placed it fairly deliberately, looked into the camera, and that camera then took a close shot of it.
He was defensive because Stewart put him in that position. I thought Obama did a good job of explaining what his administration has done, and in defending himself. Stewart has been critical on past shows about what the administration is doing, particularly about the slowness of recovery. I think this is a common perception in America, due primarily to Obama’s isolation over the past two years, and to the incessant yammering of Fox & Friends. He should have been having televised information sessions to explain what is happening and why, instead of assuming that it was apparent to the citizenry.
If you were the prez, would you drink water that had been poured into a cup by persons unknown? I’d bet even Stewart doesn’t know who fills those cups.