I just saw it, too. That type of “dude” is more of something you add at the end of a phrase, not really something you’re calling the other person.
I did not think it appeared to be Stewart’s mug, but the one he usually has for the guest. And the setting it aside was definitely for the camera. If it was (supposed to be) Stewart’s mug, it makes more sense why Obama didn’t take it back.
It wasn’t Stewart’s mug that he used to pour water into “Mug Force One.” It was just an identical mug that is always used for the guest’s mug of water, much like on other talk shows that offer guests water.
Watch this via DVR last night. I had a very different take - I just assumed that Stewart realized that they had set out a standard guest mug not the special one they intended. He found Mug Force One and transferred the water - and while doing so, made the announcement that Obama had a special mug. Obama took it, looked at it, smiled a small smile and put it front and center on the desk as if to say “there you go - how 'bout that!”
Overall I thought it was a great interview. Stewart asked thoughtful questions and Obama put his agenda forward. I may disagree with some of his points, but it felt issue-focused and constructive…
2004 Montana gubernatorial debate. It was in a “brief questions from the audience” segment, where the candidate was given 15 seconds to respond. One candidate (one of the Republicans, I don’t remember which) answered a question with “Yes”. The audience seemed to appreciate the brevity, too.
And I’m another one who sees no problem at all with “dude”. Yes, Obama’s the President, but Stewart is a comedian, and it was an informal setting. There’s nothing inappropriate about “dude”, just informal.
The White House is really pleased with the whole thing.
I’ll throw in some cents here…
Totally agree with Gyrate about the mug thing. He either was showing the fancy mug off for the camera and/or comically rejecting water from an unknown source. In fact, while they were doing the intro I was thinking about security and what kind of special security you need when the president visits your TV show, and the mug thing came up while I was thinking that, so it fit right in for me.
Totally agree with Snowboarder Bo (and others) about “dude.” I totally would end up calling the president “dude” because that’s how I roll. The country made a huge stink about “wanting to have a beer” with the president. They better be ok with wanting to call him “dude” too.
Stewart interrupts the guest to throw in quips. Part of the show. But the President may have gotten used to everyone in the room allowing him to finish a sentence.
That interview was super awkward. Definitely not funny. Stewart asked one good non-pandering question (re: appointing his financial guys) and Obama, as any politician would, handwaved it.
I’d love to know which questions you found pandering, and why.
Me too. I’ll hold my breath.
I didn’t see any pandering at all, and all of the questions were challenging. I also didn’t see Obama handwave any of them.
From the article linked by ZipperJJ:
First, I like that (and agree) Robert Gibbs called Jon Stewart
And to try and shut down the naysayers and the controversy:
Crap, I didn’t even notice the dude comment. It utterly failed to register with me. I MUST HATE YOUR PRESIDENT.
Well, there is a difference between slowness & immobility. Do you consider the Westminster system dictatorial?
I’m surprised at how people micro-analyse these things. The cup repositioning: looked like Obama did that polite thing you do when some gives you a gift, you place it in a temporarily prominent position. Just simple manners. But apparently it was some kind of mock disdainful gesture.
Anyway, it seemed like a rather sympathetic interview to me. The angle was essentially “you’re not as Obama as we’d hoped”, which is hardly Paxman-level grilling. But Jon Stewart always appears polite and respectful when interviewing political heavyweights, regardless of their affiliation. He’s not bad, but if he’s your best political interviewer, then I don’t know what to say. Maybe that you have the best satirists in the world (Stewart and Colbert), but the worst TV journalists?
This statement is so true that it isn’t funny. TV news is a dead fucking joke.
I agree with the first part and we do seem to be past the days of having real TV journalists. If a journalist or pundit is known to be hard hitting, the politician just won’t bother giving them a chance. The TV News industry is now mostly controlled by the Entertainment and Marketing side of the corporations and the idea of an independent News group is lost to the US.
I think the closest you get is NPR and it seems like few trust them. They are either too Liberal or too beholden to Govt $ to be trusted. (It seems to me they are the only News Agency left on air that does a real job but mine is a minority view)
I think this is a vast overstatement. The majority of people have no idea what N.P.R. is because it’s on non-commercial radio. The next set of people think it’s something that overeducated pointy-headed wet blankets like. They have no opinion about its trustworthiness.
Comparatively, I think the people who actively distrust NPR comprise a much smaller group, small than the group of people who like NPR.
He’s the President, not the fricking King. Who cares if a citizen called him “dude” in the middle of an enthusiastic discourse? Jesus, are people going to start curtseying to him next?
Why on earth do you think that would happen?
Because it will get cropped by scumbags like Sean Hannity to make it appears as if he didn’t have anything to say after the “but.”