Jon Stewart often makes fun of CNN’s Rick Sanchez. Today Sanchez got mad and fired back.
And then he kept firing…
And now he’s just fired. Shame about that. We’ll always have “President Obama, are you listening?” and his on-air Tasering.
I saw the interview earlier and thought: there is someone who just crossed a line he is going to regret… I guess I was right.
As entertaining as this is, it’ll only confirm to people who think that way that Jews run the networks. But it’s not like that BS could go unchallenged.
I really wish TDS had a Friday show.
I wonder if he ever did an investigation on why they have volcanoes on Iceland when it’s so cold there…
From the NY Times story.
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Er, uh, Rick. I think you were the one who just ended your career, not Stewart, unless Jon had his hand up your ass and throwing his voice, making you say those things.
Stewart ribbed Sanchez a lot, but I never thought he was really going after him. I’m not sure why Sanchez was so butthurt, as people say around here.
Being called out, right or wrong, in public is unpleasant. Being called out by a comedian is worse, because he mocks you because it’s funny and you don’t get a chance to respond. And everyone laughs, which is extremely unpleasant. And Sanchez knew he’d never get a chance to actually respond, because Stewart is very funny and good and improv whether hye’s right or wrong, and Sanchez isn’t. And, as it happened, Sanchez is right: Stewart may not have intended it, but he did destroy Sanchez. Sanchez was also right: Stewart is a considerable ass and usually grossly unfair to his targets, but he gets away with it because he’s a comedian (even though at this point he’s about as much news as anything). And he is prejudiced against anybody who doesn’t come from his class. Just because he’s Jewish doesn’t make him a saint.
I have a hard time reconciling these two bitter statements with reality. Jon Stewart frequently engages people he disagrees significantly with, and does so respectfully…if they’re civil and honest.
That’s why Stewart goes after guys like Sanchez and Tucker and Cramer and everyone on Fox News. They’re not honest and/or they’re not civil. They give him material and then get pissy when called on it, which just makes Stewart laugh harder. Show you’re the better man, and he’ll immediately engage you on that level.
Stewart doesn’t make fun of or “destroy” people who disagree with him. He makes fun of people who make shit up, who demonize and terrorize and lie when doing so. Naturally those people are going to be pissy when they get called on it; they can’t smile and go “You got me, Stewart.” An inability to laugh at oneself when the joke is true and admit that it is, or failing that an inability to comport oneself assertively and not childishly, is a real flaw.
An honest person who has the facts behind him can kick the jester’s ass any day of the week.
Could you provide some examples of Stewart being grossly unfair to a particular person?
What is Jon Stewart’s “class”? Are you saying that Stewart has a grudge against rich people? Looks down on the lower class? What is your evidence of this?
Stewart has consistently made fun of Sanchez for his poorly thought-out statements and reporting and Sanchez’s own recent statements are more of the same. Sanchez, in describing himself as the son of poor Latino parents, really isn’t making a class argument. He’s saying Stewart - and the people who run CNN - are racist.
Being Hispanic, or even both Hispanic and from a disadvantaged background, is not a shield against having a reputation for inane, clueless comments and reporting. Sanchez until very recently had his own show on a major cable news network. Playing the victim at this point isn’t really going to help his case.
Actually, I think being Jewish is probably a pretty major barrier to him being a Saint.
roflmao!
I watched Jon Stewart faithfully throughout high school (when he started getting big in 2001 or so) and into college. But the last two years have been…not so good. I find him angrier, taking cheaper and cheaper shots, attacking anyone who disagrees with him. When Maureen Dowd calls out Obama’s BS and Stewart doesn’t, that’s just incredible to me. Because Stewart is supposed to be at the edge, but now I feel he speaks more to the Democratic establishment in place than leading the pack. I was no fan of Sanchez, and he lost his job when started saying what the people who run CNN are like. But Stewart masquerades as a comedian when he’s really a political commentator. He used to make fun of all sorts of things; but the last 2-3 years it’s been politics his whole friggin’ show. He’s like a nonprofit church advocating people vote for certain candidates and agendas while claiming “we’re a religious institution, we mean no harm!” when called out on it. “I’m just a comedian!” You know he wants to be taken seriously. It’s disgusting. Colbert doing “Better Know a District” is doing unique freaking stuff - lots of members of Congress are forbidden from going on his show he’s so good! Stewart sits on his ass and doesn’t even read the books his guests write. He used to read every book, and would comment specifically on various salient points. He’s washed up.
As for people pointing out Stewart is a “minority” because he’s Jewish - I mean really? Maybe in 60’s it was “bad” to be Jewish, but on the coasts in 2010 and for the past 30 some years, it hasn’t been a bad thing. In my very backwards hometown (there are many youtube videos of political rallies in my hometown where people call Obama a Kenyan Muslim) it was cool to be Jewish. And that was something I experienced on two separate college campuses. Jews are the second wealthiest minority in America; I think it’s safe to say they’re not at the bottom of the totem pole. Stewart is grasping at straws, and I’m disappointed.
He often invites people onto his show to give them a chance to respond to what he says. It’s still his show, of course, but he’s not shy about engaging people he has criticized.
That’s entirely Sanchez’s fault. He got hours of prime time TV every day on a major network and he can’t take a little bit of insubstantial criticism? He did something very stupid, and it’s a common mistake among oversensitive celebrities: he thought he could out argue a comedian. You can’t do that. Rick Sanchez has to take himself seriously because he’s in the news business (well, he’s on CNN and I guess that’s what business they’re in) and Jon Stewart doesn’t have to take himself seriously. If you argue with a comedian they will make you look stupid. And if you try to shout down someone who has a talk show when you don’t, you will lose. It’s the modern equivalent of “don’t get into a fight with someone who buys ink by the gallon.”
Sanchez was stupid to be offended about this in the first place, and that’s apart from his faults as an anchor. The thing that set him off was that Jon Stewart called him a twit three weeks ago. Stewart made fun of him - very mildly - for saying on air that he got a tweet from John Boehner, as if that was a big deal. (It is not a big deal.) Why is that such a big thing for him? The Daily Show didn’t go after him hard, either. They made fun of him once every few months, tops. Maybe less. And it was for silly things like the comment about volcanoes or the meters thing. He does hours of live TV - so what if he shoves his foot in his mouth once in a while? Where does a guy who volunteered to be Tasered on camera get off pretending he’s so dignified?
This is a common complaint about people who don’t get what Jon Stewart does.
See, this is the same non sequitur Rick Sanchez just engaged in. Stewart’s religion has nothing to do with anything. No one said he was a great guy just because he’s Jewish. Sanchez tried to call him a racist, and when the host pointed out that Stewart is Jewish, he essentially said “that doesn’t count because they run the media.”
So Sanchez tried this and failed, but if you think you can do better, here’s your chance: show me that Jon Stewart is bigoted against non-Jews or non-middle class people or non-leftists or somebody like that. Because this issue with Sanchez had nothing to do with either of their backgrounds.
Excellent post!
As soon as I read it, I said, my thoughts exactly. Only you wrote it in a much more appropriate fashion than I would.
On a second reading, I think, that’s what Sanchez was trying to say only his brain was probably shortcut due to exposure he received.
What Daily Show are you watching? He has been emphatic in saying he is disappointed in Obama. He’s even saying it on other TV shows.
Sorry it’s true, but, uh, it is true. Sanchez was the only who injected ethnicity into this without cause, so it’s fair to point out that he really is a minority himself. There aren’t any quotes around that.
What did Stewart do? Three weeks ago he called Sanchez a twit. Today Sanchez said some stuff about Stewart and Jews, and got himself fired from CNN. Stewart isn’t responsible for that.
But he’s not there to argue, which is the point. He’s there to mock and amuse. That’s a big difference. Nobody gets to have a good debate on The Daily Show, and you “win” not by being right, but by being funny. That’s why I eventually stopped watching. It’s like a donut: tastes great but often bad for you. Stewart is funny, but he’s not neccessarily right, but it doens’t matter - he’s jsut that funny.
Perhaps. Not kowing Sanchez myself, I don’t judge. But i certainly see where he’s coming from. Right or wrong, he wants to argue. He’s not a comedian - that much I know.
I agree, it is a flaw. However, being unhappy at being mocked in public is not exactly uncommon. I don’t know Sanchez (though I strongly suspect a lot of the Dopers commenitng on this are using their own personal biases here), so I don’t judge. But I do see that what he said was angry, but not particularly incorrect.
What is there to get, exactly? I find much fo matrerial to be apt and amusing… I find a lot of the other stuff to be vicious and dishonest, though also funny. I also watch South Park but I don’t pretend they’re being fair and neither do Parker and Stone.
RI read Sanchez;s statement. Unless you are a mind reader I do not see it. He said that Stewart is bigoted, which is is. The other speaker then mentioned Stewart’s jewishness, as if that somehow meant Stewart was lily-pure or couldn’t be prejudiced. Sanchez never claimed that jews run the media - he said that people like Stewart run the media, which is not the same, and I find it intersting that so many people immediately assumed Stewart’s Jewishness was the topic.
In fact, Sanchez was making a point about class, not race. And he’s right. I’d rather be governed by almost anyone other than someone from Stewart’s class, who tend to be very well educated and know not a damn thing about the world.
I’m not a big fan of the “I’ve never seen it, therefore it doesn’t exist” school of argumentation, but that aside, where has Jon Stewart claimed any particular oppression for being Jewish? As near as I can tell, he hasn’t made any response to Sanchez’s comments or his firing. What straws is he grasping at, here?
So you obviously don’t watch his show.