Jon Stewart just completely misrepresented Fast and Furious

[Nancy Waterman]

He made it sound like Holder has refused to give any documents and now Obama is claiming executive privilege - just like Bush used to do.
He left out so many salient facts and really twisted it to fit a false equivalence. It was really infuriating.

He left out: that the program began under Bush; that Holder knew nothing about it originally and when he found out he ended it; that Congress has been given thousands of documents; that many of the documents they now want are illegal to give, etc., etc. I am really irritated. Usually, Jon Stewart is trustworthy, so people assume he has the right story.

[southernyankeebelle]

1. Yes you are right. I wanted to yell at the tv and tell him to go over and listen to Maddows

take on this story. I got so disgusted I changed it.

[SalviaBlue]

43. That was exactly my reaction.

[southernyankeebelle]

44. Now you know we're not nuts

[Lifelong Protester]

2. I know he's a comedian

But he usually does a better job of explaining things. I thought he did a crummy job with the facts (he usually has a better grasp of the facts...this was pretty off base tonight-I like my satire with a little bit more of a base...)

[nxylas]

10. He's also a professional centrist

He needs to find middle ground between an already centrist Democratic Party and a batshit insane Republican Party.

[watchdogg]

65. very true

like that rally he held - LAME!

[abelenkpe]

3. Last nite yeah?

I watched his show and like you was quite disappointed. But then Colbert came on and his coverage of fast and furious was brilliant. I posted it in the video n multimedia section. It will do a great job of erasing Jon Stewarts version from your mind.

[One of the 99]

4. He parroted the FAUX news talking points

Very disappointed in Stewart of late.

What's worse, I just checked a conservative site and their doing backflips over Stewart's report.

[FLyellowdog]

5. I've felt like in the last several days (weeks ?)

Stewart has really been pretty harsh on Obama. I'm not liking him as much as I used to...Stewart, not Obama. I STILL love my President!

[MindMover]

6. Maybe John needs some glasses, the truth might be blurry....

[Tx4obama]

7. Here's a link to the segment - VIDEO

Jon Stewart Trashes Obama’s Executive Privilege Assertion On Fast And Furious

VIDEO here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-trashes-obamas-executive-privilege-assertion-on-fast-and-furious/

[IndyJones]

18. Love it! I personally believe he is spot on!

[Dokkie]

19. Ofc he is spot on

Jon Stewart is just about the only real journalist we have in this country. And sometimes it frustrates some DUers that he is not a complete partisan.

I bet $1m that this despicable program continues if the one border agent didn't die, 1m savage Mexicans can continue to die and none of you would have cared.

[otohara]

51. Pants On FIRE

What are you a pundit now?
Pundits make wild accusations like the one you just made regarding DU and it's members.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1190

Jon Stewart is not a journalist - but last night he sure did behave like a journalist, who works for FOX.
leaving out many details on purpose.

As far as POTUS invoking "executive privilege" I don't' see where he had a choice
but to come to the aid of his Attorney General. Almost four years in office and using EP only once considering the
shit he's had to put up with from the other side.

[roody]

8. Colbert is better.

[iamthebandfanman]

15. most definitely...

and especially when it comes to satire

[madashelltoo]

9. Stewart got this one wrong, but

everyone is entitled to get something wrong every now and then. Of course this is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to important to fuck up, but I gotta give him this one. Now, if he does that shit again . . . well, you know.

[One of the 99]

21. Stewart been getting a lot wrong lately.

When he had Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein on the show all Stewart did was make excuses for Republican obstruction in congress.

When he had Robert Draper on, he never asked about the GOP meeting on the night of the inauguration where they plotted to obstruct everything the President proposed. That's a major revelation in Draper's book but Stewart ignored it.

A while back he had Jodi Kantor on and basically kissed her butt. A week earlier he did a segment going after FOX news for inaccuracies in their report about a White House halloween party for Veteran's families. But the basis of that report was Jodi Kantor's book, so she was responsible for those inaccuracies, not FOX. Yet when he had her on he never even brought it up.

[DonCoquixote]

11. A lot of people

Want this to stink because Eric is the mean old man that did not give them their precious Marijuana "medicine" so they want Obama to jettison Holder.

[lob1]

17. A lot of people

don't like Holder because he busts medical marijuana stores over bankers, Wall st., Bush war criminals or anyone who helped ruin the economy.

But what Issa is doing is just nuts.

[JohnnyRingo]

12. Stewart did point that out last night.

He joked that the Republicans cleverly figured out that Obama went back in time and hypnotized Bush into initiating the program, then ordered the Justice Dept to give the guns to Arizona gun dealers who sold the weapons to Mexican drug lords and lost track of them.

I didn't see tonight's show.

[AynRandCollectedSS]

14. Hmmmm...

I think the hypnotizing Bush bit was Colbert actually.

[JohnnyRingo]

16. Maybe...

I though it was Stewart, but I watch them back to back.
...While I'm high. So, you know,...there's that.


LOL

[dionysus]

66. why Johnny Ringo.. you look like someone just.. walked over your grave...

[jenmito]

24. That was Colbert. n/t

[AynRandCollectedSS]

13. Agreed...

I think he tries too hard to appear unbiased or something. I remember him telling O'Reilly in an interview once that The Daily Show isn't necessarily pro-Democratic Party.

His F&F report sucked, but Colbert did rock it!

[otohara]

20. First Time Ever - Pretty Disgusted

w/ Stewart.

WTF? He should have watched Stephen Colbert the night before.

[graywarrior]

22. Hmmm, thought it was just me

I turned him off half way through his spiel.

[JNelson6563]

23. I grew weary of his "both sides are the same!1!" schtick a while back.

*yawn* Stewart continues to dumb down, eh? Yeah, old news.

Julie

[ZombieHorde]

63. He was right when he said that.

But since most people don't seem to know what subject he was discussing, they freak out.

[JNelson6563]

67. Ah yes, good tactic.

Last edited Sun Jun 24, 2012, 11:41 AM - Edit history (1)

When people don't see it your way they "Don't understand" (obviously not as sharp as you!) and they "freak out" cause they are just too darn dumb to get it!

No, it really started in earnest with their rally. What a wasted opportunity!

But hey, if you think both sides are the same then why I am even bothering?

Julie

[ZombieHorde]

68. OK. What subject was he talking about? nt

[jenmito]

25. He tries to make everything into that false equivalency. He did the same thing the day before when

he showed "both candidates being heckled," and he equated Romney, JUST a candidate, being heckled in NYC by someone shouting "YOU'RE A RACIST" with that guy interrupting PRESIDENT Obama in the Rose Garden during his speech. It's maddening.

I guess he's trying to show his "street cred" to prove he's NOT a Dem. (which he has said before).

[One of the 99]

26. Or maybe he thinks Letterman is retiring next year

And doesn't want to piss off the big shots at CBS.

[jenmito]

28. What does Letterman have to do with this? He's tougher on Romney than Stewart is anyway. n/t

[One of the 99]

29. Becuase Stewart wants to replace Letterman

Remember Letterman wasn't at all political when CBS hired him.

[jenmito]

30. Letterman just renewed his contract for 2 more years. Did you hear he's leaving after that? n/t

[One of the 99]

48. It has been speculated that he will retire

after his next contract expires.

[jenmito]

53. Oh. Thanks for that. n/t

[GeorgeGist]

27. IMO The Daily Show has gone lame ...

since returning from their last vacation.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

50. It's been lame for quite a while now.

It's simply not the brilliant and hilarious show it used to be. It's mostly Jon Stewart mugging for the camera.

[bigwillq]

31. The fake news show gave wrong information.

Shocking

[jenmito]

55. It's not a "fake news show." It's a show that gives the news in a comedic style, but in some

cases, he makes false equivalencies. In some cases, he's the ONLY "deliverer of news" to point out things that those in the "mainstream" media (meaning not on Comedy Central) overlook.

[bigwillq]

57. Wiki is not the greatest source

for information. But, then again, neither is the Daily Show.


~~~snip~~~~
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (called The Daily Show until 1999), is an American late night satirical television program

Describing itself as a fake news program, The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organizations, and often, aspects of the show itself.

~~~snip~~~

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Show

[jenmito]

58. I believe this study is more accurate: "The Daily Show is as substantive as the 'real' news"

Does The Daily Show deliver when it comes to the "real" news? A new study from …

by Eric Bangeman - Oct 4 2006, 5:36pm EDT

The Daily Show is much funnier than traditional newscasts, but a new study from Indiana University says it has the same amount of meat on its bones when it comes to coverage of the news. The brand of news coverage Jon Stewart and the rest of The Daily Show's staff brings to the airwaves is just as substantive as traditional news programs like World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News, according to the study conducted by IU assistant professor of telecommunications Julia R. Fox and a couple of graduate students.

The researchers looked at coverage of the 2004 Democratic and Republican national conventions and the first presidential debate of the fall campaign, all of which were covered by the mainstream broadcast news outlets and The Daily Show. Individual broadcasts of the nightly news and corresponding episodes of The Daily Show were analyzed by the researchers, who found that the "average amounts of video and audio substance in the broadcast network news stories" were no different from The Daily Show. Perhaps more telling, The Daily Show delivered longer stories on the topic.

http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/10/7908/

[Benjamin Parish]

32. He's a comedian..

.. nuff said?

[bigwillq]

33. Hello

Welcome to DU!

[Benjamin Parish]

34. Hello.

We'll see how long I can make it without getting banned/suspended.

Seems to be a sort of a hobby for me.

[bigwillq]

35. Any particular reason why you would be banned/suspended? (nt)

[Benjamin Parish]

37. Calling someone an idiot, last time

Was totally warranted, though.

[uppityperson]

38. What was your username you were banned under?

[Benjamin Parish]

40. It wasn't here.

It was another website.

[uppityperson]

42. To be clear, this time you were banned for supporting Ron Paul. That is against the TOS of DU.

[bigwillq]

39. No need for name calling

Doesn't reflect well on you. It's childish.

[Benjamin Parish]

41. his posts were idiotic.

So, I called him an idiot. Completely meant it, too.

It would be like calling someone a novice, in the situation that it was.

[uppityperson]

36. That depends on whether or not you follow the Terms of Service you agreed to.

I hope you keep your mind open and learn here rather than being here just to post disruptive stuff. Up to you.

[jenmito]

45. He's gone. n/t

[boxman15]

46. He's been infuriating me occasionally with his false equivalence BS.

There are times when Obama and Democrats deserved to be mocked for being no worse than Republicans. This isn't one. Not even close. His takedowns of Republicans and the media, especially Fox, are still brilliant, but his takedowns of the left or Obama have just been lazy lately. This isn't even something to be critical of them for, to be honest.

Colbert's take on it from Wednesday was much better and put the blame where it needed to be. He's been on fire lately. I used to like Stewart much better, but over the past year or so Colbert has been the funniest man on the planet.

[former9thward]

47. F&F began in Oct. 2009.

Bush had a program which ended in 2007. The two programs had different objectives. The only similarity is that they involved guns.

[MightyOkie]

54. That's how I understand it too.

Also, I thought the Mexican government knew about Wide Receiver (Bush), but didn't know about F&F. I think what has people upset about F&F is there is a dead border patrol agent.

[a kennedy]

49. Well Jon just made Neil, "skinny neck" Cavuto's tv show....

Was just passing up and down the dial....and there he is on Cavuto's show. Ugh.

[MightyOkie]

56. Isn't that the guy with MS?

You making fun of his disease that affects so many people?

[Honeycombe8]

59. Does MS give people a skinny neck? I never heard that. I never heard Cavuto has MS, either.

How sad.

[Psephos]

52. Losing Jon Stewart is a wake-up call.

It's bizarre to see people defending blatant use of executive privilege by the man who ran on pledges of open government and transparency. What horseshit.

[vaberella]

60. Losing interest in a party doesn't stop you from reporting the FACTS. n/t

[treestar]

61. You are against the doctrine of EP on principle?

There should be no Executive Privilege?

Are you also against husband/wife privilege, doctor-patient, attorney-client, and the confessional?

[Psephos]

62. I am certainly against sweeping generalizations. n/t

[watchdogg]

64. He's a comedian

You can't get mad when he doesn't take time to explain facts - that's not his job.

[OKNancy]

70. straight out of freerepublic

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2898314/posts

[coastalgal]

71. but,

the program ended under Bush. That's the problem. And I thought that Stewart was pretty darn good given that we seem to have been quite silent over things that we would have nailed Bush for - like Drone strike privilege from the Executive Branch. That's creepy too. I mean, c'mon, if Bush was going over a Drone Strike kill list and personally signing off on the strike I think we would be marching in the streets. Right? So I think Stewart was dead on.