An open letter to Jon Stewart

[Initech]

Dear Jon

Let me first start by saying I'm one of your biggest fans. Watching the Daily Show, it's reruns, and correspondents, particularly those of Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, Ed Helms, and Rob Corddry has kept me from going berserk, especially during the worst of the Bush years, and now what is to become the worst of the tea bag years.

However, your message which started at the Rally to Restore Sanity, and continued into last night's (1/10/2011) opening monologue was that you cant predict crazy. That we should continue to compromise and find common ground.

With last weekend's shootings that took the lives of six innocent people, and serverly jeopardized that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, I'm done trying to find common ground with the Republicans. I'm done compromising. They have, for years - ever since Fox called Bush for Florida despite clear evidence showing Gore won - been stomping on us liberals, the "little guy". Actually you could go even further than that - back to when Jimmy Carter lost and Reagan won. That's really the start of this kind of crazy. There is no excuse for the violent rhetoric that is spewing out of the minds of the likes of the Limbaughs, Hannitys, and Coulters of the world. There is no excuse for the Michelle Malkins and Glenn Becks. There's no excuse for this:

"I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus—living fossils—so we will never forget what these people stood for" - Rush Limbaugh

Or this:

""The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians"" - Pat Robertson

Or even Glenn Beck openly advocating for the murder of Michael Moore - a frequent guest on your show - on his show. It's that type of mentality that has caused us to predict this type of crazy. I've said for years that they wont rest until someone gets killed. And by they, I mean "the teabaggers". The anti-government crowd. Somalia would be a place for these people to live. A place where everyone has guns, and no one's in charge. That would be their ideal government, and sometimes I feel like that's where we're headed.

I really hate to bring up another tragedy - the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, but it's really the only favorable comparison I could make. Or how about the tragic shooting of a Knoxville, TN Unitarian Universalist church, which the shooter said "I wanted to kill all the liberals in the house and senate".

It's a huge pattern that's only going to get worse unless we stop it. You are in a position to get people to stop it. The crap that is being spewed out of the mouths of the right is so violent and hateful that it would make even the most hardcore death metal bands blush. And the difference between hardcore death metal and what Rush Limbaugh says? We know the death metal bands are here for our entertainment.

Limbaugh isn't. You may say "Oh but Limbaugh and Beck and his ilk are just here to entertain us." They're not. They're pundits with an agenda. One that is very dangerous and very scary - the ultimate false equivalency they have been able to come up with is that of the liberal media. There really isn't. It's right and far right. I have many close friends and relatives who listen to and take these people seriously. And it's that line of violent thinking that leads to mob mentality, and mob mentality is not good for any government, past, present or future. Mob mentality got the teabaggers elected in the first place, and the next Congress is going to wreck serious havoc on the lives of everyone it touches. Thanks to this incident, and the only good thing to come out of it, is that right-wing bullies have been exposed for who they are. And they're in full-on denial mode.

That said I will continue to watch and laugh at the mistakes that these people make on a daily basis. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into this.

- Initech

[roguevalley]

1. I agree with you. I found myself gritting my teeth during his

speech. I think it was just for him. Giving more ground against evil, discounting the intentions of these reptile brained individuals encourages them. Sarah Palin knew what she was doing. She deserves the scorn of the nation and even she feels it because she is silent. Stewart was wrong.

[DeSwiss]

2. Agreed. K&R - n/t

[abelenkpe]

3. compromising and looking for common ground

has done nothing but push this country farther and farther to the right. It's time for the left to push back. It is long past time for sensible gun control. I mean damn, if we're not going to provide adequate care for those with mental illnesses we should at least limit their ability to purchase guns.

[Initech]

9. It's like trying to steal from a vending machine.

You don't just stick your hand in and expect to get free snacks, you have to rock it back and forth a few times, then it falls over. I think that's what Stewart was trying to accomplish last night, but it got lost in the message of "compromise, compromise, compromise".

[bushisanidiot]

4. Stewart is in no position to "do something about it" anymore than Maddow or Olbermann are.

Stewart is already considered a leftist, which I don't think he would deny. Yes, he does reach a wider audience than either Maddow or Olberman, but he isn't going to sway people who aren't 'already left leaning. i guarantee you that any repukes who watch his show, most likely flip the channel if he starts complaining about repukes. Stewart knows this and it's why he doesn't criticize them as much as he could or used to. he wants the biggest audience possible.

[tavalon]

7. Jon is a liberal, not a leftist

I am a liberal, and a progressive. I am not a leftist. Words matter and in the last two weeks, I've been hearing people here use the term leftist a lot. Leftist is a smear word, usually used by the right to smear the left.

[tavalon]

5. Yeah, the false equivalency crap, eh?

I guess I'll skip the show tonight.

[cilla4progress]

6. I SO agree -

I assume you sent this to him? I would love to hear his response. I too am disappointed in him lately, with this "moral equivalence" jag he is on. I think he will look back on this as wrong-headed.

[Initech]

10. No I should, I'd love to see if I got a response.

[cilla4progress]

15. Definitely!

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. K&R Well stated.

[lunatica]

11. What everyone needs to understand is that everyone is accountable

for every single thing they do, and/or what they don't do, say, think, encourage, discourage, say or don't say. This is what free will and free choice are about at their core. If filth comes out of your mouth, you are accountable for spewing it. If love and encouragement comes out of your mouth you are also accountable for putting it out there. If what you say or do causes others to do evil, you are still accountable for what YOU said or did. If you feel that you caused, even in a small way for such evil to come about, you are accountable for what you do about it. Denial based on thinking you can somehow sleaze your way out of accountability is less than useless. You can think you've fooled God or what Decency of human behavior you believe in you're wrong. You are accountable for every act, thought, and inaction you commit. No one else on the planet is accountable for what you do or don't do.

If you are old enough to be held accountable, you are accountable. Sarah Palin isn't guilty of those deaths. But she is accountable for her hate rhetoric. She is accountable for every single word that comes out of her mouth.

[tomp]

12. fuck john stewart. there is no equivalance.

and what's worse--i believe he knows it.

[sam kane]

19. +1 he knows it and is not convincing trying to sell it. nt.

[Terry_M]

13. I feel that people who disagree with his message are misreading

He's not saying find common ground with Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, or any other lunatics on the right. Find common ground with the AVERAGE republican (no, not the one on free republic either). They have different ideas but want a government that works for the people. Not a government that is beholden to corporate interests and NOTHING but.

[Initech]

16. See the problem with that is the average republican buys into their crap.

I'd like to see one, just one who didn't cite Fox News as the main source of all their opinions. The way to fight them is to fight the source.

[whatchamacallit]

14. It reminds me of Leno trotting out Clinton jokes well into Bush's 2nd term

to, you know, keep it "fair and balanced". Stewart has sold his soul.

[sam kane]

18. +1 Jon has sold his soul.

It is very sad.

[Enthusiast]

17. K&R nt

[pacalo]

20. K&R.

[Kurovski]

21. This was predicted, and people are predicting more.

So, enough with that thang there.

[Apollo11]

22. A lot of folks here on DU want to believe that the Tucson shooter was a Tea-Party type

The Tucson shootings were more than 100 hours ago and still there are people here who believe that we can blame Sarah Palin for this tragedy.

Jon Stewart and Ed Schultz have both said that the shooter was mentally ill, he had no obvious connections with either the GOP or the Tea Party, and so it is pointless trying to blame the Republicans for this tragedy. It is also counterproductive because it makes us look partisan and like we are trying to score political points off the back of this tragedy.

It was Bill Clinton who said that "the era of big government is over" - but that does not make him responsible for inspiring the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Several Democratic candidates including Gabrielle Giffords have had their pictures taken holding lethal firearms or have even featured guns in their own campaign spots.

Both sides will have to watch their rhetoric from now on, and long may it last.

Glenn Beck made a very appropriate statement following the Tucson shootings, but is already back doing his crazy "end of the world" rantings - because the TV business is all about ratings, and unfortunately there are lots of folks who find it impossible to resist his random rants.

I am still waiting for the Ed Show on MSNBC to dial down the yelling and re-name the "RAPID FIRE" segment. Both Ed and Keith are too angry too often IMO. They should stay calm - like Rachel.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. Jon Stewart should watch Cenk's take on this...and perhaps read his blog as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO9JajhZf2g

[newtothegame]

24. When did you send this to him? nt