Daily Show's Stewart 'Quietly Visiting' Ailing Iraq Soldiers

Comedy Central's Jon Stewart was in Washington, DC Tuesday night for the USO-Metro Awards Dinner, where the Daily Show host was honored with a Merit Award from Joint Chiefs vice-chair General James Cartwright. If it seems an odd fit for a comic who consistently lampoons the Bush administration, the Washington Post's Reliable Source informs readers that all the comedic comfort Stewart gives critics of the Iraq War is matched by his efforts to comfort our wounded soldiers:

Turns out the comedian has been quietly visiting soldiers at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals, trips he began in 2004 to better understand the Iraq war. "I felt that I was living in a world of theory," he told the audience, "but I hadn't touched the reality and the humanity of it." The first patient he met was "funnier than I was" -- and Stewart's been a regular ever since.

Stewart told the Post, "I certainly get a lot more out of it than they do...If anything, it's made me angrier... You can be for the war, against the war, but you can't be uninformed about it. To see the human cost is part of the equation."

RELATED:

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Alive Day Memories From Iraq: A Focus On The Walking (And Wheeling, And Crutching) Wounded [HuffPo]
America Supports You: Star-Struck Marines Meet, Greet Celebrities [Military Connection]
Cause and effect [TONY]
Greg Mitchell: The 'Unsung Heroes' in 5 Years of War -- Even Stephen Colbert [HuffPo]
Paul Rieckoff: Troops Die While Bureaucrats Blunder: The Fight Against Red Tape [HuffPo]
Jon Soltz: Helping The Wounded During the Season of Giving [HuffPo]

The Bob Woodruff Family Fund

Comments

[booker52]

Good for Jon.

[sangsue]

Jon Stewart has made me reconsidering marrying a "nice Jewish boy." If they're all like him, maybe Mama was right.
Seriously, he treats everyone he has on his show with respect but if he disagrees with what someone says, he'll tell them. Politely. Civilly. But he'll tell them. I think the fact that a comedian who is not a journalist has all these types of people on his show speaks volumes. And he's not soft when it comes to people like McCain. As another poster said, he often gives them just enough rope to hang themselves.
Besides, if you listen to his greetings, he always calls someone whose views he doesn't agree with "Sir." And he had a friendship with McCain before, why should he have to be nasty to him even if he may not agree with everything he does. After all, haven't you heard that you get more bees with honey?

[NicoleAnonymous]

So you think there aren't any Jewish men who treat women badly because Stewart for some strange reason represents all Jewish men? I can assure you that you're wrong.

[wisechild]

And I can assure you that you are small minded. I feel sorry for you, very negative.

And no, not insulting you but definitely wonder about you...at least while reading your posts here.

I can certainly see why you'd have trouble with men, regardless of religion, you sound mean!

[ClockworkOrange]

who IS this person? "indignation" is the second door, on the right.

good on ya, Jon Stewart. it's the comedy that keeps us from going crazy...
and reminds us, through the laughs, that there is a bigger fight, here.

[jungfookid]

why so bitter? sangsue was clearly joking, and suddenly you feel the need to "inform" her that not all jewish men are nice guys. that's news! I'm sure she assumed that they all shit rainbows and exhaled pure oxygen.

btw, this story would have leaked even if stewart had declined to accept the award, not shown up at the ceremony, told them to keep it under wraps, etc. maybe he should never have visited them at all, that attention-starved prick.

[wndrwrthg]

Shall I get you a saucer of milk? There weas no need to be so catty, as I am sure that Sangsue is aware that there are jerks of every stripe running around in this world. Please do us all a favor, when you feel snarky, be quite.

[Amendmen7]

NicoleAnonymous, the lack of reading comprehension, level of unsophistication, and concentration of vitriol demonstrated in each of your comments here upset me enough to log in, which I rarely do.

Read the comment; the context is not "all jewish boys are great", rather that this is an example of one great jewish boy. It was a comic homage to the man for acting with such class.

From your numerous posts here, it's clear that you have yet to understand the written word either in terms of its explicit content or its context. I ask that you build these comprehension skills before continuing to shame yourself with uneducated comments.

[kirksong]

Way to go Jon Stewart!!! It is heartening to know he is a regular visitor to Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals. It shows his humanity, compassion, and desire to understand what is happening from those who have sacraficed their minds and bodies. How many visits do you think Cheney or Bush has made to these injured vets? Two thirds of the American public think the war was a mistake - Cheney's instinctive reaction - "So". Our 'right to life president' continues to live in a state of delusion showing little concern for the living. Once we are out of the womb, we are fair game. In addition to great entertainment and humor - Jon Stewart is keeping the public informed in a humorous way. He and Colbert show the itiocy, hypocrisy, and schzophrenic nature of Bush's Corporate Theocracy. Keep up the great work JON!

[TekBoss]

Thank you Jon!

[HanFeiTzu]

I frankly do not understand the negative comments about John Stewart. For me, I find him an informed interviewer in addition to being clearly a concerned individual. His quick humor only enhances the other qualities.

Sadly with many of the evening talk shows as Letterman has commented they all are forced for one reason or another to pimp the products that many of their guests are selling. That's part of the price of admission.

[plages]

Mr. Stewart,

Will you be attending their trials in the Hague, and the hangings?

[Boobaloo]

Good question, I think he has a Bar mitzvah on that day.

(As an aside, I happen to like Jon Stewart and find him to be intelligent and funny but this is not a story worthy of front page)

[anelder]

Oh yes it is. As a wife of, a mother of, and grandmother of a military member I take exception to your comment.

Anyone who takes the time to visit the sick is commendable. If you have ever been there and seen the result of visitors you would feel differently.

When it happens to be someone who can make you laugh, entertain you in some way, or just impress you with their celebrity status taking the time - it means somehting.

And again, for four years it didn't hit the press. It did so only when the military decide to honor him.

[LeftVetPatriot]

And yet somehow worthy of your lofty supercilious contempt. Scum.

[transendentilist]

This is about the troops, not those that sent them. The military is a weapon, just like a gun. It's the man who pulls that trigger that is at fault. The troops are just doing what they were trained to do. They don't make the decisions.

[Boobaloo]

oh give me a break!

If the entire military sat down and said 'no' and refused to follow orders, there would be no weapons for this war!

WWII, Nuremburg trials have already set a clear legal and moral precedent, soldiers can not commit vile, evil crimes against innocent civilians and then claim to have been following orders!

Each member of the military is responsible for their choices and participation in this war.

'just doing what they're trained to do" ... oh boo hoo ... stop making excuses and absolving grown adults for comitting war crimes.

[MTGradwell]

"The military is a weapon, just like a gun. It's the man who pulls that trigger that is at fault".

Interesting analogy. Do you think that none of the troops have ever pulled a trigger?

The "doing what they were trained to do" excuse generally didn't work at Nuremberg. The only safety, both for those troops who have overstepped the mark and those who sent them in, is to never get defeated, ever. That might seem like an easy challenge at the moment, but history is littered with the wreckage of empires that all thought they would last forever.

[mach]

Guns dont kill people, people kill people......hmmmm...why is the left always trying to take my guns away from me.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Me too, Jon. Thank you.

Don't forget the old guys.

[sherifffruitfly]

"... the Daily Show host was honored with a Merit Award from Joint Chiefs vice-chair General James Cartwright. If it seems an odd fit for a comic who consistently lampoons the Bush administration..."

It's only odd to jackasses who think that supporting the tropps is the same thing as supporting the bush administration.

[cindyw]

Exactly. The only thing this administration has done competently is to fool people into equating George Bush with the troops. It must have been the codpiece.

[Researchguy66]

so much for "quietly" visiting...

[Darsan54]

If Mr. Stewart has been visiting since 2004 and we are only finding out about it now, well quietly describes it. I also profoundly agree with sherifffruitfly, to support the troops isn't necessarily support for the war. Nor is it a contradiction.

[transendentilist]

It is a contradiction when someone votes to continue financing the war. If one is against a war, they do not finance it's continuance.

[transendentilist]

Bullshit. You support the war or you don't. You can't have it both ways. In my day, no one who was truly anti-war would have ever voted to continue it. When you continue to finance it, you are just as wrong as those that started. You are complicit in it's execution.

Maybe this is why the recent anti-war efforts have been so pathetic. We fought our government over the Vietnam war, and won. It took a while, but we successfully started the end of the war in Vietnam. We certainly didn't finance it.

[Boobaloo]

Why is this news and why is this on the front page?

A political comedian visits vets...Alert the Presses!

[transendentilist]

It's news because Jon Stewart, a harsh critic of the Iraq war (rightly so) has true compassion for these men and women who gave so much of themselves. It's news because it's rare for a comedien to show such compassion in his acts as well as his words.

You find this objectionable???

[LeftVetPatriot]

A moron post his/her reply to it. Stop the media.

[SenorBob]

ZING!

[wisechild]

Shame on you...what have you done to support the troops?

The fact is that Jon Stewart has continually struggled with the reasons for this war, has had endless guests on both sides of the issues to discuss and has apparently put his $$$ where his mouth is by visiting troops and not alerting the media while doing it. No film crews follow him around i.e. the O'Reilly grand gestures...

That kind of support definitely warrants front page news and awards.

[momofsonofwar]

And what have you done to support the troops.

[Boobaloo]

momofwarcriminalsoldiers & others:

I have done nothing to support the troops because I dont support this evil, illegal, vile, immoral war that has killed tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, who are the only victims in this disaster.

My tax dollars are already being misused to support this killing institution and these troops who are trained to be killers.

Volunteering to kill for oil, Israel and Cheney is dispicable and highly objectionable.

wisechild: how dare you say shame on me! Shame on you! You're the one with the blood of innocents on your hands, my hands are clean. I've been doing every single thing in my power to object and prevent this war from day one, what the hell have you done?

Shame on you!

[anelder]

I would guess nothing.

[qwr]

Let's face it--Jon Stewart is soft. This happens when you meet too many famous people. They chat with him, and are pleasant, and so Stewart turns into Charlie Rose. Just because an evil MF is civil to you, doesn't mean that you should give him/her free publicity.

[anelder]

Better this than the vitriol coming out the mouths of pundits on the right and left. With Jon and charlie I can get to the meat of things and make my own assessments. I would venture you prefer the former. That's easy, having your mind made up for you.

[qwr]

Is Jon Stewart going to have McCain on again? The last time he was on, Jon Stewart teared-up in admiration (seriously--look at the clip). Why not have Lieberman on again? Or give Clinton some more mindless praise? I think Clinton should have a permanent spot on the DS, before each primary.

[transendentilist]

Bullshit.

[pinkyboo]

Guess you aren't paying attention then!

[pinkyboo]

I watch the daily show on a regular basis and I've seen them lampoon both HRC and BO - as it should be. Also Good for you Jon!!!!

[wisechild]

you must be some kind of troll or maybe just an idiot!

Ask more of the MSM, their job is being done in part by a gifted satirist on TDS every night.

[vale409]

It's called not preaching to the choir!
My God, to satisfy all you people Stewart would have to have Obama on every day.

[provoice]

It is a sad commentary that surveys have PROVEN that viewers of the Daily Show are more knowledgeable about the FACTS of the Bush Administration than viewers of Fox news or any other mainstream network for that matter!.

It is hilarious to me that even the most evil of the Bush puppeteers risk humiliation to come on the Daily Show to promote their books and new ventures... such as Bill Kristol, founder of PNAC and leading advocate of the trumped-up "pre-emptive" war in Iraq.

[larry278]

Jon Stewart now has learned what we who have served those disabled by conflicts have learned. One learns to be humble very quickly when one works with those disabled by conflicts. You must work with them, not on them.
Jon may have the chance to produce a work of art which tell of what the wounded & their care givers face. If Jon does it-it won't be a run of the mill effort. He has the sardonic wit & is developing a caring heart by doing this work. The speakers of Arabic might say Haz said to Jon. I'll say Haz said, boychick. No, I didn't refer to the ANSI standards for transliterating Arabic & Yiddish.

[MikeMidCity]

Jon Steward is the most dangerous man on television.

But in a totally good way.

[eladora]

There are good guys with microphones and bad guys . Jon is a good guy and he has a following
of intelligent fans who listen . I think he just wants America to be good and it sounds like he does a lot more to learn that most of the news people.
Bravo to him . Keep em as honest as you can Jon.

[transendentilist]

He's only dangerous to those who would scheme to rape America.