Jon Stewart Mocks Obama "Bitter" Controversy

Last night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart mocked the controversy around Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" people in small town America (first published on the Huffington Post). Stewart mocked both the quality of the audio recording, comparing it to a "Peanuts" cartoon, and the controversy surrounding the comment — "So wow, out of context, almost inaudible, artfully phrased, sound bite from Barack Obama: they're gonna get that boy, they're gonna get him good!" (Full audio of the San Francisco appearance can be heard here.)

Watch as Stewart mocks the media for their endless rehashing of the comments and also ridicules Hillary Clinton for jumping on the anti-elitist bandwagon as soon as Obama's "bitter" comments were made public ("Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Is she running for President or pledging?"):

Comments

[colbertnationfan]

Pretty funny, Jon!!

At least - unlike CNN or MSNBC or FOX - the candidates get equal treatment on the Comedy Channel because everyone's fair game!

I was just reading that single women may constitute the "swing vote" this election. I hope that's true. Single women need to realize only Hillary has a good understanding of issues that are critical (& long overdue to be addressed by ANY president) to them; especially issues of pay equity and childcare and health care. Gotta love that Elizabeth Edwards came out in support of Hillary's health care plan - a "CLINTON / EDWARDS" ticket is the ticket so many of us are waiting & praying for.

As for media bias, well, I'll just keep watching the Comedy channel since at least it's bipartisan! It's the only network that's got my "vote" right now.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I don't want Edwards to be VP - I want him to be President.

And let's be real here - nothing is going to be done about health care. I heard that Nixon used to say the same thing. "Vote for me because I'm going to do something about health care!" And pay equity is not something that the President can do anything about - those changes have to come from the companies, not the government.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I was reading the paper on the way to work and this woman wrote a letter saying she had been at the dinner and people shouldn't assume everyone there was rich and she wasn't born wealthy and really it was just in "a living room" and not some fancy mansion.

These people are only making it worse - it only shows how some people in SF think everyone else is really stupid. Does she really believe that a presidential candidate is going to have dinner in some middle class home in a working class neighborhood in SF where they're all just hanging out in the living room?

Yeah right - I can just see it now. There is the presidential candidate with a bunch of working class people in SF sitting around the living room on pillows drinking beer with incense burning and Hendrix playing while they all talk about how difficult it is for poor people in PA and they're all passing around a platter of homemade hummus and pita bread and it's just really informal! We're not snobs here! We're not elitists! We live the same way as everyone else in the country!

[efranklin]

I'll confess that I generally find Jon Stewart to be an unfunny, snobby, and arrogant jackass, but this segment was a masterpiece.

[NicoleAnonymous]

So who do you think is funny? I really there are just too many overpaid white men on these shows and they just aren't that funny even with people writing for them.

It's time for women to have a late night talk show - I would like Rosie because she is funny and also she acts the way most women want to act but can't because we always have to be quiet and not cause problems. There is another woman but I can't remember her name - I think it's Chelsea Handler maybe. She has her own show so she must be good.

[Neocon187]

I have a great ad for the Obama campaign:

Voiceover: "It's 3am. Your children are safe in their beds."
Cut to: Exterior of the white house.
Cut to: Phone wringing. A woman's hand reaches for the phone.
Camera pulls back to reveal: Hillary with the phone in one hand and a bottle of Royal Crown in the other
Hillary in semi-drunk voice: "Whaddaya want?"
Voice Over: "Is this who you want answering a 3am call? Vote Barack Obama."

[Alvin4NY]

I think a funnier ad (used by Hillary) would just be footage of Obama sitting in the front row of his church, while Pastor Wright carries on with one of his sermons. Or maybe another where she just strings together all of Obama's statements regarding Republicans, and how much he likes them and admires them.

[TurgidCaterwauling]

More often than not, Stewart gets it right. The media has manufactured the "bitterness" angle between Obama and Clinton. No one denies they are fiercely competitive, but bitter?

[philipwitak]

All praise stewart!

I am thoroughly disgusted with members of the mainstream media, politicians and pundits who intentionally manipulate the meaning and intent of what is actually said, in order to create controversy, stir up trouble where there should be none and unfairly mislead or influence the thinking of their audience.

ARE you going to the store?

Are YOU going to the store?

Are you GOING to the store?

Are you going to the STORE?

Same six words in each example - but a distinct, if subtle difference in meaning, depending on which word is emphasized and how that emphasis registers with the audience.

Voters/citizens must remain focused on the original intent of the communicator and forget the garbage. voters should also find attempts by others to manipulate them as exploitive and totally unacceptable because manipulation of this sort is truly demeaning and ultimately devalues them [voters] as valid members of society and legitimate participants in our political process.

For instance - barack's 'bitter' remarks. if you listen to the recorded comment, it becomes fairly obvious that barack's intended point was that many people feel they have been betrayed/v­ictimized/­exploited/­taken unfair advantage of - call it what you will - by circumstances beyond their control/the country's political leadership/certain governmental actions or inactions, whatever the case may be - and that they tend to resent it.

I don't blame them. when i feel exploited or short-changed by events or other people, i resent it, too. that's just human nature.

[Durango]

These pretzels ARE making me thirsty.

[northeast73]

it becomes fairly obvious that barack's intended point was that many people feel they have been betrayed/v­ictimized/­exploited/­taken unfair advantage of - call it what you will - by circumstances beyond their control/the country's political leadership/certain governmental actions or inactions, whatever the case may be - and that they tend to resent it.
================

LOLOL...no, that is if you try and recast his comments. His comments were AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION about why HE is losing PA to HILLARY...his answer....voters are bitter bigots. Nice.

[fedupwiththis]

Don't you get a little dizzy spinning like that. Of course you do!

[Neocon187]

Only a republican or McHillary supporter could possess enough willfull ignorance to not understand what Barack Obama was saying.

Barack Obama knows full well that he probably won't win PA. The pressure is on McHillary because she MUST win by more than 60 percent in PA (and ALL remaining states for that matter) to catch up to Obama in delegates and popular votes.

The only strategy McHillary has left is to throw crap at Obama and hope some of it sticks.

[bighair]

Seriously, Talk about trying to recast someones comments-- When did Barack Obama say anyone was a "bitter bigot".

Answer: Never.

Nice try but you've come up a bit short on this one.

[granamica]

The only thing I see small town America clinging to is their pride. And pride goweth befor their fall. Get a grip, if you were truly offended by his words then you are not the people he was talking about.

[Thorwald]

The power of humor! Another fine example of why unions work.

[jood42]

I'm sorry, what?

[TommyHollis]

What was Obama saying anyway?
When the factories were open and doing three shifts and the overtime was filling folks' pockets, they didn't go hunting and didn't go to church????
Small town people don't like immigrants????
Those small town people can't see a savior when they see him.
It was a silly question he was asked and he gave an even sillier answer.

[c1ee]

If you read his entire quote, and his subsequent explanation, what he was really saying is that people don't take politicians seriously when they make promises about the economy. He said it's because so many have come and promised heaven and earth and none of them have ever done anything for them. He then said (now this is his hypotheses and i happen to agree with him on this) that because truly high priority issues like the economy are ignored, lower priority issues like gun legislation and religious issues like abortion, and anti-immigration issues have come to dominate the political discourse.

What he was saying was that it's a challenge for him to try and convince people that economic issues should indeed be a very important matter, and that people should take him more seriously when he makes these promises, because he doesn't take PAC money. The majority of his campaign funds have indeed come from the little folk. Hence, he says his main loyalty is to his majority stakeholders, and that means his interests lie in making sure workers have jobs, that works have rights, civil rights is restored to pre-Bush levels, etc.

[SandyDoc]

Sorry, but you haven't done your homework. Obama has many lobbyists raising money for him. That doesn't mean that a lot of regular folks don't support his campaign with smaller donations, too. But you go too far when you generalize that support with the notion that Obama will fight for the little guy. His idea of bringing in Wall Street to help resolve America's problems doesn't sound to me like someone who plans to reduce the influence of Corporate Lobbyists on our legislatures. Nor does the fact that he has at least 38 lobbyists working for him to raise money. Nor does that fact that the largest segement of his support comes from employees of companies like Goldman Sachs...who spent millions lobbying Congress to privatize Social Security.
I am not a Clinton fan, either... for very similar and also quite different reasons.
Since the MEDIA decided that we only have two choices: Obama or Clinton...it leaves those of us with a brain and the willingness to use it in a bind. We have no one to support.

[lastams]

You have to give Stewart credit on one thing; he was the only “news source” fake or otherwise, who have given any play to the admission that the top people in this administration met in the Oval office to discuss how and when to employ torture. Aside from the fact that all the lies about “a few bad apples” just went out the window, one would think that the fact that our government leaders could (and perhaps should) be tried as war criminals, would generate a story on the evening news or a string on Huffington.
You would think.

[Titonwan]

You know what Clinton and McCain have in common (besides being Republican)? They're both spoiled rotten brats from well to do military backgrounds. Enough said.

[FreedomLoverX]

He misworded a good point! Throw him out! LOL.

I'll take the constitutional professor any day over the liar:

Lies and misleading supporters about Obama's record on choice in NH
Lies about Obama's statements re: Reagan in SC
Lies about NAFTA
Lies about Ireland
Lies about Bosnia
Lies about SCHIP
LIes about position on MI/FL
Lies about release of tax records
Lies about phony questions planted in audiences
Lies about sleep deprivation causing - she said it multiple times
Lies about Sinbad... she called him the liar
Lies about Obama being elitist
Lies about Colombia - Among Penn's clients are Countrywide Financial, nation's largest mortgage lender, Blackwater - under investigation deaths of civilians
Lies about delegates
Lies about staying off ballots
Lies about superdelegates
Lies about Texas
Lies about supporting the war
Lies about ducks (not yet proven, but wait)

Is this something new?

"Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

'Because she was a liar,' Zeifman said in an interview last week. 'She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.'"

[Montanamotor]

And her Husband Bill Clinton is a disbarred lawyer for lying and for committing juridical and moral misconduct . Does there exist a pattern - anyone?

[Alvin4NY]

Imagine if Hillary had gone to Church with the head of the KKK, and was caught listening to a preacher talk shit about black people for an hour every Sunday. I bet they could do a lot with that information, to you know, make it look like she was racist. With Obama though.....it's a different story. HYPOCRITES.

[Alvin4NY]

.......and maybe Hillary could talk about a friend of her families while she was growing up, who you know, happened to be one of those "typical blacks" from that time period. Yes, I'm sure the media would have let that one slide right by........­.absolutel­y. HYPOCRITES.

[Neocon187]

Only a republican or McHillary supporter could possess enough willfull ignorance to not understand what Barack Obama was saying in that speech.

Oh yeah, I want the candidate who spread the lie about Obama's camp telling the Canadians to forget what he said about NAFTA when in reality it was HER camp that did it. And I want the candidate who went head-to-head against Bosnian ninja snipers.
And the one who talked about how important God and guns are in her life, but snapped at a reporter who asked when was the last time she fired a gun or went to church.

[MrSoyBoy]

How *did* elitist become such an insult? We often hear of Military Special Forces...Rangers, Seals, Green Berets, etc. as "elite" fighting forces. They are the creme de la creme, to use an elitist-sounding phrase. Stewart is absolutely correct--for the toughest, most demanding jobs, you want a person with beyond-ordinary skills. Back when the chimpster and evil Uncle Dick took the reins, I was horrified that the C student frat boy with a drinking problem was going to be running the show. It has taken over 7 years for the majority of this country to realize what a devastating mistake that was. Billary's continual dissing of Obama's oratorial skills is troubling. Charges of Elitism coming out of their (and McCain's) mouths is beyond laughable. All of them went to "Elite" schools. McCain is loaded and descends from a long line of military higher-ups. The Clintons just collected $100+ million in deferred favors (gifts? bribes?). Obama just finished paying off his student loans.

I saw an apropos bumper sticker the other day: "We have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart?"

A note to HRC: Putting on that horrible trailer accent, droppin' yer g's, kickin back with a brew and talking guns is not a credible pose for you, Madame Clinton. We (actual down-to-earth, book-learned) Oregonians are going to remember that in May (should you survive the primary season that long).

[zona9]

The C student frat boy had better grades than the C- Kerry. Oh, and the C student has an MBA from Harvard. What's your degree in?

[uheardme]

Yes, and the C student with an MBA from Harvard has read "three Shakespeares" and run a baseball team into the ground only to be bailed out by his Daddy's friend and the taxpayers of Texas. The only thing this proves is that Harvard is giving away MBAs to the highest bidder.

[deke33]

Harvard hangs its head in shame for graduating such a woeful, sorry excuse for a student who took one half a trillion asset left him by Clinton and squandered those assets plus several trillions more. That is unless it is considered successful to participate in bankrupting a nation. Take note how favorable the Republicans are for the Bear Stearns bail out, and how reluctant they are to help the homeowner who is in foreclosure. Typical Republican ploy, help the ones that created the problem then stick it to the people they screwed.

[cindyw]

Seriously, does George Bush sound like a Harvard MBA to you? He got into Harvard the same way he got into the National Guard to avoid the draft. Connections.

[MrSoyBoy]

Actually, I *do* have an MBA, as a matter of fact. I graduated with an A average, (not that it matters).

I would assert that getting accepted into West Point or the Air Force Academy puts one in an elite group of individuals -- being selective is key to determining elite status, especially when basing it on past accomplishments of demonstrable skills. At Yale, Bush was at the the tail end of the true legacy years, where money trumped academic achievement. As you say, surviving the plebe year in Annapolis is a remarkable accomplishment.

My larger point was that someone used to all the Senate trappings (and who owns 8 homes) can't pull off the "aw-shucks I'm just like regular Joe Lunchbucket facing foreclosure and no health insurance. I know what he's going through."

[Ozarks]

MySonBoy you state: "Charges of Elitism coming out of their (and McCain's) mouths is beyond laughable. All of them went to "Elite" schools".

I agree with everything you are saying about McCain!! But, McCain did not go to a school that in any way should be put on the same list as Yale or Harvard as being an elitist school. The U.S. Naval Academy's plebe class has an initial number of about 1400 plebe/freshman. These plebes come from every state and many are Navy enlisted men. Plebe year is anything but elitist and it makes a several week Fraternity hazing look like a walk in the park. Due to the academic load, the added military strains such as very limited summer leave ( think my longest summer leave was 3 weeks) and other things not associated with those allegedly elite schools , each class, by graduation, has maybe 800 of the original 1400 or so plebe class.

[valleygent]

Hilarious. Period.

[kittychi]

You mean "hillaryous"

[totalliberal]

Unfortunately I know the TV news business from when I was in it years ago. At the end of each broadcast the exec-producer calls a meeting and wants to know why we didn't lead with the same story as the other networks..... And why they spent more time on it? These so-called newsmen are frickin lemmings.

It's why I quit the business.