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

[Kansas Evans]

The Democratic party is the party of elitist? Really? I guess that must mean WHITE elitist cause close to 80-90% of the black working class vote Democrat every election. Will someone explain to me what's elitist about the party that represents the black working class, working class LGBT, as well as working class whites? That's been the problem with "class" issues and labor issues for centuries - working class whites align themselves with their upper-crust, "elitist" white friends instead of with blue-collared, working class blacks.

Yeah, I don't wanna anyone to get confused, I'm bringing race into the conversation. What's elitist is thinking everyone experiences the world the way you do. Oh, wait. That's not elitist. That's egocentric.

[BetterDays]

Comedy Central often has better coverage of the central issues than the traditional media! This was hilarious and insightful. Just when you have reached the end of your rope with the disproportional media attention to such issues, Stewart and Colbert to the rescue with some truthiness and humor! They don't take themselves too seriously, but the end result is that their insights are far more important than anything from the traditional media who continue to beat a dead horse into submission.

You are the best, John!!

[Syco]

And that is truly sad. The daily show and colbert report shouldn't be excellent sources for news

[princessofnowt]

um, perhaps they shouldnt be the Only excellent sources...­.

[speakyourmind]

Why? They're the only shows that are able to point out the ridiculousness of what is going on in the world. The MSM just says what they're told to say. Comedians get to point it out and say "Look at what big asses these people are." And they're right. So why is that objectionable to you?

[alkamm]

The reason Stewart and Colbert are so much more accurate in depicting the news is that they are allowed a sense of humor, and their staffs are not afraid to search for the repetitious phrases the media and the candidates sometimes use to structure campaigns.

The best moment of the Stewart show last night was when Stewart said he wanted a President that was more elite than him. By elite, he meant smarter, more articulate. He admitted that the word elite has a paradoxically negative connotation with academia (home to elites).

The less than elite brain of our current fearless leader makes us yearn for someone better equipped, more secure in his wisdom and critical thinking abilities.

As many comics note, humor is serious business.

[Aleka]

Hahaha! You know what? I laughed my fukkin ass off at that.

AND - I think Craig Ferguson is hilarious.

Sue me!

You guys are all just comedy ELITISTS!

[dolberg]

Jon Stewart used to be funny and irreverent. His reverence for Obama has made him abandon all attempts at humor. He's preaching. I get that on cable news. This is as funny and sophisticated as the good old Half-hour news Hour.

[GrandpaMcCain]

You Hillary leg-humpers are getting way too whiny. You lost. Get over it.

[dolberg]

Didn't mean to offend the cult.

[lowry99]

the only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner.
the only thing worse than a sore winner is one that HASN'T WON YET.

[TrevorAlan]

wait, just the other day Stewart was anti-Obama for giving him the Dick award, today he's shamelessly pro-Obama for pointing out the story is overhyped.

Half of the the Daily Shows barbs are not really at politicians or current events but attacks on the way the media badly portray those things. This is another example. If you have other reasons for disliking Obama, fine. But this was a manufactured controversy, and as he has when such controverseys were manufactured against other politicians, including the Clintons, he called it as such.

[pinkyboo]

You say he has reverence for Obama- I've seen some posts that say he schills for Hillary - that's not it- he goes after everyone when they deserve it! When in the hell did we lose our sense of humor in this country?

[kburlz]

Did he not give Hillary about a 15 mnute interview the night before Ohio?

[ynot4tony2]

Comedy, thy name is Stewart!

[presto]

A funny take - but the problem is that elitism within the Democratic Party is a huge problem and party regulars for the most part know that. In the last couple of decades the working class has not been the base of the Democratic Party as it was for so long - instead it's being treated like a bunch of children shepherded along by the wise father figures among the Dem's upper crust. When the workers get out of line, they get threatened and cajoled back in with the assurances that the Democrats will "do what's best for you". That is not representative government. It is babysitting. There is a good reason why so many are opting for the Republicans who know a good thing when they see it.

[maddie0001]

And republicans don't do that? When the workers get out of line they cry about gay marriage, who's got the biggest flag pin, mexicans, flag burning, etc, etc, etc. until they get reelected. Then it's all tax cuts for millionaires.

[dolberg]

I miss the days when Jon Stewart was funny. Now he's to bust running his horse. "Elitist means good"? That's funny? He's supposed to be funny. That's why he's on a comedy channel. I can get two-bit polemics on MSNBC, thank you. Fortunately, Colbert is still funny.

[ynot4tony2]

This just in..."Week­end Update Rip-off" host Jon Stuart "Stewart" Leibowitz demonstrates he's a reliable liberal shill. In other news, the sun is really, really bright.

[GrandpaMcCain]

Poor widdle baby. Just because he's done more with his life than you ever will.

[ynot4tony2]

Hey littlebrain, do you have any idea what I've accomplished, or not accomplished, with my life? No...so how are you qualified to speak on my accomplishments?

Oh, I forget. Liberals never need to know what they are talking about...th­ey just need to sound passionate.

At least I deserve full credit for my accomplishements and awards...I don't owe my success to a team of unthanked writers.

[GrandpaMcCain]

BTW, do you really think you're coming up with some scathing lines? Wow, gee,"liberal shill." That's NEVER been used before. You even suck as a TR0LL.

[PrdAmerican]

Sad when you have to tune into a comedy show to get the real truth.

[politicsnut]

You are dead on, exactly what I was thinking. I am so disgusted with the press over this. John steward has the right tone on this mess: it is a big joke!

[palealien]

Out of context? How about the way HuffPo headlines the story so the first thing the scanning reader sees) is "Jon Stewart Mocks Obama.....­... Maybe it is a deliberate attempt to put Stewart under review as biased one way or another, but it sure caught my eye.

[GrandpaMcCain]

Try finishing the sentence. "Jon Stewart Mocks Obama 'BITTER' CONTROVERS­Y." He's mocking the CONTROVERSY.

[palealien]

Yeah. I read it. Got it. Watched it. Love Stewart. Try reading my whole comment - the way it was laid out put emphasis on the first three words. They have changed it since.

[slayer2369]

The thing is: was the problem with what Obama said the message or the messenger?
If the same comments were made my McSame or Hil (her husband made similar comments four years ago), would there be such a problem, given they would be made by a white candidate instead of a multiracial one?

[pamelagoodenough]

2369,
Get over the race thing. There is one race; Homo sapiens. There is human variation that has been proposed as race by racists since the 16th Century. Check out Gobineau.

[TheNuff]

Scathing. I LOVED that!

[yellowdawgdem]

Stewart is brilliant as usual.
Hillary, McCain and the rest of the mindless media herds are increasingly irrelevant. And hey, I'm not bitter.

[ynot4tony2]

Yeah, yeah...we know...any­one who agrees with you is brilliant.­..so you say.

Did you take the time to thank the many writers who make Jon "Stuart" Leibowitz come off so "brilliant"?

[GrandpaMcCain]

LOL. What's with the constant spelling out of his name? You think that's shocking? This coming from "ynot4tony­2"... asshat.

[pinkyboo]

Um... Did Jon Stewart steal your girlfriend when you were in high school or something?

[speakyourmind]

ynot4tony2:

You keep repeating "Jon 'Stuart' Leibowitz.­" What's your point?

[Hallucinocynic]

Stewart closed the segment by asking (and I paraphrase) "Don't we want a President who is elitist? Isn't that we aspire to, to be elite?"

Again, it demonstrates how an innocent term can become a divisive buzzword. These days there may not be anything more inflammatory than calling someone a Liberal Elitist.

[lennix]

thanks jon for telling the truth and also beeing so funny and showing the cable news people that the american people not as dumb as they think god bless and keep up the good work