London Calling: Memo to Jon Stewart -- Enough McCain Already. You're Hurting America.

First, some personal context: I'm a fan of Jon Stewart.

His show was a welcome breath of tart air, at a time when American broadcast media was still toadying up to the Bush administration over the tragedy unleashed on the people of Iraq.

The Daily Show struck a collective chord amongst Americans, most of them young, whose skepticism over the war steadily grew into shock and then revulsion.

Jon Stewart's contribution to the Iraq debate, by saying things about the White House that desperately needed to be heard but which mainstream news media lacked the courage to say, should not be underestimated.

His skill as an interviewer is something to behold. Here is a comedian, gifted with the knack for boiling down the complex into the understandable, without pandering, and for making the serious point while playing it for laughs. At times, it is pure genius.

And Stewart's impact has been felt well beyond Comedy Central. He provided a public service when he went on Crossfire, berating its hosts for "hurting America" and blowing that broadcast and Tucker Carlson right off CNN's airwaves.

All with the power of the word.

But he's gotta stop with the John McCain stuff.

Senator McCain was on the Daily Show again the other day -- for the eleventh time.

I get that Stewart likes to have people on his program who see things differently to the way he does. He is already broadcasting to the converted; he shouldn't always be interviewing them too.

And Stewart's smart enough to know that one way to keep right wing attack dogs off his case is to interview enough conservatives to balance the bias ledger.

He understands, too, that the conflict of ideas and ideologies makes for good TV. Some of his most memorable interviews have been with Bill Kristol, the neo-con who probably holds the record for getting the most things wrong about Iraq.

On one of Kristol's visits to the set this year, Stewart provided nothing short of a master class on how to dissect the absurd but often strangely effective neo-con arguments. Stewart absolutely demolished what Kristol was saying in a way Tim Russert can only dream of.

But John McCain is different. He is not, like Kristol, a columnist who goes on the Daily Show in order to flog books, and is willing to endure humiliation at Stewart's skilled hands to do it.

McCain is a candidate for President of the United States. And he lies.

McCain's most recent appearance was made over the phone from New Hampshire and the two men tossed around ideas for new names for McCain's campaign bus, the Straight Talk Express.

They kibitzed a little. They called each other my friend and joked about how McCain's 11th appearance on the show was a record.

There was no examination of the candidate's ideas, no exploration of McCain's ludicrous statements on the so-called "Petraeus" (read: White House) report on the so-called surge (read: escalation).

As this link documents -- McCain not only misquoted and mischaracterized what some very prominent voices were saying in relation to the general's testimony, he misquoted what he himself had said at the Petraeus hearings.

Then McCain jumped on the anti-MoveOn.org bandwagon, saying that, after publishing the Petraeus/Betray Us ad in the New York Times, the organization should be moved right on out of the country.

(Incidentally, given that MoveOn claims two million members, which is roughly how many refugees the Iraq war has produced, does McCain have any suggestions for where we can move them on to?)

This is a man who, wearing a flak-jacket, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and with attack helicopters hovering overhead, declared that market in Baghdad to be perfectly safe.

There is nothing, not even running for president, that excuses that kind of dishonesty; the peddling of dangerous lies in order to prolong a war that has cost tens, probably hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.

But as Stewart said, repeatedly, in their most recent broadcast encounter, John McCain is his friend.

By giving this kind of politician a free pass on his show, Jon Stewart is doing the very thing he has quite rightly criticized the mainstream media for: failing to do the job we have come to expect from him.

He may be helping his friend, the candidate. But he's hurting America.

And it's not funny.

Comments

[kfdan]

I suspect that Stewart likes McCain and has him on for this reason. You can personally like a person without agreeing with him by the way. Another aspect brought up here is that Stewart needs to be seen as having conservatives on his show to cross swords with and or pander to. I have no problem with that considering that I can make the distinction and need no interpreter to do so! McCain can go on Stewart's show all he wants! It's Stewart's show after all.

[jackjett]

McCain is painful to watch....in more ways than one.

I feel like he is a circus freak (apologies to circus freaks) that someone is putting on display for us to laugh at not with.

I have no sympathy for him, and I am fine with him make a senile ass out of himself on the campaign trail, but not on our little 1/2 hour of heaven that is all we liberals have.

jack jett

[pamelagoodenough]

When the Daily Show presents war mongerers, such as John McCain, it is providing national coverage for them, which may be construed as support.

Stewart thereby provides McCain with a platform, even if he would not vote for the man himself. There are so many people more worthy of an invitation to speak on the Daily Show, but yet, here is McCain again and again.

Finally though, Bill Maher is getting it right. He also used to give a lot of face time to war mongerers. This year he has stopped that annoying predilection. Maher now has terrific programs giving voice to folks who realize the folly of this war and the damage it has done to our great nation. In other words Maher has stopped inviting war mongerers to spout their noxious views. We are grateful for that, Mr. Maher.

There is this lie that the MSM promotes the views of the progressive left wing. You, Mr. Stewart and your colleagues, Mr. Colbert, and Mr. Maher are the very few who actually give us progressive "news". You provide a viewpoint that is absent on every other "news" program. And when I use the term "news" to define your show, it should be known that it really is the news, even though it is tongue-in-cheek. At a time when no means yes, war means peace, and missiles are called peacekeepers, everyone knows we laugh to keep from crying and the Daily Show is the real news.

Please do not give these war mongerers any more face time. There is too much danger that folks may actually think you support McCain.

There are sooooooo many enlightened people you could invite to appear on your show. Why McCain over and over and over? We are sick to death of McCain and the Republican Congress who give us war, war and more war. Republicans are destroying America giving us some of our darkest hours.

For God's sake, Mr. Stewart, bring us some light.

[Sidewhispers]

Oh, come on people, Stewarat walks a very clever middle of the road and still comes off to some as a liberal, anti-war something, while never disturbing the war crowd too much. Don't look to him for any kind of serious anything, especially serious opposition to this war.

[shadow322]

Thank you. You hit the nail on the head this time. John McCain was one of those Republicans who accused Democrats on so many occasions of "flip flopping" and chuckled when he did it. Have you watched his record on issues these past couple of years. He's a joke! That is why his own party has him so low in the polls. You are right - Jon Stewart should be more responsible on giving out free passes.

[Cloudbusting]

I'm surprised that the author of this article together with many of the posters are assigning a journalistic responsibility to Jon Stewart that actually belongs to the mainstream media.

Stewart is a comedian. He defines himself as a comedian and his show is political satire. I shouldn't think that he wants to be a voice of the "left" or of any particular political persuasion as this would diminish the power of his brand of comedy.

Who wants to preach to the converted? What purpose would it serve?

Jon does indeed skewer McCain and McCain to his credit, takes it well. Jon has said that McCain is one of the few Republican big names that will actually appear on the show. Not many Democrat big names will appear on the show, and certainly not on a regular basis. Don't assume it's from the lack of trying (on TDS's part).

From an outsider's point of view, it troubles me that so few Americans can decide who runs your country. Sure I read a lot of progressive opinions on the net, but how many of you actually vote?

Don't wait for Jon Stewart to tell you what to do. It's not his job.

[mrasg1]

I never understood why John McCain is such a "HERO"?
Why? Were the Vietnamese that he was attempting to bomb to oblivion from the comfort of his cockpit supposed to just say...oh please bomb us, kill us, yes yes yes! I don't think so. They shot him down. He is certainly strong mentally to survive that ordeal, but why on earth is he a "hero"? Not to me. Between him and Rudi running around the country trying to milk 9-11 as if he wasn't a major fuck up prior to 9-11 in NYC its insulting to my intelligence.

Rudi kept the EMERGENCY COMMMAND CENTER at the WTC site EVEN THO the WTC was bombed in 1993.
That's why he was running all over the place on 9-11.

The firefighters and cops hate him.

The rest of the country needs to get clued in and stop being so dumbed down.

Rant over.....for now.

[IllinoisHillbilly]

I love Jon Stewart & the Daily Show. I like McCain & respect his sacrifice.. but this is Bu$h's "post 9/11" world & the Heroes of Vietnam (McCain & Kerry for example) don't get free passes to the White House.. and becoming the Enemy by Lying to the voters should Only get you Therapy, not Elected.
I don't expect much from RepubliCONs, but I expect more from Jon Stewart!;)

[axisofelvis]

McCain is an engaging, often funny, genuine character who is genuinely wrong on the Iraq War. Stewart's affection for the senator is personal but also based on the fact that he's a good guest. I'd rather see an entertainig guest I disagree with than a boring preacher to my choir.

[Spider53]

McCain's positions himself as an anachronism: his family reads like a who's who list of military heroes (check his books to know of what I speak). McCain finds it impossible to extricated himself from the military syndrome. He always thinks in terms of military solutions to political problems and, therefore, is a dangerous man.

As he himself said, "Bomb! Bomb!" about Iraq-- we are compelled to take him at his word!

I lost all respect for McCain the day he supported the bush for president right after the South Carolina "push-poll" Rowe orchestrated with a racial slur! I still find McCain's acceptance of the dirty politics the bush engaged in unconscionable (a laissez faire attitude "It's just politics.").

[The Magus]

Right on! When I saw McCain kissing up to Bush during the Republican convention, I lost all respect for him. Never had any for Bush.

[PADDYWHACK]

I can never quite figure Jon Stewart's position,he lets the mask slip once in a while.I used to like McCain thorny as he was,but at the last moment,in the Northern Ireland settlement,he shows up and tried to f##k it up.I don't know what his problem is except that he doesn't like anyone to enjoy peace.Luckily he was seen as as an ahole by the negotiators.He has been put in a position where he can only do harm

[YellowPanties]

Hey Jon, if you read this article and its comments, how about having some real war critics on the show? How about having some real progressives on the show?

It's your show, you can do anything you want, invite any guest on you like, so why not give some air time to the voices on the left, in a forum that allows them to educate the public and articulate their points? How about:

Howard Zinn
Noam Chomsky
Greg Palast
Frank Rich (bring him back)
MoveOn founder Wes Boyd
Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting founder Jeff Cohen
(the unfortunately named) Alexander Cockburn

and so on?

The reason we watch The Daily Show is that the other news outlets are already full of McCain and snakes of his ilk, with fawning hosts. We laugh now because the other news made us cry.

I don't know if I've seen all 11 McCain visits but I've seen a few, and Stewart is too nice to actually eviscerate a straw man like McCain, the same as when he had war criminal Kissinger on the show, or toadying fascist David Frum, or warmonger James Baker, or lying weasel Ari Fleischer, or uber fascist Tom Ridge, or the man who drove the getaway car for the Bush administration Colin Powell?

Yes, he has these figures on his show from the other side of the political spectrum but he NEVER gives them any chin music.

And when you allow these people who are responsible for grave injustices to appear as casual chat guests on the show without taking them to task, it legitimizes what they have done.

[YellowPanties]

My bad, Jon. I see that you have had Howard Zinn on your show, along with many other good lights on the left.

I guess I'll have to set the TiVo so I don't miss any future episodes, ulp!

[YellowPanties]

Great article! I had the exact same sinking feeling watching that broadcast. "Why does this fool get a free pass?"

Stewart has dropped the ball a lot in the past when has had highly controversial figures on his show and then only asked them questions about their books, as if their political lives were not the real reason they were guests on his show.

It's in these moments, when Jon Stewart abdicates his political sharpshooting and becomes just another voice on The View, that he does a disservice to us all. I love Jon and it must be hard as hell to tread that line, to remain objective while delivering laughs AND being a true progressive, but enough with Crazy Train McCain already!

[Wanjiru]

Gizbert Opines: By giving this kind of politician a free pass on his show, Jon Stewart is doing the very thing he has quite rightly criticized the mainstream media for: failing to do the job we have come to expect from him.
-----------------------------------------------
...in some cases, like with Senator McCain, Jon Stewart choses to ALLOW people on his show to make complete fools of themselves (again, like Senator McCain always does on The Daily Show), because they do such a splendid job of it, all by themselves, and do not need Jon's help at all...


.

[YellowPanties]

Not sure this strategy is effective. Bush appeared for four years in public, on media outlets all over the world, embarrassed himself and America on countless occasions, proved himself to be foolish, incurious, obstinate, woefully lacking in knowledge about the world --- and yet he was re-elected.

Why? Because people wanted to have a beer with him, because he seemed chatty and down to earth.

Instead of allowing a guest to make a fool of himself, Stewart should take them apart like a pinata.

[VicPerry]

Oh I am so sure. Bush did lots of interviews with people who made fun of him to his face? When was this exactly???

Telling Stewart how to do HIS job (a job he INVENTED by the way) begs the question....are YOU funny? Would anybody care if YOU did a TV show??

[motamanx]

McCain is 180 degrees wrong about everything--hence he is a perfect foil for the likes of Jon Stewart, or any commedian.