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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Jon Stewart on Park51 and the NRA

Jon Stewart on Park51 and the NRA

by | 56 Comments

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Balko describes Jon Stewart in this clip as ‘brilliant’. He writes that Stewart was:

Eloquent, earnest (in a good way), and funny. He even showed some humility, pointing out his own inconsistency, and admitting he was wrong about the NRA-Columbine controversy.

Stewart is so often so good but this really is excellent.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
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www.thedailyshow.com
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Reader Interactions

56Comments

  2. 2.

    El Cid

    I haven’t had time to look through the previous thread, but this seems worth a front page post given the preceding.

    Sweden withdraws warrant for WikiLeaks founder
    __
    STOCKHOLM (AP) – Swedish prosecutors withdrew an arrest warrant for the founder of WikiLeaks on Saturday, saying less than a day after the document was issued that it was based on an unfounded accusation of rape.
    __
    The accusation had been labeled a dirty trick by Julian Assange and his group, who are preparing to release a fresh batch of classified U.S. documents from the Afghan war.

    Back to work.

  3. 3.

    middlewest

    Ok, this post looks like a mess, and I’m using firefox. Words are overlapping, white space everywhere, is it just me?

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    We saw that clip last night and laughed ourselves silly.

    I looooooove when he does Glenn Beck. And when he flipped over the chalkboard it was fantastic.

  6. 6.

    Chad N Freude

    The FireFox rendering engine has been broken for the last n^2 releases. It’s really annoying.

  7. 7.

    Emma

    Funny. I’m running Firefox and everything is perfect. And Stewart is one of the few sane voices in television.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and will anyone notice that Laura Ingram is a cheap, demagoguing, opportunistic hack?
    (just kidding, I don’t really need to ask)

  9. 9.

    Hal

    I saw the Stewart clip last night and it was brilliant. He really called himself out too, in regards to Columbine, and wanting the NRA to relocate their annual meeting.

  10. 10.

    Dan

    I think it is a false analogy with what was asked of the NRA and the muslim center. I don’t recall people asking the government to take away the NRA’s rights to hold a public meeting. It was also within a week or so of the shooting not 9 years later. Maybe more of an imperfect analogy. I know some are asking, like Dean, that there be negotiations on the center, but many are asking the government to step in and violate people’s constitutional rights. I don’t think it is quite the same thing.

  11. 11.

    Chad N Freude

    @Dan: It makes the point that acceptance of political positions based on “feelings” depend on whose position and whose feelings are at issue.

  12. 12.

    Bob Loblaw

    @Dan:

    I think it is a false analogy with what was asked of the NRA and the muslim center. I don’t recall people asking the government to take away the NRA’s rights to hold a public meeting.

    Again, it’s about getting past the desire to ascribe collective guilt to a subset of people after a tragedy.

    The NRA didn’t arm high school kids and set them loose upon their classmates and teachers. Muslim America wasn’t responsible for 9/11.

  13. 13.

    PurpleGirl

    @Dan: Dean has not yet learned that there is no negotiating with the crazies. He’s thinking of sane people and these people aren’t sane. You’d think he’d have learned that after his primary run, but no, sadly, he hasn’t.

    Jon Stewart rocks.

  14. 14.

    Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)

    I thought this was brilliant – Stewart often is.

    @middlewest: I’m seeing the same problems you are with this post in particular but not the other ones up on BJ. May have something to do with the way the videoclip was included.

  15. 15.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @El Cid: Julian Frost? Graeme Assange?

    To the right wing, it will, of course, be God’s truth that he raped baby jesus.

  16. 16.

    The Bearded Blogger

    @PurpleGirl: Maybe Dean wants to run for something in New York? Or for something in general? His comments seem too dumb to me coming from a very smart, sharp person, maybe they have an ulterior motive

    @Bob Loblaw: Columbiine could have been prevented if there had only been more guns

  19. 19.

    roshan

    @middlewest:
    Same here. Firefox, messed up post (usually a Kain trait, but in this case mostly technical), other front page posts look fine though.

    EDIT: looks ok now, mom did the trick.

  21. 21.

    Cat Lady

    You’d think that some enterprising cable screamer, who is not a comedian, would love to explore the Fox/Alwaleed/Saudi/al quaeda/Carlyle Group/Bush six degrees of those who don’t eat bacon (that was awesome).

    “Investigative journalist Joseph Trento also reported that a comment he recently made on a Fox Network morning news show, Fox and Friends, about Saudi Arabian money still financing Al Qaeda, was edited out of the show. “

    Truthers v. birthers would get really entertaining.

  23. 23.

    A Ghost To Most

    @middlewest:

    Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
    Benjamin: Yes, sir.
    Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
    Benjamin: Yes, I am.
    Mr. McGuire: Plastics. Chrome.
    Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?

  24. 24.

    Linda Featheringill

    Excellent Stewart video.

    Jon Stewart spent a third of his entire program showing the problems with the logic of guilt by association.

    Heck, I am 3 degrees of separation away from Boy George and goodness knows what happens after that!

    But if more people would talk about the illogic of guilt by association, we might be better for it.

    [or not – the people who need to listen probably would not]

  26. 26.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    Last summer it was Soshulizm! and Death Panels! This summer it’s Scary Black People! and Muslim Mosques on Ground Zero! Next summer it will be more of the same.

    The Republicans know that their fate lies in scaring old white people and soon to be old white people into voting against Democrats.

  28. 28.

    asiangrrlMN

    @A Ghost To Most: Here here! Chrome rocks.

    This was brilliant by Stewart. I like when he does his impersonation of the rightwingbatshitcrazynutters. They head is asplodin’!

    @arguingwithsignposts: Man, every time you argue with her, you just make her stronger.

    @BethanyAnne: I almost cried during the ‘show your god/prophet on the back of your shirt’ segment of that bit. Hilarious!

  29. 29.

    BethanyAnne

    That clip is great; gotta say, I loved the one after it, too. “Team Mohammed” vs. “Team Jesus”. Priceless, and what the Daily Show does best. That they end it by ganging up on the Jew wasn’t lost on me either. >.<

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @arguingwithsignposts: You *give* and you *give* and you *GIVE* and what thanks do you get for your sacrifice?

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @arguing: Also too, it may be time to dig out that great photo of Lady Smudge giving the Hind Leg of Contempt. Should come in useful about now.

  34. 34.

    PurpleGirl

    @The Bearded Blogger: I have no idea if he is planning on running for anything. He could be trying to lay a new foundation for something, and agree with you that what he’s said is dumb.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @aws #32: Lovely! Thank you, she is such a gorgeous girl. And she sets off those beautiful colours to perfection.

  41. 41.

    matoko_chan

    so…..when Stewart retracts on the Breitbart/Acorn scam tapes that you and Conor and Douchehat and the rest of the conservitards were so chuffed about are you going be happy there too?

  44. 44.

    gnomedad

    If I were planning a terrorist attack, I would totally do it in a highly visible Muslim community center near the WTC.

    Also, FWIW, I have never had Firefox-specific problems here, though as my FF is jam-packed with extensions I sometimes have to deactivate one that doesn’t play nice at a specific site (not here so far).

  47. 47.

    meepmeep09

    @matoko_chan: Stewart did his own version of a mea culpa back in January, where he acknowledged being hoodwinked by Breitbart on the ACORN thing the previous September. The 2:50-3:38 section of that clip is the relevant bit.

  50. 50.

    Phoebe

    One of my favorite parts of this clip was how Stewart pointed out that he would prefer there not be terror cells anywhere in Manhattan, i.e., if it’s a terror cell, the location really isn’t the problem, and if it’s not a terror cell — if it’s a benign community center with a prayer room — then the sensitivity we’re all supposed to cater to is nothing more than xenophobic bullshit you should all really get over.

    So either way, the location really isn’t an issue. It’s a smokescreen. This is a point not made enough [or anywhere else, that I’ve seen].

  52. 52.

    Jewish Steel

    I would say that Stewart’s analogy is more entertaining than good being that the mosque comes down to a 1st amendment issue and the shootings are more of a 2nd amendment thing.

    Which is not to say that I wasn’t entertained.

  54. 54.

    EvolutionaryDesign

    I think he’s really found his voice again. This was some of the best 10 minutes he’s done in years. He’s pleading for sanity and calm. I hope everyone winds up watching this clip (not holding my breath of course…)

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