I Remember Now Why I Stopped Watching Jon Stewart
His attack on Joe Biden last night was unconscionable.
I used to watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart regularly and found it topical and funny and right on target—until it wasn’t. Early on he made light fun of everybody, and it was okay because he wasn’t necessarily mean about it. Just truthful. He hit on the ‘truthiness’.
Then he got mean. I don’t remember the exact moment when he went from smart, funny guy who saw things we might have missed and singled them out, to angry guy who couldn’t get enough of twisting the knife.
It could be he was bored with his job there at The Daily Show and wanted to spice things up. It could be he became disillusioned and disgusted with the whole political process just as he was building a career on dissecting the political process.
I don’t know, but it’s telling that he announced he was quitting the Daily Show just two months after Donald Trump announced his candidacy in 2015. There was his chance to take on and skewer the worst of the worst and he left it behind.
When Bernie Sanders announced his run for the candidacy in May, 2015, a few months before Jon quit, Stewart didn’t just praise him, and he didn’t go after Donald Trump. No, he made Hillary Clinton look silly and devious and too politically driven. Bernie, on the other hand, was everyman’s man.
So Bernie it was. No surprise, really. Throughout the election cycle it was no secret that Stewart had no love for Hillary Clinton. In May, 2016, at the height of the primaries when it looked like Bernie Sanders might not win, and months after he’d left The Daily Show, he went on the air to call Hillary ‘inauthentic’. He said she ‘lacks the courage of her convictions’. ‘Maybe a real person doesn’t exist under there’, he said. And the country listened.
Now he’s back and getting his kicks by skewering the favored Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. Over his age. His forgetfulness. His infirmities. His apparent lack of moral fortitude, which, of course, if he had any he’d put an end to his highly successful presidency.
Well, yes, he had a few things to say about Donald Trump’s infirmities, his looniness, but his main focus was on how OLD they both were, with Biden getting the worst of it.
Last night Stewart went for the jugular and he gloried in his meanness. He got a kick out of it. He egged his audience on, and they responded in ways that made him happy. Everybody there happily, joyfully joined in taking old Joe Biden apart.
Aside from the ageism and the unfairness in his remarks about Joe Biden—which, as you might know, I just recently took on, myself, he seemed not to worry—again—about undermining the Democratic candidate when electing the Democratic candidate is our only hope of ever getting rid of the monster in our presence—Donald Trump.
That recklessness in the face of the future that awaits us if Trump gets anywhere near the White House again is unconscionable. Joe Biden’s gaffes and forgetfulness will be nothing compared to the fury awaiting us if Trump gets in. He’s already threatening what he will do.
Look out women, POC, LGBTQ, Democrats, anyone who crosses him or tries to get in his way. Look out NATO. Look out Ukraine. Look out world. He’s not shy about describing what awaits. Yet on Stewart’s show last night Trump was the second banana. Joe Biden was the target.
This morning his new show got boffo reviews. Smashing reviews. Everybody loved it. He’s back! On top of his game! Did you hear what he said about Joe Biden? Spot ON!
And here I am, that really old woman incessantly worrying about what it’s going to mean, because, you know—history.
Will the influencers on both the left and the right, bent on making sure the Democrats feel the pain, all but give it away again? Will Donald Trump’s long history of lies and corruption and treachery become an afterthought while Joe Biden takes the brunt of the anger over his age and his audacity to think he should be president for another four years?
And worse, what if this constant badgering, these constant insults, causes Joe Biden to just say ‘screw it, I’m not running’? What then? Who do the influencers have in mind? Who could do the job Biden is doing now? Who could win against Trump?
This is how Fox News saw it. What a gift:
Do they even think past their stupid jokes and unwitting—or witting—insults? Do they even think? Or is it going to be all entertainment all the time again, where everyone loses except those who make a living off of comedy and chaos?
It kills me that I already know the answer.
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***Adding Lawrence O’Donnell’s compelling argument against the press coverage over Joe Biden’s age because I needed this. I think a lot of people are going to need this. It puts everything into perspective.
Lawrence: Biden on his worst day is better than Trump on his best day (msnbc.com)
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THANK YOU! I too used to love Jon Stewart but then I started noticing his sexism. It was subtle at first but the uneasiness within me kept growing. I started noticing how few female guests he had on (how few people of color too which really became noticeable once Trevor Noah became host) and how few female correspondents there were. I became even more uncomfortable with his frat bro humor. Of course, it came out full force when Hillary was running. The Bernie Bros really exposed the misogyny within the leftwing community and it was absolutely disheartening. Still is.
I didn't watch him last time and have no plans to do so. I'm incredibly disappointed to hear he went after Biden's age (or Biden in general) because everything you said is true. Biden is our last, best hope for democracy. Trump made that crystal clear (again) yesterday with his comments about NATO. Stewart knows this. He's a New Yorker. He knows how terrible Trump is and, during his time advocating for 9/11 first responders, he got a crash course in which party cares about people and which party doesn't. HE KNOWS!!! I just don't understand it.
I thought the ending of the monologue was prescient. That no matter what happens, progress is painfully slow, and takes a lot of hard work. It took Jon literal decades to get healthcare for 9/11 first responders, which is something I still give him a lot of credit for. He was dead right about that, and it would do everyone well to remember that when they expect things to change RIGHT NOW.
The part that irked me was when he compared Biden and Trump and said both were vibrant or capable or whatever. The latter is neither, he is a dangerous madman who shouldn't be allowed to own a houseplant, never mind run the country. That was my main problem. Biden's team is doing a piss poor job, and he is right that Biden should not be above criticism. I don't even care if he makes fun of Biden. What I DO think is irresponsible is acting like there's an actual choice here. There isn't. There wasn't last time, either.