Stewart only anchor in the country to see through the nonsense

August 14, 2007

After the Michael O’Hanlon/Ken Pollack op-ed appeared in the NYT a couple of weeks ago, they did multiple media interviews, each of which characterized the Brookings’ scholars as war “critics” or war “skeptics.” The news outlets were, of course, wrong — O’Hanlon and Pollack both supported the war and endorsed the so-called surge.

As Oliver Willis noted, CNN screwed it up, as did CBS and Fox News, among others. The good news is, last night, one cable outlet pushed back against the bogus narrative. The bad news is, it was Comedy Central who showed journalistic chops.

Here’s the exchange between Bill Kristol and Jon Stewart on The Daily Show:

Stewart: Can you see how someone who is skeptical, basically we’re hearing from people like yourself, people like the president, ‘Trust us to undo the terrible thing we did.” Don’t you, you see where it’s tough.

Kristol: Don’t trust me, not that you were going to–

Stewart: Who should I trust?

Kristol: Trust skeptics of the war, like Mike O’Hanlon and Ken Pollack who went over, who’d been there before–

Stewart: They weren’t really skeptics.

Kristol: No, they were, who came back, had seen it in real-time–

Stewart: Ken Pollack would like us to invade Iran for God’s sake. He’s–

Kristol: It’s an idea. It’s an idea.

Stewart: Those are very hawkish guys.

Kristol: It’s not a bad idea.

Putting aside, for a moment, Kristol’s penchant for yet another war, this simple exchange was what was missing from all of the major media coverage when O’Hanlon and Pollack were all over every network. Jon Stewart — who, you know, heads a fake news show — managed to challenge a bogus assertion and convey useful information to his audience.

Now, was that so hard?

Here’s the whole thing, for your viewing pleasure:

Notice that quick reference to letting Iraq play out “for the next six months”? I thought you might.

Comedienne Billy Kristol makes an appearance on Comedy Central, but he didn’t do his stand-up routine? Sounds like the “first glimmers of progress” in the Cheney Protectorate of Iraq according to Kristol Meth. That calls for another Friedman.

  • Ah, but let us parse, for parsing is fun.

    Stewart: They weren’t really skeptics.
    Kristol: No, they were, who came back, had seen it in real-time–

    Translation: Oops, he knows it’s a lie! Get off it Kristol, get off it–gimme somethin I can use, Stewart…

    Stewart: Ken Pollack would like us to invade Iran for God’s sake. He’s–
    Kristol: It’s an idea. It’s an idea.

    Translation: A there it is! Iran invasion–grab it!

    Stewart: Those are very hawkish guys.

    Translation: He’s changing the subject the oily weasel, get him back on it!

    Kristol: It’s not a bad idea.

    Translation: Phew, dodged it. Comfort–zone–bombing stuff–advantage: Me!

    Still, Stewart did better than the rest. As usual.

  • On the one hand, glad to see Jon debunk the O’Hanlon/Pollack thing. On the other hand, I really wish he’d stop having Bill Kristol on. Seriously, it seems like he’s on the Daily Show every other month. The guy’s a liar and a moron and he really doesn’t need the extra exposure.

  • It’s nice to know that Stewart is so well-informed. From the way you describe it, CB, it sounds as if there’s no way I’d have any clue that O’Hanlon and Pollack weren’t war skeptics if I only watched TV news and didn’t read your blog.

  • It looks like “bomb Iran” has joined “bomb Hanoi” in that pantheon of radical-right “great ideas.” It will be trotted out as necessary and forever as a example of why the world isn’t a better place according to their warped world view. It fits the Karl Rove technique of telling a lie, and often.

    Maybe we should make “Rove” a noun to replace “rave” in a political context. “You should of heard Kristol rove last night!”

  • Actually, those two frat boys *had been* critics of the war. Just from a different angle. Their beef was pretty much the same as McCain’s: we didn’t do *enough*

  • The one quip that Kristol glaringly slipped in was “the war is going better, no one doubts that” phrase that caught Stewart when he had already moved onto something else. This is the real flypaper strategy: cover opponents with so many lies they have a hard time debunking them in public. Kristol may have scored with that suckerpunch, but he loses on decision for being so disgustingly sleazy.

  • Re Toast (#4): “I really wish he’d stop having Bill Kristol on.” That’s what I was thinking before the interview started, and then Stewart just took Kristol’s talking points apart. If every interviewer did to Kristol what Stewart did, then Kristol wouldn’t dare show his face in public.

  • Uh…folks…Jon (Stewart Leibowitz) is NOT where you should be getting your news, or forming your opinions about it. How many times has he exposed Israeli apartheid? He is a stooge. A distraction to allow otherwise incensed Americans to laugh at political deceit, rather than DO something about it….a pressure release valve….controlled by the same people that deceive you.

  • Fake Al Qaeda

    “Ana raicha Al Qaeda” is colloquial for “I’m going to the toilet”. A very common and widespread use of the word “Al-Qaeda” in different Arab countries in the public language is for the toilet bowl. This name comes from the Arabic verb “Qa’ada” which mean “to sit”, pertinently, on the “Toilet Bowl”. In most Arabs homes there are two kinds of toilets: “Al-Qaeda” also called the “Hamam Franji” or foreign toilet, and “Hamam Arabi” or “Arab toilet” which is a hole in the ground. Lest we forget it, the potty used by small children is called “Ma Qa’adia” or “Little Qaeda”.
    So, if you were forming a terrorist group, would you call yourself, “The Toilet”?

  • fuck you, tim, you goddamn right-wing troll. and thanks for making clear to us all that jon’s jewish. wasn’t quite sure…

  • Who cares where Bill Kristol walked in Iraq, you know he walks under protection of guns because EVERYBODY IN HATES HIM and his policies. John Stewart is just trying to make Bill Kristol lovable. I bet they are both Zionists, and Zionists will never get us out of Iraq.

  • Blah! Blah! Blah!, (stroke my dick I’ll stroke yours), Blah! Blah! Blah! (ain’t we a couple of swell Jews?), Blah! Blah! Blah! (who cares who bombs who?)

    Same crap, different mouthpieces. I’m sorry, but there is NO ONE on TV telling it like it should be told.

    Everyone of us low-level slobs is deliberately being set-up by being dumbed-downed by useless mouthpieces like John Stewart and [that evil gnome] Bill Kristol (neither of whom will, btw, be anywhere near ground zero when the fit-hits-the-shan.)

    Turn off the TV and get active on the web [while there’s still time] if you want to KNOW what the Hell is really going on. (Better yet, just throw your set out the front door. There’s nothing of value on the box anyway.)

    God Bless this Great Nation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • The MSM led us to believe that Rumsfeld resigned. Did Kristol let the truth slip when he said, “…Bush took the message, that we fired Rumsfeld…”?

  • I agree with number 2. Why doesn’t somebody just pull Kristol off the street and beat the shit out of him? You know, it’s getting to a boiling point, where you will probably see exactly that sort of thing in the near future–people physically attacking these kinds of right wing blow hards. I think people have had enough.

  • Someone ought to frame things for Bill Kristol schoolyard style: ask him if he likes war, and if he says yes, then give it to him. As he is being righteously pummeled for being a cowardly mouthpiece for world domination socialism, sprinkle appropriate trash talk like ‘How do you like shock and awe now?’ or ‘Whadda mean you’re innocent? What about the hundreds (whack) of thousands (whack) of innocent (whack) men, women and children (whack whack) you had killed in your wars? (whack whack).’

    I think the rest of the American Enterprise Institute , Council on Foreign Relations and Trilateral commission are all ripe for similar New York beat downs. You’ll stop hearing about how cool war is with each of those inbred, blue blooded political parasites sporting fresh shiners on their foreheads.

  • Just one Jew stroking the other Jews cock. These guys both make me sick. Stewart threw softball after softball. That’s all Kristol ever gets, no one ever puts this asshole on the hot seat! I’m sick of these neo-con assholes getting a free pass on every fucking show they appear on.
    As far as I’m concerned if someone invites a PNAC neo-con on their show and doesn’t challenge them with substantive questions their just as guilty as those traitors!

  • HEY whoever likes OBAMA and Jon Stewart – The Obama campaign is offering a chance for two tickets to see Obama’s interview on the Jon Stewart Show.
    Go here: http://my.barackobama.com/dailyshowtix to learn more

    BTW Jon Stewart is the full package. He is the only one to actually interview Bill Kristol. Gee, the only real journalist we have now is a comedian. Go figure.

  • This interview made me really happy–it is so rare on TV to see two people with completely different political points of view have a polite conversation. I wish more people would follow this example.

    The down side of that is that Kristol gets to open his mouth, and Stewart doesn’t shout him down, but it’s worth it.

  • The anti-semitism on this post is truly disturbing. As an Irish-Catholic, I am sick of people labeling others hatefully by their ethnic/religious backgrounds. Stewart and Kristol each made fun of their Jewishness as a cultural issue, but neither deserves the hate and scorn I see on this site. Don’t be so ignorant, judge people by their speech and actions, not by their parentage.

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