The Daily Dose
Aug. 3rd, 2004 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursangnome...of the Daily Show. I just love how Jon Stewart, who admits to being a "fake newsman" does more for truth than the real newsmen. I don't have a transcript to quote here, but the gist of it is still good stuff...
This evening, I watched Mr. Stewart interview a Congressman (whose name I forgot to jot down, I'm sorry to say) who was a member of the GOP's "rapid response team" during the Democratic National Convention. This team was responsible for getting out news items to refute claims and statements made by speechmakers at the DNC.
The Congress-Critter comes on, and notes to Jon how the GOP just wants the Kerry campaign to be honest and open. If you're a conservative, say so and be proud of it. If you're a liberal, say so and be proud of that, too. They just want Kerry to say what he is.
Now, Stewart admits that it may be a fair criticism that Kerry isn't quite clear on many of his positions. But he proceeds to put the Congress-Critter through the wringer nonetheless.
Stewart points out the oft-noted GOP line, that Kerry is the single most liberal person in the US Senate, more liberal than Kennedy. And Edwards is the 4th most liberal Senator. Stewart asks where those rankings come from.
The Congress-Critter fumbles around explaining that the ranking is done by a number of watchdog groups - trial lawyers, unions, and many other groups. Stewart asks (I admit, not terribly clearly) exactly where the 1st and 4th rankings come from. Who exactly are the GOP quoting there? Someone, somewhere, must have put that number forward. Who was it? The Congress-Critter continues to fumble about talking about watchdog groups.
Stewart then says, "Well, I'll tell you who does it. The National Journal". And the CongressCritter admits that well, yes, that's who compiles the data.
Stewart then goes on to note that, by the National Journal's compilation, over the course of their careers, both Kerry and Edwards are to the right of the median Democrats, rather than the left. The Congress-Critter doesn't respond directly to this.
Why? Because he's too busy laughing. Stewart is so good at what he does, that he can pretty directly accuse the man, and his party, of misleading the American public with "talking points", and obfuscating where their data comes from, and the guy is too busy honestly laughing about how it is said to get annoyed, or even respond to the accusation.
Mr. Stewart knows darned well the job of the Court Jester. My hat is off to him.
(btw, the National Journal requires a password for full access to it's contents. So, I cannot verify Stewart's statements as of the time of this writing.)
-----------------
Also in this show, for those of paranoid or illuminated bent...
President Bush has a new tagline - that the United States is "turning the corner". Apparently, as of last night's Daily Show, the President used the phrase 23 times in 5 speeches.
This evening, I watched Mr. Stewart interview a Congressman (whose name I forgot to jot down, I'm sorry to say) who was a member of the GOP's "rapid response team" during the Democratic National Convention. This team was responsible for getting out news items to refute claims and statements made by speechmakers at the DNC.
The Congress-Critter comes on, and notes to Jon how the GOP just wants the Kerry campaign to be honest and open. If you're a conservative, say so and be proud of it. If you're a liberal, say so and be proud of that, too. They just want Kerry to say what he is.
Now, Stewart admits that it may be a fair criticism that Kerry isn't quite clear on many of his positions. But he proceeds to put the Congress-Critter through the wringer nonetheless.
Stewart points out the oft-noted GOP line, that Kerry is the single most liberal person in the US Senate, more liberal than Kennedy. And Edwards is the 4th most liberal Senator. Stewart asks where those rankings come from.
The Congress-Critter fumbles around explaining that the ranking is done by a number of watchdog groups - trial lawyers, unions, and many other groups. Stewart asks (I admit, not terribly clearly) exactly where the 1st and 4th rankings come from. Who exactly are the GOP quoting there? Someone, somewhere, must have put that number forward. Who was it? The Congress-Critter continues to fumble about talking about watchdog groups.
Stewart then says, "Well, I'll tell you who does it. The National Journal". And the CongressCritter admits that well, yes, that's who compiles the data.
Stewart then goes on to note that, by the National Journal's compilation, over the course of their careers, both Kerry and Edwards are to the right of the median Democrats, rather than the left. The Congress-Critter doesn't respond directly to this.
Why? Because he's too busy laughing. Stewart is so good at what he does, that he can pretty directly accuse the man, and his party, of misleading the American public with "talking points", and obfuscating where their data comes from, and the guy is too busy honestly laughing about how it is said to get annoyed, or even respond to the accusation.
Mr. Stewart knows darned well the job of the Court Jester. My hat is off to him.
(btw, the National Journal requires a password for full access to it's contents. So, I cannot verify Stewart's statements as of the time of this writing.)
-----------------
Also in this show, for those of paranoid or illuminated bent...
President Bush has a new tagline - that the United States is "turning the corner". Apparently, as of last night's Daily Show, the President used the phrase 23 times in 5 speeches.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-03 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-05 09:30 am (UTC)