Letters to the Editor
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Thank God For Comedy Central!
I'm surprised no one mentioned Comedy Central's "Lil' Bush" on Thursday nights! I believe a new season just started and it's on around 10 pm
Imagine George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi etc. all running the country as children! It gives the word "irreverent" a whole new meaning.
I recall reading somewhere that most teenagers get their "news" from Stewart and Colbert.
Maybe there is hope.
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Stephen Colbert Jon Stewart
It is interesting that one has to subscribe to a specialty channel to watch/listen to Colbert, Stewart,Maher, Mencea and South Park. The masses meanwhile can listen to the xenophobic rantings of Lou Dobbs, the self professed wisdom of Glenn Beck and the claptrap of bill O'Reilly with only a working TV. It is almost as if the networks realize the masses don't want to be exposed to the realities of the events occurring around them.
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no
america is lost. the institutions are corrupt; the congress is gutless and ineffective; the people don't care enough to do more than perhaps tune in to a comedy program as evidence of their displeasure.
the washington post has an editorial this morning, that denounces the secrecy of the torture memos, and calls for all of them to be published. not to pursue the depraved authors and implementors of those memos; but to encourage a national discussion of their efficacy.
america is lost. murdered on december december 12, 2000.
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a certain homogenous look
has anyone noticed all the comics discussed are white men, in their 40's and 50's? I'd love to see umm, perhaps women leading one or more shows. One thing that has become crystal clear this election cycle is the deep, deep misogyny that our country still embraces. Bill Maher, whom in many ways I respect, has one token woman on his panel, and is blatantly sexist. In away he is somewhat refreshing in the overtness of his sexism. Jon Stewart has Samantha Bee who is on, oh aprx. one time a month, or less. Colbert? no women at all on his show, etc, etc. White men still have a hammerlock on media, despite the trotting out of token pundits on the news channels.
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"Imagine George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi etc. all running the country as children!"
Uh, unfortunately this does not require any stretch of the imagination so I find it very difficult to laugh at L'il Bush.
IMO Stewart and Colbert rock! Both are far more politically astute than many so-called pundits. And South Park's best political episodes were:
1)"Some Kind of Genius" -- The SP Kindergarten class votes for a class president and ends up having recount after recount under the dubious guidance of their teacher, Mr. Garrison. It was a great lampoon of the 2000 presidential election hanging chad fiasco.
2)"Turd and Douch" -- PETA protests the SP mascot, Mooey the Cow. SP Elementary holds an election for a new school mascot with the two candidates being Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich. It satirized the 2004 election beautifully. Kerry was Giant Douche; Bush was Turd Sandwich.
You can view episode clips online at http://www.southparkstudios.com/
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It Fits the Times, but I wonder if it is Good for Democracy
I watch Stewart, Colbert and Maher religiously. They are funny and have some real cutting observations that are fun.
But if that is the only source of news for a lot of people, then it is incredibly dangerous in that it shows no real respect for our governing establishments, nor does it allow for any in-depth analysis of topical issues.
That is generally the disappointment in that there's some guest with an interesting and substantive issue, and it gets somewhat twisted or given short shrift in between the gags.
Now, admittedly, it is comedy, and if I want to see it delved into in more detail, I should watch Russert, I realize.
But the fear for me, at least, is that if this is the source of news for the Millenials, then they are not really getting an infusion of current events information. They are simply being trained to mock the officials without really getting much behind the "issue."
It's media mocking the media for their coverage as if they are smarter and can smugly deride the way in which the conventional media acts like lemmings.
So it makes fun of the "style" of news reporting without ever getting at the "substance."
A news source that is merely a critique of the stylists of the fourth estate rather than the practioners of governance is not good for democracy at all.
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Stewart did NOT go to Yale
Christopher1988 posted that Jon Stewart went to Yale and thus is not worthy of his "regular guy persona". Stewart did not go to Yale, but the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Please get your facts straight if you're going to use them as the basis for any criticism.
Stewart is now very successful, and, no doubt, well compensated. But I believe an important part of his appeal is his genuineness and the fact that he has worked hard to achieve the success he enjoys and is very much a "regular guy."
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Speaking of Carson, does the book mention THIS?
Something I noticed about George W. Bush in early 2001 is that much of his on-camera persona and mannerisms seemed to be based on Johnny Carson. I have to suspect his handlers had noticed a resemblance, and trained him to play it up, because people still missed Johnny.
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Right on!
"Having seen the coverage of the major networks and cable outlets, these comedia-casters are the only source of unbiased reporting."
RIGHT!
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Can Stephen Colbert save America?
"Is the rest of America, in Peterson's estimation, just too dumb to be trusted with democracy?" How many of us would have the courage to answer this question honestly in public? Perhaps a few readers of Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason."
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Nope, can't save it.
I was in the 11TH grade when Maher, on network television, made the statement which caused his show to be canceled. I agreed with him at the time, but remember wincing. Then he was gone.
These many years later I can barely tolerate his sexist face. I can periodically appreciated his guests, though if I never see Tim Robbins again it will be too soon.
The first time I saw Colbert was the White House Correspondent dinner, and he was brilliant, that hasn't changed.
Stewart is a liberal white male with good intentions, quite smart, funny, and quite a few steps ahead of the game.
I get my comedy, not my news, from them.
The people most dedicated to these shows are those who already get it, not those looking for a source of news. They get it because they know the real facts, read real news, or other sources, news they didn't get them from cable or paid comedy shows. They watch those shows to see their opinion articulated in a different way, and to validate.