Some of you may be wondering how Jon Stewart gets Neoconservatives (let alone conservatives) to appear on his show with such regularity. In fact, since Obama took office, Stewart has had more conservatives appear on his show than liberals. The answer can be found in conservatives own words. Bill Kristol said “He doesn’t take cheap shots. Jon is smart.”
Cliff May, a former spokesman for the Republican Party and a unabashed hawk appeared on the show to talk about torture and said “Literally, this is the best conversation I’ve had on this subject anywhere.” and “He’s a staunch liberal, but he’s a thoughtful liberal, and I respect that.”
John Bolton, Bush’s ambassador to the UN and a Fox News contributor says “He always gives you a chance to answer, which some people don’t do.”
But the bottom line is that Stewart gives conservatives the ability to reach an audience that normally tunes them out. The media in this country has become so polarized, that it has become something of an echo chamber. Or worse, the media dumbs down issues for the lowest common denominator viewer. As Bolton put it “Maybe he’s discovered that interesting discussion attracts viewers.”
Here’s to more spirited, intelligent discussion of issues!
3 Comments
Noeconservatives are by definition Jewish. Jon Stewart is Jewish. If I had a television, his is the one show I would watch. I love it when you put his shows up for me to see.
Eva – you can watch the episodes online. Click on the Daily Show link on the home page for Political Irony. That’s how I watch them.
This makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. After reading for days about the disruptions at the healthcare town halls, it’s nice to see evidence that there’s hope for political discourse in America. Did anyone see the Bill Kristol interview, where he promises Jon Stewart that he’ll ask Sarah Palin to come on the show? I almost drooled just thinking about it.
@Eva. You should watch the episodes on-line the way starluna described. I’d also recommend hulu.com for a cleaner, less image-heavy site format:
http://www.hulu.com/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart
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[…] “Neoconservatives Love Jon Stewart,” a short piece on Political Irony, presents a surprising statistic: “[S]ince Obama took office, Stewart has had more conservatives appear on his show than liberals.” […]