President Barack Obama: "I think Jon Stewart’s brilliant."

[kpete]

Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama
The president, in the Oval Office, discusses his job, the opposition and the coming campaign


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ready-for-the-fight-rolling-stone-interview-with-barack-obama-20120425#ixzz1t6cnK6dA


Q. (JW) – What do you read regularly to keep you informed or provide you with perspectives beyond the inner circle of your advisers?

A. (PBO) – (Laughs) Other than Rolling Stone?

Q. (JW) – That goes without saying.

A. (PBO) – I don’t watch a lot of TV news. I don’t watch cable at all. I like The Daily Show, so sometimes if I’m home late at night, I’ll catch snippets of that. I think Jon Stewart’s brilliant. It’s amazing to me the degree to which he’s able to cut through a bunch of the nonsense – for young people in particular, where I think he ends up having more credibility than a lot of more conventional news programs do.

I spend a lot of time just reading reports, studies, briefing books, intelligence assessments.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/25/president-obama-and-why-he-gets-it/#more-405623
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ready-for-the-fight-rolling-stone-interview-with-barack-obama-20120425

[madokie]

1. a lot of us out here think the same thing Mr President

A lot of us out here think President Obama is one awesome dude too

[freshwest]

4. +1,000, madokie!

[treestar]

2. Not so brilliant that you'll do what Jon says you should do, President Obama!

There were a few times where Jon Stewart thought President O. was all kinds of wrong!

[DevonRex]

3. I agree with him. Jon is always too quick

to point out that he's an entertainer. And it's true. But it's also true that he's an entertainer who pays attention and is very quick to learn and even quicker to cut through the BS than any seasoned journalist out there, Maddow excepted. But Maddow's show doesn't quite give her the platform to do it in the way Jon can. He isn't as hampered by convention as she is just because of the network and time slot. OTOH, she can delve deeper into issues and can cover some issues that never would have seen the light of day on cable news even a couple of years ago and has gained so much respect as a result.

Anyway, Stewart and Maddow and Sharpton are my dream team, I must say. I love that balance.

[goclark]

56. I'm with you

Your dream team is a good one.

[jenwilson]

5. I will never watch that horrible man again

He often criticizes the President. I don't understand why people will watch a show that tears down good people.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. You must be a blast a parties.

[Fumesucker]

11. That sounds a lot like snark to me..

[Ruby the Liberal]

12. I'm funny like that.

I tend to put a little sugar and water with my lemons. Some like to chomp on them au natural.

[dflprincess]

14. I've never heard Steward criticize anyone who didn't deserve it

and Stewart usually has something specific the person he's talking about has said or done that prompted the comments.

He goes after those on the other side of the aisle as much, if not more, often.

[uponit7771]

16. +1 Stewarts unfair is most people on TVs graceful...Strewarts pretty good

[tledford]

57. Say what? eom

[DutchLiberal]

66. Well, he was a jackass when he was furthering right-wing talking points on Greece...

Only time I turned him off.

[Fearless]

17. I like pepperoni on my pizza.

[roody]

20. Are you joking?

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. This is the new troll act: pretend that you would brook no criticism of Obama

The idea is to leave an impression of Obama supporters as absolute fanatics. It is a piddling and profoundly stupid little strategy, but they seem to be going at it with gusto. So, they jump in here, and pretend to be all sortsa sniffy when anyone anywhere criticizes the President. Low post count, unreasonable attack on Obama critic of any kind (but particularly on the Left), and it's FUD all day and night. Transparent as all git out, but there 'tis.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. +1

[sakabatou]

22. I'm sorry, I must be watching a different Stewart than you.

[nobodyspecial]

31. Because we are not idol worshipping zealots

contrary to what others may have told you. But, feel free to launch a boycott.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. ah, thank you for visiting...Gone back to your huddle now?

crowing with the gnomes about how you gave it to us good? Pwned us? Did the big smack-down?

[xxqqqzme]

46. I understand there

is quite a fun fest over on faux nuz.

[snooper2]

51. how old are you?

[Cali_Democrat]

52. bwahahaha

concern noted.

[Renew Deal]

53. If you think Jon Stewart is bad, you're going to hate DU.

[Codeine]

64. Oh go away.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. Sweet!!

Amen, Mr President. Jon ROCKS. Thanks for giving him a shout out.

[Cleita]

7. Please tell me that our President doesn't get all his TV news from Jon Stewart like so

many of my poorly informed acquaintances do? I'm not knocking Stewart and thank God he does reach out to people who would be listening to Fox News with bated breathe instead if he weren't around to deflate it. But really, Mr. President, couldn't you at least watch one cable show, maybe Rachel Maddow?

[Bolo Boffin]

18. I have this feeling that the President gets his news

from more direct sources than cable news.

[Cleita]

21. I'm sure of that too, however, I meant his TV watching. n/t

[Lucky Luciano]

27. I suspect you are correct.

[JDPriestly]

36. Why would he watch cable TV when he reads the original briefing papers

and sees the real data?

Cable TV is full of lies. There are a few exceptions, but I think it would be tactless and foolish for the president to single out specific shows that he likes to watch. He would just draw a critical eye to some good people.

[Cleita]

39. If I remember correctly, on the fictional West Wing. The TVs throughout the WH were always

tuned into CNN or did they call it ZNN on the show, so I assume that other Presidents tried to keep up with the pulse of the hoi poloi news organizations.

[jwirr]

49. Back in the day JFK had 3 tv sets all tuned into a different channel. Only 3 then of course.

[Renew Deal]

54. The only way to understand the jokes on the Daily Show is to be informed.

A lot of it is wonky political stuff.

Cable news is the pink slime of news.

[alp227]

8. I peeked at Mark Levin's show today and his response to Obama's comment?

Playing a bunch of bleeped soundbites of Stewart and commenting that this is the new hip style that Obama is pandering to and noting that his producer had to scrutinize the soundbites for broadcast. Also, Levin told a story about how he challenged Stewart to an hourlong debate in response to a request for Levin to appear on the Daily Show. The Daily Show producers never responded.

The audio should be up soon here http://marklevinshow.com/sectional.asp?id=32930

The Daily Show comments were at the top of hour 2. These mp3 files are of whole shows sans commercials. Each hour should take up about 35 minutes.

[bluedigger]

26. Why are you listening to that right wing ass hat?

I bet Levin was crushed that Stewart didn't give him a bigger platform for his nuttery.

[alp227]

32. I peek at his show to know what the right is thinking then change to a progressive show.

In this case, since it was during the 6-9pm (ET)/3-6pm (PT) time slot, I changed to Norman Goldman the rest of the afternoon.

[AtheistCrusader]

29. That's pretty impressive given

Stewart ripped Tucker in half and put a dent in his career that took 2 years to recover from, and has handled even Mr. Loofa with aplomb.

I'd kinda like to see Levin try.

[dmr]

33. Yea, he called him a big dick, & then CNN cancelled the show!

'Crossfire' !

[AtheistCrusader]

43. Probably my favorite moment in talk show history.

Stewart could have lost his temper or gone in so many directions with it, but unscripted, calmly and without the tiniest misstep, he burned down their entire house right in front of them.

What I wouldn't give to have been a fly on the wall when the 'cancel that show' decision was made.

[randome]

45. "If I've lost Stewart, I've lost Middle America."

That's where we stand today.

[tex-wyo-dem]

30. Don't think I really want to listen to mp3s of...

That dipshit with a voice like Joe Pesci on helium, but knock yourself out. I sometimes wander over to his radio program to see what the nut's outrage du jour is, but can only handle it for a few minutes before turning off.

One thing about Levin is that he thinks himself quite the intellectual, which is a joke if you really start analyzing the BS he espouses. His basic platform is that free market = freedom/liberty, anything the big bad govt tries to do, no matter how egalitarian, is tyranny. How he has written entire books (which he plugs on his radio program incessantly) on this simple, stupid premise is beyond me.

His school-yard bully, 7th grade level name calling is hilarious too considering his desire to be thought of as a high-minded smart guy.

His criticism of Stewart I find just smacks of jealousy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. "Cut through the nonsense" such as "yes we can... but" n/t

[dionysus]

67. .

[gateley]

13. I wish he'd watch a little more TV -- more Stewart (he's right, he cuts right through the bs) and

Rachel.

I think Obama's brilliant, too!

[Baitball Blogger]

15. Jon Stewart gave us something to fight back with when the Democrats had nothing in their arsenal.

Satire. Who knew?

[MaynardGeeKrebs]

19. I wish he would watch faux news.

I wish he would watch faux news. Maybe then he'd be harder with "the opposition".

[ujmujmujm]

23. Spam deleted by MaineDem (MIR Team)

[JNelson6563]

24. Stewart/Colbert 2016!

[randome]

38. Colbert is brilliant-er.

[JNelson6563]

41. Actually, I think he is too.

[ecstatic]

28. I think Jon is just OK

I was disappointed in what he chose to do with his power (the rallies). The rallies could have meant so much more, but instead he tried to equate FAUX news with MSNBC, yada yada. I guess I don't forget very easily...

[randome]

40. I don't get that.

Will only Utopia satisfy some people? Stewart helped energize people at those rallies. Give him his due and let it go at that.

[dakota_democrat]

42. The point he was making required him to say that FOX & MSNBC were the same

I get the feeling that Stewart's pretty liberal, but he realizes to do what he does, he has to hold on to some semblance of the middle ground. His show would lose credibility (and possibly ratings) if he just became a surrogate attack dog for the Democratic Party.

[Whiskeytide]

44. We have to keep it in perspective...

Stewart is not a political figure trying to right the world. He's a comedian trying to make people laugh. Fortunately, the antics and rank hypocrisy of many right wing politicians and pundits is often funny, and he seems gravitate toward that "can you believe this shit?" kind of humor. He also appears to not like unfairness, and is brilliant at putting a funny spin on that. The fact that a lefty gets caught in the net sometimes (see Weiner, e.g.) just give him credibility in my mind. I think we should be glad for what he is, and not try to make him into something else.

[Icicle]

47. I think

George Carlin used to say that his job was "pointing out the goofy sh*t in life" and Stewart points out the "goofy sh*t in the news." While it's true that there are occasional moments of Democratic goofiness, the Republicans are much much closer to cornering the market on the goof. Stewart pretty much takes whatever's coming down the pike that day and talks about that. One cannot apply any sort of "fairness doctrine" or "equal time for both sides" approach to that.
Quite simply, if Republicans don't want to spend so much time in the "Spotlight of Goof," maybe they should come a little closer back toward sanity.

[JDPriestly]

34. Why would the president, who has access to the real stuff,

the original intelligence reports, their summaries and the like, read the gossip in the Washington Post or the New York Times?

[jwirr]

48. I am thinking that a lot of what he does use is provided to him by his staff: reports, studies,

briefing books, itelligence assessments. That leaves him dependent on their opinions. I think watching things like Rachel and Lawrence O, Elliot Spitzer would be a good way of hearing the other side.

Overall though at least his answer is better than Sarah's.

[Renew Deal]

55. Rachel, Larry O, and Spitzer are the other side of what?

I don't get it.

[jwirr]

61. They seem IMO to express much of what we on DU are thinking. I doubt that his staff can be labled

as necessarily progressive.

[Martin Eden]

50. *******What do you read regularly*******

How DARE the interviewer ask the President a trick ***gotcha*** question like that?

Now he knows how Sarah Palin feels!

[tclambert]

58. What? He doesn't read ALL the newspapers?

He must be a lot less well-informed than Sarah Whats-her-name.

[tanyev]

59. I bet Colbert's going to have something to say about that.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

60. Jon Stewart for President!

Why not?

Even the current President says that he likes him.

[Quantess]

62. K & R

[Spike89]

63. Wow, too many here think politics & news are the same

I'm glad our president doesn't spend a lot of time obsessing about the political discussions/rants that dominate the "news" channels. I'm perfectly comfortable with an executive that seeks facts. Of course he has political advisers who must keep track of all that, but I don't know what he could possibly glean from listening to Rush, Maddow, or any other talking head out there.

Oh, to be clear, I have respect for Maddow's point of view, but she is a talking head, not a primary news source. My point isn't that these opinion people are right or wrong, just that they aren't delivering news a president can use, or at least that isn't their primary mission. A newspaper (and even Rolling Stone) is a bit better. Hearing/reading reports and figures delivered from experts actually "in the middle" of the news is much more important.

The talk shows are about politics, not news. There is a difference.

[DutchLiberal]

65. Too bad he doesn't actually listen to what the 'brilliant' Stewart says...

because if he did, he wouldn't go on with horrible policies like indefinite detention, extrajudicial executions of American citizens, and other continuations of Bush policies. Ah well, I guess he just missed those episodes.