Jon Stewart: why I quit The Daily Show

[kpete]

Stewart’s decision to retire as host of the satirical news show after 16 years has left liberal America in mourning. So why is he leaving just before an election – and what will happen when he steps out from behind the desk?



“Honestly, it was a combination of the limitations of my brain and a format that is geared towards following an increasingly redundant process, which is our political process. I was just thinking, ‘Are there other ways to skin this cat?’ And, beyond that, it would be nice to be home when my little elves get home from school, occasionally.”

He has a 10-year-old son, Nathan, and a nine-year-old daughter, Maggie; Stewart and his wife, Tracey, have been married for almost as long as he’s been doing the show, after Stewart proposed to her via a crossword puzzle.

If anything, it was the prospect of the upcoming US election that pushed him to leave the show. “I’d covered an election four times, and it didn’t appear that there was going to be anything wildly different about this one,” he says.

.............

Does he have any regrets? Stewart recounts one big disappointment – an anodyne interview with Donald Rumsfeld in 2011 that failed to claim the former secretary of defence’s scalp. “He just went into the general gobbledegook.” Stewart puts on a pretty good imitation of Rumsfeld: “‘Mnah mnah mnah, well, you have to remember, it was 9/11 mnah mnah.’ I should have pushed, but he’s very adept at deflecting.” He looks genuinely crushed for a moment, then rallies: “That interview with Rumsfeld went shitty, but it’s still just an interview. He’s the one who has to live with the repercussions of what he really did, so there’s nothing that could happen on my show that carries that same level of regret.”


More (very insightful):
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/18/jon-stewart-why-i-quit-the-daily-show?CMP=twt_gu

[Jefferson23]

1. I find that encouraging, in the sense of where he'll next take his energy and find a home for it:

“Honestly, it was a combination of the limitations of my brain and a format that is geared towards following an increasingly redundant process, which is our political process. I was just thinking, ‘Are there other ways to skin this cat?’

There are other ways, and we may need them all.

K&R

[Snotcicles]

31. I wish he'd skin that cat on the Senate Floor after being elected. nt

[Jefferson23]

33. I don't think he'll ever do that..but who knows. n/t

[Ken Burch]

35. Y'know...If Menendez' seat comes open, Jon would be eligible to run.

Jon and Al Franken could form an Senate Intentional Comedy Caucus.

[Snotcicles]

36. They would make a great tag team, when either of them wants to make a point they can't be beat.

Just like John Fugelsang. All three are intellectuals IMO.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

45. definitely.

They sure are.

[onehandle]

2. I believe that the show was starting to take a toll on him.

Crushing his soul.

I stopped watching MSNBC and don't 'fret' if I am behind on TDS, for similar reasons.

The insanity of our country just isn't funny any more. And MSNBC repeats the same outrage, on about a 30 minute span, over and over all day long.

Take a long break, Jon.

[awoke_in_2003]

19. "The insanity of our country just isn't funny any more"

I don't think I have read truer words on DU

[Fairgo]

21. Agreed

Well said

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. yep. n/t

[AZ Progressive]

22. Here's a supporting quote

“Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing,” says Stewart. “I live in a constant state of depression. I think of us as turd miners. I put on my helmet, I go and mine turds, hopefully I don’t get turd lung disease.”

[LittleGirl]

3. I'm pretty sure

that Jon will be out there and defending liberal views elsewhere. Hopefully making a much bigger impact for us all. One can hope, right?

[Martin Eden]

4. "... it didn’t appear that there was going to be anything wildly different about this one,”

He's almost certainly correct about the 2016 election, but I hope he's wrong.

Our country is desperately in need of wildly different.

[bullwinkle428]

5. A depressing K&R for recognition of the reality of our system.

[zeemike]

6. Well I can't blame him at all, it has to have taken it's toll on his soul.

To be wildly popular for speaking truth to power and see nothing changing at all.

[Thespian2]

7. K & R

Unfortunately, many voters find elections so redundant and mind-crushing that they do not bother with them.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

47. this is true.

[leveymg]

8. The more you know about the US political process, the more sickening and less funny it becomes.

Finally, there comes a breaking point. As a charter member of the reality-based community, I think Jon has reached his. So did Colbert.

[Hotler]

10. "Finally, there comes a breaking point." I'm right there....

I'm at the point that I see no hope and see no future. Nothing is going to change by voting every two to four years. Change will not come until people get fighting mad and take to the streets by tens of thousands and keep the protest up for months nonstop. The biggest weapon we the people have is our wallets and pocket books, shut the spending off and grind this country to a halt, just by food, smokes and booze and nothing else, no cars, washers, no going out to dinner, the movies etc.. Us little people will survive longer than the rich because the rich have bills also and their creditors will come after them. With the country ground to stop the rich will not make much money because the stock market will fall as company profits do.

[CrispyQ]

14. I think the left is reaching their breaking point, too.

Voting for the lesser of two evils is still taking us to the right. Like another DUer said yesterday, it's easy for dems to be good on social issues cuz it doesn't cost anything.

[leveymg]

17. The system is working exactly as intended. The rich are richer, we're all broke.

One aggressive war in Iraq has metasticized into half a dozen sectarian regional wars, which spread exponentially, like viruses. The terrorism that springs from this, in turn, justifies additional spending to expand the permanent warfare and surveillance establishment that created the first.

It's an unbreakable viral organism that continues feeding and spreading throughout its host until finally, the thing finally destroys itself.

[Hiraeth]

9. I can understand his lack of enthusiasm.

It is hard for me to get excited about a Clinton/Bush face off.

[Initech]

25. I cringe whenever he has the BFEE on.

If it's down to Bush and Clinton again, I'm going to look at becoming an expatriate. Definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

[whereisjustice]

11. The nightmare prospect of Bush vs. Clinton claims another victim... millions more will follow

This election is being carefully designed by Democrats to foment apathy. Less of a challenge to the DNC status quo that way.

[CrispyQ]

15. Some on this site say that HRC can win without the left.

But if she loses, guess who they'll blame.

[whereisjustice]

16. That's what they said about mid terms. I guess they'll keep trying until the last liberal stays home

[CANDO]

40. One of the oft repeated lies on the left....

Is that Liberals stay home during mid-terms. BULLSHIT! Totally false bullshit. It is the lazy dumb shits who hardly ever pay attention to politics unless its a presidential election. The liberal left base always votes. It's the casual voter who usually votes left for prez that sits at home every other election cycle. God I get sick of this meme that liberals don't vote in mid-terms.

[whereisjustice]

48. You are wrong about this. Very wrong. So wrong it is painful.

There is a pool of disenfranchised voters who identify as "liberal" but are ignored by the Democratic Party.

Why?

For the same reason they are ignored by corporations. They lack wealth.

The Democratic Party is like an investment bank. They sell their product to wealthy individuals who will supply them capital. In return, the Party pays itself (first) and it's investors (second). The only benefit to the general public from the Democratic Party is when the best interests of the rich overlap with the non-rich, for example (but not necessarily limited to) the issues of gay marriage rights and abortion rights. There are plenty of Wall Street executives who would not think twice about stealing the pension fund from 250,000 workers, but would like these basic rights.

So, there are potential votes out there, but the Democratic Party treats them like trash.

45% of nonvoters say they have had trouble paying bills in the past year, compared with 30% of likely voters. Nonvoters are also much more likely than voters to borrow money from family or friends (41% vs. 21%) and to receive a means-tested government benefit (33% vs. 18%).

Taking into account the party leanings of independents, about half of nonvoters (51%) either identify as Democrats or lean Democratic; just 30% affiliate with the GOP or lean Republican, while 20% do not lean toward either party. Among likely voters, 50% identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, 44% identify as Republicans or lean Republican, and just 6% have no party leanings.

Nonvoters’ Mixed Views of Obama’s Job PerformanceNonvoters do not have particularly positive views of President Obama’s job performance, or of either political party. About as many approve (44%) as disapprove of the way Obama is handling his job as president.

Nonvoters’ views of the Democratic Party are more favorable than unfavorable. Still, only about half (48%) view the party favorably, while 40% have an unfavorable impression. Among likely voters, both parties are viewed negatively, on balance.

http://www.people-press.org/2014/10/31/the-party-of-nonvoters-2/

There's pleny more to back this up. The Democratic Party holds its noses around the non-rich.

[CANDO]

49. Yeah, and the people interviewd are not the liberal base.

For instance, ask here at DU if anyone sat home for the mid-terms. I would venture a guess that nearly every person on DU always votes and they are the base. If you just casually pay attention to politics and yet also say you vote Democratic when you do decide to vote....that is the dumb ass I speak of. And that person isn't a base voter. Yet here on DU we keep getting scolded for not voting in mid-terms even when we nearly all DO VOTE! It's a freaking ridiculous and oft repeated claim that the left sits home. No, it's the casual political observer who says they are Dem that sits when they're not "excited" enough to vote.

[whereisjustice]

51. Student, mid terms, finals, debt. You are a worker with no benefits, vacation, need the job

and all you hear all day long is the rich are excused from crimes and the poor aren't worthy of shit and need to be stuffed into prison cages.

Just what the fuck do you think is going to happen?

Our Democracy represents wealth.

DU is NOT the base. DU is the far right wing of the Democratic Party. The fact a few of us take the time to fight back doesn't make us the tea bagger version of the left.

Not even close.

We just understand the roots of dissent. And those roots are BY DESIGN in the Democratic Party who is consumed with chasing the money.

[awoke_in_2003]

20. Yep

I am still going to vote, but won't be thrilled. I remember how magical it felt to vote in 2008- it really hit me at the booth. It may sound sappy, but I really got emotional about it. I fear I will never have that feeling again.

[JaneyVee]

18. The article states he wants more family time.

[liberal_at_heart]

24. I agree. I think another Bush vs. Clinton election would drive a lot of voters to stay home.

[Flying Squirrel]

44. It's always darkest just before the dawn. n/t

[polichick]

12. Yep - looked at the next election and saw: SAME OL' SHIT.

[CrispyQ]

13. "...after Stewart proposed to her via a crossword puzzle."

[liberal_at_heart]

23. The rich buy millions in negative ads and the voters vote for whomever the tv tells them to.

It's true. There is nothing new and it is increasingly depressing.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

26. People over-analyze these things

I know a woman who in her early 40's just up and left a job that just about guaranteed she would be the next CEO "to spend more time with her family."

Very few people bothered asking her why she was walking away preferring instead to make up their own explanations. These ranged from she had been fired for ignoring sexual harassment allegations against a subordinate to the glass ceiling, to health problems, to she had been poached by a stealth start-up and a dozen others.

For those who cared to ask her the answer was "Our kids are fourteen and sixteen and there are adventures we want to have as a family"

Jon Stewart is a wealthy man with young children. He had better things to do with this stage of life than make fun of Ted Cruz.

[liberal_at_heart]

27. No one said spending time with his children wasn't a reason, but it was not the only reason.

Behind the humor there is a desire to make a difference. One of the things I always enjoyed the most about Stewart and Colbert for that matter was their intelligence. They are both very smart people who want to make a difference but watching the rich buy every election can make anybody disillusioned.

[Cha]

38. Well said, Sen WS

[arcane1]

28. I thought that Rumsfled ibnterview was pretty good. I damn near pitied the man.

Damn near

[DeSwiss]

29. Excellent!

[YOHABLO]

30. It's almost as if the Left has no other means of getting the message out there .. we'll take it.

[nightscanner59]

32. He's fought the good fight for common sense for 16 years.

And I'm sure keeping that up for that long has been tiresome. The idiocy of conservatism just wears me out reading about it.
I'm hoping he'll start up a YouTube channel where he'll occasionally, without deadlines, comment.

[Demeter]

34. He took the medium as far as he could and fought the good fight for us all

Better to leave before burn-out than after. He did his time educating a couple of generations, now we have to let that leavening raise the dough and Revolution.

When your soul says: No Mas! then it's time to close the door and open a new window....

God speed and best wishes, Jon Stewart!

[Hekate]

37. KnR. Thanks for all the sanity you provided in the Bush years.

[Cha]

39. Yes! A Big Mahalo to Jon Stewart!

[L0oniX]

41. Agree. Got to be a boring prospect and bummer for him to see a Clinton Bush run off.

[dflprincess]

42. He may be disappointed about not going after Rumsfeld

but the number he did on Cheney Thursday night was a work of art (not an interview, but truths the MSM should have reported 14 years ago).

[trublu992]

43. Don't know how I feel about him leaving, disappointed on one hand and understanding on the next.

It just seems we are at a brick wall in this country. Highlighting our political issues thru satire and comedy was a great way to get young

peoples' attention and ratings but also solidify their lethargic apathy. I think people are reasonably comfortable so its just too much effort

to organize and do anything more.

[Arugula Latte]

50. We have become a banana republic. There's no limit on the power of the rich.

They're shooting at our feet and telling us to dance.

Like everyone is saying, at some point it's just not funny anymore.