I found Colin Powell to be very convincing.

[Telly Savalas]

I was fiercely against the invasion and occupation of Iraq until seeing last night's interview with Colin Powell. Maybe if Jon Stewart had only given clear rebuttals to every point that Powell made, I'd still be against the war. But like most Daily Show viewers, I'm completely incapable of thinking for myself, and hence am easily influenced by the unchallenged rhetoric of Jon's rightwing guests.

Nice try, Jon, but if you want to keep me a liberal, you'd best start yelling at your guests.

[parasim]

1. So, you rely on a comedian to "keep you a liberal"?

That's just a wee bit sad, don't ya think?

As for yelling at his RW guests, if he started to do that, he'd lose any RW viewership that he now has that tunes and sees Jon consistently demonstrating the insanity of the Bush administration by showing their hypocrisy/lies. If he stooped to O'Reilly tactics, he'd just be labelled a Bush-hater and he'd end up forever only preaching to the choir.

On the other hand, it would have been delicious if they had Lewis Black interview Powell...

[aeolian]

5. I think he was being sarcastic about that.

[parasim]

10. Ahh... I guess I missed that.

Perhaps I was remembering the few rants I saw around DU yesterday that were accusing Stewart of "selling out" because of his "softball" interview with Powell...

[Telly Savalas]

12. I kind of thought that...

the "I'm incapable of thinking for myself" line would be the red flag alerting the reader of sarcasm, but it looks like quite a few people read it too quick or before they had enough coffee this morning. It's what I get for not being clear and direct.

My point is that people who whine about Jon Stewart not being tough on rightwing guests are just insulting TDS's audience. Most of us who watch the show are smart enough to realize that Colin Powell is wrong without Jon holding our hands and walking us through the arguments.

[seabeyond]

2. but he doesnt yell at his guest

never has yelled at his guest. this is it. the way he "interviews" all guest.

so i guess what you are saying is you cant accept that and wont be watching his show anymore?

[Telly Savalas]

13. I love the show.

See post 12.

I'll occasionally turn it off before the interview if the guest is some Hollywood schmo I don't care about or somebody who is too contemptible for me to deal with at 11:15 PM, like Bill O'Reilly. I usually enjoy the talks with rightwingers. While I despise their politics, some of them (John McCain in particular) make for entertaining interviews.

[seabeyond]

16. ah hahaha, i see

yup. your view of the show is pretty consistant with mine. there will be a guest, none come to mind, and i will say, nope, cant watch that one. and i go away.

on edit: probably not enough coffee yet, and.....so many posts attacking stewart, a combination, oh and reading to fast, perusing.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Well, I certainly was convinced that Colin Powell sold his soul to

the devil and lied his ass off in front of the UN!!

[applegrove]

4. Jon always goes into 'host' mode whoever is the guest. I did not

find Jon so much as agreeing with Powell - even when he made the 'water under the bridge' comment. So much as he was paraphrasing.

I read on this board how bad the interview was - then I saw the show. Powell could be the biggest pasty the US has seen in a long time. He remains convinced that he actually was somehow effective in that WH. And he lost at every turn.

If Powell wants to believe that every attempt was made to stop war - so be it. Doesn't affect me.

[Hobarticus]

6. Gee, if I need to see someone get beat up, I'll watch O'Reilly or Hannity

Jon Stewart has a balance of guests, and treats them with respect. I'd rather see that than another attack poodle starting a freakin' fight with someone.

Normal people are tired of seeing people screaming at each other on TV. Fox's ratings are dropping.

[joeBlowSchmoe]

7. I can't take Stewart the pundit seriously.

Especially when he goes against the likes of Powell or Kerry.

He is funny as all get out, though.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Hell, he convinced me too! That their scared and lying about

all of it!

Colin Powell going on to TDS convinced me that they are in manipulation mode BIG TIME. If he had a book he was pushing, I may think differently. That is not the case.

It was an orwellian experience to watch that show. When Powell said GW and Laura 'came over to the house for dinner last week' and they discussed a lot of things, it was the defining moment for me. Bush went to Powell to "ask" him to go out there and put a good face on it for the Administration.

No doubt, some may ask what his motivation would be to help Bush? He's out, so why do it? Answer: Because he is part of it and the coverup that is in progress.

[DemonFighterLives]

11. Did dubby hand deliver the horse's head to Colin?

Sorry, I missed the show, but Colin lost his purity when he sided with the demons. Until, and if he becomes a whistleblower, his words will be wasted on me.

[Flying Dream Blues]

14. I agree with everything you said. Spin time, baby. n/t

[Protagoras]

9. Start Yelling at his guests?

Maybe we shouldn't be too quick to demand that TDS instantly transform into Crossfire.

Right now Stewart actually GETS a steady stream of high profile people on to speak their peace...and surrounding those papish, book selling interviews, they interweave hard hitting comedic commentary.

The result has been massive numbers of people actually watching TDS...and it becoming a mover and shaker in the popular consciousness.

For Stewart to try and become Tweety and break that format would probably just result in the whole wad being blown...and TDS falling back into obscurity. TDS is NOT there to become the Left's version of Hannity and Colmes...it's there to be an insightful comedy show.

It quickly becomes unfunny if it just devolves into a shouting match.

But to everyone who's so sure they have a BETTER way for TDS to do its business...send em your resume...maybe they need a new executive producer to tell em all how to do it so much better.

After all, they've done such a terrible job so far...being a totally unknown late night blip on basic cable.

Ok...I'll go seek coffee now...that sounds snippy. But I'll leave it anyway.

[paula777]

15. I was yelling at the tv watching that show last night

Powell was just lying like the mf he is and Jon just let him spew his lies without calling him out on any of them. I AM SO SICK OF THIS