What Would Crossfire Look Like With 4 Jon Stewarts?

[DrFunkenstein]

Which is obviously not to say 4 liberal Jewish comedians from New York . But could it be possible to have an engaging show between 4 people with both liberal and conservative perspectives that wasn't "theater"?

I suppose one key quality would be the ability to be "real" even when joking, as opposed to righteous posturing. But at the same time, the shared goal between all the hosts would be furthering the public discourse, not "scoring points" for your team.

I am a fairly liberal person - no, actually I'm a very liberal person - but at the same time, I am willing to concede that there are conservatives that are genuine out there. I know people hate the guy, and I disagree with him on virtually every point, but I think Pat Buchanan is (usually) genuine.

Let me go with a better example, one who might end up in the West Wing: Teresa Heinz. She's actually a wonderful liberal in my book, but she comes from a lifetime of Republicanism as the spouse of Sen. John Heinz. Would it be possible to get someone who is intelligent and engaging and real, but also conservative?

Personally, I love the folks on the Foreign Relations Committee, because they (usually) try their best to put aside partisanship in the name of true patriotism. Which brings an even better example to mind: John McCain.

I know lots of folks hate when good liberals express admiration for someone ideologically opposed to them, but I don't. I applaud it.

Ok, I'm going to venture into heresy - I've heard Tucker Carlson on the Leonard Lopate show (WNYC). He's not always a dickhead. Unfortunately, he's chosen the path of the bowtie. But it isn't that hard for me to imagine an alternate universe with a Bizarro Tucker that is both conservative and not an asshead (flame away).

One of the reasons that I truly love John Kerry so much is that he is a diehard liberal like myself, but he is also genuinely interested in bi-partisanship in the best sense (not the suck-ass sense). In that way, I see alot of similarity with Jon Stewart - also a liberal, but willing to concede a point from someone on "the other side."

If we had a Crossfire with 2 liberal Jon Stewarts and 2 conservative Jon Stewarts (allow for cognitive dissonance), I think this Presidential race would have been a very different thing. It would have been much more sincere, less full of shit (pardon my French), and so would have clearly favored John Kerry over the most full-of-shit President in American history.

Is it so hard to imagine such a program? Can we not be entertaining and engaging without resorting to partisan hackery?

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. Sounds like the original Crossfire

Original hosts were Pat Buchanan and Tom Braden. Later Michael Kinsley and Bill Press would replace Braden and John Sununu Sr would fill in for Pat when he was off running for President.

I always thought the level of debate on the original show was spirited but respectful on both sides. Even the more recent Buchanan/Press reincarnation on MSRNC had more in common with the original Crossfire than CNN's current show does. Problem with CNN these days is that they're trying to outFAUX FAUX as usual, in this case by being more hysterical than Hannity & Colmes.

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Was The Original Entertaining Or A Snoozer?

I mean, I don't want to hear a bunch of respectful old guys talking minor policy issues. I already have Bill Moyers for that. I would like people who were both political and entertaining, something like Janeane Garafalo (which she is not overly strident).

[Lerkfish]

3. you beat me to it, and said it better..

I was also going to point out that it WAS better "in the day".
I also like to RATIONALLY discuss politics with an opposing view, but those days are gone. I cannot talk to ANY repub anymore without it turning batguano in an amazingly short time.
The problem is that they have drunk the koolaid. Even the people who make the koolaid, who should know the ingredients better than anyone, drink it.

Just this morning an repub coworker told me that our forces have killed no children in Iraq, and that no one was tortured in Abu Ghraib. As long as there is that much of a cognitive deficit in their perception of reality, no rational discourse is possible.

[rkc3]

5. You should send you idiot co-worker pictures of dead children

and the torture photos - ask him/her to dispute them.

[calmblueocean]

4. What Crossfire ought to look like

It ought to be Repubs and Democrats vs. the blogosphere.

Each side gets a few minutes to articulate their points without interruption, and then a few more minutes to debate them back and forth with each other, followed by a commercial break.

Buring this time, internet viewers are encouraged to send in links to information that blatantly rebut anything either side has said. Whenever one side is caught in a lie, the host corrects them and penalizes them with a buzzer, like on the old Family Feud show. Three lies, and your opponent wins by default.

I think something building on this general idea could be fun to watch and get away from the yelling and caterwauling that makes up most TV debate today.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. Haha! That Would Be Friggin' Awesome!

Just keep the conspiracy theorists out of there, and we'd have a revolution in pajamas (the official uniform of the blogosphere).