Jon over the line with criticism of

[OwnedByFerrets]

"Alex" ad. We knew it would happen, but I didnt expect it on this particular ad. Shame on ya Jon. Just my opinion, nothing more. Of course, I will still watch.;)

[lojasmo]

1. LOL. WUT is an "alex" ad?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. A young mother is sitting with her baby and starts to talking lovingly about him. She then

says that McCain said we'll be in Iraq for more than 100 years, and McCain cannot have her son.

So Jon was making fun of it saying in a nutshell that it was ridiculous because babies don't go to war.

[csziggy]

12. Here is the Alex ad - Moveon.org calls it "Not Alex"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq30lapbC9c

[lojasmo]

22. Just saw the skit.

I think it was funny as hell

The ad was great, too.

[AlCzervik]

2. i like the ad John Cusack did better, the Alex ad is good but i prefer the other one.

[Gabi Hayes]

3. that's how far he has to go to make things "even"

notice how the audience clapped a little, til they realized where he was going with it?

ad was about the young mom who wouldn't give her son to McCain for his hundred year war

[TroglodyteScholar]

4. Over the line?

He was light-hearted and in no way critical of the message itself. He just took it and made a silly joke with it, like he does with a lot of stuff.

[WCGreen]

15. I agree...

I guess it's okay for Jon to make fun of conservatives but hey, don't dare poke fun at a liberal group.

[notadmblnd]

5. it's a political ad wthat has a lady with a baby on her lap, telling McCain that he can't have him

it's been playing the last couple of weeks.

[Mojambo]

6. A lot of people here are going to have a hard time watching the Daily Show

once the Democratic party takes control of the White House.

[AlCzervik]

7. oh yes, that is a true statement.

[RoyGBiv]

11. I've had the same thought ...

Some people don't get it at all.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. Jon has McCain on often and I gather, likes him a lot. He also poo pooed Cindy

McCain stealing recipes the other night.

[kiva]

10. Well, it is a pretty silly ad.

I mean, would any mother of an infant want to hear that her son would be going off to war when he grew up? My father fought in "the Good War," and I'll bet that my grandmother didn't plan for her baby fight any war, no matter the cause.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. That's the reason the ad is so effective

McCain said he wouldn't mind if we stayed in Iraq for 100 or a million years. Do the math. If we do stay in Iraq under McCain's plan, today's babies are indeed future draft material. I think that ad is brilliant.

[seabeyond]

21. maybe it is a mother thing.... n/t

[NightWatcher]

13. mockery on a comedy show? NOOOOOOOO

[Mojambo]

14. Over the line? That's right where a comedian belongs.

One of the many things George Carlin taught me.

[boobooday]

16. What does over the line mean?

Just wondering.

[NeedleCast]

17. You...Understand he's a Comedian, Right?

Right?

[baldguy]

18. Yeah, and comedians cross the line sometimes.

Immediately after he showed the clip, the audience was a bit shocked at the directness - "You can't have him." And they GOT it.

Then Jon made his little joke & lost that moment.

[seabeyond]

23. exactly. i think most people responded to the ad so stewart not liking

the ad wasn't very significant. we all saw the ad anyway and most probably agree with it

[OwnedByFerrets]

27. Thank you for "getting it"........

I knew this would be controversial when I posted. But, thank goodness, there are those who understand that Jon missed the mark on this one.

[seabeyond]

19. are you talking about mom saying cant have my kid? i thought it was a good commercial

didnt agree with stewart on this. but he wasnt too over the line. i saw it and was hit by it. ask hubby if he liked it. maybe cause i have two sons and feel the same way is why i liked the commercial. cant have my two either and i have said it.

[parasim]

24. Well, it was a pretty silly ad, really...

The kid is an infant. I mean, sure we all know what McCain has been saying about it being a long war and all, but the kid wouldn't be going to war for well over a decade from now. Most viewers are not going to get what they're trying to say. They're just going to be confused, going, "WTF? That kid's not going to be going to war under McCain."

That ad is only going to resonate to those that already agree with it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. When I was 2 years old, we sent military advisers into Vietnam

When I was 22, we finally pulled our troops out.

So yeah, babies today could very well be going to war when they grow up if McCain's plans for Iraq are implemented.

[parasim]

29. I agree with you.

It's just the whole whole perception versus reality thing I was referring to. i'm talking about how the average person might interpret the ad. I submit that most people watching that ad are not going to get that infants could be going to war because of McCain's policies.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. All the more reason the ad is important

It educates people.

[happyslug]

26. That Ad was a Bad Ad in my opinion

Number one rule in any ad, NEVER TURN OFF THE AUDIENCE. It was to long and took to long to get to the point. It lacks the effectiveness of a old WWI cartoon about the Treaty of Versailles, which showed the politicians with their treaty and a baby crying in its mother's arms with the caption pointing to the baby it was crying for he was doomed by the treaty to be cannon fodder in 20 years. That was a DRAWN cartoon, that made its point in one panel. If you saw it, you read it and accepted its message within 10-15 seconds.

The same effectiveness would have been a voice over of McCain saying we will be in Iraq for 100 years with pictures of Crying babies with a note they are crying about receiving their draft notices for Iraq when they graduate High School. Could be done in a 10-15 second ad, that being short is to short to turn people off the message. Hit people hard and quick, which is were the Ad fails.

The actual Ad, as it was made, is more a statement of Move On's position on the war, then pointing out the cost of staying in Iraq. I remember the "Kick the Habit" ads, they were short, showing the problem of Smoking without turning people off the message. They were so effective that the Cigarette lobby preferred to ban Cigarettes advertisements on TV, then continuing to advertise on TV knowing that under the then Equal Time law, for every THREE Cigarette ad, the TV stations had to run one "Kick the Habit" ad.

The point Jon Stewart was trying to make was the AD was BAD, he did not say why it was bad, but it was a bad ad. A shorter, tighter ad would be more effective without turning people off the ad.

[JNelson6563]

33. I agree

I didn't think the ad was so hot and I am a mom with a son who is very close to draft age so it's a topic that really speaks to me. I thought it just tried way too hard to play to emotions.

Just my .0125

Julie

[CBGLuthier]

28. Did you hear the gasp in the audience?

Some of those people had not seen the ad.

Sure he poked a little fun at it.

But he also gave it free exposure to more than a million people. I think it was a worthwile tradeoff.

[Goblinmonger]

31. So if Obama wins in November

you are expecting the Daily Show to be a half-hour love fest? Or do you think perhaps the satire of the ridiculousness of the political system will continue? I'm voting for the latter.

[Johonny]

32. I thought the punch line was going to be

What that baby will be too old to goto war a 100 years from now.

But seriously the ad was hard to make fun of.

[stanwyck]

34. His comments weren't funny, but, still

the show has more impact if the satire isn't strictly partisan. We do have our little peccadillo's on the left, too. We should be able to recognize this and, occasionally, make fun of ourselves. I'm not a big fan of the Alex ad. There is room there for gentle criticism. Though I'm a fan of The Daily Show, I don't think their schtick was all that clever.

[noonwitch]

35. I thought Stewart was funny

His line about Move On making those who agree with you cringe was dead-on.