Jon Stewart has the right idea

[babylonsister]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/09/22/avlon.jon.stewart.rally/

Jon Stewart has the right idea
By John P. Avlon, CNN Contributor
September 22, 2010 7:58 a.m. EDT


"Daily Show" host Jon Stewart is planning a rally for moderates on the weekend before Election Day.

snip//

It's a long war, with plenty of battles won and lost but Stewart has been sounding the alarm for a while. In my appearance on "The Daily Show" five years ago, I first heard Stewart offer up the ironic battle cry "take to the streets and yell 'be reasonable!' " Now it's time to put that idea into action.

People are already asking whether Stewart's "Restoring Sanity" rally can outdraw Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" religious revival on the Washington Mall this summer. It's a proxy for the larger question of whether the centrists will ever care as much as the activist extremes.

Others question why we should take this media event seriously in a high-stakes election season. It matters because we're going to need to draw on this spirit no matter what happens on Election Day.

If humor can help rebalance politics by pointing out the absurdities of what currently passes for debate, it is far better than throwing more red meat into the arena. It's even better if the proponent punches both left and right as a matter of principle, as this rally promises to do.

More examples of independence might be what it takes for the news industry to be trusted again as the honest brokers of American politics.

[kratos12]

1. No he does not

Stewart frequently goes out of his way to portray the Repubs and Dems as "just a two sides of the same coin".

Take for instance last night, he essentially placed equal blame on the Dems for the failure of repealing DADT despite the very clear fact that Republicans voted as a unified bloc against it.

Very frustrating to hear from an alleged progressive commentator.

[AldebTX]

2. The Dems Have to Take Some Blame

They cut a deal with the Repugs NOT to issue an executive order in exchange for votes to bring the bill forward. The Repugs did not follow through and there were not enough votes to bring the defense bill forward.....result....nothing...no consequences.

Why should the Repugs fear consequences when there are not any?

So yes the Dems do share some blame.

[kratos12]

3. Bullshit

If you want to apportion blame then maybe I woulod agree that the failure of repealing DADT splits 90 percent Repuke 10 percent Dem.

But on the specific issue of the passage of the bill put forth the other day, blame lays squarely on the party that actually hates gays and whose supporters vote for them in part because of that hate.

Just ask Saxby chambliss and his staff what they think about gays in general.

[The_Commonist]

4. Yes, they are two sides of the same coin.

You have the Global Corporate Fascists and the Global Corporate Socialists.
They both are beholden to corporate money.

And Jon Stewart is not a "progressive commentator," he is a comedian, and never presents himself as anything else.

[kratos12]

5. Defeatist bullpuckey

If the vote on DADT doesn't bring this contrast into focus for you then how about HCR, how about tax cuts for the rich, how about abortion, how about immigration reform.

Stewart, in an effort to appear "moderate" even went so far as to equate anti war code pink protestors with anti Obama Tea Partiers.

Consider that for a moment, when Stewart announced his rally, his promo for it equated anti war protestors and tea partier "Obama is Hitler" folks as simply two sides of the same coin.

Not bloody true, not even close, but stewart felt that he needed to show that he was being hard on the "unreasonable" people on the left.

[babylonsister]

8. He was pointing out the fringe on both sides. Your anger

seems misplaced to me. He's a comedian, but there's a lot of truth in what he says.

Guess you're just not a fan, and maybe take him way too seriously.

[kratos12]

9. I am actually a fan, thus my frustration re: the left fringe

Code pink is fringe because the oppose the war? Stewart opposed the war.

I just think he tries too hard to appear moderate when in fact he holds the same views of those he calls fringe.

[Winterblues]

10. He didn't equate Code Pink with the Tea Baggers

What he was talking about was theater, street theater, and he gave examples of groups that practiced it. That was the ONLY commonality. Both groups used theater.

[The_Commonist]

11. I don't see it as "defeatist," I see it as...

...being realistic.

I want the Dems in control, and I want the Reps to go far, far away forever.
But, as long as both sides are dependent upon corporate money, we will have to settle for the current Health Care Reform, rather than Single Payer, we will still have foreign occupations, "Bipartisanship" will remain part of the vocabulary, and our kooks will be seen as kooks by their kooks.

Two sides of the same corporate coin.
I want a different coin, and I realize that that is not going to happen on this planet.
So I settle...

(And for the record, I think that "our" kooks, of which I am one, are right about everything. Always have been and always will be...)

[unblock]

7. do you honestly think he has equal respect for republicans and democrats?

and do you honestly think his own views are squarely in the middle of the two parties?


he's a comedian, and most of the jokes about republicans are about how completely ridiculous their policies are, how hypocritical they are, how immoral they are, and so on. most of the jokes about democrats are about how ineffectual and disorganized they are, or how they come across as less polished than republicans.

so, yes, he jokes about both, but it's clear that if he were kingmaker he'd rather have democrats in charge (notwithstanding that he readily acknowledges, as do most political comedians, that republicans are better for business -- the comedy business, that is!)

[uncommon]

6. This will draw out a lot of leftists though, not centrists.

Because we do view our ideas as the reasonable ones - so while some moderates might show up who are fans of Stewart and Colbert, I think you will see a largely leftist turnout.