Crosssfire versus Jon Stewart

Published on October 15th, 2004

jon

CNN.com – Transcripts On October 15th Jon Stewart blew up the CNN Crossfire show. I have links to the the transcript and the video. I did not get to see the original broadcast but it’s apparent that this show, Crossfire, like many others is actually a lame TV version of those horrid morning “zoo” AM radio shows around the country.

At one point Stewart got annoyed and made this comment about one of the hosts.

STEWART: Now, this is theater. It’s obvious. How old are you?
CARLSON: Thirty-five.
STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.
(LAUGHTER)

here is the video feed This is incredible to watch. Get to it before it’s pulled.

17 users responded in " Crosssfire versus Jon Stewart "

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# 1 Anonymous said, on October 15th, 2004 at 9:13 pm

That was excellent.

# 2 Christopher Coulter said, on October 15th, 2004 at 10:52 pm

All true, but pot calling kettle black, sotospeak. Since when is Stewart a moral obligator of what be good news TV? More a product of the current lame hosts, over the format itself, as McLaughlin Group uses the same rapid-fire techniques in a much better way. Crossfire fared much better during the Michael Kinsley/Pat Buchanan era.

# 3 ace said, on October 16th, 2004 at 5:09 am

Thank you. Thank you . Thank you.

As a Canadian who looks south with more than a little dismay sometimes, I must ask: Jon Stewart: Are there anymore of him around?

# 4 Joe Gaffney said, on October 16th, 2004 at 8:36 am

What we need is a 24-hour news satire channel with Jon Stewart as lead anchor. American news and pop culture has become a parody of itself. The rest of the world is laughing at us, but we are not laughing at ourselves, as we should be. I would much rather tune into a 24-hour news channel that covers nothing but the absurdity of it all. Now that would be news!

# 5 chris said, on October 16th, 2004 at 9:20 am

Well Well Well,
CNN is finally getting the yank it needs.
Unfortunately, they just don’t get it, what else is new?

# 6 Eli Sarver said, on October 16th, 2004 at 1:14 pm

All true, but pot calling kettle black, sotospeak. Since when is Stewart a moral obligator of what be good news TV?

Stewart’s point is that he’s on a comedy station, and he has got a more news-oriented approach to his show than a show on a news channel. He’s pointing out that he has to have an obligation because cnn has dropped theirs. I thought that would be obvious.

# 7 Jeramey said, on October 16th, 2004 at 1:17 pm

Caught it from Russell Beattie already in audio form and thought it was just awesome. They do everything they can to stop him from talking.

# 8 Mike Voice said, on October 16th, 2004 at 2:33 pm

The transcript was excellent.

Can’t wait to get home from work and watch the video.

# 9 Mike Voice said, on October 16th, 2004 at 5:57 pm

A quote from the transcript:
There was a poll released today. I’m not exactly sure what it proves, but it does say something interesting; 69 percent of members of the armed services right now support Bush, as compared to less than 30 for Kerry, and that overall they were far more hopeful about the direction the country is moving than the average person. These are people, as you know, who are risking their lives in Iraq. It’s not a defense of the Iraq policy, but it does say…

Why does this remind me of “lies, damned lies, and statistics”?

Why is such a rambling statement made on a news show?

What are the details behind the survey? What armed forces? Just the Army? Army and Marines? World-wide, or just in Iraq? Afganistan too? Navy? Air Force? Coast Guard?

How many of them are careerists? How many on their first tour (enlisted after 9/11?).

These people are “self-selected” for supporting the military and military actions, since they have all volunteered to join their respective branches. I’m not surprised they are more hopeful “than the average person”; and support a President who has allowed then to see some action – which is why they joined, to go fight “the bad guys”.

# 10 SteveN said, on October 16th, 2004 at 6:19 pm

Jon Stewart is a comedian. He is invited on CNN because he is covering news better than they are. He asks them to do their job better. They dismiss that request. The right wing “news” guy is offended that the comedian didn’t behave as a better newsman in an interview. The right wing news guys fails to see the irony. Frankly, I’m surprised Carlson still has a job.

# 11 K B said, on October 16th, 2004 at 7:29 pm

It’s times like these that I remember that I really really really need to trash my dial-up service.

— K B

10% download and 31 minutes later, and counting….

# 12 Philip Dhingra said, on October 16th, 2004 at 10:48 pm

Jon is right, crossfire shouldn’t lecture him cuz he runs a comedy show. But Jon? Just because you have high ratings laughing at the establishment doesn’t mean you have the credibility to suggest improvements.

# 13 JB said, on October 17th, 2004 at 7:33 am

Stewart kind of comes off as an ass here. Why did he even bother coming on the show?

# 14 Paddy Mullen said, on October 17th, 2004 at 8:23 am

ohn Stewart is hypocritical, he had a chance to ask hard hitting questions of John Kerry, but he didn’t. His defense is that, he is on a comedy network and he shouldn’t be taken seriously. Fine, he is a comedian, then don’t offer serious views on other shows. At one point he typecasts himself (on his show) as a comedian, at another point he wants to be taken seriously (on crossfire). I don’t think a comedian can’t be serious, but I do think that Stewart took the easy way out of the situation. I would rather hear a comedian’s serious view on politics than a politician, because he will probably be more honest.

John Stewart’s attack of “be nice” is very weak. He said to CrossFire, you could do so much more with this. Give some examples. Stewart did do an excellent job of presenting his point (murky as it was) calmly. I would hope what Stewart was driving at was that by focusing so narrowly on such small issues (rathergate, bush transponder…) the show was missing the forest for the trees.

# 15 Thomas said, on October 17th, 2004 at 4:05 pm

I�ll give Jon this, he�s crafty. He thwarted any attempt to impugn his show by claiming, rightly so, that it is supposed to be a comedy. It is supposed to be a lark. However, what Jon did not do, in any articulate way whatsoever, is express *how* they should change Crossfire. He used quips and jokes to poke fun at the moderators, but gave no suggestions. He said that debate was good for the American people but somehow Crossfire was bad. Ok. Since Crossfire is a form of debate, I suppose we are left to presume that he means that it is not the type of debate he likes. Therefore, while I found his quips amusing, I didn�t find that he brought anything more to the problem he claims to see than the moderators. In fact, as far as I can tell, he didn�t clearly state what exactly it was about Crossfire that he didn�t like.

# 16 chuck said, on October 17th, 2004 at 8:52 pm

Jon Stewart is as frustrated as the rest of us by the media’s constant pandering to the political talking heads. They continuously let the spinmeisters frame the debate, rather than asking tough questions of our leadership. After watching this crap all year, I’m convinced that the media in this country is either lazy or stupid or both. Nothing personal, John.

I’m a regular viewer of The Daily Show. It’s the only place where a true liberal (is that a dirty word these days?? The Republicans seem to be able to make the media believe that) can hear some truth and honesty. It is the best show on television.

# 17 K B said, on October 18th, 2004 at 2:22 am

I couldn’t help notice that Stewart himself brought in just the kind of “theatre” of which he complained at one point– theatre as a substitute for genuine debate. That said, he did a *helluva* lot better job of it than the regulars do.

There was a certain iron-curtain objectivity to his statements. In fact, I thought the presentation was both amusing and engaging. In the end, of course, he provides us with nothing new: Everyone of merit detests Crossfire.

Basically, he was brought in to be hilarious as hell– a monkey to use his word– and whether he wanted to or not, he succeeded. He is much smoother than Bill Maher. And for what it is worth, I think he came to be funny, not to be serious. As he indicated, it would be preposterous for news anchors to look to a comedy show host for their inspiration. I don’t think the hosts ever got the joke.

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