John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron Paul

[Broccoli]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I know. He's acting like some sort of TV talk show comedian.

Except his crusade has extended well beyond his comedy show.

He's been trying to be both and, as seen here, is sometimes represented (justly or otherwise) as a reputable source.

If people consider The Daily Show (or The Colbert Report, for that matter) as a reputable source then they are idiots.

 

[Tan Ru]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

People still watch that show??

Did not know that.......

 

[Pingfah]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

Why the consternation? As I understand it, it is quite popular amongst people of all political stripes on account of being rather funny.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

People still watch that show??

Did not know that.......

Actually more people watch The Daily Show than anything on Fox News except O'Reilly.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

People still watch that show??

Did not know that.......

Actually more people watch The Daily Show than anything on Fox News except O'Reilly.

IIRC, even SpongeBob SquarePants has more viewers than most everything on Fox News Channel. And there probably is not a big overlap in those two viewerships, either. Fox & Friends' Gretchen Carlson's recent statement that "It's hard to even follow sometimes," may indicate that the SpongeBob story lines are too complex for her (and probably for many in her audience) to understand. If they have trouble with SpongeBob, it is no wonder that genuinely complex political and social issues confuse and confound so many FNC viewers!

I don't know whether I would go as far as to say that Colbert or Stewart or O'Reilly are the ultimate in reputable sources, but I would say that anyone who completely dismisses matters/views that they bring up (especially when they expose a politician's lies or hypocrisy by showing clips of that individual's very own statements!) is an idiot. While I do not agree with everything any of these commentators say, I often do find some of their segments useful and steer me into looking into matter more closely myself. If I do, however, want useless, misleading ranting, I will tune in to Rush, Beck, Hannity, or Leslie Marshall (on the left).

Some people apparently can not understand it when -for example- Daily Show segments/bits go from a sophomoric/silly view on some minor issue on to segment featuring a hard look at a more serious matter using humor in the delivery. It throws certain people who "can't change the setting in their mind". Some people can't differentiate. Just because Jon Stewart is a comedian and an entertainer does not mean he can't explore and expose serious issues with valid observations. He can and he does. People just don't like it when their own ox gets gored, whether it is by Stewart or Dennis Miller.

"Humor. It is a difficult concept" - Saavik

 

[St. Squigolas]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

It's a straw poll. They're about as definitive as a Kid Rock jazz album....

The straw poll's lack of definitiveness in picking the final nominee is one more reason why it shouldn't be a big deal to mention how all the top vote-getters did, even if they aren't part of the media's chosen few finalists.

Here's the 2007 Ames Straw Poll:

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney"]Mitt Romney[/URL] 4,516 31.6%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Huckabee"]Mike Huckabee[/URL] 2,587 18.1%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Brownback"]Sam Brownback[/URL] 2,192 15.3%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Tancredo"]Tom Tancredo[/URL] 1,961 13.7%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul"]Ron Paul[/URL] 1,305 9.1%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Thompson"]Tommy Thompson[/URL] 1,039 7.3%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson"]Fred Thompson[/URL] 203 1.4%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Giuliani"]Rudy Giuliani[/URL] 183 1.3%   
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Hunter"]Duncan Hunter[/URL] 174 1.2%   
[B][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain"]John McCain[/URL] 101 0.7%   [/B]
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Cox"]John H. Cox[/URL] 41 0.3%

Ames Stawpoll = Fuck All

Ron Paul won't loose the primary race because of some huge government conspiracy keeping him down...it's because by-and-large, Republicans don't like him.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

IIRC, even SpongeBob SquarePants has more viewers than most everything on Fox News Channel. And there probably is not a big overlap in those two viewerships, either.

True enough. I was just pointing out that not only do people still watch TDS, it's in fact more popular than ever. Not saying that ratings equal quality, but worth mentioning anyway.

 

[DarthTom]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

As a major Ron Paul supporter, I think this is awesome. I might not agree with Stewart on everything, but he did an amazing job here. Well done, sir. Well done.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/m...corn-polled-edition---ron-paul---the-top-tier

Edit to Add - I would just post the video, instead of the link, but I only know how to do that with YouTube videos. Sorry.

Meh, I love Stewart but I think he's all wet on this one. The so called "main stream media," ignored Ralph Nader when he used to run as well. And Nader was the Democrats version of Paul at one time.

 

[Amaris]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I know. He's acting like some sort of TV talk show comedian.

Except his crusade has extended well beyond his comedy show.

He's been trying to be both and, as seen here, is sometimes represented (justly or otherwise) as a reputable source.

If people consider The Daily Show (or The Colbert Report, for that matter) as a reputable source then they are idiots.

Reputable? Eh, I would say The Daily Show is a reputable source. It is, however, very biased against stupidity, which means every public figure can be burned. That said, I've fact checked TDS dozens of times, and they don't edit their videos to make them funny, they really do let the politicians bury themselves with their own words and actions.

Why lie when the truth is just as entertaining, if not moreso?

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

^ I agree completely with you, J. Allen. TDS's frequent use of videos presented in context (unlike some other news commentators who really DO present themselves as being completely reputable, even suggesting that they should be adopted as their viewer's/listener's sole source for the "truth") is what very effectively cuts to the heart of an issue and really hangs some of these politicians out to squirm in the sunlight.

Anyone who states otherwise can't be actually watching The Daily Show and is probably simply blindly believing what their fellow flockmates are telling them.

And to Roger Wilco, I do agree with you totally regarding your observation that TDS is just as popular and good as it ever was-- it definitely has not gone the way of Beck's FNC show-- much to the chagrin of some!

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

The news media is in terrible shape and has been for several years. The Walter Cronkite Era has been superseded by bread and circuses. I wonder if people would even watch a legitimate news channel.

In an era where you pretty much have to make your news into biased entertainment in order to compete, his bias isn't the left or the right, it is The Funny. And The Funny targets people doing stupid things of every political stripe, and the stuff that is funniest is funny because it is true.

Well put. In the absence of professionalism in journalism, Stewart is just what we need. As Dogbert has said, "Sarcasm helps us think more clearly."

 

[JarodRussell]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I wonder if people would even watch a legitimate news channel.

They would if there actually was one.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

They would if there actually was one.

Okay, so, here's the trick.

Get some of your friends to start playing a game with you where you try to sneak stuff past each others' bullshit sensors - nothing important, of course, just general trivia, stuff like that. Keep it going. Train your sensor.

Take a few moments every week to make Wikipedia your friend long enough to read through the basics on some matter of national importance that you don't feel you know enough about (and really, who ever does?) - nuclear power, the history and culture of some Middle Eastern country, inner city school programs, methods of preventing prison recidivism, etc.

Then, set aside your own biases and preconceptions as best as you can. Take each of the news channels - CNN, MSNBC, Fox, Al Jazeera, BBC News, NPR, CBC, and so on - and throw out their blocks of shows that belong to pundits or commentators: no Nancy Grace, no Hannity, no shows that have a person's name in them at all. The idea is to find the blocks where they are supposedly just presenting the news. Then, find an hour each per channel, per week, out of those to watch/listen to them. Keep it fair - if you devote two hours to any of them, devote two to all of them. Do not read political news blogs. Then, kinda average your input out and think critically to decide what you believe is actually going on, and always be open to the possibility that your previous conclusions were wrong.

I pretty much guarantee that you will have a better picture of what is going on than most other people. And there's your legitimate news "channel".

 

[CorporalClegg]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I wonder if people would even watch a legitimate news channel.

They would if there actually was one.

Is it even possible?

I mean has there, in the history of man, been a news organization or group that was completely without bias and NEVER tried to promote an agenda?

That's a serious question BTW. I really have no idea one way or the other.

 

[wamdue]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I wonder if people would even watch a legitimate news channel.

They would if there actually was one.

Is it even possible?

I mean has there, in the history of man, been a news organization or group that was completely without bias and NEVER tried to promote an agenda?

That's a serious question BTW. I really have no idea one way or the other.

I would guess the BBC comes as close as any, and certainly aims to do that.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I would guess the BBC comes as close as any, and certainly aims to do that.

I love the Beeb - they seem to remember what integrity in journalism is supposed to be about. But the minute you rely on one source is the minute you make yourself a sucker when they drift from the truth and you don't notice. Which is the reason for what I said above.

 

[wamdue]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I would guess the BBC comes as close as any, and certainly aims to do that.

I love the Beeb - they seem to remember what integrity in journalism is supposed to be about. But the minute you rely on one source is the minute you make yourself a sucker when they drift from the truth and you don't notice. Which is the reason for what I said above.

I do agree with you, I read both the BBC News and the Daily Mail website.

 

[Dream]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

If everyone ignores Ron Paul, does he cease to exist?

 

[CorporalClegg]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

No. He just hangs out with all the fallen oaks.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

Re: John Stewart slams MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN for ignoring Ron P

I would guess the BBC comes as close as any, and certainly aims to do that.

I love the Beeb - they seem to remember what integrity in journalism is supposed to be about. But the minute you rely on one source is the minute you make yourself a sucker when they drift from the truth and you don't notice. Which is the reason for what I said above.

Excellent posts, USS Triumphant! I wish more people would do this (and I need to do it even more, myself). Most people don't because it isn't so easy or simple to keep up with a variety of different sources of news and information- instead, it is so much easier to tune in to someone you agree with and just swallow everything without digesting it- never really challenging what you believe. You must keep an open mind, too, and that in itself is a challenge. Remain skeptical, but not cynical.

"Minds are like parachutes- they function best when they are open."