Jon Stewart was just on Crossfire.

[Wolffen]

Is "dick" one of the true no-no words according to the FCC? Stewart's let it fly quite a but on TDS. Plus, this is cable, not public access like ABC/CBS/NBC, so the FCC doesn't really pay as much attention.

[Drewbacca]

These shows are the reason most people are so tired of modern day politics.

Everyone just defends their side and attacks the other without acknowledging the other side's points, even if they're correct, just to tout their party's bottom line. That's why there's no respect across party lines anymore. Everyone is too busy slandering the other side.

In a true debate, you put forth your argument for a certan topic, have the other side do the same, then you get the chance to rebutt your opponents, and let someone else decide who won.

True, it would be more boring, but it would also be less patronizing, polarizing and more truthful and informative. We as a people would be better off with less of a show and more pure, unbias info. Then we can make our vote based on knowledge, not knee-jerk reactions or raw emotions.

I think that's the basic point that Jon Stewart was trying to get across. If Tucker Carlson would have let Jon speak.

This actually makes a lot more sense to me. I don't follow American politics too much, so obviously that has a lot to do with my confusion. But it does seem like that's all the shows do.

[epmode]

This actually makes a lot more sense to me. I don't follow American politics too much, so obviously that has a lot to do with my confusion. But it does seem like that's all the shows do.

watch a single episode of crossfire. you'll understand.

[rezo]

Well it's not Regis' responsibility to have journalistic integrity anymore than it is his, yet he put him on his show mocking his question ability. I think that whoever the guy in the bow-tie was made a good point by pointing out the double standard he seems to hold.

Like I said, it wasn't a case of a double standard where the daily show is criticizing Regis and Kelly for not hitting Kerry with tough questions. It's a very simple joke where they say one thing and then show the exact opposite. It was most likely done for the timing based on whatever led into the joke(presumably the joke was made after showing Bush answering questions somewhere else). Now, there would be a double standard if Stewart showed up on Regis's show and started to attack him in the way he did the Crossfire people, but I doubt that would ever happen.

[sethsez]

The thing is that the Regis joke was just that: a joke. It wasn't a serious condemnation of Regis and Kelly, and Stewart (and his audience) is well aware that Regis' show is just a fluffy talk show that doesn't hold itself up to be anything more. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson was serious when he criticized The Daily Show (also blatantly not real news) for not being hard-hitting enough.

Regis is entertainment. TDS is entertainment. Crossfire, supposedly, is a political debate show, yet it doesn't have any more integrity than Regis or TDS. That's the real problem.

[Wolffen]

But then, ok, he says they're more like pro-wrestling matches. Well, that's why I friggin' watch 'em in the first place (and apparently Stewart continues to watch Crossfire but it's a grueling love/hate thing from what I gathered). The entertainment mixed in with discourse provides some motivation to tune in. If that's his problem and the shows changed, I think the viewership would drop off. I wanna see O'Reilly or Hannity dig into those that I'm personally opposed to ideologically. Learn something new, get a laugh in and go on. Just like a liberal enjoyed the guy on teh Right getting called a dick which I imagine was one of the reasons this video was brought to the board's attention.

I want to draw attention to the bolded line there. What you want to watch is not political discourse or debate. It's political porn and masturbation. Period. While those on the far side of either end of the political fence can get their jollies of the fwapfwapfwap-oh-yeah-BAYBEEEE orgasm of these "debate" shows, the rest of America doesn't benefit. The right-wing AND left-wing politicians essentially get FREE propaganda machines out of these shows because neither side will ever admit a mistake, or *GASP* that the other side is right about something. Saying these shows help the political process is like saying that two parents fighting and yelling in front of their children is a good thing, because it's better than if the parents never talked to each other and it shows the parents communicating. I'll say one thing about the pro wrestling analogy: at least in the WWF, you actually see people switch sides every now and then. Oh, and they have bra and panty matches, too.

[Josh]

WWF

Never heard of it.

[Wolffen]

Never heard of it.

What, you've never heard of the World Wildlife Federation? How about the WWE?

[StriderKyo]

I actually saw this live - it was pretty bizarre, because Begala just set it up like Stewart was going to come on and make fun of Bush or something. I guess they knew there was going to be some back & forth over the show or they would have had a second guest, but I don't think they figured it would be that acrimonious.

Personally, I think it was kind of off base. Sure, Crossfire is theatre like Stewart said. Otherwise they'd have somebody who makes actual arguments instead of James Carville who says something loud then makes a funny face for the crowd to clap for.

But it's designed to have the two parties debating that day's issues - the entire rest of CNN/entire newsmedia should be devoted to non-partisan analysis.

But I do notrice a disturbing trend in US newsmedia that we don't have up here at all - the notion that a news organ can take sides. I think it's insane something as blatantly partisan as Fox News is allowed to exist, because whatever good intentions you start out with, eventually you're going to end up essentially lying about world events when they inevitably disagree with party spin.

And whenever they have to "experts" on to debate a political issue on CNN, it's inevitably one person from either US party, rather than an independent analyst, as if those were the only two possible viewpoints. Or indeed, as if it were even rational to ask spin artists what they think in the first place. It does have an inevitable polarizing effect in that it forces you to passively accept one view more than another.

But I don't see how Crossfire is the place to make a statement about that, when it holds no higher aspiration than to be a squabble between the two parties. And I kind of like Tucker Carlson. Don't agree with much of what he says, but I think he's the most sensible debater on that show. And he does have his own values aside from being a republican shill; he doesn't mention it much on the show, but he's come out quite strongly against the Iraq war, for instance.

I would much rather have seen Stewart call Bob "big tobacco are great American employers, and shouldn't be subject to lawsuits, it hurts the economy!" Novak a dick. I think he's generally far more disingenuous than Carlson is.

[James]

Well it's not Regis' responsibility to have journalistic integrity anymore than it is his, yet he put him on his show mocking his question ability.

It's true, it's not Regis's responsibility to ask hard-hitting questions on an entertainment show. It is, however, John Stewart's responsibility to be funny, and the Nerf comment did make me laugh. If I took it seriously it would be very hypocritical of him, but seeing as he was joking around I can laugh at it. It'd be completely fair game if Regis made a rebuttal to it, too, but they let it slide. Too bad, a mock-feud between the shows might have been fun to see.

James