Jon Stewart's 10-30-10 March to Restore Sanity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find Stewart to be unbearably smug and his "analysis" of current events is just glib potshots. He's a fucking entertainer, but people take him seriously because he presents the viewpoint that liberal ideas are so obviously right, and anyone who doesn't think so is just hilariously stupid. It is a nasty shtick, and pretty fatal to reasoned discourse. (Don't talk with the other side - they are stupid! Just mock them, you clever elite liberal you!) I won't attend the rally, because square that I am, I believe that a rally to show how hip and ironic you are, and to mock your political opponents, is just sad. It really underscores why so many people in other parts of the country find the "east coast elite" to be incredibly obnoxious. Its embarassing that people will attend this, but are too lazy to gather and support a genuine protest of any political stripe.

See, I think the same of Glenn Beck and other such right wing demagogues. They are smug, not very intelligent and hypocrites to boot. I am embarrassed for people who listen to them and adopt their truths as gospel. Further, that you have characterized those who would attend this rally as one monolithic group ("hip and ironic" elites) shows how little you know. You are one of those that simply parrots what what you hear on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. THAT is what is sad.

Stewart is no less an appropriate vehicle for a political voice than any of the "journalists" or "politicians" that you listen to

How exactly do you know who I listen to? Did I quote Rush Limbaugh by accident? As a woman who has sex with women, I doubt I would be welcome at a Glenn Beck rally, and I find Limbaugh to be a blowhard. And if you were a little better at reading comprehension (maybe you are not so elite) you would understand that a. I didn't say that people attending the rally were east coast elites (don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of non-elite people from all over present) and b. The quotes indicate that I don't actually believe this is a real group, but that the divisive condescension that Stewart traffics in leads conservatives in the rest of the country to feel like wealthy coastal liberals, like Stewart, simply dismiss everyone who disagrees with them as stupid, redneck nutjobs. Which IMO, is unfortunate as it kills reasoned discourse. And I realize I'm being sarcastic and condescending with you, but you just extrapolated from my opinion of Stewart that I'm a fan of far right pundits, which is really obnoxious. And as for my characterization of the rally attendees as "hip and ironic" I will cop to assuming that people who are going are generally going to skew young and "hip" in comparison to your average dc rally, and yes I assume most people will be attending ironically, unless of course you believe that Stewart and Colbert are sincerely having competing rallies, and that Stewart is not doing this for entertainment purposes. And if you believe that this is a non-ironic event please explain to me what the non-ironic message is - Right wingers are idiots, perhaps (because by extremists you do mean people on the right, right?) Or all politicians suck? And yes I hope that people are not seriously rallying around messages like that.

Your analysis is quite sound and well written. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it from this view. My issue is that nobody is sticking up for discourse and sanity. I am appalled by the lack of intelligent discourse and unfortunately there is nobody speaking honestly and without a huge political agenda. So, I'll go because at least Jon Stewart is calling attention to the fact that Glenn Back is a yahoo!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find Stewart to be unbearably smug and his "analysis" of current events is just glib potshots. He's a fucking entertainer, but people take him seriously because he presents the viewpoint that liberal ideas are so obviously right, and anyone who doesn't think so is just hilariously stupid. It is a nasty shtick, and pretty fatal to reasoned discourse. (Don't talk with the other side - they are stupid! Just mock them, you clever elite liberal you!) I won't attend the rally, because square that I am, I believe that a rally to show how hip and ironic you are, and to mock your political opponents, is just sad. It really underscores why so many people in other parts of the country find the "east coast elite" to be incredibly obnoxious. Its embarassing that people will attend this, but are too lazy to gather and support a genuine protest of any political stripe.

See, I think the same of Glenn Beck and other such right wing demagogues. They are smug, not very intelligent and hypocrites to boot. I am embarrassed for people who listen to them and adopt their truths as gospel. Further, that you have characterized those who would attend this rally as one monolithic group ("hip and ironic" elites) shows how little you know. You are one of those that simply parrots what what you hear on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. THAT is what is sad.

Stewart is no less an appropriate vehicle for a political voice than any of the "journalists" or "politicians" that you listen to

How exactly do you know who I listen to? Did I quote Rush Limbaugh by accident? As a woman who has sex with women, I doubt I would be welcome at a Glenn Beck rally, and I find Limbaugh to be a blowhard. And if you were a little better at reading comprehension (maybe you are not so elite) you would understand that a. I didn't say that people attending the rally were east coast elites (don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of non-elite people from all over present) and b. The quotes indicate that I don't actually believe this is a real group, but that the divisive condescension that Stewart traffics in leads conservatives in the rest of the country to feel like wealthy coastal liberals, like Stewart, simply dismiss everyone who disagrees with them as stupid, redneck nutjobs. Which IMO, is unfortunate as it kills reasoned discourse. And I realize I'm being sarcastic and condescending with you, but you just extrapolated from my opinion of Stewart that I'm a fan of far right pundits, which is really obnoxious. And as for my characterization of the rally attendees as "hip and ironic" I will cop to assuming that people who are going are generally going to skew young and "hip" in comparison to your average dc rally, and yes I assume most people will be attending ironically, unless of course you believe that Stewart and Colbert are sincerely having competing rallies, and that Stewart is not doing this for entertainment purposes. And if you believe that this is a non-ironic event please explain to me what the non-ironic message is - Right wingers are idiots, perhaps (because by extremists you do mean people on the right, right?) Or all politicians suck? And yes I hope that people are not seriously rallying around messages like that.

Your analysis is quite sound and well written. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it from this view. My issue is that nobody is sticking up for discourse and sanity. I am appalled by the lack of intelligent discourse and unfortunately there is nobody speaking honestly and without a huge political agenda. So, I'll go because at least Jon Stewart is calling attention to the fact that Glenn Back is a yahoo!

Really? Because I find it neither sound or well-written. Anyone can sling around nasty names and calling someone out for not knowing them on a (gasp!) anonymous message board. The post (both of them) undercuts her argument that she is interested into any sort of "reasoned discourse." She makes sweeping (negative) characterizations and assumptions, something she professes to dislike. She name calls and is sarcastic (gain, things she says she dislikes).

[Anonymous]

"(again, things she says she dislikes). " Corrected last sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find Stewart to be unbearably smug and his "analysis" of current events is just glib potshots. He's a fucking entertainer, but people take him seriously because he presents the viewpoint that liberal ideas are so obviously right, and anyone who doesn't think so is just hilariously stupid. It is a nasty shtick, and pretty fatal to reasoned discourse. (Don't talk with the other side - they are stupid! Just mock them, you clever elite liberal you!) I won't attend the rally, because square that I am, I believe that a rally to show how hip and ironic you are, and to mock your political opponents, is just sad. It really underscores why so many people in other parts of the country find the "east coast elite" to be incredibly obnoxious. Its embarassing that people will attend this, but are too lazy to gather and support a genuine protest of any political stripe.

See, I think the same of Glenn Beck and other such right wing demagogues. They are smug, not very intelligent and hypocrites to boot. I am embarrassed for people who listen to them and adopt their truths as gospel. Further, that you have characterized those who would attend this rally as one monolithic group ("hip and ironic" elites) shows how little you know. You are one of those that simply parrots what what you hear on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc. THAT is what is sad.

Stewart is no less an appropriate vehicle for a political voice than any of the "journalists" or "politicians" that you listen to

How exactly do you know who I listen to? Did I quote Rush Limbaugh by accident? As a woman who has sex with women, I doubt I would be welcome at a Glenn Beck rally, and I find Limbaugh to be a blowhard. And if you were a little better at reading comprehension (maybe you are not so elite) you would understand that a. I didn't say that people attending the rally were east coast elites (don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of non-elite people from all over present) and b. The quotes indicate that I don't actually believe this is a real group, but that the divisive condescension that Stewart traffics in leads conservatives in the rest of the country to feel like wealthy coastal liberals, like Stewart, simply dismiss everyone who disagrees with them as stupid, redneck nutjobs. Which IMO, is unfortunate as it kills reasoned discourse. And I realize I'm being sarcastic and condescending with you, but you just extrapolated from my opinion of Stewart that I'm a fan of far right pundits, which is really obnoxious. And as for my characterization of the rally attendees as "hip and ironic" I will cop to assuming that people who are going are generally going to skew young and "hip" in comparison to your average dc rally, and yes I assume most people will be attending ironically, unless of course you believe that Stewart and Colbert are sincerely having competing rallies, and that Stewart is not doing this for entertainment purposes. And if you believe that this is a non-ironic event please explain to me what the non-ironic message is - Right wingers are idiots, perhaps (because by extremists you do mean people on the right, right?) Or all politicians suck? And yes I hope that people are not seriously rallying around messages like that.

I believe the "non-ironic message" is one of moderation. If you watch the announcement, Stewart was quite clear in explaining his belief that most of this country is neither a right-wing or a left-wing extremist. Rather, the vast majority of us live much closer to the middle. Sure, some of us fall a bit left of center, and some of us fall a bit right of center. But none of us in this "moderate majority" reate well to or identify with the extremes of our side. But unfortunately the extremes on both the right and the left have been far more effective in capturing the media -- and political -- attention than the moderates.

Will there be a bunch of hipster and ironic trappings at the 10/30 rally? I'm sure there will be. That's part of Jon Stewart's schtick, and it's one of the methods he uses to deliver his message. But I do not confuse that with the message itself. The schtick is just a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Finally I'm sure that many (most?) who attend the 10/30 rally will be in their twenties and early thirties. But I am sure there will also be many people like my family -- older, not at all hipster, and fairly earnest. We will be there because the message resonates with us, because we appreciate Jon Stewart and his show -- mostly as entertainment, every once and awhile as more -- and because we're tired of only hearing from the loonies on either side of the political conversation.

[Anonymous]

This is easily Stewart's best moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

[Anonymous]

I am not much of a Stewart fan either. I have been a longtime fan of Bill Mahr's friday night show on HBO--Politically Incorrect. I used to hate the man----but I love this show and now really like him. He has great panels and great guests. The show is very informative while also being totally hilarious. I am not a Democrat or a Republican--if that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is easily Stewart's best moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE

wow, I hadn't seen that!