Jon Stewart showed anger last night.
It's an emotion that Daily Show viewers have seen bubble just under the surface for some time. It's been clear for some time that Stewart and the writers of the Comedy Central show have little love (read: contempt) for the Bush Administration's lack of accountability and constant spin.
But last night Stewart, discussing the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, showed actual unvarnished anger. It may have been unintentional, but it came, ironically, after similar spurts of anger from the likes of CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Stewart chastised the Bush Administration, telling conservatives to shut up about blaming everyone but the commander in chief. Recalling that Democrats had to distance themselves from President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he suggested now was the time for Republicans to put country before party, because "Hurricane Katrina is Bush's Monica Lewinsky ..."
Later in the show, correspondent Ed Helms offered this wonderful bit of satire:
HELMS: While everybody else is busy setting up commissions and finding fault, through the President's leadership, he'll end up building a billion dollar dam in Arkansas.
STEWART: Why would he build a dam in Arkansas?
HELMS: His plan will be to fight the water over there, so we don't have to fight it over here.
During Helms' report, The Daily Show also provided a chart, "Major Disasters of Bush Administration," modeled after the alphabetical naming of hurricanes each year ("G" was skipped).
A — Abu Ghraib
B — Bin Laden
C — Chalabi
D — Deficit
E — Enron
F — Failure to Find WMDs
H — Halliburton
I — Iraq
J — John Bolton
K — Katrina
From there, the list gets silly, all the way to "Y — Yam Shortage," and "Z — Zero People Left on Earth," to which Helms quipped that if the U.S. did get to "Zero People Left on Earth," it would quickly forget about that yam shortage.
Such writing takes satire to a new level.
***
This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.
Article comments
1 - JELIEL
Oh yeah and Jon WAS ON FIRE that night and tonight also he didn't go easy (Neither did Samuel L Jackson) on anyone, attacking tonight FEMA pres and HOMELAND Director. He took'em both to the cleaners.
Go Jon go and give'em hell.
2 - John A. Conley
You can call Jon Stewart a lot of things but don't him your monkey. Way to go Jon and Ed.
3 - Baronius
Interesting that of those "major disasters of the Bush Administration", only two or three of them are actually disasters of the Bush Administration. Some of them are events that happened during the Bush Administration, and some of them are incidents in which the Bush Administration acted with honor and intelligence.
4 - 1Potato
Hi, I'm 19 years old and I listen to a comedian on Comedy Central to teach me about what politics stuff means. The comedian is a very smart person and was very good in Big Daddy with Adam Sandler. I especially like when he says how stupid the President is and then the audience laughs and laughs.
I think all countries should be run by comedians because then the world would be funny and cool and not a complex, stark and bloody geopolitical power struggle.
5 - Nick
Baronius, you are a master satirist - to use the terms "honor" and "intelligence" of the Bush administration.. what a masterly way of highlighting exactly what they lack! Genius, pure genius!
6 - kittygogo
1Potato, you are about the cutest,most naive poster ever. It's wierd how so many of your other posts have otherwise been so once-sided and vitriolic, while this post, you are such an adorable cutie pie.
I also believe that Jon Stewart should be president, and ironically, solely based on his hilarious role on Big Daddy. God knows, he has not made any contribution since that groundbreaking performance.
7 - Nick
Kitty, why won't you talk like that to me? I can be vitriolic too.. honestly!
8 - kittygogo
Nick, you can't fool me, you just want me to expand on my liberalism (or lefty leanings?). Wrong thread, my friend!
9 - Nick
Kitty, darling, angelcake.. truth to tell, my views on such definitions are that they never really mean much. I just think it's pathetic for people to throw terms around as if they had some "deep meaning". After all, yelling liberal/fascist across the party divide isn't exactly an advance for civilization....
10 - kittygogo
Labeling does seem to get in the way of that whole open mind idea. It seems the loudest, most opintionated and vitriolic ;) arguers are those who claim to be totally free of political bias. I'd rather claim a label and take a stand than just blanketly accuse anyone who doesn't agree with me of being haters. And then self-righteously claim that I have the right to judge other people because of my so-called political independence.
Of course, I KNOW that everyone who doesn't agree with me is just plain wrong, but I'd rather mock and ridicule them than judge.
I'm rambling, tired and shamed to find my name as a top blogger. I'm outta here!
11 - David R. Mark
Baronius: "Interesting that of those "major disasters of the Bush Administration", only two or three of them are actually disasters of the Bush Administration."
Explain?
A -- Abu Ghraib -- embarrassment that happened under Bush/Rumsfeld watch
B -- Bin Laden -- shared embarrassment with Clinton that he attacked, but Bush embarrassment that he hasn't been caught, Bush saying he "doesn't spend much time" thinking about Bin Laden, Gen. Peter Pace suggesting that capturing Bin Laden isn't important to the war on terror, continued Al Qaeda attacks worldwide with no sign of abating, etc.
C -- Chalabi -- Bush embarrassment for trusting him, then realizing what a fraud he is
D -- Deficit -- Bush embarrassment
E -- Enron -- Bush friend, and embarrassment for close ties to Bush energy policy, but Ken Lay actually did a lot of damage under Clinton's watch.
F -- Failure to Find WMDs -- Bush embarrassment
H -- Halliburton -- Bush embarrassment that Halliburtion has done such questionable activity under Bush watch, yet continues to get no-bid contracts. If there was a Democratic Congress, this would be explored at length via hearings.
I -- Iraq -- Bush embarrassment that we attacked here, based on extremely questionable ties to Al Qaeda and greater war on terror. Embarrassment at the number of predictions the administration has made about the war that have failed to come true.
J -- John Bolton -- embarrassment for Bush that he lost the support of his own party, and needed to make a recess appointment, for questionable UN appointee
K -- Katrina -- Bush admitted the response has been bad, FEMA director Brown and DHS Secretary Chertoff have been caught lying about the federal response. Agreed that local and state officials bungled this, too, but the federal response was not good, either.
12 - Baronius
A -- Abu Ghraib -- embarrassment that happened under Bush/Rumsfeld watch
B -- Bin Laden -- Bush has handled the war on terror with great skill. You don't destroy a system of terrorist cells by killing its leader, but Al-Queda leadership has been incapacitated and individual cells are being destroyed.
C -- Chalabi -- He was our friend and losing prestige in Iraq, now he's gaining prestige in Iraq. The only thing we can know is that he has enemies and travels in shifty circles. Sounds like the perfect resume.
D -- Deficit -- Bush embarrassment; mitigated by wartime spending
E -- Enron -- Company commits crimes, company officials serving time. Yay.
F -- Failure to Find WMDs -- I have no problem with this.
H -- Halliburton -- Multiyear Govt contracts are continually renegotiated, because the Govt changes terms every year. Halliburton is to be commended for their handling of some difficult projects.
I -- Iraq -- We will leave it better, safer, more democratic than we found it.
J -- John Bolton -- A perfect example of Bush honorably standing by a good man, and not letting domestic partisanship hamper our international policy.
K -- Katrina -- I'll gladly punt on this one, because I haven't been following the story in detail.
13 - barnetto
1potato was being fascetious, kittygogo. and after reading your comment I'm pretty sure he's having a good laugh right now about what he perceives as your 'ignorance/stupidity' for buying into crap he wrote that he/she doesn't believe.
read 1potato's post on
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/08/201437.php
he superficially compares jon stewart to hitler and advises everyone that if they must watch comedy central then they should just watch South Park.