> I'm not sure I understand.
I think I was pretty clear in expressing my opinion about this.
> All fun aside, i think Stewart takes himself very seriously
> despite his modesty shtick and he uses his platform, complete
> with ironic humility, to present a troubling, dismissive,
> acquiescent agenda.
Yes, this is what you've said. And others have said. Including Blum, posted by Dennis Claxton.
I don't think it's useful to talk about what Jon Stewart isn't, in the same way that sports fans don't think it's very useful to respond to things that are outside of their own enjoyment of the events. It's easy to say "I'm not like that, I just love the game" -- so it should be similarly easy to not be against last Saturday's event because Stewart "takes himself seriously" or because his taste in music sucks or that he wore a star-spangled fleece or because he didn't beat the President with a stick on his show earlier in the week.
I don't think this is a difficult scenario.
> Your point seemed to suggest that we shouldn't hold him
> accountable to his message because we shouldn't expect
> more from comedians who offer slightly better-than-terrible
> analysis of media.
I would say that his critique of the media *is* his message, and his politics -- as he has claimed over and over -- is *not* his message. I think we have to agree to take him at his word; who else would know whether his politics are his message?
And as for slightly-better-than-terrible, I'd have to ask: who is in 2nd place for that?
I don't see anyone else doing it on as large of a scale like Stewart and Colbert do. And at least half the point is that this isn't rocket science, it's literally using Google. Terry Gross asked him the other day: how do you come up with such amazing clips of these clowns talking out of both sides of their mouth? And really: it's not hard!
> I am acknowledging that he isn't 'left' at all, that he
> is a tool, that he is telling the likes of us to quit whining.
You've missed his point: he's not telling "us" to quit whining, he's telling *the media* to stop trying to scare people. Because it works! People *do* get scared by Fox, but also by CNN, CNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS ... it's annoying, and it should be stopped. He tries to use comedy and shame with this message, but that's the only message he has.
It's not a left message; it's not a right message. It's not a Democrat message; it's not a Republican message. It's not even an Independent message. He's not a revolutionary, he's not a prophet. Your assertion that he's a tool is completely unfounded.
/jordan