PhotoDude.com

It’s here.

There are a slew of links (direct download and torrents) on the Kos thread.

And MTV says Jon Stewart Bitchslaps CNN’s ‘Crossfire’ Show

I’m afraid I have to agree with MTV.

They invited him on for a little ‘make nice’ session and he went after them like a rabid pit bull. I tend to agree with much of what he said and would go as far as to say it applies to every talking head on network television. Stewart, Letterman and Leno are at least bipartisan in their contempt.

It says something, I’m not sure what, about us when an entertainer on Comedy Central has more credibility than CNN, Fox and CBS.

[Disclaimer: I have not watched broadcast television in three years. We simply do not have it available in my home and I couldn’t if I wanted to.]

Al, you can watch it if you want. You have to sit through a stupid commercial first, but watching Tucker’s bow tie spin around and Begala’s cheesy grin crack is worth it. Jon Stewart is my hero.

Thanks, Kevin.

I said I didn’t watch broadcast television. However, I have a fat pipe, a boatload of processing power and several BitTorrent clients installed :)

It works out well, I can download The Sopranos, CSI, Six Feet Under, Stargate and the occasional news program without too much trouble.

Our not having television is more a logistical/financial thing than a philosophical thing—I’m pretty deep in the woods and there is no cable and a mini-dish would require 300 feet of cable and a tower to get the shot I need over the ridge.

It’s not impossible, but not cheap and not a priority.

Regardless of whether or not I agree with Jon Stewart about anything else, he’s dead right about this. Crossfire and its ilk should be ashamed, but I suspect they’re shameless.

Yes, Joel, judging by Carlson’s after show response that I added at the end of the article, they are completely shameless. He went right to spinning: “I think the tape makes it clear he humiliated himself.”

The “tape” is probably the hottest download on the Net this weekend. And people aren’t sucking down its double digit file size to see Begala and Carlson humiliate Jon Stewart. Quite the opposite.

After encountering such an unexpected and jarring intellectual experience, one would think that a Thinking Man might ponder this critique with some seriousness. Not simply dismiss it with spin-filled ad hominem, and again prove you’ve run out of argument.

Carlson is like a modern day Theodoric of York :

Theodoric of York: Maybe non-partisan debate that didn’t sink to mere shouted talking points and party-line spin could make a difference in this most important election. Maybe Paul and I could be the start of a new media conciousness of responsibility, a new age, an age of rebirth, a Renaissance! [ thinks for a minute ] Naaaaaahhh!

Theodoric of York: A little bloodletting and some boar’s vomit, and he’ll be fine!

The bitchslapping was officially complete at this line:

“Stewart: You’re on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. What is wrong with you?”

I’ve always enjoyed Stewart, because he’s smart and funny. I’ve seen lots of complaints about his partisanship, but have never taken them too seriously because there’s nothing wrong with partisanship, on TV or elsewhere, and complaints about imbalance are for the weak-minded.

But, put in perspective, he’s on an entertainment show, and he knows it. His hands are forever clean in this matter, I say. Carlson should have said something like “Golly – you’re right. Is there anything else we can talk about?”

Just downloaded it, and ss a journalist myself I have to say: That was pretty gawddam amazing.

To of the (so called) hottest shots of american cable news getting walked all over by a comedian.

Says a thing or two about the state of political journalism in the US of A.

... and now back to Your regular broadcasting.

P.S.: The absolutely most amazing thing was that Carlson and Begala didn’t see it coming. They thought they’d invited Stewart in for a couple of cheap laughs and that’d be it – and then they where – yes – bitchslapped all over their place.

My God. Stewart for president?

Regards.

... please forget the typo’s. I’m on CET+1 :-)

Regards.

The ratings for CNN and shows like Crossfire illuminate the issue. People don’t like those shows. Folks seeking information want to hear good questions and non-spin answers.

They also appreciate it when the interviewer is tough but polite.
Crossfire is just noise.

In a clear sign that Stewart hit his target squarely and smartly, Bow Tie Boy still can’t let it go. Days later, he’s still making slappy. “Carlson noted that many of the great comedians kept their political opinions to themselves, not for fear of offending anyone, but because it could hurt their art.”

Funny. Replace the word “art” with “profession,” and you could say the very same thing about people who claim to be journalists. Like Tucker “Pot-Kettle-Black” Carlson.

On the Daily Show’s closing “Moment of Zen” last night, they showed Carville and Novak still chewing over the epsidoe. Carville called Stewart a “pompous ass” (more pot-kettle-black). Novak pontificated that not only was Stewart not funny (an opinion contradicted by the Crossfire audience, which seemed to laugh quite a bit), but he was also uninformed. Not that I buy it, but “uninformed” would certainly be less of a fault in my book than deliberate, selective ignorance or any of the other forms of intellectual whoredom generally displayed by Novak and his ilk.

Yeah, I saw that, too. I also watched Crossfire yesterday afternoon. At least Carville was willing to admit he was indeed a partisan hack … before calling Stewart a pompous ass.

But how can they expect to win against a guy who simply takes your ongoing pompous insults and runs them on his own show as a “closing brander”... as if with pride! Just give up, guys. You’re overmatched, and he’s got weapons you can’t use on your show … even if you possessed them (i.e., sarcasm, irony, and a razor sharp wit).

His weekend? ”...got a haircut, called a guy a dick on national TV…”

I also liked during other bits when he would suddenly stop and give a non-sequiter to the camera … “you, know, I didn’t mean that just Tucker was a dick, I meant the other three, too. I didn’t want them to feel slighted.” And later he did another non-sequiter … “And Bob Novak, you know, they say he broke his hip, but I don’t think that’s what it was. I think his hip tried to escape.”

In the great scheme of things, it’s a pretty inconsequential thing. But for me, it was some of the best TV I’ve witnessed this year.

But you know if your show is getting lousy ratings and you can get another higher rated show to talk about you,it helps.

If PhotoDude hated my site and talked about it, how bad it was etc, people would go check it out. Watch Crossfire get a small ratings bump out of this. If those guys are smart, they will not let it go. Also Stewart may pick up a few viewers who had not seen his show. After all we are going into sweeps. How well these guys do will affect what they can charge for advertising.

Yikes!

Stewart was on target but not at all the concerned person he pretends to be. Like most others inhis line of work he is only in it for the money, and this little stunt has made him plenty.

Your remarks about Kathy Cox and evolution, though outdated, remain current because of the subject.

I have studied the history of evolutionism and took more science in college than required, plus reading all the old evolution masters. I never cease to be amazed at how the hypothesis ever got off the ground except by sheer imagination and political clout.

All Ms. Cox was doing was to require attention to a subject that desperately needs more attention. Why would any fair minded person resist more study? Her opponents proved their prejudicial judgments by claiming foul.

Evolutionism, per se, is probably the greatest hoax ever foisted on an ignorant population.

So, John, if you were at a party where we’re all talking about Jon Stewart and the media, and then you barge in with an entirely unrelated comment about your strident views on evolution … how do you think the people at the party would react?

Probably by launcing into an interesting discussion of the Sumerian/Babylonian creation myths and why they should be taught in schools as they are the source material for much of Genesis.

You can then launch into a discussion of literary criticism and how it’s related to the editing of the books of the Bible into the form we see today, whereupon we would learn that most of Genesis and Exodus were composed and edited during the Babylonian exile, drawing much material from the local creation myths.

This would then lead to a discussion of how a cosomology fashioned by Judean Priests exiled in Babylon during the 6th Century B.C. for Judeans exiled in Babylon during the 6th Century B.C. came to be accepted by a group of American gentiles in the 21st Century as an alternative explanation of the Universe that should be taught as Science in public schools instead of in Literature alongside the Epic of Gilgamesh.

And if you listen closely enough, you can hear the silent laughter of Nebudchanezzer echoing from the depths of time.

And for the record, the notion of Nobility is the greatest hoax ever foisted upon an ignorant population.

I think my wife would just start talking about cats.