Sure, he's funny at times - though shouting loudly and repeating words while making comic faces are really not as funny as all that, or at least it gets rather old before too long. And of course many of the points that he makes are valid - Republicans do in fact do a lot of stupid or harsh things that deserve to be satirized and criticized (as do Democrats). But as for the many liberal Americans who seem to consider the Daily Show almost as their main news source, it's hard to see what makes them so much better than the dedicated Fox News viewers that they so look down on, at least in terms of being spoonfed biased reporting if not downright propaganda (there are, I will admit, other flaws of Fox News, at least based on what I've seen of their website, such as their fearmongering and obsession with crime, but then those are flaws shared by tabloids the world over).
Let's be serious, this sort of reporting doesn't bring the US any closer to fixing its huge health care problems. And that's the sad thing about it all - Jon Stewart understandably cares more about his ratings than about making a difference, it's not him who should be blamed so much as his viewers who care more about their entertainment and having their egoes flattered and consciences soothed by listening to their heroes preaching to the choir, than they do about improving the state of affairs.
chuck todd -- director of news on NBC's various satellite stations -- was recently quoted as saying it's not the news media's job to report why Obamacare is not "the destruction of everything" or the other misinformation that's been floating around as of late. yeah, jon stewart is concerned about his ratings, but he's not a legitimate news show, even if he accidentally covers a story which does not make it into the mainstream press.
chuck todd, however, does have a vested interest in making sure news gets reported fairly and honestly. in fact, it's supposed to be his job to report on "the news". so when jon stewart makes a point about how fucked up things have gotten, he's doing so because it will make for some good jokes while sticking to the truth of the matter. if NBC can't even be bothered to do actual journalism anymore, it falls to the jon stewarts of the world to step up and fill the void.
personally, i'd prefer us to go back to the days when someone would be completely disgraced for saying that providing millions of people access to health care is the same as the rise of the nazi party, or that access to health care is "the destruction of America", but right now that's a pipe dream. i'd also like to see a law in the US similar to what i've read about Canada, where it's illegal to lie on a news program. the problem with fox "news" is that they spend 3/4 of their programming on punditry while claiming it as a news network. punditry definitely has its place, but unfortunately too many people do not distinguish between legitimate news and opinion pieces.
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
