Santorum on TDS: Anyone as disappointed as I was by J. Stewart??

[grumpy old fart]

I mean, there was repuke incarnate, as poor a debater as they have, and John just never able to find the will to attack. Very disappointing, IMHO

[Goldmund]

1. I was wondering why Santorum agreed to come to the show

then I got my answer: cuz Stewart promised to go soft.

[ixion]

2. Stewart is normally polite to all the guests

even if they're evil incarnate.

[Dr Fate]

3. Comedians often dissapoint me.

But not John- he is funny as hell.

[realFedUp]

4. Santorum just opens his mouth

no need to skewer him...he kabobs himself.

[kentuck]

5. Do you think Santorum helped his campaign with his appearance...?

..on TDS?

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

6. I love JS. I thought he was too civil though

Santorum kept saying, "But we have to think of the children" a la Rev. Lovejoys wife from the Simpsons. Stewart should have called him out of it with something like "So if Marriage is 'for the children' why are we allowing single couples to stay married who don't have kids or allow couples unable to conceive to get married?"

[SheepyMcSheepster]

7. see these threads

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4192701&mesg_id=4192701

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4191561

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4191723

[JRob]

8. There was a zinger or two and I think Steward made the point

That the whole "One Man, one Woman" thing is bullshit.

After all TDS is a Comedy show... The real comedy is that they nail it better and more often than the MSM.

[Brotherjohn]

9. Stewart always lets these guys have their say. They hang themselves...

... either on his show or elsewhere. He knows Santorum is a caricature, and is already seen that way by a large portion of society. He doesn't need to become "Crossfire" to tell them that.

He will lay into these types when he feels it's important enough. But by soft-balling Santorum and his ilk, JS can still hold onto the mantle of being "unbiased" and can bash away at Bush on the really important subjects.

The main thing is, people in the vast middle are more likely to listen to him than someone who just attacks every right-wing guest (no matter how much they might deserve it).

Stewart walks a very fine line, and he walks it better than anyone else out there, by far. If he didn't do things exactly the way he did them, he wouldn't be able to remain the most sane and observant voice on the air today.

[still_one]

10. for the most part John has always tried to be respectful to his guests

[Renew Deal]

11. That's BS.

Like I said to someone else that couldn't answer the question.... Name just 1 other interview that Santorum was asked those kinds of questions. Just 1. You can't, because no one is willing to ask them and he isn't willing to answer.

[rwork]

12. Why does Jon

always feel it is necessary to go after John Kerry?My God,With J.K. as president would the world be in the shape it is in now? Now we torture people and are hated and laughed at by the world.

[MadJohnShaft]

13. I think the plan was to let him dig his own grave

and show his true colors. Not sure that happened.

Stewart did inject a couple of thoughtful comments that were a notch or two intellectually above the place Sen Santorum was coming from, rather than engage in a MSM roundtable-type argument. Not skewered, but refreshing.

[Brotherjohn]

16. Stewart reviles the "MSM roundtable-type argument"... and rightfully so.

That type of media, perhaps more than anything, is responsible for the degradation in political dialogue this country has experienced. It is also perhaps most responsible for the Right's ability to say almost anything (no matter how factually challenged) and get away with it under the guise of it just being "the other side" of an "argument".

[newyawker99]

23. Hi MadJohnShaft!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[SteppingRazor]

14. Stewart did as good or better a job than any actual journalist has...

in interviewing Santorum. I thought the show went reasonably well. Besides which, one shouldn't depend on a comedian to score political points. One should depend on a comedian to go for laughs.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. It's a comedy show.

Stewart doesn't "skewer" his guests, except in a very subtle, funny way; he's never rude to them. I didn't expect him to rip Santorum's lungs out because that's not the way he works -- he makes a few sharp comments and asks mild, seemingly harmless questions that allow the guest to make an ass of himself, which is exactly what Santorum did. If you're looking for a format where the host jumps all over the guests and overtly attacks them, you'll be disappointed. The humor (and it IS a *comedy show*) lies in Stewart's ability to lead dorks like Santorum along until they say totally dumb-ass stuff and not even realize they're doing it. Much better than a screaming-head hatchet job.

[Vickers]

17. The "will to attack" has brought journalism to what it is now.

He's trying to bring decorum back to the table.

Santorum looks stupid enough on his own...Jon even got him to accept a *shudder!* BET!

[progressoid]

18. I thought he seemed tired of trying to understand idiots like Santorum.

I know I'm tired of them. At the same time he did better than most other talking head shows do. He has to do a weird balancing act between comedy and news/interview.

I really liked his opening remark about shaking Ricky's hand and his entourage shouting "unclean!"

:rofl:

[Kitsune]

19. I thought he did a pretty good job of making Santorum look like a nutjob.

(Which, admittedly, is not a hard thing to do.)

Every time Santorum came up with some of his inane nonsense about how only heterosexual parents can properly raise a child or what have you, Jon came in with numerous exceptions to Santorum's rules, which served to disprove 90+% of what Santorum was trying to say but without being a total asshole about it.

Admittedly, if I was in an argument with Santorum, it would probably start with "What the fuck is the matter with you, you goddamn stone-age societal reject?" and degenerate rapidly into fisticuffs. I've gotta admire Jon's self-control for not socking that insane bastard in the teeth. >.>

[hopein08]

20. I agree that Stewart was disappointing...

let's face it, it was nothing like the Bernard Goldberg interview and there was so much more in terms of possibilities.

I thought Stewart let Santorum talk over him too much. Stewart started too many sentences that Santorum interrupted and then was allowed to keep talking. I suppose it was the usual way Republicans behave during interviews. It was disappointing.

The best part was Stewart bringing up Bill Bennett's gambling when Santorum mentioned his book. That and the three people who clapped when Santorum cam out.

[RetroLounge]

21. It's a FAKE news program...

Duh...

Comedy Central...

RL

[grumpy old fart]

24. It's satire, and good satire takes the truth to extremes to expose its...

target. Though some little truths were exposed in the interview, John did little to attack, through satire and humor, the target. And what an easy target, a rethug with no wit and little self awareness.

[RetroLounge]

27. Who would then never come on again

Clue phone...

RL

[grumpy old fart]

28. So, what's up with the insults?

[DrGonzoLives]

22. Were you singing the same tune

when he PWN3D Tweedledum and Tweedledee on Crossfire?

Just curious.

[dajoki]

25. yes, but...

i'm sure santorum's people checked out the questions beforehand. probably eliminated some.

[McCamy Taylor]

26. Stewart gets joke right wingers in the show so the far right cant attack

him for being partisan. He didnt have to grill Santorum, because Santorum is a douche-bag who can make himself look bad all on his lonesome.

After Stewart fulfills his equal time obligation by giving the worst representatives of right wing ideology that he can find airtime so that they can be mocked, he then rounds up the best moderate and left wing thinkers and gives them airtime that they could not get anywhere else.

I think Stewart's strategy is sound. Why play hardball with a right wing guest if he doesnt have to? No one is going to mistake Santorum for anything other than a fool.

[best left blank]

29. The most disappointing thing...

is that it wasn't a very funny episode.

[AntiCoup2K4]

30. Jon should have took Man on Dog out the way he did Fucker Carlson

...called him a dick and told him to shut the fuck up. Instead, he was trying the subtle ironic twists while pRick was shouting him down in pure infantile FAUX News mode.

You can't use irony on people like Santorum. They're just too fucking stupid to get it.

[Hippo_Tron]

31. Yup, Jon failed miserably at being a fake news anchor

[best left blank]

32. Has anyone taken up the point...

Santorum basically said that seeing Tyra Banks in a bra is more harmful to society than alcohol marketing aimed at children?