painful as it is to admit, Jon Stewart was right about this.....

[rainy]

What he was saying is that it is not about left or right it's about corruption. In that regard both sides are corrupt. The cable news has made it about Democrats and Republicans and he is right. Rachel says Republicans this and Republicans that, the same with Ed and Keith. What we as progressives should be pointing out is that the whole system is messed up and the fact that we only have two sides is part of the problem. We know the democrats are just as bought and paid for or we would have seen more from them the past two years.

He was not right about his summation of Bush though. I think Bush really knew that Saddam had no weapons because Wolfawitz already said that they settled on wmd because it was the best to convince the people with a reason for war. Plus all the rest of the illegal actions of Bush's admin. Jon was not clued in on those facts it seems.

A side note: The people didn't speak on election day. Republicans spoke because their base was energized. The left didn't show up because we were dissed. The left may not show up in the future as the Democrats are no longer capable of representing them. They are bound by donations to represent the ones with the most money.
(I did show up.)

[ixion]

1. k/r

You're spot on. The SYSTEM is corrupt.

[eleny]

2. The difference between FoxNews and the rest is that FoxNews won the right to lie in court

An example - Beck lied about George Soros in his recent programs about Soros.

I don't recall liberals in the media lying about issues as a matter of policy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Yes corruption is a major problem

[FrenchieCat]

4. Then according to you, it doesn't matter who is in office.......

so why bother to yell at the one we have now? Think you'll get something better if you do?
I personally know that what you will get is so fucking worse, you will wish from that time on
that you would have been more supportive instead of finding the wrong and magnifying them
each and every day.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I suggest you read on TEA POT DOME

though the Republicans were on it, it was not only them.

This is the type of corruption we are talking about...

You know silly shit like Blackwater Contracts, or have we stopped hiring those thugs and I missed it? I hope i missed it.

[ladjf]

7. yes. nt

[OregonBlue]

8. I also think Stewart was making a bigger point. As I just said on another thread:

When Stewart brought up the part about Rachel sniggering and making fun of the teabaggers
because they didn't know what the term meant on the street, I totally got his point. If she was truly objective, she would have very gently told them what it meant and suggest that perhaps they might now want to use it. Instead she was very dismissive and even arrogant about how stupid they were for not "getting it". I also feel that they are a bunch of lunatics but I don't believe that the way to get you message across to people is to deride them and talk down to them. Rachel and Keith may not be as bad but they are also guilty of that behavior. I know they are trying to counter FOX spin but by using similar tactics, they are in fact buying into the FOX agenda.

I think that's all Stewart was trying to say. Don't buy into the bull, we are all Americans and we can discuss these things without belittling each other. I agree with him. I'm tired of the hate and anger and I no longer want to watch anyone, right or left, that is helping to create the divisions among us. I don't see my conservative neighbors as OTHER. I see them as people who are trying to get along the same as the rest of us and people who I should learn to talk to and listen to.

I think that was Stewart's only point. Stop treating each other as OTHER. I loved the merge analogy he used at the rally.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Well I agree with Jon, if your take is what he has in mind.....

The devisiness in all of its directions is hurting this country very badly.....period.

We have huge problems, and it almost feels like folks would rather not face them
by believing that they have all of the easy answers, when they don't.

[OregonBlue]

22. I watched the rally and I thought that was exactly what he was saying. It's time to stop demonizing

each other and try to actually solve problems. When the left treats the teabaggers with disdain and arrogance and tries to dismiss them, we are buying into the same hatred of them as OTHER that Fox is promoting. I think he was trying to say, look, let's talk to each other. It hit a strong cord with me because I live in a small rural valley in central Oregon where most of the people are retired and poor. Many are Republicans but when we talk about our lives, it really is not so different for any of us. Stewart mentioned that we can vote with our remotes. We can stop listening to hate talk. I realized that listening to Keith and Rachel and Ed, etc. was only making me more angry and anxious (even though I usually agree with them) and I just turned them all off.

So yes, I thought he made some very good points. We are all Americans and I don't want to hate my neighbors or see them as OTHER.

[grasswire]

17. how should one talk about a war criminal?

or a bankster who has defrauded the people out of their homes?

or someone who steals an election?

Serious question.

[jpgray]

10. In a two party system, there will always be a worse choice

I know you don't think that our party is excused in perpetuity for whatever it does, so long as the GOP is worse. By no means should we sit on our hands and allow the worse choice to get elected, but we should work to make our party better at the same time. In other words, a contested primary in a midterm election and applying pressure to fight corruption are not "fucking retarded."

[BeFree]

12. Write, Frenchie

The difference between the two is humongous. It is the elephant in the room.

The Dems have brought civil rights to the fore. Social Security. Minimum wage. Unions. Etc.
All the while we had to work around the elephant.
The party of the elephant tried to stomp on every good thing we've done.

Dem's the facts.!!

[Lucian]

5. Um, last I checked, the left wing isn't corrupt.

Since when is reporting facts corrupt?

Stewart has become a tool, and I'm not liking him much anymore.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. That is not what he is talking about

he is talking about the CORRUPTION that is ENDEMIC in the US Government. Do people have problems comprehending this? Yes "our side" reports facts, but the real juicy corruption stories, few cover in the media, if at all.

[rainy]

18. What left? There is no real left in office willing to stand up

for left values except a hand few that never get any press time, or just a little. The Democrats mostly govern from the center right and they are corrupt.

[tularetom]

11. What is true is that some in the media treat politics like a spectator sport

Because that's the only way to keep the dumbasses interested in it.

The breathless tones and emotional appeals used by fox news to describe political figures and events here in the USA is very similar to the techniques used to promote professional wrestling. Creation of good and evil, demonization of the "bad guys", fake outrage at underhanded tactics, everything Beck and O'Reilly do is lifted right from the WWE script.

Unfortunately, some commentators on other cable outlets have fallen into the same trap. Tweety being the most obvious case. Only problem is, he's to dumb to even be consistent as to who are the heroes and who are the villains.

[FrenchieCat]

15. I think many of us here have fallen into the same trap.....

by believing whatever is set out in front of us,
fighting over it all while pretending we have all of the answers,
knowing that we only have the answers as long as they remain
untested.

[Pisces]

14. I'm part of the left and I showed up. This was a midterm election , no surprise that

youth vote did not turn out. Old people always vote. The American people don't want the truth. The truth hurts and is boring. The American people want to be entertained and given sound
bytes.

The truths like we have to cut military spending, raise social security age, raise taxes: these truths nobody wants to hear.

[Green_Lantern]

16. Jon didn't say it was a fact that Bush didn't know about wmd

He was reminding Rachel that it is OPINION that Bush knew, not FACT.

Jon wasn't defending Bush, he was criticizing the labeling of Bush as war criminal, which shuts down debate. Once you start the debate with Bush lied it pretty much stops the discussion. The same way you'd avoid discussion if the other guy started out with "Obama is socialist".

[rainy]

19. good point

[Motown_Johnny]

20. he also said that Bush was "technically" a war criminal

anyone who thinks that institutionalizing war crimes can be reduced to technicalities has no right to lecture about corruption

[madmax]

21. Publicly Funded Elections nt

[Ignis]

23. K & R & IBTL.

Politicians tend to be either corrupt or corruptible.

Are (D) politicians less corrupt(ible) than (R) ones? Probably, but it's still a matter of degree.

[madmax]

24. My Mom said the same thing.

She also said, 'there will never be another FDR.'

[Ignis]

25. Sounds like you have a smart mom.

My parents taught me the same thing. :toast:

The problem here at DU is that we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that every Republican is the scum of the Earth and every Democrat is an incorruptible paladin on a shining charger.

For example, it's not like Lieberman was great on Monday, great on Tuesday, great on Wednesday, and suddenly and completely horrible in every way on Thursday when he changed from (D) to (I). He was a dick to begin with, whatever he calls himself.

[madmax]

27. 'he was a dick to begin with...'

:rofl: Love it. Always wondered why Gore picked him.

:toast: We have great parents ;)

[ProudDad]

26. I'll bet most of the "left" showed up...

We're addicted to voting even though the most Progressive of us realize that "if elections could change anything, they'd make them illegal."

Cognitive disconnect is endemic in this sick society...