TV: Jon Stewart on Crossfire

On Friday, Jon Stewart was the guest on CNN's alleged news debate program, Crossfire, hosted by Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala. And Stewart went apeshit on them.

Here's a transcript (thanks to Ian for the link). Oh, I wish all of you would read it, whether you be left, right, or totally apathetic in your politics. Because Stewart takes them to task. Stewart isn't mounting a partisan attack. He is genuinely outraged at Crossfire (and by extension, other non-hard-hitting news shows) that act as tools of the politicians of either side, parroting their party lines and press releases, rather than engaging in genuine, honest debate.

"It's hurting America," he tells them, and he's not wrong.

If you've seen the video (and there are plenty of places to download it already), it's just amazing how worked up Stewart gets. Because the Crossfire guys do exactly what he's accusing them of: they refuse to engage him in the debate. They refuse to step out of the "theater" Stewart says they're performing (STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. How old are you? CARLSON: Thirty-five. STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.... So this is theater.), and answer him in an honest fashion. They want him to play nice, and make jokes, and he's having none of it: "I'm not going to be your monkey."

Some more sample quotes:

STEWART: It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery....
CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?
[...]
STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. What is wrong with you?

STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.
CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.
STEWART: You need to go to one.

And, when it's become clear Stewart is deadly sincere in his anger and outrage, and Carlson is on the defense:

CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?
STEWART: If I think they are.
CARLSON: I wouldn't want to eat with you, man. That's horrible.
STEWART: I know. And you won't.

Carlson's idea of turning the tables on Stewart is to point out how soft Stewart's interview with John Kerry was. Which, #1, is jealousy, plain and simple; Kerry won't come on Crossfire. And #2, is pure bullshit. As Stewart says:

You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility... and maybe this explains quite a bit... is that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity.... But my point is this. If your idea of confronting me is that I don't ask hard-hitting enough news questions, we're in bad shape, fellas.

It's amazing to watch as Stewart becomes the most uncomfortable one on the show, as he comes to realize that he just can't get them to honestly address his questions, much like they can't get politicians to honestly answer their questions. (But, unlike him, they never even try, is his point.) He goes from humorous but aggressive, to genuinely angry, to a rueful resignation. He keeps trying, but he knows he won't get anything out of them: "Why can't we just talk -- please, I beg of you guys, please." And he finally just snaps at Carlson as they're going to commercial, "You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." No, seriously, he actually says that. Yikes.

It's pure unstaged drama. It's one of the most contentious interviews I've ever witnessed. It's a fascinating, depressingly revealing, television moment. Jon Stewart: the fake anchor as the voice of reason.