To be a blogger, it seems, usually means being a
social critic. There’s always someone
out there – or some group out there – worthy of ridicule. And even if your blog is called The Empathic
Rationalist, it’s hard not to take the bait and fire away, rhetorically that
is, when people behave badly.
Every now and then, though, someone steps up and
distinguishes themselves in a positive way.
And toasting their accomplishments is every bit as important as
criticizing others for their shortcomings.
So with that in mind, I must take this opportunity
to give a huge round of applause to one, Jon Stewart, for a job incredibly well
done … and a decision to leave when he’s on top of his game. I realize that Stewart has assembled a
gifted team of comedy writers who are no doubt responsible for most of the
laughs he provides us. But Stewart
himself needed to be one hell of a comedic actor to pull off the lines night
after night. Stewart himself needed to
be one bright, quick-witted guy to eviscerate guests like my former classmate,
Jim “Mad Money” Kramer. Stewart himself
needed the wisdom and even-handedness to mock his fellow progressives almost as
much as the conservatives, unlike his counterparts on Fox News or MSNBC who
clearly have consumed one type of Kool-Aid or another. And Stewart himself needed the kind of secure
ego to laugh at himself and take responsibility whenever he went too far. Let’s face it: he’s just a talented,
likeable guy, who has turned a half-hour comedy act on an obscure cable
television network into arguably the best source of news in America. That’s quite a tour de force.
At a time when the American media is treating with
respect certain European “satirists” who are truly just pornographers and hate
mongers, Stewart has been a true satirist.
He’s handled himself with class, meaning that he’s used more than a
modicum of restraint. But that’s not to
say he has pulled his punches. If a
public figure in America was being hypocritical, there’s a pretty good chance
that Jon Stewart called him or her to task in a fun-loving, but also damning,
way. There will be a whole lot of people
in politics and in television “journalism” who will be thrilled to see Jon
Stewart go.
Has Stewart made a difference? I mean a real difference? Well, he almost single-handedly destroyed the
CNN show Crossfire, in the process pointing out just how obnoxious and
dangerous it is to live in a society that is completely ideologically
polarized. That may have been his single
most concrete accomplishment, but he should be remembered more for simply
educating the American people, for many years, about the major news stories of
the day. In a day when most Americans
don’t read the newspapers, Jon Stewart has become one of our best windows to
the world.
But therein lies the problem. He only has a half hour on Comedy
Central. Roughly a third of that ime could
be devoted to, oh I don’t know, flirting with Maggie Gyllenhall or listening to
Brian Williams spin some yarns. And the
remaining time, as Stewart admits, needed to include the mandatory masturbation
and fart jokes. That doesn’t leave much
time for hard news – especially when it takes so long to imitate a turtle who
runs the Senate.
Seriously though, the real problem with this society
is that there is only so much that satirists can accomplish, when business
leaders, statesmen, and mainstream journalists have all collectively decided
that they are most comfortable when they are NOT rocking the boat. Satirists provide a momentary break from the
status quo, but what they do, while it can be cathartic and even insightful, is
not enough to overshadow the folks who run the economy, the government, and the
mainstream media.
So, what does that mean? Jon Stewart is going to have to (a) run for
Governor of New Jersey when Chris Christie’s term is over, and (b) run for
President when Hillary Clinton’s terms are over. If a former B-movie dramatic actor like
Ronald Reagan can become a transformative conservative President, then surely a
former B-movie comedic actor like Jon Stewart can become a transformative
progressive President. And that is no
joke.
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