Fox Broadcasting has announced they’re developing their own “answer” to “The Daily Show.” In a Reuters article, they stated:
“The half-hour show would take aim at what executive producer Joel Surnow, the co-creator of “24,” calls “the sacred cows of the left” that don’t get made as much fun of by other comedy shows.
“It’s a satirical news format that would play more to the Fox News audience than the Michael Moore channel,” Surnow said. “It would tip more right as ‘The Daily Show’ tips left.” “
Yeah, here’s the thing: “The Daily Show” doesn’t tip left. It gores oxen to the right, the left, and the middle.
But the conservative point of view embraces the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” culture. “The Daily Show” will quickfry a liberal schmuck just as readily as a conservative, but because they *will* go after a conservative, that–to the conservative mindset–means they must be of liberal bent. A liberal mindset understands the notion that anything is fair game, but a conservative insists on lockstep adherence to its leaders and unwavering, unquestioning support. Anything else “tips to the left.”
It’s hardly limited to television. Compare “Doonesbury,” which will easily skewer pretentiousness of either a Democratic or Republican bent, to “Mallard Filmore,” which will ONLY go after liberal targets. The creator of the latter strip no doubt sees it as some sort of antidote to “Doonesbury,” except actually it’s just repetitive and dull. Okay, we get it, you think liberals are stupid. Got anything else? No? Okay, moving on.
Nice to know one thing, though: Fox is openly admitting that it’s audience skews right, and clearly tries to program in that direction. So can they drop the “fair and balanced” thing now?
PAD
• 
For what it’s worth, re: Trudeau and his fans.
1) For a period in the mid-90s, Trudeau was reading and sometimes posting to rec.arts.comics.strips (search Google Groups for “dbury1” in the author field…and since Universal’s Lee Salem was also active at the time, it’s pretty sure it was him, as Salem would’ve caught any imposter). Lets see Tinsley do that.
2) After a talk he gave at UC Berkeley, I went up to compliment him on how well I thought he portrayed techie issues/types (Kim and Bernie at the time) for a non-tech type. He was kind enough to chat for a few minutes, and gave me his business card. No indications at all that he had any problem with his readers.
Fox could always greenlight a new show for Michael Ricards….
Rob sayeth (with the conservative position being that homosexuality is immoral and that they’re all pedophiles and other such bûllšhìŧ)
Well, no, that’s not the conservative position. That’s the Christian Evangelical/post Christian-Coalition movement position, which has major influence in the Republican party that is waning quick thanks to Haggard and irritated middle of the road Republicans who happen to think that birth control is necessary to prevent abortion, stem cells and gay rights are state issues, and a bunch of other things. It’s dangerous to say that a conservative believes fundie Christian things (cuz it’s wrong), and no Dem is a fundie Christian.
Conservative and liberal are descriptives, and can be applied to Republicans or Democrats, and neither term has a dedicated religious meaning attached to it.
Brian sayeth Well, I hate to agree with Fox on anything, but Jon Stewart is a liberal.
Yes, but Jon Stewart personally being a liberal has nothing to do with The Daily Show. The Daily Show is written by a talented team of writers – something like 13 or 15 the last time I looked – and while they tend to lean liberal, apparently cover the spectrum of political leanings. (If anything, inside reports suggest it’s harder being Christian there than it is Republican.)
The Daily Show knocks them down as they’re set up by others. The last six years, the majority of the set-ups have been done by the Republicans. Come January, the Dems get to swap places. I doubt it’ll be long before they do something stupid.
As a slight aside, is anyone familiar with the right-leaning webcomic DAY BY DAY? It tries to be a “conservative answer” to DOONESBURY, but like MALLARD FILMORE tends to fail miserably because of it’s overt policizing.
Curiously though, on those rare occasions when the creator makes a non-political strip, he’s quite funny. This one in particular (http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2006/10/19/) had me cackling.
On a related note, had anyone read the excellent profile the Washington Post did on Gary Trudeau? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000446.html)
As a slight aside, is anyone familiar with the right-leaning webcomic DAY BY DAY? It tries to be a “conservative answer” to DOONESBURY, but like MALLARD FILMORE tends to fail miserably because of it’s overt policizing.
Curiously though, on those rare occasions when the creator makes a non-political strip, he’s quite funny. This one in particular (http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2006/10/19/) had me cackling.
On a related note, had anyone read the excellent profile the Washington Post did on Gary Trudeau? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000446.html)
Posted by SER
“Mallard Filmore” makes me feel young. Whenever I read the strip, I flashback fifteen years and think I’m looking at a comic from my college newspaper
“College”? Step back about four years earlier than that. Sophomoric, yes – but not at a college sophomore level
Posted by Dave OConnell
One of Saturday Night Live’s writers, Jim Downey, weighed on this sort of thing in Tom Shales’ SNL book. I wish I had access to the actual quote, but his point was that there is a big difference between portraying, for instance, Clinton as a fast food-loving womanizer and Bush as a cold-blooded murderer..
Yeah – a fast-food loving womaniser doesn’t more or less singlehandely act as figurehead for the colaition whose lies and manipulations steal elections and arange the deaths of almost 3000 USAian troops (so far) and manymany more thosusands of Iraqi civilians. That’s the difference.
Interesting thread, considering the almost stranglehold ‘The Murdoch Empire’ has over Media here in the UK. A hold he’s attempting to make bigger by trying for a bid on ITV, our largest terrestrial television network.
It should be pointed out however that the Murdoch press only began to support the Blair Labour Party when became almost inevitable they were going to get into power here in 1997. Before that they were seriously pro-Conservative.
// 1) For a period in the mid-90s, Trudeau was reading and sometimes posting to rec.arts.comics.strips (search Google Groups for “dbury1” in the author field…and since Universal’s Lee Salem was also active at the time, it’s pretty sure it was him, as Salem would’ve caught any imposter). Lets see Tinsley do that. //
Trudeau used to also post, (and at least one time if memory serves, joined in a chat), on the old Compuserve Comics and Animation board. (Which at one time in the early to mid 90’s was were everyone who was anyone in comics could be found).
// As for Surnow, I’ve had a feeling he was a Bush toadie for quite some time now. The last season of 24 I watched (I think it was 3) was just a whole season full of propaganda; torture used by the “good guys” to get information out of people, the innocent daughter of the villain being kidnapped and used as a hostage against him by Bauer and her requests for an attorney being denied, and a deadly agonizing virus breaking out in a hotel painting a picture of the worst case scenario, as if to say “if we don’t use any means necessary to stop the terrorists, including torture and all kinds of other awful things, THIS could happen to YOU!” //
See I hear that and I don’t hear “right wing propaganda”, I hear “borrowing from Ian Fleming”, but that’s just me.
On a recent Bill Marher they were discussing the use of torture and the conservitive guest, (who’s name I’m blanking on at the moment), said something along the line of “this is just what America wants, Jack Bauwer justice”, at which point Marher replied, “you do realize it’s just a TV show, right”.
Luigi Novi said:
If a “liberal mindset” sees anything as fair game, then how do you explain, to name one example, the persecution and censorship that David Horowitz went through on college campuses when he published his arguments as to why slavery reparations would be wrong, arguments that were based on fact and reason?
Although I’m still not sure I agree with the censorship, I do strongly feel that Horowitz’s arguments were extremely inflamatory- and if there was any fact or reason behind his arguents it was only a loose association. I still have my copy of the Brown Daily Herald, where he first published his ad- I was a contributer to the paper and my voice was also censored that day.
Horowitz wasn’t trying to be funny or satirical- he was trying to sell his book. He created controversy for the sake of commercialism, just like a conservative Michael Moore.
There are many good arguments against reparations for slavery- David Horowitz didn’t name any of them. That’s why his message was rejected.
As a fan of the Daily Show, I must say the jokes haven’t been “equal” in years.
Mostly of this has to do with who’s been in charge the past few years: the GOP. Comedy goes after the top dog in politics and that’s the conservatives. Of course that excuses the jokes about the headlines…
The rest of the show leans towards the left. From Jon Stewards personal comments to his interviews, he show’s he’s either a pretty liberal guy or he’s playing up to the left audience.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if that’s the show you want to be and you’re still funny as consistently as this show is — God bless. Go with it.
But to say both sides get joked on evenly doesn’t really fly anymore.
Remember back before the 2000 election, when Fox News was the “let’s drop everything important to bring you this car chase, LIVE!!!” network? Ahh, I miss those days…
I remember about ten years ago I did an interview with Kenny Rhodes from the satirical folkgroup the Foreman and we were talking about how political satire has a dendency to skew towards the left’s pov. On making fun of the left from the right’s pov he said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “It’s just kind of hard to make fun of people who want to help others.”
I wish FOX all the luck in the world with their project. If they can mine some honest laughs from the foibles on the left, I’ll be watching. However, I suspect that the real interesting story will be off-screen- what goes on in that writing room, what memoes come down from their corporate masters forbidding certain topics or demanding that they go after certain things with an extra vigor (recall the recent leaked FOX memoes instructing reporters to be on the lookout for terrorists happy with the Democratic wins last month).
Interestingly, the Forbes article on this suggests the show will air once a week on a Saturday. I guess that gives them all week to watch TDS and figure out how to respond instead of trying to find its own unique voice.
And lets not bring up “Mallard Fillmore” any more. That strip has the worse lettering I’ve ever seen. It looks like it was written by a four-year-old having a seizure. (Of course that was about 15 years ago or so whenever I last looked at the stupid strip…)
If you want a strip that’s funnier than Mallard Fillmore and conservative, try Day By Day by Chris Muir. http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/
More political than side splitting but it has good characters that are worth caring about.
It’s been my own experience that liberal writers are funnier than conservative ones but liberal audiences are more likely to be the ones muttering “That’s not funny.” when their own ox gets gored. But one’s own mileage may vary. As to who is actually “middle of the road”, it’s so subjective as to be pointless. Dan rather can seriously claim that the New York Times is a middle of the road newspaper even though he would ahve a very hard time coming up with examples of a position the paper takes that are not entirely consistant with liberal Democratic positions. Biut there you are.
As a slight aside, is anyone familiar with the right-leaning webcomic DAY BY DAY? It tries to be a “conservative answer” to DOONESBURY, but like MALLARD FILMORE tends to fail miserably because of it’s overt policizing.
Curiously though, on those rare occasions when the creator makes a non-political strip, he’s quite funny. This one in particular (www.daybydaycartoon.com/2006/10/19/) had me cackling.
On a related note, had anyone read the excellent profile the Washington Post did on Gary Trudeau? (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000446.html)
Curiously though, on those rare occasions when the creator makes a non-political strip, he’s quite funny.
I don’t know if it’s so “rare”. I counted up the cartoons for October (yeah, I know, but the Turkey is stuffed and the game doesn’t look interesting) and I got 18 political entries and 13 non-political ones.
He also draws some pretty sexy women.
I think the people responsible for The Daily Show and the Colbert Report have a pretty liberal point of view and of course that informs their comedy but that’s fundamentally irrelevant because they’re not *trying* to make political points. They’re trying to make people laugh. They don’t sit around thinking “Will this joke help the Democrats?”, they sit around thinking “Will this joke be hillarious?” and thank goodness they do.
I’m a fairly left leaning sort myself but I recently saw an awful sketch comedy show in Chicago that is explicitly devoted to doing left wing political humor, but it’s humor “for the cause”.
It’s predictably horrible. Comedy can have a point of view, the moment it becomes propaganda is the moment it stops being funny, it becomes bad comedy as well as bad propaganda.
I’d never seen or heard of Mallard Fillmore before, so I Googled it. And wow, it’s worse than even you people have made it out to be. I could only read about five of the strips before I had to make it go away.
I don’t know if it’s so “rare”. I counted up the cartoons for October (yeah, I know, but the Turkey is stuffed and the game doesn’t look interesting) and I got 18 political entries and 13 non-political ones.
Really? Usually when I visit, it’s shrill politizing. I’m glad the signal-to-noise ratio is improving. (I did love that 300 movie reference they did earlier.)
He also draws some pretty sexy women.
QFT.
Man, they’re going to have to work really hard on TDS and this new show to keep up with the ever growing dimbulbness of the real world. A friend sent me this link in an email. For half a second, I thought it was joke.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/20/navarrette.flag/index.html
Is this where we laugh or cry?
Jerry- That’s the same town they just visited in that two part STUDIO 60 episode…
Rich,
Yeah, I know. It’s also the town that Art Bell made famous to just about every person who had to work graveyard shift. That’s why I first wondered if this was a joke or note. I played around on CNN’s site for a good minute or two before posting here just to make sure.
It’s not a joke or a bit for Studio 60. This is a real news story.
Here are other news links if you want to check.
//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061116/us_nm/usa_immigration_flags_dc
//www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-15-foreign-flags_x.htm
//blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/11/old_glory_is_th.html
//articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/town-bans-foreign-flags-flying-alone/20061116071009990022
//www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005537027
//www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-15-Wed-2006/news/10847735.html
Here are other news links if you want to check.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061116/us_nm/usa_immigration_flags_dc
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-15-foreign-flags_x.htm
blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/11/old_glory_is_th.html
articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/town-bans-foreign-flags-flying-alone/20061116071009990022
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005537027
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Nov-15-Wed-2006/news/10847735.html
well it seems like this would be easy to verify. someone needs to watch the daily show and keep a running tally of just how many jokes are aimed at conservatives and how many are aimed at liberals.
it’s funny a while ago, i would have said SNL leans just as left as studio 60, but due to the alec baldwin episode it made me realise that they actually do try really hard to remain mocking of both sides. i dunno if i agree that the daily show does the same.
I can’t believe this is even legal…well, actually, I suppose they can get away with some stupid šhìŧ with zoning laws and such regarding any flag display period but I imagine that limiting which flags will run afoul of first amendment privilages.
“i dunno if i agree that the daily show does the same.”
It did once when the left had the White House and some ability to call the shots. The last six years, the right has owned the playing field and called all the shots. By this time next year, I expect that TDS will be spending quite a bit of time on the left each night.
“I can’t believe this is even legal…”
We can only wait and see.
well it seems like this would be easy to verify. someone needs to watch the daily show and keep a running tally of just how many jokes are aimed at conservatives and how many are aimed at liberals.
That wouldn’t prove anything by itself–here’s a hypothetical example: “Today on the news, Ðìçk Cheney has a bad hair day, George Bush mispronounces another word, Rupert Murdoch still has a funny accent and Hillary Clinton eats live babies on national TV while wiping her mouth with the American flag.” Three jokes about conservatives, one about a liberal…not what you’d call a liberal slant, however.
Methinks Peter doesn’t get it. Mallard Fillmore has been around HOW LONG?(12 years)
Apparently, someone finds that stuff funny.
Just because it’s not YOUR sense of humor(or mine for that matter, I’m a South Park independant fûçk the two parties type) doesn’t mean it doesn’t make someone else laugh or entertaining them or SOMETHING.
I love this ongoing urban legend that the right has no sense of humor.
It hasa sense of humor, it’s just not YOUR sense of humor.
Or mine, Mallard Fillmore blows the proverbial goat.
But…12 years…
But…12 years…
I dunno…I take your point, but comic strips aren’t the best example because they’re infamous for coasting not on being funny, but on not enough people caring enough to get rid of them. (Changing comic strips can be difficult because people get worked up about not seeing the same strips they’re used to having seen for years–editors get letters along the lines of “Ever since I was a child, “Marmaduke” has been in the upper right-hand corner of the comics page…”)
Still, there’s a certain segment of the market that seeks validation of their world-view by any means (the same ones who buy Ann Coulter books) and I suspect they’re the ones keeping it going–though whether they find it funny is beyond my power to answer. (Don’t underestimate how far backwards news outlets will bend to avoid the appearance of being liberal, as well–although I found it hilarious when my local paper, which definitely skews right, replaced Mallard Fillmore with The Boondocks…)
(On the “even a stopped clock is right twice a day” principle, I’ll admit I did chuckle over a “Mallard Fillmore” once, but that’s because it made fun of George W. Bush (in the process of attacking Saddam, but that’s by the by).)
I like Snoopy. I like Garfield. I can relate to Ziggy and Grimm. I usually don’t get Non Sequitur. (As in, I don’t see it, not I don’t understand it.) I don’t like comic strips with a political edginess. For either side, really. Don’t like Doonesbury, don’t like Boondocks, never heard of Mallard Fillmore before the other day. Looking at it kinda makes me think of Howard the Duck.
The biggest thing I can see going against this conservative satire show is the label “conservative.” Kinda limiting their options, I think. How often can you make fun of liberals before it gets old? For that matter, how often can you make fun of conservatives before it gets old? How often can we make fun of Mike before it gets old. (Answer: I think about a week ago.) Heck, even Steven Colbert sometimes gets on my nerves. I don’t know.
Sean Scullion posted:
“. . .never heard of Mallard Fillmore before the other day. Looking at it kinda makes me think of Howard the Duck.”
Well, maybe the George Lucas film version. If we’re talking a Steve Gerber story, Mallard Fillmore wouldn’t be worthy of cleaning Howard’s tail feathers after a nasty bout of ducky diarrhea.
1If you bash conservatives just once, your a liberal in FOX’s mind and therefore the enemy. Given the conservative humor of people like Glen Beck and somewhat bitter humor of former liberal turned right winger, Dennis Miller, I dread the very idea of the show.
I doubt the humor will be witty, smart, or even bitting. I think it’ll be more like nitpicking and sophmoric at best. More over I think it’ll lack Stewart’s humor and intellegence and he’s interview skill. The man channels Carson I think, I dread whomever the FOX show will channel.
I might be wrong of course, some people find the right wing humor of Rush to be a hoot. But I don’t get it!
Bottom line, I think that this is another attempt to control the debate by controling the messenger. Or more simply, they didn’t like the game so they took their ball and went home. Let’s just let go!
I just have to wonder if they’ll have the balls to have Stewart on as a guest. If they do, I’ll just bet that whoever they get to host it will try to beat Stewart at his own game and end up looking like an ášš.
-Rex Hondo-
“Methinks Peter doesn’t get it. Mallard Fillmore has been around HOW LONG?(12 years)
Apparently, someone finds that stuff funny.”
The notion that you’re arguing that longevity=funny when it comes to comic strips is actually more humorous than an average “Mallard Fillmore” strip.
PAD
Rex, it’ll be just like when he went on Crossfire, only maybe slightly meaner in tone.
“Methinks Peter doesn’t get it.”
Methinks maybe different people get it, just some people know better what they think is funny. It’s that thing where you know something is SUPPOSED to be funny, you can see where it MIGHT be, but it doesn’t even getcha to crack a smile. For example, every time I see the URL thing under the e-mail address line up there, I half-smile, thinking, No, I am Sean, but if I see L, I’ll tell it you’re watching for it. I know people that have to change their shorts after watching Benny Hill, does nothing for me. On the other hand, show me a good Friends episode or any movie with any of the classic SNL cast in it and you’ll be cleaning my intestines off your floor as I will have split my sides.
“On the other hand, show me a good Friends episode or any movie with any of the classic SNL cast in it and you’ll be cleaning my intestines off your floor as I will have split my sides.”
Memo to me: Remove Sean from the guest list for that upcoming “Friends/Blues Brothers” DVD marathon you had planned for Christmas.
PAD
It hasa sense of humor, it’s just not YOUR sense of humor.
The Daily Show doesn’t sit there and go “man, we’ve gotta target conservatives to be funny”. They just pick their targets and run with it. The same with South Park.
Fox is saying “man, we’ve gotta target liberals” because they’re too stupid to realize that, no, that won’t make it funny at all.
well it seems like this would be easy to verify. someone needs to watch the daily show and keep a running tally of just how many jokes are aimed at conservatives and how many are aimed at liberals.
No, the only way this would be valid is if you did the last 10 years. Or 8 years, if you want to stick with the Jon Stewart reign on the show. (You have to cover a period of time where Dems are in control – you cannot blame someone for the fact that the Dems are not in enough power to do stupid things deserving of satire.)
If someone has an archive of the last 8-10 years of show show, however, I’ll gladly take the project on. Just email me with how we get *me* the archives!
“The notion that you’re arguing that longevity=funny when it comes to comic strips is actually more humorous than an average “Mallard Fillmore” strip” by PAD: Well, strangely, I agree with PAD that “Mallard Fillmore” is one-note, unfunny and repetitive, but my previous diatribes against PAD, and the poor reactions they received go to show that just because I (or PAD or anyone else) find something unfunny – or right, or wrong, or obvious – doesn’t mean someone else feels the same way. The fact that there have been readers for a significant time shows that they like it, whether it makes any sense to us or not. They do find it amusing, seemingly!
I haven’t made up my mind as to whether there is any need for a conservative version of the Daily Show, but I do think it’s obvious that the right wing has a point that its views are disregarded on the original show. While the neoconservative approach to left wing opposition is calling it disloyal, the hard-left approach to the right is to belittle it as ignorant and unworthy of further consideration.
I think I know why some comic strips never get cancelled:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-11-24T204845Z_01_N24365789_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-GUNMAN.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
Armed cartoonist forces Miami paper to evacuate
MIAMI (Reuters) – An armed cartoonist with an apparent grudge against his editor entered the headquarters of the Miami Herald on Friday and forced the newspaper to evacuate its bayfront building before surrendering, police said.
Interesting, if counter-productive.
Let’s see, Jon Stewart isn’t a liberal? Daily Show is purely balanced? he attacks people of the right on the same grounds as he does leftists?
Anyone believe the answers to all of this is “yes”? Fie on you!
http://apologiesdemanded.blogspot.com/2004/10/eric-spratling-on-jon-stewart.html
and if we really want to go for a “what is the right thinking” vibe by using the “Joel Surnow wants a right-wing version of the Daily Show” as if this kind of attitude is just fused with a “right-wingers think so wrong” kind of deal… what the hëll was Al Franken planning with his Air America network? It sure wasn’t all about original programming!
Well, Air America would certainly show the folly of putting politics ahead of entertainment. As for any of this being indicative of “how the right/left think”…eh, that’s just silly. You can find plenty of people on both sides that break any preconceived notions one might have–which forces you to actually argue the issues and not hide behind any “those people are all (insult of your choice) and therefore not worth arguing with.” type generalizations.
Kelly, way to step up to the plate! I can se it now, you get an historic paper analyzing the Daily Show and somewhere Bill O’Reilly and Tucker Carlson both suffer at the same time catastrophic intercranial pressure.
Yeah. Their heads go ‘splodey.
But, but, Peter, I was going to bring my famous hot wings! And my DJ stuff! (I have a large collection of funny holiday music!)
Oh, fine. I know when I’m not wanted. Unless you’re my wife, in which case I haven’t a clue.
Blue Spider–(I almost called you by the initials, but that would’ve sent a slightly impolite message, and when I’m impolite, it ain’t slight. Just ask Mike or travel into an alternate future and ask PAD’s carpet.) The Daily Show makes no claims about being balanced. In fact, I can think of only one network that makes that claim, and it’s about as balanced as I am. The Daily Show doesn’t NEED to be balanced or fair. It’s, as it’s host has said on one painfully innapropriate confrontational show, A COMEDY SHOW. It’s there for the yuks, gang.
Posted by: Blue Spider at November 24, 2006 10:11 PM
Let’s see, Jon Stewart isn’t a liberal?
Jon Stewart has personally acknowledged he is a liberal. He openly supported John Kerry during the 2004 election. Your attempt to “out” him has failed because he wasn’t, y’know, “in.”
Daily Show is purely balanced? he attacks people of the right on the same grounds as he does leftists?
Anyone believe the answers to all of this is “yes”? Fie on you!
The mere fact that an extreme right-winger is angry at Jon Stewart doesn’t prove that “The Daily Show” is afraid to go after the sacred cows on the left.
The Republicans have been in control of the federal government for a good portion of Stewart’s tenure as host of “The Daily Show,” by the way. Until now, they’ve been in the spotlight far more than the Democrats. Until recently, there have simply been more opportunities to target the GOP.
Stewart wasn’t the host of “The Daily Show” when Clinton was in office. If you don’t think he would have had a field day with Monica-gate, you don’t understand what drives comedians. They look for the funny. And make no mistake — Jon Stewart is a comedian first and foremost.
Posted by Micha at November 22, 2006 07:35 PM
Bill, the terms in the US are somewhat different than I’m used to.
Actually, Micha, I think it’s less a case of how the terms are used — and more a case of my over-simplifying things. Which is kind of ironic given my initial post in this thread. Thank you for pointing out that liberalism and conservatism are complex, and that there is no one set definition of either.
You know, it never seems to sting when you point out that I’m wrong. I don’t know how you do it, but whatever it is, you should bottle it and sell it (your civility, not my penchant for being wrong).