Please tell me you're watching DAily Show

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The_vagabond7 said:

Sqrl said:

The_vagabond7 said:
I don't see the daily show as a "news show". I see it very much as a comedy show about news and politics, commentary mixed with jokes. I see it as extremely biased, goofy, satirical, comedy, but most importantly it wears that on it's sleeve. It never stops reminding you that it is liberal comedy. Something alot of news outlets fail to do, wear their biases on their sleeve. On occasion Stewart manages to really kick some ass, or take somebody to task or show the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of the "serious media", but for the most part he's a clown. And that doesn't bother me because he lets everybody know up front that he's a clown.

If Rush Limbaugh did that every episode, or anybody on fox news, I think it would be easier to not be disgusted by them. If somebody is going to be an ass, just say upfront "I'm an ass, and I'm just messing around, don't take anything I say very seriously, but every once and a while I'll make a point". So, no I don't watch the daily show for "news", but I do enjoy watching it every once and a while.

Let's be serious, everyone knows where Rush, Hannity, and Beck sit on the political spectrum.   Trying to cast them into the same situation as Stuart (ie "not to be taken seriously") is just an attempt to marganalize their views.

You shouldn't trust any political commentator to give you the full story anyways, but narrowing it down to specific people or groups who hold a certain viewpoint is a symptom of personal bias filtering out the people you happen to agree with.   

But really we shouldn't derail this thread because this is a much bigger discussion.

 

Trust me, I don't agree with the democratic agenda either. I'm an independent above all else. You can throw bill Maher in with Hannity and Limbaugh ect if it makes you feel better. He plays at being a comedian, but takes himself waaay too seriously. He's the kind of person that says "If you're religious, you're and idiot!" and then laughs and laughs and then gets a straight face and says "I'm not joking". I'm an atheist, but I that's still bigoted ignorance. The people I mentioned were just the ones that popped up first.

 Everybody knows where they stand on the political spectrum, but they still take their own extremely biased skewed views as god's honest truth. They don't recognize their own bias, even if everyone else does. Stewart at least says "hey, I'm just being a dick here, this is entertainment don't take me too seriously." Unfortunately when Limbaugh gets up and says "I hope the president of the united states fails miserably" there isn't a punchline, there is no satire, and he doesn't think he's dicking around. He's a joke that doesn't get himself. When the so many in the media are completely full of themselves and need some humbling. Stewart for the most part just dicks around, but he shows his import every once and a while when he goes on crossfire and tells them that they are bad for the country or Kramer and tells him that he's unethical and a tool. I don't see stewart as some great news source or pundit. I see him as a comedian that occasionally makes a good point, and every once and a great while shoves that point in somebody's face. But he recognizes himself as a comedian above all else.

Maher is very much a comedian, it's a part of his shows and his work to only a slightly lesser degree than with Stuart.  Olbermann and Matthews are probably two good examples to use though.

None of the people you mentioned or I mentioned above fail to recognize or advertise their bias though.  Rush and Hannity will tell you straight up they are conservatives while Maher, Stuart, Keith, and Chris would tell you they are liberal.  But those biases are why they have their shows.

I've seen multiple episodes of everyone mentioned here and they all make good points and they all have bad points the same as anyone.  But they also all say some very stupid things the same as anyone.  The fact is the overwhelming majority of what these guys say is completely legitimate, and the controversy comes over pointless quibbles like the recent assault on Rush and the "I want him to fail" controversy.  Pointless for two reasons: First because the White House shouldn't be launching attacks on radio hosts because they have more important things to do and second because Rush explained his position to the point that any reasonable person who actually listened to what he said in full would have no problem even if they choose to disagree with him.

Do these guys say some stupid crap?  Absolutely.  But so do you and I, they're people too after all.  And the media is biased no matter where you go to get your information.  The only suckers are the people who actually believe they're getting straight talk from anyone.  But none of these guys goes so far that they shouldn't be taken seriously and honestly it kind of disturbs me to hear that talk.  Nothing someone says should preclude them from having a voice in the future, it should certainly effect their credability but when you get to the point where people are saying "Keith Olberman said x and therefor nothing he says is worth taking serious" you've come to the point where you are unfairly marganalizing people and it is only a matter of time before it is turned into a political weapon by one side or the other or both (I would say it already has actually).

Let people turn the channel/station and decide who doesn't deserve to be heard.  If enough people listen to Rush and Keith that they can stay on the air contradicting each other then there is plenty of room for both of them and even their crazier views.