6 ms·

The Problem with Jon Stewart

53 points by xqcgrek2 5y ago

sahaskatta 5y ago
Here's the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w
thenerdhead 5y ago
His show is really predictable. He always has voice of reason in-person and absurdity remotely. I thought this specific episode was bad and poorly represents the problems. Stewart is all over the place with his views. I honestly didn't really understand what was trying to be said through the episode although many of his other episodes follow a single narrative. Video in question to the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w
- sgt 5y ago
  Yeah, he and a bunch of other talk show hosts and comedians. It's so cringy to watch. Other examples include Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Fallon. Can't we get Carson, Letterman and Conan back?
  - emerged 5y ago
    Conan can be pretty bad as well. Anytime he’s pressed he falls precisely in line with far left views and goes to great lengths to avoid the slightest controversy.
    - Sporktacular 5y ago
      What's an example of Conan being on the far left? Sounds like your bias talking.
      - emerged 5y ago
        Oh Jesus Christ whatever
    - threatofrain 5y ago
      Conan isn't even in the same playing field. Conan is mostly silly skits that have little or nothing to do with politics. Colbert used to do news infotainment, which means the primary bulk of his content was responding to the news of the day. One can look up Conan skits on YouTube by just typing in his name.
  - passivate 5y ago
    Everyone has a very narrow range of specialized knowledge, opinions and beliefs, and people overvalue their own approach as nuanced and balanced and see-all-sides. Even on HN, there are several times when conversations on economics, pubic policy, science, vaccines border on cringey for someone who is an expert in those fields. I think the single most hardest thing to do is to escape ones own perspective.
  - dole 5y ago
    Carson’s gonna be tough, he died in 2005.
- kcplate 5y ago
  > Stewart is all over the place with his views. Good. That means he has the ability to think for himself and doesn’t feel the need to comply with some BS partisan orthodoxy.
chungy 5y ago
You can't eradicate evil with more evil. Jon Stewart didn't get the memo and he's embracing "more evil" (racism against whites) to combat evils committed historically (racism against blacks). We are all homo sapiens and should be offered the same opportunities as everyone else. Do not discriminate against race, against gender, against religion, against political affiliation, or any other category that may be used to make people in an "other" category.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- texaslonghorn5 5y ago
  > evils committed historically To be fair, many of the evils committed historically never ceased to be committed.
- colordrops 5y ago
  If you get enough organizations onboard and people screaming on social media, you can convince people otherwise, as evidenced by the last two years. You've got large swaths of the supposed left now supporting things they used to fight against, those being racism, war, and censorship, and you are called a fascist or a bigot or a *phobe if you challenge them. (Or just downvoted to oblivion) It just goes to show that most people don't base their beliefs on first principles and ideals but rather subconscious social cues and pressure. The US right wing has been taking advantage of this for decades with Rupert Murdoch and FOX leading the way, and it was only a matter of time for the left wing to join in.
  - paulryanrogers 5y ago
    Where is the left calling for racism and war?
    - passivate 5y ago
      To be accurate, the parent talked about 'support' for war - which is true. The elected representatives of the left have doubled-down on wars, expanded them and presided over mass civilian casualties.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tmcw 5y ago
If you aren't familiar with Andrew Sullivan, would recommend skimming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan
- dnissley 5y ago
  Some pieces from Sullivan that fill in more background: We all live on campus now: https://archive.ph/r3hBu https://archive.ph/r3hBu What happened to you?: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-you-e5f https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-you-e... Interview with Ezra Klein: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/andrew-sullivan-and-i-work-out-our-differences/id1081584611?i=1000429850645 https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/andrew-sullivan-and-i-...
- Sporktacular 5y ago
  Right. He talks about 'white anxiety' as a reason form limiting immigration, about being tactical about gender identity protections. All the arguments conservatives used against gay rights in the past. He's the kind of gay conservative who promotes conservatism for everything, except where it would be a detriment to gays. He rides the progressive train until it's his stop, and then tries to derail it. It's ugly, cynical and selfish. But agree the show could have taken and responded better to his viewpoints.
  - kcplate 5y ago
    > He's the kind of gay conservative who promotes conservatism for everything, except where it would be a detriment to gays. He rides the progressive train until it's his stop, and then tries to derail it. It's ugly, cynical and selfish. So…because he colors outside of the “established” lines it’s selfish? Honestly, this expectation for partisan political orthodoxy from people representing specific groups is so scary.
    - Sporktacular 5y ago
      What isn't orthodox about promoting the standard prescribed positions of a political group while trying to carve out exceptions for your own case? Seeking the benefits of group acceptance while avoiding its cost on individuality is what people have always done. Brave is taking a principled position, regardless of the crowd. Unselfish is doing so despite the personal cost. This guy is neither. He just wants to have it both ways.
wffurr 5y ago
So this guy showed up to the taping completely unprepared, having not even read the invitation, and then was mad about it? I would hope they learned from the experience, but sadly I doubt it.
lph 5y ago
So tired of the culture war infecting every corner of public discourse. This article: One culture war guy criticizes another culture war guy. Nothing to do with tech. Why is it on Hacker News?
- awb 5y ago
  Honestly, if I see a Substack URL on HN more often than not it’s going to be some biased outrage in reaction to someone else’s biased outrage. Substack seems to be a pretty efficient echo chamber, having people subscribe to read individual journalists. In a newspaper or magazine, there are still editorial themes, but at least some minimal level of diversity in reporting and viewpoints. But now you can just get 100% Andrew Sullivan content and read comments by fellow Andrew Sullivan readers. Sadly, I’d imagine getting enough siloed reinforcement makes one think the article is valid enough to be valuable to HN.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Sporktacular 5y ago
  I agree, what does this post add? How is this more than one guy's opinion on a controversy? What's next, Bannon's manifesto?
- D13Fd 5y ago
  I follow Andrew Sullivan generally, and read this article yesterday. Even so, I completely agree this has no place here.

53 points by xqcgrek2 5y ago

Here's the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w

His show is really predictable. He always has voice of reason in-person and absurdity remotely. I thought this specific episode was bad and poorly represents the problems. Stewart is all over the place with his views. I honestly didn't really understand what was trying to be said through the episode although many of his other episodes follow a single narrative. Video in question to the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cmnwbGmu7w

sgt 5y ago
Yeah, he and a bunch of other talk show hosts and comedians. It's so cringy to watch. Other examples include Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Fallon. Can't we get Carson, Letterman and Conan back?
- emerged 5y ago
  Conan can be pretty bad as well. Anytime he’s pressed he falls precisely in line with far left views and goes to great lengths to avoid the slightest controversy.
  - Sporktacular 5y ago
    What's an example of Conan being on the far left? Sounds like your bias talking.
    - emerged 5y ago
      Oh Jesus Christ whatever
  - threatofrain 5y ago
    Conan isn't even in the same playing field. Conan is mostly silly skits that have little or nothing to do with politics. Colbert used to do news infotainment, which means the primary bulk of his content was responding to the news of the day. One can look up Conan skits on YouTube by just typing in his name.
- passivate 5y ago
  Everyone has a very narrow range of specialized knowledge, opinions and beliefs, and people overvalue their own approach as nuanced and balanced and see-all-sides. Even on HN, there are several times when conversations on economics, pubic policy, science, vaccines border on cringey for someone who is an expert in those fields. I think the single most hardest thing to do is to escape ones own perspective.
- dole 5y ago
  Carson’s gonna be tough, he died in 2005.
kcplate 5y ago
> Stewart is all over the place with his views. Good. That means he has the ability to think for himself and doesn’t feel the need to comply with some BS partisan orthodoxy.

chungy 5y ago

You can't eradicate evil with more evil. Jon Stewart didn't get the memo and he's embracing "more evil" (racism against whites) to combat evils committed historically (racism against blacks). We are all homo sapiens and should be offered the same opportunities as everyone else. Do not discriminate against race, against gender, against religion, against political affiliation, or any other category that may be used to make people in an "other" category.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
texaslonghorn5 5y ago
> evils committed historically To be fair, many of the evils committed historically never ceased to be committed.
colordrops 5y ago
If you get enough organizations onboard and people screaming on social media, you can convince people otherwise, as evidenced by the last two years. You've got large swaths of the supposed left now supporting things they used to fight against, those being racism, war, and censorship, and you are called a fascist or a bigot or a *phobe if you challenge them. (Or just downvoted to oblivion) It just goes to show that most people don't base their beliefs on first principles and ideals but rather subconscious social cues and pressure. The US right wing has been taking advantage of this for decades with Rupert Murdoch and FOX leading the way, and it was only a matter of time for the left wing to join in.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  Where is the left calling for racism and war?
  - passivate 5y ago
    To be accurate, the parent talked about 'support' for war - which is true. The elected representatives of the left have doubled-down on wars, expanded them and presided over mass civilian casualties.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

tmcw 5y ago

If you aren't familiar with Andrew Sullivan, would recommend skimming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sullivan

dnissley 5y ago
Some pieces from Sullivan that fill in more background: We all live on campus now: https://archive.ph/r3hBu https://archive.ph/r3hBu What happened to you?: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-you-e5f https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-you-e... Interview with Ezra Klein: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/andrew-sullivan-and-i-work-out-our-differences/id1081584611?i=1000429850645 https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/andrew-sullivan-and-i-...
Sporktacular 5y ago
Right. He talks about 'white anxiety' as a reason form limiting immigration, about being tactical about gender identity protections. All the arguments conservatives used against gay rights in the past. He's the kind of gay conservative who promotes conservatism for everything, except where it would be a detriment to gays. He rides the progressive train until it's his stop, and then tries to derail it. It's ugly, cynical and selfish. But agree the show could have taken and responded better to his viewpoints.
- kcplate 5y ago
  > He's the kind of gay conservative who promotes conservatism for everything, except where it would be a detriment to gays. He rides the progressive train until it's his stop, and then tries to derail it. It's ugly, cynical and selfish. So…because he colors outside of the “established” lines it’s selfish? Honestly, this expectation for partisan political orthodoxy from people representing specific groups is so scary.
  - Sporktacular 5y ago
    What isn't orthodox about promoting the standard prescribed positions of a political group while trying to carve out exceptions for your own case? Seeking the benefits of group acceptance while avoiding its cost on individuality is what people have always done. Brave is taking a principled position, regardless of the crowd. Unselfish is doing so despite the personal cost. This guy is neither. He just wants to have it both ways.

wffurr 5y ago

So this guy showed up to the taping completely unprepared, having not even read the invitation, and then was mad about it? I would hope they learned from the experience, but sadly I doubt it.

lph 5y ago

So tired of the culture war infecting every corner of public discourse. This article: One culture war guy criticizes another culture war guy. Nothing to do with tech. Why is it on Hacker News?

awb 5y ago
Honestly, if I see a Substack URL on HN more often than not it’s going to be some biased outrage in reaction to someone else’s biased outrage. Substack seems to be a pretty efficient echo chamber, having people subscribe to read individual journalists. In a newspaper or magazine, there are still editorial themes, but at least some minimal level of diversity in reporting and viewpoints. But now you can just get 100% Andrew Sullivan content and read comments by fellow Andrew Sullivan readers. Sadly, I’d imagine getting enough siloed reinforcement makes one think the article is valid enough to be valuable to HN.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Sporktacular 5y ago
I agree, what does this post add? How is this more than one guy's opinion on a controversy? What's next, Bannon's manifesto?
D13Fd 5y ago
I follow Andrew Sullivan generally, and read this article yesterday. Even so, I completely agree this has no place here.