Jon Stewart Rips Obama on Continuing Bush Era War Powers
All of these policies are troubling, but most troubling to me is that Obama has made no effort to explain his reversal on all of these policies. He may very well have important, serious reasons for abandoning his core convictions from the 2008 campaign, but if he does, we are entitled to hear him. Being President requires that one be accountable to the American people. President Obama’s failure to make this accounting is the biggest blight upon his administration.
As a libertarian, I put a greater premium on civil liberties than most Americans. But I also understand the incredible pressure placed on a President responsible for the safety and well-being of a nation, and I recognize that there are situations where even I would crumble under the weight of such responsibility. Even the President’s harshest critics might find some sympathy for our President … if only he would explain himself.
He went into office and the military scared the crap out of him. That’s all I got.
Did nobody offer this theory?:
“Either that dude is living in some psychotically imagined hellscape devoid of all hope or beauty, or … he’s from Indiana!”
“So really what is the message we’re sending America tonight? It is better, I think, to go see prostitutes than in fact to believe Social Security is a right.”
“You know I can see being confused by Scientology, that thing Madonna does with the red bracelets, this whole Justin Bieber craze, certain World of Warcraft guilds, Harry Potter book clubs, but I think after 1,400 years and over a billion Twitter followers, Islam is kind of accepted as a religion now.”
The last episode of “The Jon Stewart Show,” Stewart’s old syndicated talk show, in 1994, he had David Letterman, a longtime supporter and infrequent guest of other talkshows, on to cheer him up after he learned he was being canceled. Dave encourages him: “You’ve got a smart audience. Cancellation is not the same as failure.” Stewart seems less than encouraged, and he was right: He never did anything, ever again.
A few other notes:
1. Dave gets to smoke his cigar on set.
2. They play Matthew Sweet as they go into commercial. Awesome. I loved 1994.
3. Dave tells the same story about Paul Newman that he would after Newman’s death on his own show, 14 years later.
4. This video ends at the exact moment I’d want to watch it most. I hope it was this.
I remember actually thinking that “The Daily Show” was doomed when Kilborn left.
“Oh nonsense … You’ve been reading The New York Times too much, Jon …”
“Bill, hold on a second … you work for The New York Times.”
