A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Flaming Outrage

I'm not sure how to elevate Jon Stewart any higher, since I'd already made him Top Media God of the Dogged Blog. But if it hadn't already happened, "Gaywatch" from last night's episode would have been enough to turn my love into worship.

Now, the segment is fantastic on many levels, and I'll give you a link down below and I recommend you download it and watch it, even if  you have a really slow dialup connection and it takes all night. It's that good, and yes, it's also that funny. (And yes, I do know I used that line before.)

But there are two elements of this segment that lift it way, way above the usual funny, clever, politically eye-opening stuff Stewart does all the time.

One of them was his scathing commentary on the media's "balance" meme, the way they seem to think that by presenting one person who is lying and twisting facts and making outrageous assertions, that as long as they present someone else with a different viewpoint, they've done their job. He presented a brief clip of CNN's Kira Phillips interviewing an unidentified anti-gay spokesperson about recent legislation banning gay people from adopting foster children in Texas (imagine that!). This guest contended that a scientific research study in Illinois had proven... yes, she said it was a "proven fact"... that children raised by gay couples were eleven times more likely to be sexually abused than children raised by heterosexual couples.

Randall Ellis of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas was invited to respond, which he did, pointing out that no reputable research backed up this claim. Cut away to Stewart, who concurred, referring to the "study's" author as a "knucklehead" and mentioning the "research" was comprised of an Internet search and had been discredited. Surely, he asked the camera earnestly, Phillips would set her audience straight on the facts?

"It's an interesting debate, a good debate, thank you very much," concluded Phillips. Her co-anchor Carol Lin seemed a bit uncomfortable, but just said in a mock-reproving tone that she had a few things to say about the debate that she'd get to during the commercial break.

Back to the Daily Show studio, where Stewart looked right into the camera and, well... screamed, "Why don't you call them on their bullshit ON THE AIR? You're an ANCHOR for fuck's sake!"

What I loved about this, and what brings me to my second point, was not really Stewart's comment itself, which wasn't what you'd call an incisive political commentary. No, it was his rage, deep and genuine. Rage at the media for their irresponsibility, their presenting lies as if they were just a difference in viewpoint, a matter not of fact but of opinion.

But more than his fury at the media, which isn't exactly news, was his palpable anger at the injustices he outlined. At one point he said, actually looking very upset, "You know what's interesting? I'm not fucking making this up." As one poster said in the comments section on a Daily Show fan blog, they had "never heard him swear so much" before.

See, joking aside, I love Stewart for being angry on my behalf, for being capable of getting upset - really, visibly upset - at something wrong being done to me and other lesbian and gay people. After being told over and over by so many so-called "progressives" that equality for lesbians and gay men is not really important, that we have to wait, that we need to get out of the limelight and stop being so pushy and demanding, it's truly balm to a battered spirit to see my struggle taken not just seriously, but to heart, by someone who already has those rights.

Ooops, there I go again, losing you. It always happens when I get on this subject. So forget everything I just said and go watch the clip here. I'm not funny, but he sure is.

[UPDATE]: I'm not the only fan. Crooks and Liars loves him too, and Hoffmania.com says "Jon Stewart Shows Why He Won the Peabody."

[UPDATE 2]: I believe this is the "study" referenced by the unnamed CNN guest and by Stewart, and discussed in the Crooks and Liars comments section. Certainly Paul Cameron is a knucklehead:  Same Sex Marriage

[UPDATE 3]: This is the "study," and it was done by Cameron's "Family Research Institute," but is not the "Same Sex Marriage" "study" I linked to above: Illinois Foster Care. Caution, these are nasty people and they LIKE Cameron.

[UPDATE 4]: Four updates???? Yikes. But Dan at Dannation posted a link to his blog down in the comments section, and when I checked it out, I found a link to this article in today's Wall Street Journal. It's in the "Today's Freebies" section so no registration required, but I'm not sure if the article is permanently archived or not. It discusses the "Gaywatch" episode, does a pretty good job for a conservative rag at debunking Cameron's "study," and is well worth the click! As Dan said, "Wonders never cease."

Comments

[Cate]

Hi Christie,
Some great rants. One of the few reasons I sometimes wish I had cable is Jon Stewart.
Have you found Rosie O'Donnell's blog? www.rosie.com She has some great entries. I never saw her show but am really touched by many of her posts.
Cate

[Christie]

Hi, Cate, thanks!

Yeah, I've gone over to rosie.com a few times, but I can't get past the poetry format. It may be the editor in me, but I keep thinking... "Why doesn't she just put this in sentences with conventional spelling, punctuation, and grammar?"

However, you are the third person who has suggested I should read her blog, so maybe I need to get over that.

[jeff valcarcel]

Hi folks! I linked to this from crooks and liars. I too love Jon Stewart have made him my hero, knocking Arianna Huffington out of the #1 spot. For more on Stewart you should check out www.onegoodmove.org(video and commentary) and www.newshounds.us (commentary only).
I was just saying to my wife that she had too see this clip(I monitor the daily show web sites constantly for new clips because I can't watch it when its on). His empathy and anger we're genuine. I told her it was the first time
I saw anyone on the news or fake news do anything real and sincere in a long time. Kudos to your blog and keep up the good fight.

[o]

If anyone has time, please let me know what indication there is that the linked to study is the one mentioned by the Daily Show. Also, if anyone has a "debunking" of this I would like to see it.

[gina]

You're right: That was genuine outrage on Stewart's part, not only on behalf of equal rights but also against media idiocy. The entire "Gaywatch" segment was spectacular, but it was the Microsoft bit that made us do something: We went out and bought a Macintosh, and sent the receipt to Bill Gates with a note.

My brother and I had been planning to buy our mother a computer for Mother's Day, to replace her old, blue-screen-of-death MS OS model. We were leaning Mac because of ease of use, but Microsoft's cowardice in the face of the right-wing "Christians" tipped our decision.

As to the "Christian" right: You hate-mongers are losing. When a totally het, seriously "guy" guy like my brother -- a high school football coach, no less! -- is disgusted by your bigotry, it's game over. You just don't know it yet.

"The arc of history is long," said the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "but it bends toward justice."

Amen.

[St Michael the Pusher]

Linked over from crooksandliars.com
Here's another link for the fans, especially the ones without cable.

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives
/daily_show_comedy_clips/index.php

[dan]

This story made the Wall Street Journal this morning! I wrote about it on my blog as well.....

[david r. mark]

For a transcript of the Daily Show segment, with commentary on the "study" and why Cameron is discredited, go to Journalists Against Bush's B.S., at http://jabbs.blogspot.com

[KathyF]

We get to see Jon Stewart's international version here. Hopefully he'll show that clip. Otherwise there's C&L, which has been a real boon to me. I should go contribute. It's cheaper than cable. (Which we can't get here anyway. It's Sky or else you can get Sky.)

Thanks for linking to that clip, btw.

[Eva Young]

Nice blog. And good for the WSJ for pointing out the obvious - that CNN anchors dropped the ball big time on this one - this is the sort of thing that requires a followup - and it's not up to the other guest - but to the anchor - to say - where did you get this? Was the study published in a peer reviewed journal?

[Hephaestion]

I love your comments about Jon Stewart!

I'd love to see him, Bob Paris and Margaret Cho locked in a room with George Bush for a few hours. And the whole thing videotaped so we could watch Bush try to answer the questions about his malevolent presidency which they would fire at him. I wonder if he would be capable of opening his heart up long enough to learn something from them? I'd love to hear him try to tell a wonderful, moral man like Bob Paris that he is undermining America's morals TO HIS FACE. Bush lives in a bubble and never has his moronic misperceptions challenged.