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May 26, 2012

The Daily Show: July 30, 2008 - VIDEOS

by Annie Wu, posted Jul 31st 2008 12:37PM

The Daily Show"Illegally Blonde": For someone so adorably blonde, Monica Goodling sure did a lot of not-so-nice things. The former aide to the terribly forgetful Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was recently accused of picking and choosing Justice Department job applicants in an unfair, illegal manner. To further prove that parts of the government still run like high school politics, Congress had a bitchy little back-and-forth about who got to the meeting first, right on C-SPAN3 when they should have been talking about illegal hiring. Stop acting like a spoiled cheerleader, Senator Tom Coburn.



CNN's American Morning must have a nice budget for pop music, as they're using the likes of Scorpion and David Bowie to intro their different news stories. Or maybe the budget isn't so nice, because they keep using the same songs. And if you want to learn more about Japan's oldest porn star -- and I know you totally do -- watch this informative little video. It's from CNN, don't worry. In other news, John Roberts used to have a pretty sweet mullet from his VJ-ing days in the 80s. Check out this treasure trove of old-school John Roberts clips.



he night's guest was Ben Wattenberg, author of Fighting Words: A Tale of How Liberals Created Neo-Conservatism. It's been a while since I've felt annoyed about the way Jon conducted himself in an interview. Granted, being a liberal and talking to a neo-conservative can turn into a pretty frustrating ordeal, but Jon really dropped his role as host this time around. Interrupting an old guy is too easy, and it felt a bit awkward to see Mr. Wattenberg struggling to make his point. The gentlemanly thing to do would have been to let Mr. Wattenberg make his point in full and then counter it with his own complete, no holds barred liberal monologue. Jon is obviously confident enough with his points, it was just a shame to see him express them that way. In fact, it took me at least two additional viewings of the interview to really catch the content, because I was too busy trying to figure out what was going wrong. Jon got a little better towards the end, but the beginning of the interview was a bit awkward to get through.

Maybe it was Wattenberg's fault for starting off the interview with a light-hat and that weird decision to use "chocolate" in his example. He already lost his "serious business" hold on Jon then, I think. Plus, the Daily Show audience tends to react trained-seal-style to just about everything, so, just by being a neoconservative, he was kind of doomed from the start. The fact that he had a strange straw and spoon situation in his mug didn't help him, really.



Moment of Zen: From 80s VJ-ing to CNN -- lol u guyz its weed. I still can't get over that mullet.

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nickmagoo

btw - re the edwards story...#1 on dave letterman's top ten reasons why obama may be getting too confident: he was seen with john edwards cruising for chicks...hehehe...

July 31 2008 at 7:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nickmagoo

to say you like the daily but you don't like jon stewart is totally oxymoronic - that's like saying 'i like hardball but i don't like chris matthews.' yes, he's on the liberal side, but he doesn't hold back asking democrats tough questions or getting in their faces over idiotic things they've said or done. he also consistently brings on conservatives and lets them have their say - and it's perfectly right for him to voice his response. the guy last night was just impossible to interview because he was a doddering fool. i found him hard to watch and even harder to understand.

July 31 2008 at 7:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
C.A.

First let me say I really enjoy The Daily Show. I do however dislike Jon Stewart.
It's kind of sad to see someone be such a jerk just because you disagree with them. I have seen him do it with other guest that were very conservative, had some ideas that were blatantly wrong or he just didn't seem to like. It only reinforces the generalization that liberals are elitist snobs.

People may not have liked his points, but you can't really argue with someone unless you are willing to hear them out. It's great to disagree but at least have some respect for people you invited to your show.

July 31 2008 at 6:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to C.A.'s comment
StillBash

You know, that's not being a jerk. That's called NOT being a lapdog.

There were times when journalists asked serious questions. "Our" (sorry, I'm german) elected officials are THERE to answer hard questions because it is their JOB to answer them. If somebody wants to know something about how the government is run, then they need to be answered. If they have a question whether something is, in fact, absolute BS that's just been said, they need to be answered.

The media is a bunch of kiss-asses.

And honestly: have you EVER watched Bill O'Reilly talk to a guest he didn't like? Seriously, Jon is a pussy compared to that. He just points out that things that were just said are BS. I mean COME ON. A f***ing chocolate analogy. Not even I am that much of an idiot to use something like THAT and I didn't write a book.

July 31 2008 at 10:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
judi

Seems like the only *fighting words* Wattenberg has for the host of a Comedy Central show are "Be serious."

A ridiculous interview. Why do authors have to press their own books? Isn't that what PR people are for? Now he's turned me off of his own book since all he did was create arguments and not let Jon debate. ...and he wanted a blurb. HA!

July 31 2008 at 6:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jam

I think I have to mildly disagree with you Annie.

I dont think it was particuarly bad or disrespectful of Jon to not let his guest finish his point. He was hardly finishing any of his own sentences anyhow, he kept going back to the hat and his "let's be serious". *shrug* whatever.

I would certainly say that in a debate, both sides should be given ample equal time to make their stands. But for a conservative commentator to come on the show, I'd say is not for debate of policy, but for defense of choices. I think for any conservative to talk to Jon, they should not asserting anything, but rather defending their positions. I think Jon interrupting him was fine, because he was trying to make points, make assertions, rather than defending against the questions of Jon (and the audience). Doubly so, I think, because everybody knew that the statements he was about to make were bs anyway.

*shrug*
I think I got lost a couple of words into that, so I'd be amazed if anyone finds anything "comprehendable" in there (evidently, "comprehendable" isnt a word. the textbox spellcheck is telling me so. news to me)

July 31 2008 at 5:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kireet

Where's Aasif Mandvi been lately? He seems like the only one of the team who's MIA (well, Sam Bee, but she just had a baby)

July 31 2008 at 4:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kireet's comment
StillBash

He made FIVE movies this year and one's scheduled for 2009:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0541902/

I guess he's quite busy doing other things, two of those projects are currently filming.

July 31 2008 at 10:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
segsig

I thought it was great that Jon didn't let the old man get away with bullshit statements. Too bad real "journalists" listen to lies and don't comment or worse edit out the bullshit answers.

July 31 2008 at 4:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
khamel

i was really excited to watch the interview because as someone who 'was' a neo-conservative before neo-conservative was a pejorative (and have since stopped mentioning it because its too complicated to explain) i was looking to see someone clear the air on national television. sadly, the writer couldn't hold his own and jon stewart unleashed on him. he didn't even make one clear point the entire interview. he started when he mentioned the jewish boy from the bronx but never got anywhere.

July 31 2008 at 3:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
No1Dad

Still not a single mention of the John Edwards affar/lovechild on TDS? Seems like fertile ground for comedy. If only he weren't a Democrat of course.

July 31 2008 at 1:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to No1Dad's comment
ChrisG

I think it's because nobody takes that rag seriously enough to make fun of it. Pointing fingers and laughing at the retarded kid in the room isn't funny...
While we're at it, did the Daily Show ever mention the other big break courtesy of the National Enquirer, namely that the Bushes will divorce after the election, because Georgie has an affair with Condoleeza?? I don't think so. Scandal! Cover-Up! Where's the MSM on this! ;-)

July 31 2008 at 3:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
No1Dad

"nobody takes that rag seriously enough to make fun of it"

Sure, sure. That must be it.

July 31 2008 at 8:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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