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Jon Stewart provides another probing interview, minus the Harry Truman is a war criminal crack
by Danny Gallagher, posted May 2nd 2009 9:00AM
The Daily Show has slowly morphed from a jokey show that ridiculed stories in the news and humiliated ordinary Americans with more loose screws than a used Pontiac into a satiric, sometimes deadly-serious soapbox that picks up where the mainstream media drops the ball. Whether you agree with that assessment or not, you must admit it has become a gathering place for serious and healthy debates about issues that aren't addressed in the mainstream news filter. You must also agree that it's also become a show that Craig Kilborn curses for leaving with every step he takes on his piece of Earth.
Stewart's debate/lecture on torture with Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, deserved far more press than the Jim Kramer showdown. It was an insightful, thought-provoking and frank discussion of an issue we should have had four years ago that bubbled over the top, but never boiled over the way Bill O'Reilly's "debates" do over meaningless issues like the War on Christmas, the Massacre on St. Valentine's Day or the Aggravated Assault on Lincoln's Birthday.
May popped up in the pundit-collective during President Obama's release of the torture memos on the supposed "pro-torture" side of the discussion. May prefaced his viewpoint with Stewart by saying he was not "pro-torture," as some in the blogosphere have characterized him to be, which in pundit speak means "I am for torture."
In all fairness, May's definition of torture may not be the same as everyone else's. May said the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" were set under very strict guidelines in terms of usage and implementation of such techniques. Most of his argument aimed to define what "torture" is and how its use could prevent the needless loss of life and that by definition, the techniques used to gather information were not "torture." It wasn't the main crux of his argument or his reason for defending these actions, but it launched Stewart into a steady tornado of anger spittle.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 2 | ||||
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Stewart apologized on Thursday's show for saying that Truman's actions against Hiroshima qualified him for war criminal status. He basically characterized it as one of those things you catch yourself saying and wish you could take it back by the end of the last syllable. The crack itself didn't get much press, except for a few right-wing "Media Matters"-esque blogs, but Stewart still felt the need to address it and there should be a considerable amount of credit given to him for apologizing for something that didn't gain much traction in the global media.
The main issue of the argument seemed to touch on something that hasn't even been addressed elsewhere in the news media: the effect of fear. That scared feeling down in the pit of your gut can make anyone do irrational and uncalculated things. Everyone with a gut (myself included, I eat a lot of cheese) gets that feeling in times of danger, destruction and war.
All of the facts still aren't out yet on the torture memorandums and the reasons for increasing the use and approval of these techniques, no matter what side of the argument you're on. Stewart and May seemed to agree that the issue has become so clouded in rhetoric and haze that it's become a "crazed conversation" that makes it very hard to even see the cause anymore.
At least someone agreed on something on television for a change.
| Jon Stewart | |
|---|---|
| Cliff May | |
| America (Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light...) |
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