After a nine year hiatus, comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart has returned to Comedy Central as host of The Daily Show. Many, mostly liberals, were over the moon.
While I never watched Jon Stewart’s show, I knew of him. I also knew despite him siding more with liberals, he always did try to make his show open to all different viewpoints.
In recent years, with the political climate being in the shape that it’s in, he’s made a bit of a resurgence, so I would go on YouTube and watch some of his old interviews. It didn’t take long before I too became a fan. So when the news broke of his upcoming return, I was one of the many who couldn’t wait.
His first show back was on Monday, February 12th. It was on late, so I figured I’d watch the next day. I was excited until I read the reviews, which were mixed at best, especially from liberals.
Reviewers called him “a fraud”, “not funny”, and “responsible for potentially swaying the election”. Mary Trump (who I like and respect a lot) wrote not one, but two posts on Social Media criticizing Stewart’s words for possibly causing “...a disaster to democracy.”
So, what did he say to get the people who were so excited for his return, to turn on him after one show? Well, in a nutshell, he did something that almost nobody else (with the exception of Bill Maher) has had the courage to do: he said both choices are terrible.
Let’s go off topic for a moment and look at our current political climate.
Four years ago we had two men in their 70’s debating for the most important job in the world like little boys fighting over the existence of Santa Claus. Now, you’d think after four years both parties would have seen this as a problem and done something to fix it. But instead as we head into another election year, we are once again dealing with the same two choices. Only this time both are much older, and therefore more incapable of doing the job.
With the exception of their core bases, I have not spoken to a single person who is happy with either choice. Instead, many are angry and scared for what the future could bring.
I don’t dislike Biden, and I will absolutely be voting for him in November. But I’m not as excited about it as I should be. Arnold Schwarzenegger summed it up perfectly with Chris Wallace when he said, “It’s now a question of who do you vote against, rather than who do you vote for?”
The Democrats and Republicans had many opportunities to regroup, study their mistakes and get back in the game with newer, fresher models. But instead nothing changed.
Liberals are mad at Jon Stewart for saying both choices are bad. He’s not wrong, both are terrible. Is one worse? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean the other one is good. The Phantom Menace is a better movie than The Master of Disguise, but they both still suck.
I understand what the stakes are here, and why everyone is so upset. But guys, Jon Stewart is not the problem. Our political leaders, the people that we elect to protect and keep our country safe, are the problem.
I’m scared too, but believe it or not, people like Jon Stewart are exactly what we need right now. We need somebody with a voice to step up and say these things because that’s the only way we can hope for better choices in the future. Pretending a problem is not there won’t fix it. Addressing it, and working to make it better, that’s how we will fix this country.
P.S. due to the timing of this blogs release, I wanted to share this moving tribute Jon Stewart recently posted about his family dog who passed away over this past weekend.