Jon Stewart completely destroys Bernard Goldberg

[axbaby]

John should have let him plead his case instead of cracking jokes mid-sentence.
he was the most interesting guest so far and i agreed with a lot of what he said.
John had one train of thought
Barbara Streisand

[Nightshade]

I watched this episode last night, and the thing that staggers me about it is the fact that Goldberg said "spic", "kike", and "faggot", but WOULD NOT SAY "nigger". WHAT THE FUCK? And later when he did say it, IT WAS BLEEPED OUT?!?!! Again, WHAT THE FUCK?
How completely fucked up is that? How scared of the merest thought of black anger is whitey?

[Transient]

John should have let him plead his case instead of cracking jokes mid-sentence.
he was the most interesting guest so far and i agreed with a lot of what he said.
John had one train of thought
Barbara Streisand

It's Comedy Central, what do you expect?

[Transient]

I watched this episode last night, and the thing that staggers me about it is the fact that Goldberg said "spic", "kike", and "faggot", but WOULD NOT SAY "nigger". WHAT THE FUCK? And later when he did say it, IT WAS BLEEPED OUT?!?!! Again, WHAT THE FUCK?
How completely fucked up is that? How scared of the merest thought of black anger is whitey?

Yeah, I did think that was quite pathetic. I was beginning to think that he was rattling off those words for shock value to get everyone to pay attention, then when he realized he sounded like a doof, lost his steam.

[Nightshade]

I thought he was in the middle of a valid point, until his vagina fell out onto the table.

[Transient]

You made me actually laugh out loud. Thanks for that, NS.

[Nightshade]

Lol! No problem.
I have a hard time remembering that The Daily Show is a comedic venue, because Jon Stewart is more honest than most "journalists" these days. I think he made a very astute observation in that Goldberg's book (from what I understand it is) seems to be a superficial piece and doesn't address the ludicrous or reprehensible actions of those people with real power. I still want to read it, though.

I do agree with both of them, however. I think that culture has gotten more crass as time has passed, but I think Stewart's assessment is fairly accurate for the most part. Sure, it is just TV, and they are just words, but I think it's indicative of the loss of civility in discourse in general. It also highlights the larger issue of embracing mediocrity as the standard of achievement.

[Dr_Watson]

I watched this episode last night, and the thing that staggers me about it is the fact that Goldberg said "spic", "kike", and "faggot", but WOULD NOT SAY "nigger". WHAT THE FUCK? And later when he did say it, IT WAS BLEEPED OUT?!?!! Again, WHAT THE FUCK?
How completely fucked up is that? How scared of the merest thought of black anger is whitey?

yeah, that shocked me too... i was like WTF!?!
you can say kike in front of a jew... but can't say nigger?
in the context of his statement it was almost offensive for him to NOT say it.

twas the longest interview i've seen them do... took up ~15 min of the show... hell, bill clinton didn't even get that much air time.

oh, and the new set sucks balls.

[Massive Quasars]

oh, and the new set sucks balls.

It does, unfortunately.

[Dr_Watson]

oh, and the new set sucks balls.

It does, unfortunately.

looks like they spent so much money on the new display screens they forgot to buy lights and furnature.

[Hannibal]

I *think* Goldberg actually did say the N WORD a little bit later but they bleeped it out.

[Nightshade]

He did, and it was.

[R00k]

I saw the rerun last night. It was an interesting interview to watch, but it was almost painful because of the friction. I admit I don't even know who the guy is, but it seemed like Jon respected him -- and was extremely disappointed that the guy would write a book that takes the focus off of people in power who intentionally make decisions that damage the country, in favor of writing a book about popular people that will really sell in our current divisive political landscape.

I don't disagree with some of Goldberg's ideas -- there are a lot of entertainers, performers and cultural figures who don't seem to take their influence on society very seriously. I have no respect for anyone who knows their biggest audience is young people, and still glorify the most crass and disgusting cultural behaviours they can think of just for sensationalism to boost their sales. It's easy to say things like "If it's so bad/so vulgar, then don't buy it." But IMO that's just hiding from your own personal civic responsibility to society.

Obviously I don't believe that there should be any law against that sort of speech or entertainment. But I do agree with Goldberg that there should be a lot more national discussion about the subject.

But I also agree with Jon Stewart -- if you're going to title your book "100 People Who Are Screwing up America," then you should be focusing on the people who are intentionally and directly screwing it up the most -- otherwise the title is just misleading, and is encouraging people to ignore some of the very real problems we do have, that could possibly be fixed if they had greater exposure and more people were aware of them.

edit: And the whole 'nigger' comment did piss me off too. But to me, it just personifies what an adverse affect some of our policies have had on society -- a lot of people are completely terrified just to hurt certain people's feelings. If their feelings are hurt in a certain way, there will be retribution, and depending on the atmosphere of the day, it could be sanctioned by the courts.

In some ways today, everybody is scared to death to treat black people the same way as they treat everyone else.

[R00k]

And TBH, my personal opinion is that Goldberg is guilty of exactly what he is accusing others of, even if I do agree with a lot of what he says. By writing a book that claims singers and actors are ruining our culture, and completely ignoring some of the more tangible, intentional and direct influences of today, he is helping to take the spotlight off serious issues that need to be addressed now.

However, I realize that is a product of the times we're living in as well. That is - if he had written this book in 1999, I wouldn't be nearly as critical of it, and would probably be pretty supportive. But today I just feel there are much more important things that people should be bringing to the public's attention, and so I can't help but feel that this book is a step in the other direction.

Of course, there are people who are writing about those issues (still not nearly enough IMHO), and there's nothing to say that this guy or anyone else can't write about whatever they want to. But if he is a highly respected figure, he should be using his influence to affect change in the more important areas -- which I think is what Stewart was getting at.

[ScooterG]

Oringinally posted by Rook:
And the whole 'nigger' comment did piss me off too. But to me, it just personifies what an adverse affect some of our policies have had on society -- a lot of people are completely terrified just to hurt certain people's feelings. If their feelings are hurt in a certain way, there will be retribution, and depending on the atmosphere of the day, it could be sanctioned by the courts.

In some ways today, everybody is scared to death to treat black people the same way as they treat everyone else.

I totally agree w/ this, but I'm hoping that in two or three more generations things will be better because they will have been raised amidst much more tolerance...and then I realize reality sucks. :icon26:

[Hannibal]

Stewart clearly had disdain for the book, if not Goldberg himself. This is a new type of interview for Stewart (i.e. "The Shame on You" interview)...he has had plenty of conservative authors/politicos on his show, chatted them up, disagreed here or there, but AFAIK never about a piece of work or idea that he couldn't respect. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Stewart moving (ever so slowly) toward more explicit cultural/political criticism on the Daily Show as time goes on....he is a bit harsher now than he used to be...he seems to be expanding/sharpening his role (whatever he takes it be), maturing as a funny man/critic. I'm happy to see it.

[R00k]

I'm happy to see it too. I think it was bound to happen, with his show and his opinions gaining so much popularity and support.