"The Daily Show": Week of 7/14/14

[trow125]

Following two weeks off:

 

7/14: Dahlia Lithwick (writer for Slate)
7/15: TBA
7/16: Jerry Seinfeld (comedian – promoting “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”)
7/17: Emma Stone (actress – promoting movie “Magic in the Moonlight”)

[Victor the Crab]

I can see the interview with Seinfeld going two segments. Zzzzzzz....

 

As for the TBA, I wonder if Jon's hoping to have on a member or two from the USMNT, pending how far they go in the knockout round of the World Cup. The U.S. plays Belgium on Tuesday, and strange things can, and have, happen in this tournament.

[Bastet]

7/14: Dahlia Lithwick (writer for Slate)

 

Her coverage and analysis of US Supreme Court decisions is highly accessible, so I'm looking forward to this.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Bastet

[ChelseaNH]

Hoping they'll cover Robert's "they're not protesters, they just want to chat" position.

[trow125]

Looks like tomorrow's TBA has been filled in... with Hillary Clinton!

[Fremde Frau]

I can already hear the conservative blogs bitching about the Clinton interview. If he doesn't laugh at something she says, it will be evidence of the Liberal Media's collaboration with Obama to destroy America, and if he does laugh at something she says, it will be evidence that she should resign from politics altogether. It's like clockwork, and my only question is: has it always been as predictable as all that? I've only been watching for nine months or so, but I can already predict how conservative blogs and Fox will react, depending on how Jon's performance fits their narrative. (Unfortunately, I can also predict how some liberal blogs will grade Jon's performance, if conservatives see the interview as a win.) I love the political interviews on TDS so much because they are, in general, a thoughtful attempt at having a real conversation, but I've quickly learned to hate reading the reactions to them.

 

Anyway, in relation to the Seinfeld interview, here is the trailer for Jon's episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. I've watched Seinfeld's interviews on TDS, and I can't figure out if they're actual friends or if they just know each other from being in the same business. The trailer looks fun, but I don't know what to expect from the full episode or from Seinfeld's interview this week. Does anyone else know a little more? All I know is that Jon seems to hold Seinfeld (the show) on a god tier of comedy.

[Victor the Crab]

Jon goes away for two weeks of vacation, and comes back with a desk full of insanity to sift through. Welcome back anyway Jon, your catharsis is much needed. But I feel sorry for the viewing audience for having to look at Jason's dong.

 

Fremde Frau, Looks like Jon was way ahead of you. I can see Jon bringing out the Go Fuck Yourself choir if anybody in the media tries to question his interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow night. And as for Jerry Seinfeld, Jon does indeed worship the comedic ground he walks on. He's had him on his show as a guest before a couple of times, and even had him on to do a sketch questioning whether he should go after Michelle Bachman's husband Marcus' career as a "gay healer" when he looks like a stereotypical efeminine gay man.

[The Luvly Junkie]

Welcome back anyway Jon, your catharsis is much needed. But I feel sorry for the viewing audience for having to look at Jason's dong.

 

Fremde Frau, Looks like Jon was way ahead of you. I can see Jon bringing out the Go Fuck Yourself choir if anybody in the media tries to question his interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow night.

        The term "Dick Baby" will never go away, just like Jason's never-ending flashing of his junk. 

 

         And Victor the Crab, I won't be surprised if the choir appears at all this week. I expect the media will have its eyes widened on tomorrow's episode. I got my self-controlled rage ready!

[dubbel zout]

Or tonight's interview will be the usual softball questions he pitches to a lot of politicians.

Edited July 15, 2014 by dubbel zout

[iMonrey]

Well, I doubt he'll go all Kathleen Sebelius on Clinton's ass, but he doesn't always treat politicians with kid gloves. Did anyone watch the extended interview with Dahlia Lithwick? I was hoping to hear her comment on the Hobby Lobby case more than the abortion clinic buffer limits ruling.

[ganesh]

They talked about HL in the extended interview. 

 

So scotus wasn't required to consider that HL previously offered contraception, invest in companies that manufacture contraception, or was completely incorrect on the scientific claim of what the contraception does. So just because your claim is incorrect and doesn't meet the legal definition of religious sincerity if you really believe you're sincere in your religious objections then it's ok? Because you weren't objecting to contraception on religious grounds until the ACA was passed. And you're still covering vasectomies even though it's doubtful that the bible oks that. 

 

I don't get how scotus can be that obtuse.

 

They also talked about how the HL ruling is a totally obvious slippery slope even though they tried to make the ruling narrow. Which is stupid because "you're actually wrong and we aren't hearing this case" is pretty much the sensible response. 

 

I am surprised they didn't bring up the peyote case. Because DL said, 'what are they going to do when a wiccan claims religious objection.' Well, they're going to deny them like they did with the Native Americans because unless you're christian in the USA, then your religious views don't count. 

 

DL also made a good point how the third party directly affected by this ruling; i.e., women, weren't considered at all. Also, how 'practicing your religion' can now be allowed even if you're trampling over other people's (non)beliefs. 

[Sharpie66]

I read an article elsewhere that pointed out that HL can now be extrapolated to pacifist religious communities such as Quakers and Amish now refusing to pay any taxes that will go towards military expenses. Several members of those communities already withhold the 20% of their taxes that would go towards such expenditures and pay huge penalties for not forking over the $$ to the IRS, so I can't wait to see the cases start to be filed citing HL!

[Fremde Frau]

I've yet to see last night's episode. The iTunes download never appeared, the website kept freezing up on me, and video content is loading so slowly on other websites that it keeps timing out. I'm having a Monday of a Tuesday; that's not fair! It's been two weeks. I need my fix!

 

Fremde Frau, Looks like Jon was way ahead of you. I can see Jon bringing out the Go Fuck Yourself choir if anybody in the media tries to question his interview with Hillary Clinton tomorrow night. And as for Jerry Seinfeld, Jon does indeed worship the comedic ground he walks on. He's had him on his show as a guest before a couple of times, and even had him on to do a sketch questioning whether he should go after Michelle Bachman's husband Marcus' career as a "gay healer" when he looks like a stereotypical efeminine gay man.

 

Thank you, Victor the Crab! I haven't seen that bit about Michelle Bachman's husband. I'll have to find it when my internet connection is better. Google gave me several hits on the "Go Fuck Yourself" choir. Initially, I thought you were speaking figuratively, but now I see that it looks like an actual choir! I can't wait to see what that's about.

 

Did Jon mention the Clinton interview last night? Is that what you meant by him being ahead of me?

[peeayebee]

Did Jon mention the Clinton interview last night? Is that what you meant by him being ahead of me?

Yes. He said something like some people will hate it and some will love it.

[ganesh]

I read an article elsewhere that pointed out that HL can now be extrapolated to pacifist religious communities such as Quakers and Amish now refusing to pay any taxes that will go towards military expenses.

 

JS brought that up in the extended interview too. 

[Fremde Frau]

Thank you, peeayebee.

 

Poor Jon. (And poor Hillary, who will get it worse, no matter how it goes down.) That sounds about right. I guess it's a minority opinion, but I like that his political interviews aren't necessarily hard-hitting. Sometimes, he seems to get stuck on a point that he wants to resolve even though the interviewee isn't the right target, but for the most part, the interviews are intelligent and thoughtful. I think that they manage to be revealing without being in the hardball mode of a journalist. I loathe Jim DeMint, but I came away from that interview impressed by Jon's performance. It was kind of amazing that he (Jon) never seemed to be disingenuous at all in trying to understand where DeMint was coming from and seemed to earnestly want DeMint to understand him in return, and yet his gentle challenge of DeMint's points set the stage for DeMint to voluntarily create a self-portrait of hypocrisy. To me, that was more satisfying than an obvious gotcha moment, partially because DeMint didn't seem to realize that he hadn't fooled anyone. Anyway, Jon's habit of interrupting his guest annoys me sometimes, but I'm really impressed by his overall craft in those instances.

 

EDIT: I still can't view videos, but the segment about Gaza and the bit with Jessica and Jason are all over social media. Megyn Kelly apparently used science to disprove the bit about Hobby Lobby, and Mark Levin had something to say about Jon regarding Gaza. Busy day. It's beyond frustrating that I still can't see what the fuss is about. Argh!

Edited July 16, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[attica]

I don't get how scotus can be that obtuse.

 

They want to be.

[Victor the Crab]

Yay Jon for attacking those who want to deny scared children from Central America from entering the country. And go fuck yourself with a cactus up your asshole Louie Gohmert for even suggesting to bring in the Marines to go after these children. In fact, fuck everyone of you who want to make it horrible for these children, who've already gone through hell from where they've been. You're not really Americans if you think that way.

 

Nice job of Jon to slyly ask Hillary Clinton if she's running for president. And equally nice job of Ms. Clinton of slyly answering his questions, which we kinda already knew the answer to beforehand. The entire interview looked good, albeit very edited.

 

Oh do shut the fuck right up, William Happer.

[possibilities]

Hillary Clinton has had some excellent media training. I have never seen her seem so real and so likable.

[pivot]

Well, I doubt he'll go all Kathleen Sebelius on Clinton's ass, but he doesn't always treat politicians with kid gloves. Did anyone watch the extended interview with Dahlia Lithwick? I was hoping to hear her comment on the Hobby Lobby case more than the abortion clinic buffer limits ruling.

Other than Kathleen, the only politician I've seen Jon treat with disdain was Obama on his last visit there. He talked to Obama like he was a moron and deserving of scorn. Never spoke to McCain or any other politician that way except Sebelius. Jon was his usual fawning self over Hillary. Wonder if he would have treated her this way, while she worked for Obama?

[ruby24]

I noticed that too, and it bothered me. I don't think Jon likes Obama personally, for some reason. I can't imagine what that could be, though.

[pivot]

I think he has a need to be above it all and the Obama campaign of 2008 with "Change You Can Believe In" and "Yes, We Can" didn't work for his cynical attitude he had. He's always treated Obama like he is some naive fool and that he needs Jon to explain how politics works. It's a consistent problem among some white liberal pundits. I find it pretty offensive.

[ruby24]

But I remember during the campaign Jon was as excited as everyone else about Obama, and he certainly didn't treat him that way when he was on the show as a candidate. It's like he became personally offended that he didn't live up to the high ideals of the campaign, or maybe he was mad at himself for falling for it.

 

I can never really identify with people who are so disillusioned, because I try to keep everything in perspective, and I really believe he has done a lot in his two terms so far (ending the Iraq War, killing Bin Laden, passing Obamacare, ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, preventing another Depression and bringing the economy back from the abyss), and even though he's obviously not perfect (no president is- I never thought he would be) he still has a domestic legislative record that surpasses any Democratic president since LBJ's.  And that's with an insane oppostion party that's acted abominably the entire time he's been in office, staging more filibusters than at any other time in history.

[alexvillage]

 

and even though he's obviously not perfect (no president is- I never thought he would be)

And to pick up on this, Jon is also not perfect, and can be a real douche sometimes. Maybe he really wanted Hillary to be the candidate, settled for Obama (and was happy that Obama won) but never got over Hillary's loss (I actually believe he would have voted for McCain if the guy had been the same one from years past) Maureen Dowd, columnist for the NY TImes, has the same attitude. No matter how much Obama has done, what he hasn't done, or done poorly - even if it is something he couldn't, got blocked by the thugs or was done to him - still gets the most attention and he gets mocked by her.

As for Jon's doucheness interviewing some people, he is good at "reading" if the interviewee is weak (Sebelius) and exploits that

[Julia]

I noticed that too, and it bothered me. I don't think Jon likes Obama personally, for some reason. I can't imagine what that could be, though.

 

Remember the march on false equivalence? Where extreme right wingers and everyone else in the country were supposed to get together and be the bigger people by getting over what the extreme right wingers did to the country, the world economy and all those pesky dead people? Meanwhile, the extreme right got to keep being enraged about their toxic little wedge issues because respect?

 

Jon Stewart, bless him, was a little intoxicated by Obama's rhetorical stance of being a grownup and standing above the fray, and he gave him a free ride for a long time. At some point, though, it finally struck him that Obama was giving away a store that doesn't belong to him. Unfortunately, it was a little too late for liberals to influence a lot of bad decisions by then (and mad respect to the gay activists for ignoring all the sensible centrist arguments for continuing to be screwed for some vague lukewarm conception of the greater good and keeping their eye on the prize).

 

I think he's bitter because he expected Obama to respect him in the morning and he finally realized that Obama didn't respect him in any important way last night.

[marceline]

I had to turn off the segment about immigration. Watching those hateful people screaming at a busload of kids gives me flashbacks to the mobs of angry whites back in the 70s when schools started busing. I remember our bus driver telling us with total seriousness to not look out the windows and don't wave at people in passing cars. I was the same age as some of those kids but at least I was in my own city and I understood the language. I can't imagine the trauma for these children. Fortunately I did manage to keep watching up until the point that Jon said "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

 

As for Jon and Obama, I think it's a lighter version of what he went through with McCain. Scratch a cynic and you find a disappointed romantic. Jon keeps looking for someone to be The One and gets disillusioned when the dysfunction and corruption of the process forces him to deal with reality. Jon's best when advocating for very specific ISSUES like taking care of our first responders and vets. Once he's forced to deal with PEOPLE, he gets in his own way. I'd be very interested what his relationship with Anthony Weiner is like now.

Edited July 16, 2014 by marceline

[attica]

I found myself musing during the Clinton interview that one of the biggest differences between pols and showbiz types is that pols seem to be congenitally unable to present themselves in a way that they imagine make them look foolish, whereas showbiz folk (the good ones, anyway) are unafraid to look bad. The irony of that is, the more willing you are to risk looking like a fool, the less likely you are to look like a fool. And conversely, the more you fear looking foolish, the more you will. I'm thinking specifically of the fuss over the 'dead-broke' comment. If she (or anyone; HRC's not alone in this by any stretch) could just say "Hey, let's all stipulate that I'm an asshole" and move on, they'd be better equipped to beat back attacks of that nature. But no: it's 'I misspoke' or 'it was inartful'. Hillary, it's okay that you're sometimes an asshole; it comes with the territory. And I'd rather you be an asshole on my side than having you spending all your time triangulating out of being thought of one (and never succeeding).

 

Having thus bloviated, I will say I thought the 'how many corners do you like in an office?" exchange was quite charming. 

[dubbel zout]

Nice job of Jon to slyly ask Hillary Clinton if she's running for president. And equally nice job of Ms. Clinton of slyly answering his questions, which we kinda already knew the answer to beforehand.

I thought that was a gigantic waste of time. Hillary will announce when she's ready to announce, and sorry, Jon, it most likely won't be on TDS. Ugh, that was such a drag to sit through, especially with the audience screaming along.

[Fremde Frau]

This morning, I was finally able to watch the last two episodes. Welcome back, TDS! Man, it's been like eating vegetables for two weeks without that palate cleansing cup of fruit at the end. I love my veggies, but I can only go so long on a non-sweet diet before I need something a little sweet and fresh. TCR and TDS hit just that spot for me. That said, Jason's blurry dong was not the palate cleanser I had in mind. (For perhaps the first time, I'm sincerely grateful that TDS doesn't air on HBO.)

 

Now that I've seen the first act from Monday, I understand why the segment on Gaza prompted lots of chatter on social media. I appreciated that he discussed that situation with Clinton, as well. I enjoyed how relaxed Clinton was during the "aptitude test" portion of the interview, but I wasn't feeling very satisfied with the interview overall until the third part where they started to discuss the difficulties of peace negotiations. Before then, she was coming across as very presidential in the more superficial, facile way by which politicians run for office now, but once she started to talk about Hamas, Israel, and Egypt, I got more of a sense of her as a leader.

 

The interview with Dahlia Lithwick was probably my favorite part of both episodes. I love her columns, and I wish she and Jon could have spent even more time picking apart what various decisions have meant or will mean in the future. 

 

On a side note: I wonder if Jon will respond to the criticisms about his Gaza coverage or to Megyn Kelly. (Having listened to Weird Al's "Word Crimes," I couldn't help thinking that a spoof like that, deconstructing the GOP talking points about women's reproductive health, would be beautiful. Maybe it's already been done?)

 

EDIT: I'm surprised that people feel Jon doesn't like Obama. He's seemed very supportive and understanding of what Obama is going through with Republican obstructionism and so forth, even though he obviously doesn't agree with him on every policy point. From listening to him talk about Obama on O'Reilly's show (2011 interview), I agree with marceline, that he seems to have wanted Obama to be the One. I'm reminded of how he says that we have such an education-shaming culture and that he wants a leader who is better than most of us, as opposed to a leader who can only lead as well as anyone else in the country. But in that same interview with O'Reilly, he was able to be reflective and realize his hopes for Obama's presidency are not the same as Obama's own hopes, goals, or reality. He didn't grade Obama with a quick soundbite, as O'Reilly wanted of him; it seemed like O'Reilly wanted to reduce Obama to a report card on Issues A and B, while Jon didn't lose sight of him as a complex person in a complex system. Anyway, I haven't seen the 2012 interview (only the one from 2010), so I'm probably missing a lot. To me, the 2010 interview felt very similar to this Clinton interview or to his interview with Warren from this year. I didn't sense any disdain on his part.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[attica]

The interview with Dahlia Lithwick was probably my favorite part of both episodes.

 

I would love to have a really boozy brunch with Dahlia. I bet that would be all the fun.

[iMonrey]

I know she's there to promote her book, but I got so tired of hearing Hilary preface every answer with "and I talk about this in the book." "This is what's in the book." "As I say in the book," etc. Honestly, I really dread the inevitability of her candidacy, because she carries so much baggage I think she's too huge a target, and too easy a target. I wouldn't mind her being president, I just don't like her chances of getting there if she is ultimately the Democratic candidate.  

[dubbel zout]

Every author says "and I talk about this in the book." "This is what's in the book." "As I say in the book," etc. It's part of the media training they get. It's annoying, I agree.

[pivot]

She was really pushing the book hard and Stewart is right, no one cares about the book. Sales haven't been great. People already know all they need to know about Hillary. I'd prefer she retire and focus on doing charitable works like her husband. But, we aren't going to be that lucky.

[Fremde Frau]

I almost wish they'd done the immigration bit today instead of yesterday. Not that there isn't already enough stupidity out there, unfortunately, but the story about the Tea Party congressional candidate in Arizona mistaking a YMCA busload of kids for refugee children would have worked nicely with their coverage.

 

EDIT: Chris Cuomo on CNN didn't like how Jon interviewed Clinton. I still don't understand why journalists expect him to take on a hard-hitting journalist style when he interviews politicians or other politically-charged figures. Wasn't the Jim Cramer interview essentially the exception, not the rule? And even then, he was civil about holding Cramer accountable. It just blows my mind that they can, without any sense of irony, criticize him for failing to meet some standard of journalism. I can only imagine that if he didn't make a living criticizing television media for being so abysmal at their job, they wouldn't notice him at all. It makes me appreciate how Bill Moyers and Tom Brokaw seem to get it. (I want to say Brian Williams gets it, too, but I can't get a handle on how he even sees his own role as a journalist, let alone Jon's role as media gadfly.)

Edited July 16, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[Julia]

I almost wish they'd done the immigration bit today instead of yesterday. Not that there isn't already enough stupidity out there, unfortunately, but the story about the Tea Party congressional candidate in Arizona mistaking a YMCA busload of kids for refugee children would have worked nicely with their coverage.

 

Oh, good lord almighty. Was this tool actually proud when he thought he made the bus full of children his mob surrounded cry?

[Fremde Frau]

Oh, good lord almighty. Was this tool actually proud when he thought he made the bus full of children his mob surrounded cry?

 

Yeah, he seemed almost triumphant about how "fearful" and "sad" these kids were. What a prince! You gotta love his deleted tweet:

Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law.

 

I guess it's easy for people like him to spot so-called invaders, since his foolproof method of discerning a "real American" is his own mirror.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[Julia]

I guess it's easy for people like him to spot so-called invaders, since his foolproof method of discerning a "real American" is his own mirror.

 

Ya know? And yet the government had apparently arranged for the children he was targeting to stay at this place while they established their legal status, so strictly speaking his little lynch mob was the only group we know for sure was abrogating "the rule of law."

Edited July 16, 2014 by Julia

[Victor the Crab]

I think it's been awhile since I laughed at a Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine. But he was hilarious as a CIA whistleblower going incognito. And that had to have been Jordan as Kramer.

[fastiller]

I don't get how scotus can be that obtuse.

 

 

More to the point, it was five conservative (-ish) men who were that obtuse.  (I recall reading that all five are Catholic, but I'm not sure about that.)

 

I want to start a 'closely held' company and refuse to cover Viagra on religious grounds: God must be telling you something if you can no longer get it up.

[peeayebee]

I can hardly wait to watch Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee later today. And even though Jon made fun of it, I'm looking forward to the 2-minute show Jerry plugged. 

[dubbel zout]

I want to start a 'closely held' company and refuse to cover Viagra on religious grounds: God must be telling you something if you can no longer get it up.

 

Seriously. Let's see how quickly that gets challenged and won. Viagra's use as a boner pill (it was originally created for hypertension and angina) got the fastest approval in history by the FDA. Yet women buying Plan B are shamed for it. Just where do some people think those boners are going?

Edited July 17, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Julia]

Just where do some people think those boners are going?

 

Possibly into these?

[iMonrey]

 

I think it's been awhile since I laughed at a Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine. But he was hilarious as a CIA whistleblower going incognito. And that had to have been Jordan as Kramer.

 

Agreed, it was a funny bit. Seinfeld has such a distinctive voice and he's not afraid to play up his own persona. I don't know what this Comedians in Cars thing is though - is it some kind of website?

[solotrek]

Agreed, it was a funny bit. Seinfeld has such a distinctive voice and he's not afraid to play up his own persona. I don't know what this Comedians in Cars thing is though - is it some kind of website?

I linked it elsewhere, but it's this.

Edited July 17, 2014 by maculae

[Hanahope]

So essentially, states have cut their taxes and/or less funding from the fed gov't because the fed has cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations, so there is less money to fix streets and to solve that problem, states are delaying payments into middle class pension funds (which government employees accept lower wages in return for these pensions, which are now not being fully funded).  So again, the middle class gets screwed over to pay for wealthy and corporate tax cuts.

[ChelseaNH]

Deferring pension contributions is stupid.  Companies will have to make up the payments later, and I can just hear the "oh noes, that's too much money, the company can't survive that" petitions to keep deferring contributions, and retirees get shafted once again.

[Fremde Frau]

I loved Jon's episode of Comedians in Cars, but I wish he wouldn't talk about retirement. Please, Jon. I'm still new to you. At least stick it out through 2016.

 

It surprised me that Seinfeld ended the episode with a clip of the Daily Show bit on Boko Haram. Maybe that was a tip of the hat to Jon's show, since they had discussed that segment during their conversation at Tick Tock?

Edited July 17, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[ganesh]

It doesn't get covered much because it's not 'sexy news' but infrastructure is a huge problem. The civil engineering society pretty much gave the country a D grade for it. To not have the gas tax tied to inflation is just stupid. It's costing more money in the long run to fix collapsed bridges or having to repair cars and trucks because shitty roads lead to accidents, etc.

 

Just where do some people think those boners are going?

 

Viagra helps with procreation which is in the bible, so they can hide behind that. Another torpedo into this "religious exemption" is that HL covers vasectomies, which certainly does not promote procreation. 

 

Comedians in cars is a really funny show because Seinfeld lets lots of random stuff happen.

[peeayebee]

I enjoyed this ep of Comedians in Cars. Much better than last week's with Aziz Ansari. I wonder why Jerry stopped in that neighborhood to walk around? Was it just for the product placement?

[Hanahope]

I thought the interview with Hillary was very good.  She looks great, sure doesn't seem to be the "too old decrepit brain tumor suffering" woman the Republicans have been claiming.  I think by admitting she likes offices 'without corners' that's a pretty good acknowledgement that yeah, she's going to run for President, but she's probably going to wait until after the midterms to officially declare.  I just wonder if anyone other than Biden is going to really contest her.  Certainly no one expected Obama, so maybe there will be another surprise.  I think Clinton has a better chance this time, she's gotten a lot more popular and proven real worth after being both in the Senate and Secretary of State.