The Daily Obama with Jon Stewart

Many of us who follow both politics and comedy, and in particular favor comedians who do political humor, were highly dismayed when the formerly brilliant comedian Dennis Miller decided to become a shill for the Republicans and George W. Bush. There is nothing less funny than a comedian with an agenda. Comedians are revered by being reliably cynical. They are supposed to poke fun at everyone in power, and take a hatchet to those who wish to attain power. Their job is to deflate the lofty hubris, and bring those secular deities down to earth. When a comedians take sides, the evasions, the prejudices, and the parochialism that they take such pleasure in bashing creeps into their own acts. They begin to smell as bad as the politicians they mock.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened with The Daily Show. With the occasional relief of Lewis Black, who continues to skewer all, the show has become the left wing’s equivalent of Fox News. On the positive side for The Daily Show, Jon Stewart explicitly states that his news is fake, unlike the Fair and Balanced lie that is perpetrated on Fox. But like Barack Obama, Stewart purports to hold himself to a higher standard.

One thing that a comedian should never become is a shill for a political party or a wing of a party. A comedian should especially never fall in love with a politician. Jon Stewart is head over heels for Obama, and anyone who comes even a little close to showing some sign of disrespect, anyone who does not bow down at the altar of Obama, is ripe for attack.

A prime example of Stewart’s new lack of perspective can be seen on his June 18, 2008 show, where he ridicules former Vice President Al Gore. Stewart mockingly refers to Gore as a “filmmaker”, suggests that Gore is terrified of Hillary Clinton, and then proceeds to compare Gore to a futuristic automaton and Jeff Foxworthy during a criticism of Gore for not endorsing Obama sooner.

This little bit of pique from Stewart ignores two pertinent facts. First, Gore had stated explicitly that he was not involving himself in this year’s Democratic primary process, even joking that he might disconnect his phone to avoid calls from the Obama and Clinton campaigns. Second, it ignores the ridicule that Gore endured following his endorsement of Howard Dean in 2004. And let’s add some speculation that the Obama campaign may have timed the endorsement themselves – Obama is starting up his general election campaign, and it would certainly make sense that they would schedule endorsement events over a period of time to take advantage of multiple news cycles, rather than having all major figures make their announcements on the same day.

Stewart’s passion can be appreciated. But perhaps the best tactical move for an Obama supporter would not be to attack those coming out to support him. Unfortunately, the left, in the person of Jon Stewart, has provided yet another reason to not vote for Barack Obama – this time for moderates who have supported Gore.