Tucker Carlson is an even bigger twat than I’d ever dreamed
This site has video of Jon Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire, so now I’ve seen the looks on their faces. Heh heh heh. But something more I could only get by watching the tape, not by reading the transcript: A few different times Carlson petulantly says that he thought Stewart was supposed to be a comedian, and comedians are supposed to be funny.
Um, Tucker? You know those noises your studio audience was making when Stewart was talking? Those were laughs. He was being funny. Even as he was carving you a new one, he was being funny.
ETA: Mark Evanier has a few more thoughts on this.
Anyone who reads this blog knows what I think of Mark. He’s quoted up there in the right-hand corner, for goodness sake, though I wish he’d quit plugging Costco. But anyway, I disgaree with one or two of his points here; among them:
“I’m just not sure the guy [Stewart] picked the right target. He should have said that to Wolf Blitzer. Or Ted Koppel. Or Brokaw or Rather or Jennings or Brian Williams or the folks who put those men on the air.”
To which I would say that I think that if Brokaw or Rather or Jennings or Brian Williams had Stewart on their shows, he would have said that. Or something very like it.
In fact, he did say that or something very like it when Blitzer was on The Daily Show. And when Koppel had Stewart on at the DNC.
Mark also says:
“I would hate to think that people will believe the problem lies with shows like Crossfire.”
To which my knee-jerk response is, they may not be the problem, but they sure ain’t the solution. And my (perhaps only slightly) more nuanced response is that is that I’m sure no one thinks shows like Crossfire are the whole problem, or even a very large part of it. But that they are a part of it seems undeniable to me.
Of course, ever since Tucker Carlson made his inhuman “Jacuzzi cases” joke (no wonder he couldn’t tell Stewart was getting laughs, if he thinks that’s funny), I’ve considered it open season on him. So you may want to take that into account.
But anyway, go see what Mark has to say. It’ll probably read better in context.
