Friday, October 20, 2006
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General Ashcroft Does 'The Daily Show'
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
1:04 PM
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Good discussion of the War on Terror and Ashcroft's book, "Never Again," with just a few cheap shots from Stewart.
Ashcroft gets at least one round of applause from the "Daily Show" audience, and about nine minutes in, he gets his funny on. Makes Stewart laugh pretty hard. Nicely played, General.
People probably wonder why John Ashcroft and other conservatives would subject themselves to Stewart. I'd argue it's largely because they're not scared of him. John Ashcroft is a smart, smart man who can hold his own just fine with Stewart and get a whole lot of publicity out of it. Why not?
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He's an Attorney. "General" is an adjective.
Mostly, though, the Attorney in question is a fool who lost his Senate race to a dead guy.
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"General" is the correct honorary title for an Attorney General, past or present. I'll refrain from calling you and "idiot," and just call you mistaken. |
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Some people feel a lot more secure behind their little keyboards, so much so they say things they'd never say to someone's face. If you do go around speaking that way to everyone with whom you disagree, you're destined to spend your life working behind a fast-food counter, if you're lucky - no matter how much talent you possess. I don't know how you'd win anyone over to your way of thinking acting like that.
Wow, MK, you attract all kinds over here... |
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"People probably wonder why John Ashcroft and other conservatives would subject themselves to Stewart. I'd argue it's largely because they're not scared of him."
I can't imagine why ANYONE would be scared of Jon Stewart. He rarely plays the 'gotcha' game with his guests, as many interviewers do, and is generally diplomatic in his questions. I lament that more conservatives don't accept invitations to The Daily Show. I think the show is at its best when there is healthy debate like what we saw with Ashcroft.
I find it ironic that behind The Daily Show's platform of decidedly un-civilized humer, there lies what seems to be the last outpost of honest, civilized discourse. IMHO.
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Man I loved how he handled that! He's good! I hope we get more of him in the public arena in the future. |
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It is you is mistaken.
He's an idiot. |
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with dlaw. No, just kidding (dog you were smacked down hard; need some salts?). I agree with A_Moderate. Stewart actually had some intellegent questions for Ashcroft and gave him time to respond. Ashcroft responded well. And it looks like Ashcroft will be getting his shirt. |
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If you watch the clip, it was for when he said "Trust but verify", in reference to the American people questioning their government's policies on domestic surveillance. Too bad that a short time later, after Stewart pointed out that the government wants to keep its activities secret, he took it back. It was a demonstration of Stewart's brilliant interview technique, which is to let his guests create their own "gotcha" moments.
Later the audience started to applaud when
Ashcroft said "it is possible to disagree with the administration's policies in a way that--" till they heard the end of the sentence "--in a way that does exhibit weakness." I think a lot of people, including myself, were hoping for some acknowledgement that criticism of the government can and should be allowed without accusations of helping the terrorists being flung at those who dare raise questions. |
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John Stewart has a lot of class when compared to Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or any other right wing interviewer.
No liberal has ever had such a worth interview by a right winger.
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I'll have to respectfully disagree with you, animalgirl, only because I used to work with former Attorney General Ed Meese, whom we addressed as "General," and another co-worker worked with Ashcroft, whom everyone addresses as "General." So, if not the official salutation, it's certainly an acceptable one. And, I understand it's an adjective. Many words can be used as both adjectives and nouns. This one can on occasion. Thanks for the link. It didn't work, though. Will you post again? |
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