Jon Stewart Does His Homework

Like a lot of liberals, I have always held Jon Stewart in high esteem. When he hosted The Daily Show it was by appointment TV for me. I especially enjoyed the segments when he interviewed a high profile official. They often appeared unprepared for the clarity and pointedness that Stewart had in his questions, always going right to the relevant issue - always leveled at them combined with his disarming humor. His interview with the NY Times correspondent Judith Miller was one that stands out in my mind. (Sorry about the editorial popups - it was the best version of the interview I found)



Thankfully, in his new show The Problem With Jon Stewart, Stewart has continued his practice of interviewing officials whose positions and proximity to currently significant issues make them people who should have answers.

Here, he presses Arkansas AG Leslie Rutledge about why she banned gender-affirming care for minors:



And in this excerpt from the episode coming up on October 28, he gives the Arizona AG Mark Brnovich several chances to say the 2020 election was not stolen:



Consider the quality of investigative journalism we have today - that is, if you can find any to consider. To see an interviewer really press powerful people to answer tough questions, chances are you’ll have to go look at BBC or Al Jazeera, or Australian TV, or some other place where they still allow that sort of thing. For some reason (maybe it’s because every news source with any clout is owned and heavily influenced by some deep-pocketed conservative), American journalists just don’t do the Mike Wallace thing anymore.

Consider how long we’ve had to stand back and watch as press secretaries, spokespersons, pundits and so-called journalists have repeated lies as just “another side of the story”. Consider how many times we see politicians refuse to answer a single direct and simple question.

I hope I'm not the only one who has shouted at the image of a politician on my tv screen "Just answer the ******* question!"

It's strangely soothing, to see people so used to squirming away with a “no comment”, being held-if not to the fire-at least to a little heat.

So I welcome Jon Stewart back into the fray. He does his homework, and he asks some of the questions I really need to be asked. (And none of this even touches on the herculean work he has done on the behalf of veterans.)

I've watched every episode, and haven't screamed at my tv once.