Yes, he really lost me, and struck me as kinda stupid, when he mocked the answer Biden gave on Gaza at his press conference: the very answer I praised the other day! It was in fact another case of editting to hide the big picture - he showed Biden's caution at the start of the answer, while he was clearly thinking how to diplomatically express himself, and painted it as a sign of Biden feebleness.
Really, that's pretty disgraceful, and Stewart deserves to be attacked for it.
I don't doubt he's smart, but seemingly not smart enough to see the harm he is doing in encouraging cynicism among voters who don't get their preference to see a younger candidate.
3 comments:
You are not seeing the problem It doesn't matter what you think, even the majority of Democrats regret that Biden is their candidate. Stewart is echoing their concerns. At least Trump looks younger than his years. Biden looks old, talks like an old man, walks like an old man, and falls over like an old man. Looks matter. Many people don't even listen carefully to what their politicians are saying. At best they pick up on the emotive connotations. The Democrats have made a huge mistake in not preparing a replacement for the next election. Nate Silver has predicted Trump will win and many polls point that way.
This is panning out to be a disaster. The very idea that men in their 80's have the ability to occupy the most powerful political position in the world is nuts. Either way in 2024 we're going to end up with a nuts presidency.
John, my criticisms are:
a. yes Biden is old and walks stiffly, but is also a victim of many years of ridiculous RW propaganda (routinely based on deceptively editted material with no context) that he is mentally feeble and does not know what he is doing.
It does not help the important cause of defeating Trump for Stewart to buy into the same technique for comedy purposes. (Showing Biden gathering his thoughts before giving a thoughtful answer, as if that shows he is feeble minded.)
I really would not understand if you could not agree on at least that point.
b. Sure, you can say that "well fighting against the propaganda would not be necessary if Biden conceded to a younger candidate", but if (for whatever reason) no younger candidate wants to put their hand up, there's not much point in just continuing to wring your hands about "appearances". (I also saw someone on Twitter say that alternatives to Biden actually polled worse than him in a match up against Trump - but not sure if that is true.)
c. What people like Stewart should be complaining about is the "two sides-ing" or "horse race" styles of political commentary that has become standard even for mainstream media like the NYT or WP. Instead of just adopting the shrug shoulders, "well, looks like Trump might win again, and this is the democrats fault", Trump should in no way be treated like a legitimate or "normal" candidate. The newspapers and mainstream TV should be openly, every day, treating him as an illegitimate threat to democracy. AND pointing out the overall cogency of Biden statements compared to that of Trump.
And NOT buying into "but the appearances are so important and we can do nothing about that" line.
d. In any event, I actually do not think Trump has a big chance of winning. There is some evidence that a significant number of Trump supporters have tired of his shtick, which is repetitive and more obviously a grift every day. But what definitely doesn't help in the fight against him is panicking over Biden as a bad candidate - probably mainly because it can help suppress young voter enthusiasm for voting.
The biggest threat both face is that voters won't turn out. I know increasing numbers of right wingers are against Trump but Biden might have a similiar problem to HRC, with people refusing to vote for Biden.
There is always someone willing to have a go at the top job. If younger candidates weren't putting their hand up it is because the Democrats had already made up their mind that Biden must stay in power.
Asking Stewart to throw his credibility on the fire for the sake of supporting Biden without being critical of him is unfair. You might be over estimating Stewart's influence. The media is powerful but one voice, not so much.
I've read many articles arguing Trump is a threat to democracy.
There are many accounts pointing out Trumps incoherency. That was evident at the last election but again, too many people don't take account of that. Most of my adult life I've been telling people to read the transcripts of political statements. I advise that because when viewing it is so easy to let vision dominate our conclusions. That is obvious, backed up by mountains of research, and very much utilized in media. It's tragic that people are so easily swayed like that.
The two sides suck argument isn't just a USA phenomenon. The two sides here don't impress, hence the increasing independent and small party vote. In Britain the Tories are absolutely tragic but Labor doesn't look impressive. There is a growing disenchantment with authorities of all kinds. I don't know where this is leading but when the broader public loses faith in established power structures the door sometimes open for demagogues to emerge. Trump is one example of that.
The Trump win was a big surprise although Comey releasing the email report at a critical time, and HRC being circled by suspicion that she was a manipulative power broker, made a big difference. That's the problem we face, a set of issues arising at a critical time could change the outcome. Trump is dead to rights guilty on the election fraud and documents charges. The outcome of the next election hinges on those outcomes.
Post a Comment