You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Home Front: Politix
Jon Stewart says media making 'mistake' casting Trump as 'incredible supervillain'
2021-10-19
[FOXNEWS] Comedian Jon Stewart said the media's hyperfocus on former President Trump is a mistake and that casting him as an "incredible supervillain" distracts from other threats.

The former "Daily Show" host told CNN
...the organization formerly known as the Cable News Network. Now who knows what it might stand for...
's Jake Tapper in an interview airing Sunday that political pundits are "making a mistake" blaming Trump for the country's divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
discourse, arguing they should turn their focus to the threat posed by much larger institutions that have dangerously embraced "the idea that power is its own reward."

"I think we make a mistake focusing this all on Donald Trump
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election...
, as if he's ... Magneto and some incredible supervillain that has changed the very nature and temperature of the U.S.," Stewart said. "He's just been an effective vessel, but he's not singing new songs. ... I think it's a mistake to focus it all on this one individual and not to focus it more on the idea that power is its own reward whether it be in the financial industry or government. Power doesn't cede itself, and unless we can figure out a better way to balance out that power ... we'll be vulnerable."

Stewart, who recently launched a new show, "The Problem with Jon Stewart," said it's time the media moves away from the idea that "autocracy is purely the domain of Donald Trump."

"I think we all have a bit of a tendency to grant amnesty to people that are doing things that we would prefer, even if that means that they're doing things that are slightly undemocratic," he admitted. "So I think our focus unhealthily on this one individual comes at the price of systems and dynamics that have been in place long before this cat ever learned how to surf those waves."

The comment came in response to Tapper, who emphasized Trump's ability to identify "weak points in democracy."

"He is now endorsing candidates for secretary of state in battleground states, candidates who are all in on the big lie," Tapper said, referring to the notion the 2020 election was stolen.

"If we have identified the pressure points where the guardrails look most vulnerable, that's where we should be focusing so much of our efforts in terms of strengthening," Stewart responded.

"The encouraging thing," he added, "is watching on a grassroots level, people that are really viewing it as something that they want to protect and that they want to strengthen."
Posted by:Fred

#6  Just wait until 2024 when Trump announces he has built a secret volcano lair.

SHHH! Don't let the secret out about that island volcano in Spain!
Posted by: Chealing Chomotle4158   2021-10-19 22:22  

#5  Super villain? Hah! Just wait until 2024 when Trump announces he has built a secret volcano lair.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-10-19 11:43  

#4  "So I think our focus unhealthily on this one individual comes at the price of systems and dynamics that have been in place long before this cat ever learned how to surf those waves."

He's hip, he's now, he's short, he's wow!

To be fair, watching someone untie their own knots takes patience.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-10-19 10:33  

#3  Monty Python pretty much founded the genre with the phrase "lightly killed." Of course, that was humor...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-10-19 08:01  

#2  even if that means that they're doing things that are slightly undemocratic

Love that. Another golden phrase to add to the BS Lexicon of Woke.
mostly peaceful
slightly undemocratic
undocumented
menstruating persons
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-10-19 06:02  

#1  Stewart could likely find nearly 75 million Americans in full agreement.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-10-19 02:01  

00:00