Political Memes

I think in the age of one-liners (Twitter, tik tok, etc) people have gotten so fucking stupid that they have lost their ability to digest a nuanced take. If it takes more than two sentences for a fox news host to say any liberal position is 100% and perfectly undeniably the worst thing in the world, they're "going woke" (the brain-dead MAGA catch-all for any position they don't like but can't actually articulate why). If a liberal merely explains in good faith a right wing position that they're going to argue against, they're "enlightened centerists" (the brain dead left wing catch-all for any discussion that isn't ** immediately** a shrill cry of fascism)

To be extremely clear, Jon is still the smartest guy in the room, and it's just that you've gotten a lot dumber in the last 10 years on your diet of twitter.

His first guest upon his return was the editor of The Economist magazine who gushed about Reaganomics and Thatcherism. She framed the rise of right-wing politics in the West as first and foremost a threat to the neoliberal world order as Jon nodded along.

It skirted the line of praising the neoliberal days, to be sure. But it really seemed to me be not just them waxing nostalgic about the neoliberal golden years. I read it more as they were talking about how perspectives have changed and that that neoliberal approach is now out of touch with modern liberals and the public in general. They seem to realize that the time of the neoliberal isn't coming back so we need our leaders to move on from it. I think the point in talking about it was that his perspectives have changed, or at least he sees that it is no longer the popular perspective it once was.

Also believe me, the writers at the Daily Show are well aware of modern progressive viewpoints and I'm sure they would be challenging Jon on that at every turn if that was the viewpoint he was coming to the table with. He's also not fresh back to doing leftist political commentary on television. He will have had feedback from The Problem With Jon Stewart as well. I really doubt he'd trying to push an outdated neoliberal message, nor would the Daily Show producers be likely to support that.

He's not a hard left, progressive, socialist messiah and he never was. He's a sensible and honest voice of reason that calls out the hypocrisy and absurdity in our government and political media. I don't need him to be a champion of modern progressivism to have a deep respect and admiration for him and what he does.

Is this cuz he talked about Biden being old?

Or is this really about Jon Stewart?

Could it be more that you’ve changed over the years? And the more you get to know Stewart’s politics, the less you agree with them; because you are now in a different place politically?

So it’s not that Stewart is out of touch or a centrist, or whatever; it’s that you’ve grown up and learned new things that make you think differently than he does. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s life. People go in different directions all the time.

His first guest upon his return was the editor of The Economist magazine who gushed about Reaganomics and Thatcherism

This was my only problem with that episode.

Biden is old, and he is a shit candidate. He's the less shit candidate of the two options, but he absolutely shows how cowardly and short sighted the DNC is. Still gonna vote for him of course - I'm not crazy.

But to then bring on someone who champions economic 'theories' that are objectively false and exist only to justify enriching the powerful and emiserating the poor is an insult.

Your long awaited return, millions excited to watch, and you're boosting a right wing class warrior who already has an internationally circulating magazine to spew that rubbish? Come on.

Biden is the damned king of backseat Neolibs.

The entire reason he was VPed by Obama is that he was an establishment neoliberal Democrat, as a way as assuaging the party brass.

He's the only way to stop Trump now, so he has to be the next US president, but he also shouldn't be President.

We might have different memories. What makes Jon special is that he will lampoon hypocrisy wherever he finds it. In this mass media corporate scrubbed lobby-paid world that makes him a diamond.

Didn't they point this out in that segment with Klepper?

This is exactly what I thought his first episode back. He's living in an episode of The West Wing but it's all Mad Max out here.

You have to remember he's a "centrist" on a sliding scale.

You can't cross the same river twice. That's because there's a troll over there and he clubs anyone who tries.

And we all know that progressiveism is just the other side of the horseshoe to people who think this way.

Perfectly true. And it's even more evident with the POS they got to replace Stewart at TDS - Trevor Noah - who literally pretended to be God's gift to liberalism on his stint there while scrubbing the internet of that time he justified South African police perpetrating mass-murder against striking mineworkers back in 2012.

The Economist

Yeah his critique about Biden was posted about but it's easy to overlook the neoliberal propaganda he's supporting. That guest pissed me off too but I almost forgot about it already. I won't be watching him, especially since he'll only be on mondays.

There's a pretty good op-ed by Steve Krakauer in the Hill today: https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4470311-jon-stewart-is-about-to-learn-a-hard-truth-about-the-state-of-media-and-culture/amp/ but I'm not sure you will agree with the stance. I think it captures the issue pretty well though.

The biggest problem in the states is your polarisation. Lots of internal idiots and external governments causing that.

If you want to fight against it find the centre.

Here's some truth for you:

• People on either side of politics generally mean well
• 99.99...% of Republicans arent Nazis
• 99.99...% of Democrats don't want to turn your kids trans
• Both sides generally have at least a few fair points about any given topic.
• Compromising is the best answer