basquebromance
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2015
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If you think Jon Stewart should run for president, you should go to a mental asylum
www.politico.com
excerpts:
To get the “seriousness” question out of the way right off the top: Stewart’s definition of being an entertainer has him wrestling with the kind of big, serious topics that actual politicians specialize in avoiding. He spends his time recording an AppleTV show and podcast interview show on policy issues such as abortion, climate change, gun control, misinformation, modern monetary theory and other wonky-current topics, with the occasional Judd Apatow and Mark Cuban appearance thrown in for gloss.
The 2024 presidential race is guaranteed to be a carnival, waged 8 years after former President Donald Trump blew up the whole idea of “normal,” and four years after a Covid-shadowed, conspiracy-fest of a campaign. Stewart is not just one of our most wildly popular comedians: His years hosting the Comedy Central’s Daily Show made him one of the effective communicators in public life. He’s living a fairly low-key existence, and using his multiplatform showbiz skills to advocate for issues he cares about.
Is this a real possibility? Maybe not. But it’s certainly on people’s minds. You could tell something was in the water at the recent Mark Twain Awards show on PBS. Steve Colbert, Dave Chappelle and Pete Davidson all raised the prospect of Stewart running for the White House in their tributes to Stewart, this year’s winner of Twain Prize for American Humor. All did so with a requisite punch line, but in watching it you can’t help but think they know something the rest of us aren’t yet in on
Chappelle said, “I wish that you would run for president, but I imagine that would be hard for a coke guy to do.” Davidson added that Stewart “is such an exceptional person that he really could be president tomorrow, but is too smart to do so.” And Colbert is worth quoting at length, because it’s pretty darn funny:
“Of course Jon is a brilliant comedian. But his close friends know that Jon’s true passion is recreational anxiety. It’s his superpower. Instead of being bitten by a radioactive spider, Jon was bitten by a clinically depressed squirrel. But that, that is why he is the perfect person to publicly worry about the future of our democracy. Why so many people think he should run for president. And I get it. He’s got a lot in common with Bill Clinton. A keen intelligence. The Veganism. Rapid Aging.”
Opinion | If Tucker Runs in 2024, Here’s Who the Democrats Need
Jon Stewart is a better fit than most politicians for what modern politics has become.
www.politico.com
excerpts:
To get the “seriousness” question out of the way right off the top: Stewart’s definition of being an entertainer has him wrestling with the kind of big, serious topics that actual politicians specialize in avoiding. He spends his time recording an AppleTV show and podcast interview show on policy issues such as abortion, climate change, gun control, misinformation, modern monetary theory and other wonky-current topics, with the occasional Judd Apatow and Mark Cuban appearance thrown in for gloss.
The 2024 presidential race is guaranteed to be a carnival, waged 8 years after former President Donald Trump blew up the whole idea of “normal,” and four years after a Covid-shadowed, conspiracy-fest of a campaign. Stewart is not just one of our most wildly popular comedians: His years hosting the Comedy Central’s Daily Show made him one of the effective communicators in public life. He’s living a fairly low-key existence, and using his multiplatform showbiz skills to advocate for issues he cares about.
Is this a real possibility? Maybe not. But it’s certainly on people’s minds. You could tell something was in the water at the recent Mark Twain Awards show on PBS. Steve Colbert, Dave Chappelle and Pete Davidson all raised the prospect of Stewart running for the White House in their tributes to Stewart, this year’s winner of Twain Prize for American Humor. All did so with a requisite punch line, but in watching it you can’t help but think they know something the rest of us aren’t yet in on
Chappelle said, “I wish that you would run for president, but I imagine that would be hard for a coke guy to do.” Davidson added that Stewart “is such an exceptional person that he really could be president tomorrow, but is too smart to do so.” And Colbert is worth quoting at length, because it’s pretty darn funny:
“Of course Jon is a brilliant comedian. But his close friends know that Jon’s true passion is recreational anxiety. It’s his superpower. Instead of being bitten by a radioactive spider, Jon was bitten by a clinically depressed squirrel. But that, that is why he is the perfect person to publicly worry about the future of our democracy. Why so many people think he should run for president. And I get it. He’s got a lot in common with Bill Clinton. A keen intelligence. The Veganism. Rapid Aging.”
