Tucker's Turn

OK. This is the last time I'll post anything about the Jon Stewart Crossfire incident, but Page Six came out with this piece, pretty much giving Carlson's lame counter-view on the event:

"It was like a really bad freshman survey course. Just one long lecture. Not a single joke was told. People just don't want to be who they are. Every actor wants to be a director. It's not good enough for Barbra Streisand to star in 'Yentl.' She has to be a foreign policy expert, too."

Now, is this monster suggesting that Streisand is a lousy director? Of all the nerve!



The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley came out with this predictably superior piece today. Countering Carlson's charges of Stewart not being funny, Stanley asserts, "Mr. Stewart was funny. And it was at their expense."



So there.

Crossfire Hacks Attack Stewart

I was taping CNN's Crossfire, hoping it was a repeat of Friday's show with Jon Stewart, when I saw the tail end of a new episode where James Carville and Robert Novak read viewer mail reacting to Stewart's Friday appearance. It seems as though they couldn't find an American viewer who disagreed with Stewart, as the naysayer was Canadian. The other viewer was from Texas and applauded the show for allowing Stewart's viewpoint to be heard.



Carville repeatedly claimed that Jon Stewart attacked Ted Koppel on his Crossfire appearance, but I don't recall him doing this. [UPDATE: I think this is what he was referring to, though it's fairly benign. Here it is.] Carville, defending his livelihood, also claimed that he is "kinda proud of being a hack," while Novak repeatedly denounced Jon Stewart as "uninformed and unfunny." Can you feel the warmth?



Click here to download the clip.

Jon Stewart Takes Tucker To Task

Though the entire world has probably seen this by now, I still felt I should congratulate One Good Move for a job well done on this wonderful clip:



Jon Stewart on CNN's Crossfire

iN DEMAND Refuses To Air Michael Moore Pre-Election Special

Kowtowing to unknown forces, the cable pay-per-view company iN DEMAND backed out of their deal to air The Michael Moore Pre-Election Special due to "legitimate business and legal concerns," according to an iN DEMAND spokesperson. The special was to air on November 1, the evening before the election. iN DEMAND would not elaborate on their statement, but Moore believes they decided not to air the film because of pressure from "top Republican people." Moore has threatened to sue iN DEMAND for beach of contract.

He Can't Possibly Be Serious

In today's New York Post, Dick Cheney commented on Sen. John Kerry's remarks concerning Cheney's openly-gay daughter, Mary:

"You saw a man who will do and say anything to get elected," Cheney said at a rally in Florida. "And I am not just speaking as a father here, although I am a pretty angry father."

Well, angry father I can buy, but ha ha... ha ha did he..ha ha actually accuse Kerry of DOING ANYTHING TO GET ELECTED!?!?! Is he preaching to people who live under rocks? Not to lose what little journalistic composure I have, but JESUS, are these people absolute scum!



Just to clarify, this is the actual quote from Wednesday's debate:

"We're all God's children ... and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice,"

Well there's hardly a chance of that, since she's about the only person in Cheney's family not to comment on the obviously vicious, hateful quote. What exactly is the offending item within the quote? That Mary is one of God's children? That she is being who she is? I fail to see what the GOP finds offensive about this quote.



As for doing or saying anything to get elected, maybe the man Cheney is referring to is George W. Bush. I saw him. Didn't you?

FCC Will Not Block Airing of Anti-Kerry Documentary

Well, I can't say that I'm surprised, but Michael Powell will not take any action to block the Sinclair Broadcasting Group's airing of Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal, a obviously-right-wing-piece-of-propaganda-posing-as-a-documentary covering Kerry's antiwar activities. Defending the FCC's non-action, Powell said this:

"Don't look to us to block the airing of a program. I don't know of any precedent in which the commission could do that."

The documentary is due to air two weeks before the presidential election.



The FCC is also turning a blind eye to fake right-wing-propaganda-posing-as-newscasts currently airing on Sinclair affiliates. Go here for more on that subject.

Bush Claims To Be Fully Prepared For Third Presidential Debate

"They'll never be able to detect this earpiece," President Bush was overheard exclaiming to his advisers. The "hidden" earpiece, which most closely resembles those featured on Monday Night Football, already has insiders talking. "I don't get it," said Kerry campaign manager Tad Devine, "does he think it's invisible or something? Wait. He's actually going to wear that during the debate? Well, okay."



This comes hot on the heels of the controversy surrounding the first presidential debate, when George W. Bush dismissed reports accusing him of wearing a novelty arrow-through-the-head throughout the debate, saying "that's just what left-wing internet nutcases would like to think about me. And it's nonsense!"