Posted on 02/26/2021 1:37:50 PM PST by Onthebrink
Back in October of 2004, Jon Stewart — then at the height of his fame and relevance — went on CNN’s “Crossfire” and committed a murder on live TV. You can read the transcript here. Readers will recall this was the infamous “hurting America” clip, where Stewart crapped all over the very concept of a debate show that paired left and right as co-equals in a running debate over the direction of America.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
This is a good point- until then, they still debated conservatives.
And usually lost- that is probably why they stopped
Once upon a time, Guest A would say, “We should raise taxes, and here’s why ...” and then Guest B would say, “We should lower taxes, and here’s why ...” and it was the job of the Moderator to sort of make sure that each side was represented (but the Left would get the last word).
Today, Guest A says, “The Left is awesome” and Guest B says “The Left is awesome” and the Moderator says, “The Left is more awesome than you guys seem to think ...”
And the public says “I am well informed”.
“There is today essentially no program on all of cable television that pairs left and right perspectives on camera as co-equal hosts, allowed to engage in free and open debate about the topics of the day.”
Every political show on TV and even on radio, only seem to have leftist voices and no conservative viewpoints.
hey...thanks for that...I remember Crossfire but not that show.
I read the transcript...I can’t believe that episode killed the show... it seemed the whole thing was played mostly for laffs.
I watched the video...and Stewart was there to hammer them...I see what the writer is saying...but I still don’t think that killed crossfire, though Begala thinks so...
Here’s his take...https://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/opinion/begala-stewart-blew-up-crossfire/index.html
I would agree that the premise of left vs right is faulty. There are more than 2 views and more than 2 political perspectives. This left/right stuff serves to divide more than unite and do agree it has made it harder in recent years to debate anything at all with reason, facts, stats & data, historical perspective etc. Though I don’t think that’s what John Stewart meant.
That is when I realized Tucker Carlson was a pussy. Stewart called him a d*** on live TV and Carlson took it like a good little GOPE. He should have gotten in Stewart’s face or said something like “lets continue this face to face after the show B***H-”
I remember when Frank Zappa was on Crossfire in the 1980s about Censorship in music. The irony was that the “conservative” Robert Novak supported Zappa more than the “liberal” Tom Braden.
They try to force others to live in their false reality.
Fox News was beating CNN badly by then. Crossfire aired earlier then.
There is a never ending supply of “comedians” who just aren’t funny.
Especially on the left....
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