Full transcript of 'Wrestlers vs. Politicians' featuring Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show

Ronny Chieng continued The Daily Show's tradition of linking US politics with pro-wrestling. During his tenure, wrestling mark Jon Stewart was one of the first mainstream outlets to endorse the #PoliticsisWrestling meme. In 2010 for a segment titled 'Crumbums & Fatcats', Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac and Mick Foley cut a promo which led to Stewart to surmise "So what you're saying is the whole f*cking thing [American Politics] is fake like professional wrestling".

With WWE Hall-of-Famer Donald Trump as President, Ronny Chieng filmed a 2018 segment in Appalachia to ask wrestler 'Progressive Liberal' for his state of the union.

VIDEO: Wrestlers Vs. Politicians | The Daily Show With Trevor Noah

RONNY CHIENG voiceover: Democrats may know how to rally their base but when they reach out to Middle America they say things like
ELIZABETH WARREN excerpt: Working families to get a share of the prosperity they're creating, we need a serious enforcement of competition laws
*deflating music*
CHIENG vo: You're boring!!!
NANCY PELOSI excerpt: Single payer! Single payer! Single payer
*deflating music*
CHIENG vo: It's like you don't even care about what you're saying
CORY BOOKER: Can you hear me now?
CHUCK SCHUMER: It's not working

Cut to the exciting part

CHIENG vo: No it's not. And it's no surprise. In the last election, people in swing states went for a guy who said things like...
DONALD TRUMP excerpt: Who's going to pay for the wall?! I'd like to punch him in the face I tell ya!
CHIENG vo: Trump honed his trademark oratorical style where else? In professional wrestling and if Democrats were gonna fight back, they needed someone who could go head to head with a WWE Hall-of-Famer like Trump. And in the heart of coal country we found him
DAN RICHARDS excerpt: Shut your ignorant mouths cuz the Progressive Liberal has something to say
CHIENG vo: Finally a Democrat who doesn't make me want to change the channel. Dan Richards has been making headlines wrestling as the Progressive Liberal and riling up small-town audiences all over Trump Country...

'Progressive Liberal' Dan Richards making headlines

RONNY CHIENG: How hard is it to pretend to have these liberal values?
DAN RICHARDS: Oh I'm not pretending
RICHARDS excerpt: You're on the wrong side of history so shut up!
CHIENG vo: But even if the crowd hates him, the Progressive Liberal could teach swing state Democrats some classic wrestling techniques for getting voter's attention
DAN RICHARDS: You wanna stick to broad brush stroke talking points
CHIENG: Right. So Middle America would rather learn about politics through a mostly naked man than by reading a book?
RICHARDS: Yeah

Pro Wrestler sits down with Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng

RONNY CHIENG vo: But Dan assured me that besides wearing shirts, politicians and wrestlers had one key difference
DAN RICHARDS: People in politics will say anything to get elected whereas a good wrestler is only gonna say things that they truly believe in
CHIENG: So what you're saying is that the level of political discourse in wrestling is actually higher than in politics?
RICHARDS: Oh yeah

Blue team vs Red Team

RONNY CHIENG vo: But with Congress immobilised by partisan politics what advice did the Progressive Liberal have for Democrats
CHIENG: Let's say you're Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell puts you in a headlock, what do you do?
DAN RICHARDS: Ummm I'd reverse it into a top wristlock and I would stomp on his elbow breaking his wrists
CHIENG: *nods* And the issue would be resolved?
RICHARDS: Without a doubt

'Commander-in-briefs' Ronny goes in the ring with Dan Richards

RONNY CHIENG vo: The Progressive Liberal had some great ideas for updating Democrats' messaging but could he take on the Heavyweight Champion in the White House.
RING ANNOUNCER: Introducing the 'Commander-in-briefs'!
CHIENG: Is it just me or is it getting cold in here? Because there's a snowflake in the ring!
RICHARDS: I am not a snowflake!!!
CHIENG: Snowflake! Snowflake!
RICHARDS: Quit pandering
CHIENG: I'm one of them

Dan Richards shows how to get a pop as a progressive liberal

CHIENG vo: My pandering was working. Time to take this to the next level
CHIENG: You know what this man wants? Let me guess what you want to do with the guns in this country. Just let me guess.
*crowd boos*
CHIENG: You wanna take them away
RICHARDS: I don't wanna take away guns. I'm just for really strict background checks
CHIENG vo: OK, that wasn't too hard to understand and the audience was into it
CHIENG: Fine! Whatever about guns. Let me guess what you want to do about marijuana
RICHARDS: I think what people wanna do behind closed doors should be their business
*man in crowd cheers*

The future of American Politics

CHIENG: Like Hell you do
RICHARDS: That is my position as the Progressive Liberal
*crowd cheers*
*triumphant music plays*
CHIENG vo: Looks like broad brush talking points work. Especially that marijuana one Democrats. So maybe let wrestlers craft slogans for your next campaign. Like "Lock Guns Up", "Make America Greatest" or "420 4 2020".
Let's face it, what really turns on swing state crowds isn't words. It's action
CHIENG: I don't care about your positions cuz you suck
*Ronny runs the ropes and takes a bump*
CHIENG vo: Middle America wants a strong hero who won't back down from a fight. So Democrats if you want to beat a wrestler president. Keep it simple and go on the offensive
*Ronny getting stomped on the turnbuckle*
CHIENG: Fake News! Fake News!
CHIENG vo: Welcome to the future of American politics

I contend it's been the prevailing state of American Politics for a while now, this blog was founded in 2007.

Jon Stewart taking Summer ‘Daily Show’ hiatus, John Oliver fills in as host

Deadline reports that APF pundit Jon Stewart will be taking a break from hosting the Daily Show to direct his first feature film 'Rosewater', an adaptation of the book 'Then They Came For Me'. Its based off a memoir written by Maziar Bahari, a journalist imprisoned by Iran in 2009. He has appeared on the Daily Show three times, accused by the Iranian Government of being a spy during his first appearance.

UPDATE: Jon Stewart Taking Summer ‘Daily Show’ Hiatus To Direct First Film And “Challenge” Himself, John Oliver To Sub
11 AM EXCLUSIVE: Jon Stewart will take a 12-week summer hiatus from hosting Comedy Central‘s The Daily Show to make his feature directing debut. In his absence, Daily Show regular John Oliver will be guest host for eight weeks of fresh shows. Stewart has written the script for and will direct Rosewater, an adaptation of the book Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity And Survival. Published in 2011 by Random House, the book is Maziar Bahari’s harrowing ordeal of leaving London in June 2009 to cover Iran’s presidential elections. With a pregnant fiance left behind, the BBC journalist expected to be away for a week. Instead, he spent the next 118 days in Iran’s most notorious prison being brutally interrogated by a man he knew only by one thing: he smelled of Rosewater. Bahari wrote the book with Aimee Molloy. Scott Rudin will produce with Stewart and Gigi Pritzker. Pritzker’s OddLot Entertainment is financing the film.

VIDEO: Daily Show; Moment of Zen - U.K. Hulkamaniacs

VIDEO: Moment of Zen - U.K. Hulkamaniacs (Aug 9, 2011)
Hulk Hogan wants to grab the U.K.'s rioting Hulkamaniacs and shake them.

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Moment of Zen - U.K. Hulkamaniacs
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Jon Stewart's unedited interview with Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday' (transcript)

 VIDEO: Exclusive: Jon Stewart on 'Fox News Sunday' (unedited)

Transcript of Chris Wallace interviewing Jon Stewart (June 20, 2011)
WALLACE: I'm just trying to understand you.
STEWART: Is that really true?
WALLACE: Yes.
STEWART: Because here's the thing that surprises me about that. I've existed in this country forever. There have been people like me who satirize the political process and who have satirized — what was it that Will Rogers said? How crazy is it when politicians are a joke and comedians are taken seriously? I've existed forever. The box that I exist in has always been around, the change is the box that you guys, you've moved closer to me. But I'd like to know what I'm doing that's really different than what you've seen previously from satirical comedians that work in the political milieu. What is different about it, that makes you so perplexed?

Jon Stewart defends his 'Rally to Restore Sanity': Rachel Maddow, Sarah Silverman, Sam Seder and Bill Maher weigh in

Jon Stewart explaining his 'Rally to Restore Sanity' with Rachel Maddow

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow's One hour interview with Jon Stewart

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

'The Rachel Maddow Show' (Nov 15, 2010)
MADDOW: You don‘t do all that many interviews...
Why did you—why did you want to talk to me?

STEWART: After the rally it—you know, whenever you go out there, whatever you put out, you can only control your intention. You can‘t control its perception or how people receive it. And you can control your execution.

So, when people are perceiving it as something—people that I respect are perceiving as something that we didn‘t perceive it as sort of either two or three things, one is we were inartful in the way that we conceived it and presented it, our intention was wrong or off, not clear. Or it‘s being misperceived. So, I guess—there‘s probably four. I don‘t know what that would be.

VIDEO: Bill Maher on The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

HBOs' Real Time with Bill Maher: Ep 196
And finally, New Rule, if you're going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up, you might as well go ahead and make it about something. With all due respect to my friends Jon and Stephen, it seems to me that if you truly wanted to come down on the side of restoring sanity and reason, you'd side with the sane and the reasonable, and not try to pretend that the insanity is equally distributed in both parties.

Keith Olbermann is right, when he says he's not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. One reports facts, the other one is very close to playing with his poop.

Sam Seder and Sarah Silverman discuss the effectiveness of Jon Stewart and his 'Rally to Restore Sanity' as well as Bill Maher's critique of the rally.
Sam chats with Atrios and Sarah Silverman (Nov 17, 2010)

Bloomberg Game Changers: Jon Stewart

Last month Jon Stewart was profiled on 'Bloomberg Game Changers'.

Bloomberg Game Changers (Ch Bloomberg. Thursdays 9:30pm ET)
A new original documentary series. Bloomberg Game Changers gives a compelling look into today's most influential leaders in technology, finance, politics and culture. See how these Game Changers redefined their industry and at times, the world.

The show focused on Stewart's rise to prominence and his current influence on the Political and media landscape.

Bloomberg Game Changers: Jon Stewart
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- BLOOMBERG GAME CHANGERS profiles Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, now Jon Stewart, from his New Jersey boyhood through the standard struggle of the stand-up comedian - part time jobs and late night gigs at New York’s comedy clubs. It will shine a spotlight on his early television shows and movies, including rare video from his early career, to show his transformation into the dominant American commentator of our time.

Watch the entire episode here - Bloomberg Game Changers: Jon Stewart

Enjoy a preview clip here

VIDEO: Bloomberg Game Changers | Jon Stewart - CNBC and Cramer

Mick Foley to appear on the Daily Show November 2010, talks about 'Rally to Restore Sanity'

Wrestler Superstar Mick Foley announced on his his Twitter page that he will be a guest on 'The Daily Show', airing on Comedy Central on Wednesday November 10, 2010. Foley recently attended the Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive' event in Washington DC where he received a medal of sanity from Jon Stewart and dubbed the show’s “Senior Ass Kicker”.

COUNTDOWN: MICK FOLEYS WEEKLY ONLINE BLOG COLUMN
Before I get into The Rally to Restore Sanity, and the medal bestowed upon me by Jon Stewart, I would like to make a few reasonable requests.

1) Buy a copy of "Countdown to Lockdown" for someone you love - even if that someone is you...

What an amazing experience the Rally was. If I had one complaint, it would be that there was no video team doing a "Making of the Rally" behind the scenes documentary. Because if the sixties had Woodstock as their great testament to peace, love and understanding, I believe that, years from now, a generation will look back on the Rally as a seminal moment in the art of just trying to get along. Besides, I would really have liked some video evidence of me hanging out, watching the show, taking in the atmosphere, with an eclectic group of superstars fro all across the entertainment spectrum - from Sheryl Crow, to Yusaf, to Tony Bennett, to Kid Rock to Kareem Abdul Jabaar. OK, maybe "hanging out" is a little inaccurate, especially in the case of Kareem, who was a little ...detached from his fellow invitees, but I swear, I was in the same general vicinity as the rest of the gang...

I'd never met Steven [sic] Colbert before the Rally rehearsal on Saturday evening. But despite all of the pressure and the magnitude of the situation, both Steven and Jon went out of their way to make me feel welcome both Saturday and Sunday...

I know I'll look back on the Rally with great fondness for years to come...

Oh, yeah, I even received an award - which I'm sure I'll tell you more about in the days, weeks and months to come. Kurt Angle - there's a new medal in TNA.

Mick Foley has appeared on The Daily show twice before but this marks his first appearance as a sit-down guest with Jon Stewart. With that said this Foley appearance is not politically orientated but an avenue to promote his latest book (Countdown to Lockdown) and causes he has been supporting (RAINN)

Find his previous forays on the Daily Show and Politics in general here - Marc Maron and Mark Riley's 'Morning Sedition': The infamous 'Wrestle a Republican' episode with Mick Foley.

Update: Video is up
VIDEO: Mick Foley - November 10, 2010
Mick Foley

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Political Humor

Rally to Restore Sanity

Glenn Beck critiques Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's comedic performances at 'The Rally to Restore Sanity'. Gives good reviews on messaging.

I've talked plenty of times about Glenn Beck's credentials as a Comedy Enthusiast. Beck on his radio show was surprisingly complimentary towards Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on their rally mostly in reference to their messaging. Gracious as Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' was considered by many to be a counterpoint to Beck's own 'Restoring Honor Rally'.

Beck was happy to welcome Stewart and Colbert as fellow figureheads of popular protests championing a message of non-partisanship. Where he found fault in the rally was in its comedy. Beck makes it clear he thought the comedic elements were "awful", likening it to a "High School production" so bad it felt like he was in a "tribulation waiting for the second coming of Christ".

Glenn Beck: Media ignores Yusuf Islam's appearance at Stewart's rally
GLENN BECK: On the Jon Stewart rally which, by the way, I thought was an absolute I mean, it was a high school production. It was a high school production, the comedy. And even Jon Stewart. I mean, he said it from stage several times. This didn't work. I mean, it was really bad. Colbert, I thought there were a couple of things

PAT: When he was off stage
GLENN: It was good.
PAT: Everything went pretty well.

GLENN: Yeah. When Jon Stewart was just talking, I thought, okay, this is going to go into you know, this will be good. And then Colbert would come out and it was awful. It was embarrassing.

PAT: It was.
GLENN: I was embarrassed not for Colbert.
PAT: Train wreck.

GLENN: It was beyond it. I was embarrassed for Jon Stewart because he's better than that. And the music was great. I mean, they had really great musical guests and everything else. And the message that Jon Stewart had after the concert was good. I mean, it was very similar to what I said. Just in different, you know, obviously different language. I framed mine in God, but we're better people than what we're allowing ourselves to become. Let's stop being used by, you know, red and blue. And so that was, you know, basically his message. And I think it was a success for him. I think if he wouldn't have given that message, it would have been jump the shark. I think it was jump the shark for Colbert. I don't think Colbert ever recovers from that. Just awful. No, it really was.

The Show program for the 'Rally to Restore Sanity' AKA 'March to keep fear Alive'

Here is the planned timetable for the joint Daily Show/Colbert Report Rally held on October 30, 2010 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Via The Christian Science Monitor

Revealed: schedule for 'Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear'
* 10:00 a.m.: The pre-pre-show begins with videos and music on the jumbotron to keep the gathering crowd friendly and entertained.
* Noon: The pre-show starts with a performance from The Roots.
* 12:40: A comedian (to be determined) warms up the audience.
* 12:57: A video countdown with a show introduction.
* 1:00: The show kicks off with the national anthem by a musical guest (to be announced).
* 1:05: Mr. Stewart welcomes the crowd – whose projected size is ballooning daily. Currently, there are 200,000 sign-ups on the official Facebook page alone.
* 1:20: Mr. Colbert enters, and two actors – Don Novello and Sam Waterston – perform readings.
* 1:40: Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staple perform for 10 minutes, followed by Stewart and Colbert until 2 p.m.
* 2:15: Sheryl Crow performs for five minutes, followed by speakers and guests (to be determined).
* 2:30: Musical guests (also still being lined up) come on.
* 2:40: The show turns to a pre-taped sequence – The Sanity and Fear Awards. (Noting the intense media interest in this event as she reads through the rundown, Ms. Lowe says, “I’d like some sanity, myself.”)

Jon Stewart on NPR's 'Fresh Air' with Terry Gross discussing Glenn Beck and The Daily Show's 'Rally to Restore Sanity'

Terry Gross interviewed Jon Stewart on Sept. 29 at the 92nd Street Y
in New York City. (Joyce Culver/92nd Street Y)

Jon Stewart recently sat down with NPR's Terry Gross in front of a live audience to discus his show and the upcoming duel rallies he is hosting with Stephen Colbert, 'The Rally to Restore Sanity' and 'March to keep fear alive'.

Jon on distancing the rally as a direct reaction to Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' event

Jon Stewart: The Most Trusted Name In Fake News
"Like everything that we do, the march is merely a construct," he says. "It's merely a format, in the way the book is a format, a show is a format ... to be filled with the type of material that Stephen and I do and the point of view [that we have]. People have said, 'It's a rally to counter Glenn Beck.' It's not. What it is was, we saw that and thought, 'What a beautiful outline. What a beautiful structure to fill with what we want to express in live form, festival form."...

"I very much wanted to avoid the idea that [the march] would be a reaction to him. 'Cause I don't think that'd be fair to him and it's not meant to ridicule activism or the Tea Party movement or religious people."

Stewart on defining what they value and do on the 'Daily Show'

But even though The Daily Show often comes up with facts and stories missed by other news sources, Stewart says, it would be wrong to describe what he does as "journalism."

"We don't do anything but make the connections," he says. "We're just going off our own instinct of, 'What are the connections to this that make sense?' And this really is true: We don't fact-check [and] look at context because of any journalistic criteria that has to be met; we do that because jokes don't work when they're lies. We fact-check so when we tell a joke, it hits you at sort of a gut level — not because we have a journalistic integrity, [but because] hopefully we have a comedic integrity that we don't want to violate."

Jon Stewart on Glenn Beck

On similarities between himself and Glenn Beck
"He's a reaction to what he feels like is the news, and so are we. We actually share quite a bit in common in terms of, not point of view necessarily, but reason for being. We're both in some ways an op-ed. We consider ourselves editorial cartoonists in some respect. Not him, but the show. Op-ed cartoonists, or the Messiah. We're both different...

On deconstructing Beck
"The beautiful thing about what he does is, it's very difficult to argue with his facts. It's the conclusions [that are problematic]. ... It's that slippery slope. ... So what you do is, you just grab together facts and put them together and then do a grab bag of conclusions. Everything is discovered as evidence of secret plots, of secret things that could be occurring."

Read the entire article and listen to the 40+ minute conversation between Jon Stewart and Terry Gross here - Jon Stewart: The Most Trusted Name In Fake News

Pete Dominick: 'CNN's What the Week' and Pete shares his side of the story on the Rick Sanchez firing

CNN's new show hosted by Comedian and RadioTalker Pete Dominick,

'What the Week'

Below are video excerpts of Pete Dominick's new show on CNN, 'What the Week'. As Pete's Facebook declares: "CNN has given What The Week an extension". PunditFight encourages everyone to check out the show. If you like what you see and hear...

Pete Dominick on Facebook
Please please add the Facebook page for CNN's "What the Week". Spread the word about this new TV show as much as you can. We really think we have something special here

VIDEO: 'What the Week' with Pete Dominick

'What the Week' with Pete Dominick
The new CNN show featuring comedian and talk-show-host Pete Dominick. In this segment: Show Intro, Week that Was, Undercovered Stories, Afghanistan man on the street and panel including Arianna Huffington and Todd Zwillich

Pete Dominick airs his side of the story on the Rick Sanchez firing where he draws a distinction between public interest and public fascination. I suggest you listen to the audio attached, it is a good primer on Pete's presentation style and value system. Particularly handy as this Sanchez controversy is likely to have drawn Pete many new listeners.

Pete Dominick, Rick Sanchez Interviewer: Sanchez Came With 'Live Grenade In His Mouth' (AUDIO)
... Speaking on his Sirius XM satellite show "Stand Up With Pete Dominick," Pete Dominick recounted the events leading up to the fateful interview...

"Frankly, I didn't really want him to do the radio show," Dominick said. "He's not the type of guest we have on this show. We generally have experts on the issues."

When the interview began, he said, he was shocked at what Sanchez said. The anchor, he said, came "with a live grenade in his mouth, and he pulled the pin. I tried to put it back for him but he wasn't having it."...

Listen and Download the Pete Dominick Audio here - Pete Dominick: Rick Sanchez came with "live grenade in his mouth"

Read and Listen to my 2008 interview with Pete Dominick - Introducing the newest APF Pundit: Pete Dominick

Jon Stewart hates Tucker Carlson, likes Bill O'Reilly and wants to be liked by Glenn Beck

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Truthiness to Power
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Jon Stewart on Tucker Carlson

(directed at Tucker Carlson after a clip of him is played calling Colbert a pompous jerk)

"Yes a pompous jerk, as opposed to an arrogant douche - who apparently gets to decide who is and who is not a comic.

Tucker and I can talk like this because we already have a visceral negative reaction to each other. Not an ounce of friendship or respect between us. Truly one of the only people in the world I feel that way about,"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Bill O'Reilly
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Jon Stewart on Bill O'Reilly

I was coming on [to Fox] to promote the book and you were kind enough to have me and I'd always enjoyed being on your program because you really are -  especially over there - the fairest person, honestly by  a thousand miles. By a mile!

Jon Stewart on Glenn Beck

The Beck thing, I would love to have a conversation with him. I would love it. We could do an hour. Is he like the bubble boy of Fox News?

Rally to Restore Sanity - Jon Stewart's rally for the "80 percenters", Stephen Colbert counters with 'March to Keep Fear Alive'

VIDEO: Rally to Restore Sanity (September 16, 2010)
Rally to Restore Sanity

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Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

JON STEWART: We have seen these folks, the loud folks over the years dominate our national conversation over our most important issues

(video montage of sensational personalities)

But why don't we hear from the 70 to 80 percenters? Well most likely because you have sh*t to do (applause)
And quite frankly even if you didn't have sh*t to do you may lack the theatrical flair necessary for today's 24hour-a-day 7-day-a-week news media...

Below are a compilation of the most theatrical performances and promos in recent politics, including some which were included in 'The Daily Show' montage:

1. The rise and rise of Glenn Beck: His appeal and the method to his madness
2. Howard Kurtz' Reliable Sources "outraged" by Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs
3. Alan Grayson delivers wrestling-style promo on house floor - GOP Health Plan = Don't get sick!
4. Fake pundit Stephen Colbert compares himself to "fake" pundit Glenn Beck
5. Rush Limbaugh: You're either with Bobby Jindal or you're against us

Jon Stewart Coaches Cable News Pundits for the Midterms - MSNBC's Political Narrative

VIDEO: Are You Ready for Some Midterms? - MSNBC's Political Narrative
Are You Ready for Some Midterms? - MSNBC's Political Narrative

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

JON STEWART: What are you doing? Do you know nothing of your obligation to shape the news towards your desired electoral goal? There is no "BUT" in journalism. Have you learned nothing from 'Fox'. You pick your narrative and you stick with with it and if the news doesn't fit your narrative - CHANGE YOUR (expletive) NEWS!

For God's sakes people. You don't change your narrative. Watch how the masters do it.

(Stewart cuts to a clip of Sean Hannity selectively editing President Obama's speech. Stewart makes a comment and plays a "less abridged version" of said clip)

STEWART: See MSNBC, Amateurs! Starting clips later and cutting them off earlier so the speaker can't finish the thought's full construction can be a useful tool in helping your audience understand what you want them to think. It's a fun and easy way to make people you disagree with unelectable...

Jon Stewart claims "Fox News funds terrorism", Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver debate whether its because they're "evil" or stupid"

VIDEO: The Daily Show - The Parent Company Trap

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Parent Company Trap
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Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Parent Company Trap
JON STEWART: ... If we want to cut off funding to the "Terror Mosque", we must together as a nation stop watching Fox. It's the only way.
(applause)

Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver donning respective "Team Evil" and "Team Stupid" t-shirts argue their case for Fox News motives

The Daily Show Debates: Is Fox News Evil Or Stupid?
The Daily Show correspondents Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver debated last night whether Fox News' Fox and Friends was being evil or stupid when they didn't reveal the connection between Fox News and the funder of the Cordoba House Islamic center near Ground Zero...

Oliver defended Fox News as stupid: "Things are hectic on the morning show. Plus Gretchen [Carlson] wasn't there and she's the only one who knows how to use Google."

Cenac argued that they were evil, since they avoided showing pictures of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal because "he already looks like he's about to feed Timothy Dalton to his white tiger."

Wyatt Cenac is "Team Evil". John Oliver is "Team Stupid"

'The Daily Show' is accused of being sexist. The Daily Show women respond.

Women of the Daily Show

A good rundown from The Onion's AV club

"Women of The Daily Show" respond to accusations that show is sexist
On June 23, deliciously feminist-y site Jezebel posted an article titled "The Daily Show's Woman Problem" that accused the Jon Stewart-helmed Comedy Central program of being "a boys' club where women's contributions are often ignored and dismissed." Backing up the author's claims were testimonies from former staffers who said that the show's creative environment marginalized them with its "too cool for school" attitude, which left no room for womanish "emotional vulnerability." The author then went on to suggest (seemingly based entirely on a bitter quote from a rejected "female comedian who has auditioned multiple times") that the recent hiring of G4's Olivia Munn was motivated at least partially by her looks. Even more damning: The article's repeating of rumors about Jon Stewart, whom one anonymous "former executive" says "runs The Daily Show with joyless rage,"...

You can find the open letter from the women of 'The Daily Show' here - Women of The Daily Show Speak

Comedy aficionado Sharilyn Johnson of Third-Beat.com offers her perspective on the controversy:

We’re here! We’re peers! Get used to it!
Look, Jezebel is Jezebel and we’re smart enough to read between the lines. Former employees might be bitter, the story might have been written to fit a narrative, and so on. We understand those tricks — we watch your show, remember?

But the ladies’ hyper-defensiveness does nothing to create transparency or shed light on the complicated grey area where sexism usually lives...

This whole idea of how-dare-we think such things about their precious workplace? Really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. A bad, orchestrated, Comedy Central PR department taste in my mouth.

The Third-Beat offers some great resources on the theme of women and 'late night' via its panel recaps. Whilst the example below is exclusively on the topic of women, you will find that the issue is often visited in panel discussions amongst late night comedy staff due to the obviously disproportionate representation of women.

Women & Late Night TV: A Paley Panel Pointform
What:
Successful late-night comedy writers with vaginas
Who:
Ann Cohen (Best Week Ever)
Jill Goodwin (The Late Show with David Letterman)
Hallie Haglund (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
Morgan Murphy (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)
Meredith Scardino (The Colbert Report)
Moderated by Allison Silverman (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Night With Conan O’Brien)
Where:
Paley Center for Media, New York
When:
May 13, 2010

Jon Stewart, Wyatt Cenac and Mick Foley endorse the analogy that American Politics is like pro-wrestling

PunditFight was founded some three years ago and has been the premier resource for the analogy that American Politics and Punditry is not unlike Professional wrestling.

The Daily Show: Crumbums & Fatcats

The March 15 edition of The Daily Show distilled and endorsed this analogy more explicitly than I've ever seen it. Jon Stewart crossed to 'Senior political analyst' Wyatt Cenac about the Eric Massa scandal, Wyatt brought up the wrestling analogy to describe American Politics and Punditry then reintroduced wrestler Mick Foley to bring the point home.

VIDEO: The Daily Show (March 15, 2010) - Crumbums & Fatcats
Crumbums & Fatcats

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Crumbums & Fatcats (Monday March 15, 2010)
Wyatt Cenac gets Mick Foley to demonstrate how easy it is for politicians to work both sides of the filibuster.

WYATT CENAC: Jon here's your problem. You think politicians wanna win their arguments when all they really wanna do is keep having them. They know arguments are interesting, they energize voters, they keep the money flowing in.
JON STEWART: You're telling me their interest is in conflict, not in resolution?
WYATT CENAC: Yes. Jon do you watch professional wrestling?
JON STEWART: (pause) Yes.
WYATT CENAC: So you know right now, Shawn Michaels is angry at the Undertaker... But they're gonna settle it in the squared circle
JON STEWART: So it will be done!?
WYATT CENAC: Well unless something were to happen to keep the fight going
JON STEWART: I get it. They have to keep the conflict going. But at least in wrestling you know the good guy and the bad guy. Shawn Michaels is a good guy. The Undertaker is the bad guy.
WYATT CENAC: Until the swerve when they switch. It keeps the audience interested and again the moneys keeps flowing
JON STEWART: You're saying congressional leaders flip on issues. To keep conflict going and money flowing and keep their bases interested
WYATT CENAC: Jon Congress people are in Congress for like 80, 90 years. You just can't expect them to do that same character the whole time. It'll get boring
JON STEWART: So you're saying like Harry Reid's flip flop on whether he would like to amend the filibuster is just a pro-wrestling move...

Wrestler Mick Foley comes out and performs a skit where he plays both sides off one issue, the filibuster.

JON STEWART: So they can play both sides of one issue but isn't that what the news media is for - to provide context. Break through the posture and create a little clarity.
WYATT CENAC: Context Jon? No. The news guys are more like the manager, the color guys. They got their own take on the filibuster too...
JON STEWART: So what you're saying is the whole f*cking thing [American Politics] is fake like professional wrestling

Apologies for the long transcript but it was a quite the dissertation on the politics-as-wrestling meme. Every theme Stewart and Cenac touched on from Congressman character swerves to Media being color guys are issues I've touched on in my 3 years on PunditFight.

Mick Foley is no stranger to politics and the Daily Show, with this being his second appearance in character.
- Watch Jon Stewart using the wrestling analogy previously to describe his interaction with neo-con Bill Kristol
- Watch Mick Foley endorsing the wrestling analogy in 2004 on the Marc Maron show
- Read all posts on the wrestling analogy here
- Possibly the genesis of this segment, Wyatt Cenac talks to Marc Maron about Politics being Wrestling

Jon Stewart questions if he or his fellow pundits really do "disembowel, maul and hammer" opponents

VIDEO: Jon "The Mauler" Stewart on the blogosphere
The Blogs Must Be Crazy

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
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Jon Stewart examines the blogospheres' tendency to pit any disagreement between political personalities into feuds by using hyperbole. Its worth noting this is the stock and trade of this blog - dedicated to the analogy that American Politics and Punditry is not unlike Professional wrestling.

February 4, 2010: The Blogs Must Be Crazy
JON STEWART: Seeing how just in these past few weeks I have disemboweled. I have mauled. I have hammered. Ripped. I have slammed and I Bitchslapped? Really?...

You know if you just follow this show on the blogs, you would think I was just running around town cutting people open from scrote to sternum wearing their skin as a trophy which I only did once with Jimmy Carter

Its almost as if these headlines are freakishly out of proportion to the content contained within them designed to take relatively benign interactions and cast them as murderous feuds...

I've compiled a list of the blog posts Stewart highlighted on the above clip for their hyperbolic descriptions of his interactions with other Political personalities:

1) Jon Stewart Disembowels Mike Huckabee On Gay Marriage
- State of the Day
2) Maddow, Stewart, Colbert maul Lieberman
- Unpolitical
3) Stewart Hammers Fox News For Cutting Off Obama's GOP Q&A
- The Huffington Post
4)Stewart destroys Hannity for a second night this week
- Raw Story
5)Stewart Rips Maddow for Using Haitian Disaster to Bash Bush, Maddow Foolishly Strikes Back
- NewsBusters
6) Jon Stewart Slams Media for Blacking Out Iraq War Lies Report
- Crooks and Liars
7) Jon Stewart bitch slaps Keith Olbermann for Brown tirade
- Capitol Hill Blue

Scott Brown - The new Barack Obama and Sarah Palin

It looks like I may have to update this Palin/Obama comparison graphic to include new political sensation, Republican Scott Brown.

The parallel between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin

The Daily Show has had the best coverage highlighting the similarities Brown has to Palin and Obama - Charismatic, photogenic, relatively inexperienced young faces brought in on a platform of change, perceived as celebrities moreso than politicians.

And the capper...? Brown also played basketball earning his own nickname just like 'Barry O'Bomber' and Sarah 'Barracuda'

How Well Do You Know Scott Brown?
*His old nickname back home in Wrentham, Massachusetts is "Downtown" Scotty Brown, referring to his famed jump shot from his days as a star hoopster at Wakefield High School.

*Speaking of hoops, when President Obama called to congratulate him on his victory, Brown challengedhim to a game of 2 on 2 hoops. Brown said his team mate would be his daughter Ayla, a star basketball player at Boston College.

This Daily Show clip is particularly clever in alluding to the NBC late night talk show war between Conan and Leno in referencing Obama and Brown - January 20, 2010: Indecision 2010 - The Re-Changening.

VIDEO: Fox News Covers Scott Brown's Victory (January 20, 2010)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fox News Covers Scott Brown's Victory
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Jon Stewart tag teams with Wrestler Mick Foley to protect 10-Year-Old Gay Marriage Activist

Wrestler Mick Foley and Daily Show host Jon Stewart

Via the Huffington Post

Jon Stewart Enlists Pro-Wrestler Mick Foley To Protect 10-Year-Old Gay Marriage Activist (VIDEO)
Last week we told you about young Will Phillips, a boy who refuses to pledge allegiance to the flag and the United States of America until gays and lesbians are allowed to marry. While Will is finding support from op-ed columnists and his parents, the kids at school are not as kind. They are harassing Will and calling him a "gaywad."

Well, last night Jon Stewart decided to do something about it. After praising this precocious 10-year-old, he decided the boy must be protected so he brought out professional wrestler Mick Foley to deliver a message...

This isn't a surprising partnership as I've spoken of Hall-of-Fame wrestler Foley's involvement in Politics and Jon Stewart's support of the wrestling analogy as it relates to politics. The bully protection tag team of Stewart and Foley is reminiscent of wrestling duo 'The APA' (Acolytes Protection Agency), who acted as bodyguards for hire for their fellow wrestlers.

VIDEO: Gaywatch - Peter Vadala & William Phillips
www.thedailyshow.com

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JON STEWART: This child must be protected. Foley! Ladies and Gentleman, Mick Foley.
(crowd applauds)
MICK FOLEY: Thank You Jon, like a lot of my professional wrestling brethren I was touched by young Will's plight. Well I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do, If I find out that anybody has hassled this young man or teased him or called him a wad of any sort. I and perhaps a few of my friends will come to his school and bring a world of pain...