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Published on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 by the Toronto Star
by Antonia Zerbisias
Last Friday afternoon, when comedian Jon Stewart called CNN Crossfire co-host Tucker Carlson a body part exclusive to men, maybe half a million viewers finally saw an honest moment on this program.
Too bad. While it was not the first time ever on TV that the American media punditocracy was ripped for its failures, it was probably the most satisfying.
That's because it was live, and Stewart confronted the enemy head-on, instead of mocking it from his Daily Show perch where he anchors his celebrated "fake news" program.
No wonder more than a million people have downloaded video of the exchange. (Try onegoodmove.org or mediamatters.org.) In fact, due to traffic, some websites crashed.
But then, how often does one get to see a TV star refuse to play the TV game?
Stewart would not act like the comic "monkey" CNN obviously expected him to be when it booked him. He was supposed to be the good guest, and go through the motions of plugging the bestseller, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide To Democracy Inaction.
Instead, he lashed out at Crossfire's "partisan hackery," and accused the daily political screamfest of "hurting America."
Appearing in a grey V-neck and looking very serious, Stewart relentlessly went after the program, as he often does on the Daily Show. (His preferred punching bag is Carlson's conservative cohort, Robert Novak, whom Stewart calls "Douchebag for Liberty.")
Insisting that calling Crossfire a debate show is "like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition," Stewart charged: "You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate ... What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery."
Stewart was making an appeal for serious political discussion, free of partisan spin, talking points, lies and deception.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America," he pleaded. "Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations ... You're part of their strategies."
But that didn't sit well with Carlson, who also fronts a show on PBS. He acted as if he didn't know that Stewart hosts a comedy show, not a newscast.
Indeed, Stewart doesn't mock politicians so much as he skewers the media that cover them. Carlson, on the other hand, just roasts liberals and Democrats -- and he was clearly resentful that Kerry appeared on Stewart's show instead of one of his.
"You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?" Carlson squealed, claiming Stewart asks "suck-up" questions.
"The show that leads into me (Crank Yankers) is puppets making crank phone calls," Stewart retorted. "What is wrong with you?"
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