Iraqis Gone Wild or Why I love Jon Stewart
“Yesterday, the president met with a group he calls the coalition of the willing. Or, as the rest of the world calls them, Britain and Spain.”
Jon Stewart
So last night as I lay in bed listening to T.V. and reading a book. I saw a story on The Daily Show about how newly graduated Iraqi soldiers (Sunni) protested and refused to be stationed outside of their province in a Shiite region. This is a serious thing in relation to America trying to get out of Iraq. I mean if soldiers are deceiding where they want to serve that’s not really a military. If that was the case I’m sure our soldiers could think of a better place that they would like to serve. The thing about this is that the only place I heard about it was The Daily Show. I had to search for it on the net this morning. Once again the fake news has given me more news than…news-news. It’s really a sad state of affairs when I get more information from Comedy Central than anywhere else. I only started watching it cause it allowed me to be lazy. Instead of seeking the hidden meaning behind what I am seeing…Jon just points it out and combines it with his wonderful humor. Not to mention I like his George Bush impersonation. What the hell is going on?!?!? I vowed years ago to not watch local news cause I got tired of stories in this order: Death, killer, health risk, bad weather, puppy for adoption, deaths, police suspect and sports. I’m not getting as much from the national or news sources either. It’s a sad thing when BBC can give me more actual information about America than CNN. I demand that Jon Stewart be given his rightful place next to Jennings, Cronkite and Blitzer as a true dispenser of news. He also makes it funny so that’s a plus. Did news die and how are people still afraid to say the unpopular thing. Here’s a quote I’ve loved that America should take to heart.
Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
I wonder if we the people still like Ike? I heard it once said that if Jesus came back today, he would be called a liberal, fag-loving, traitor to America and be denounced by most of the so called “religious” people in this country. It’s amazing that a country full of people that are so free and intelligent can be so scared and stupid.
This is old but just in case you didn’t get to peep Colbert do his thing at the gala held in D.C.
http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/politics/2006/04/30/colbert_press/index.html
Comment by Billy — May 3, 2006 @ 4:51 pm
http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/politics/2006/04/30/colbert_press/index.html
Comment by Billy — May 3, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
loved your last line. aren’t most just sheep, following whatever’s thrown in their path? and i thought that i was the only one who preferred the bbc to cnn.
Comment by jackie — May 3, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
I try to supplement my news sources as uch as possible but I avoid CNN like the plague. Actually need to get my cable network to give me BBC again
Comment by jdid — May 3, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
i don’t watch any local or national news cuz it’s all a bunch of crock. i only check through bbc on tv and online. i agree with you…damn shame we gotta go outside of the country to find an honest telling of america’s behavior.
Comment by nikki — May 3, 2006 @ 9:18 pm
Alot of the “real” news can be found in plenty of the grassroots news reports on some obscure satellite channels, online or even in smaller publications like for instance the Village Voice. I remembered when 30 or so Haitians descended upon the shores of Miami and the moment they hit ground, they were running across highways, attempting to hitch rides and the whole nine. The story appeared once on CNN. And you know how CNN tends to repeat their top stories. This story somehow vanished. From that channel, from Fox, local news, heck even online I had to do a deep search to find it. Everything about the news changed for me that day, so it comes as no surprise to me man.
Comment by Luke Cage — May 4, 2006 @ 11:11 am
One word for US newscasts: propaganda. The ONLY time I even turn on local news is to get the traffic and weather updates in the morning before I head out for work.
I usually get the news online or through BBC & Telemundo television (telemundo is pretty informative - if you can understand the spanish that is). I will have to check out the Daily Show too, as I never really got into it before.
Comment by dragonflypurity — May 4, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
I mostly read print media rather than watching TV News. It’s usually full of crap that I don’t want to see. I saw that episode of the Daily Show. It was hilarious. The men started taking off their uniforms and refused to go. I am not surprised that mainstream media didn’t report it. It would be more fuel the fire against the war and would show Americans that pulling out would further destabilize the region. I do think that it is important to read the news you do not agree with. That’s why I read Fox News on-line. I think you should know what the crazies are saying so you know what the masses are learning.
Comment by MizJJ — May 4, 2006 @ 3:11 pm
Thats why my t.v. stays off. Internet stays on. And beer and sleeping pills, are my nightly dinner.
Comment by damnkidyousaidthat — May 4, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
In reading Therou he said that reading the newspaper was an absolute waste of time as it only reported on the same stories only with diffrent names, i think this translates to tv news in our time as well. They add no context and only a myopic presentation of all facets of the story.
Comment by Nas Dawud — May 10, 2006 @ 3:00 pm