And that's all any of us can do.

Begala was (is) part of that "bi-partisan" crowd that gave cover to conservatives.

If anyone was naive, it was Begala.

Stewart was on Crossfire and Tucker Carlson started to get huffy because he got called on the shit he (and Begala) was pulling on his show every week night.

You can see the video here.

I saw Crossfire that day and thought Stewart rightly eviscerated Carlson for his extreme right wing views that were hurting the country and for his going along with the swift boating of John Kerry.

Seemed to me he was on the same side as Begala so I don't see why Begala is still so upset.

And Stewart being right on the money. Carlson was being a dick and demanding that Jon explain why he wasn't being an objective journalist. Jon replied with something about his showing coming on after "puppets making prank falls" and it was a comedy show, not a news show.

and watched talked a bit, but really didn't say much. Nothing memorable anyway...

Begala should be ashamed.

1. It spearheaded the mutation of debate into a huh-uh!/uh-huh! grade school scream session
2. It willfully ignored the real problems we face each day
3. It was a Kardashian lie masquerading as news.

But I don't see any of your three points.

1. I don't know the difference between "debate" and ultimate screaming at each other.

2. I don't know how screaming from different sides "ignores ... real problems".

3. Bahbwah WAH WAH was the first KARDASHIAN (making show business out of whatever), so what did trash talking about real issues have to do with "masquerading"?!1 If you want to say it was a Roman circus like SPRINGER, fine, at least the topics were about politics that we're (here) interested in.

It's been a while since I've had to say this, but your OP and subsequent response make it obvious that further discourse serves no useful purpose. Whatever it is you are addressing, I am unqualified to help, though I wish you luck.

Good bye.

He was there to be a stooge.

is just more "faux reality" TV to sell ads - it does absolutely nothing for intelligent discussion of issues. And when one side does nothing but interrupt, talk over and distort (yes, the repubs), it is a very, very poor way of informing the watching public.

beautifully. Stewart had an appropriate criticism of the format, but it was already becoming the norm - Begala (and Carville and Matthews and...and...) are all part of the problem. Along with pretty much anything MSM.

I'll except Tweety, who is perfidious on all sides.

That you liked crossfire? that you are defending Begala for - what reason? - he is part of the problem, not the solution. At least Stewart tries to cut through the bullshit and actually inform.

I barely watched Crossfire, more when the previous older crew was there (NOVAKula & whomever). No, I'm not defending BEGALA, am finding validation from him about my distrust of Jon. What reason? - I've stated my case. Who is "part of the problem" - BEGALA? Him -- ALONE-- more than all the jerk empty headed self-promoting jerks on T.V. - O'LOOFAH?!1

STEWART "tries to cut through the bullshit and actually inform" - "in what respect, Charlie?!1" -- comedians "inform" - Jon is the first one to scold you for saying that, "I'm NOT REAL NEWS!1"

Hookay, I'm departing this field tonight. Nighty-night!1

...pulling the same shit with Rachel Maddow as he did with Begala; part of the problem, partisan hack, basically same thing on the other side, no real difference from the right, etc. I think he'd gotten to the point where he somehow felt he was above it all, yet simultaneously reveled in all the "material" both sides provided him for his show, even though one side is consistently horribly wrong on just about everything.

After all this, I pretty much lost my respect for Stewart and stopped watching, as I felt he no longer showed any integrity, and his show appeared to be nothing more than a self-serving farce. He could have done so much more to use his show as a platform for some real change, but even that joke they called the "Rally to Restore Sanity" really had no meaning or impact whatsoever.

I don't miss the guy at all. He was just what he accused everyone else of, part of the problem, and making a living off of it all.

So what the Hades does Jon STEWART stand for? I myself will never want to get along with O'LOOFAH, HANNITY, LIMBOsevic, much less the even less mainstream of wingnuts. Why does Jon (leaving aside the comedians' Equal Time exclusion).

Why exclude people who will show up, take a beating, and get you good ratings? You know, the personal confrontations you were just arguing would disappear.

Could you go spend some time actually organizing your thoughts before coming back and contradicting yourself multiple times in one post?

talented and funny.

I answered. Review your question; review my answer, and *there* you *have* it!1

Stewart did the American viewing public a huuuuge favor when he exposed that piece of crap for the bogus chunk of sub par performance art it was.

Hopefully I will never have to see Tucker Carlson or Paul Beluga again.

So unless its streaming somewhere I'll have to miss out on that treat.

shaped cake.

It was years ago, and that was a funny episode.

Carvalle and Begalla Vs Noak and Carlson.

Naive me, when Bowtie Boy was on MSNBC I thought he was normally decent. He was always gushing on his producer Willie GEIST, who now seems "decent" compared to Joe SCABS and Mika MOUSE. Then he was released to fulfill his total Wingnut self. Back when, when DRUDGE blew the Sid BLUMENTHAL fake story about wife-beating, it was BowTieBoy's daddy Richard(?) who was the source.

I don't get your post - trying to smear him as 'third way' because he parodied Glen Beck? Okay, then.

and the whole pretense of Crossfire and all the other confrontational political shows is based on a lie.

Hateful enemies are not going to talk their differences out or resolve anything by going on tv and screaming at each other.

The parties are more polarized than any time in at least the last 50 years. And we have a nearly completely dysfunctional government. That's an actual problem. It caused government shut downs and our credit being downgraded.

Yes a lot of it is that Republicans have taken a leap into batshit crazy, but there have to be some issues where Democrats and Republicans can work together. One of the real downsides to the parties and voters becoming more "correctly" aligned (as in fewer relative liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats) is that there are fewer issue by issue coalitions.

Both sides have escalated the use of filibusters in the Senate to the point where nothing happens.

But it's more than that. Look at how we (myself included at times) refer to Republicans. It's silly things like rethuglicans or repukes. We all find it obnoxious when Republicans call us the Democrat party. And yet we do the same.

The reality to be seen?

Democratic politicians do not respond by saying "Rethuglican" or "Repuke".

There is a difference between us here on DU or wherever and the politicians who supposedly lead us, or at least there should be.

Mister Begala is entitled to his opinion.

I don't necessarily agree with him, but I suspect he really doesn't care about what I think or don't think.

I found Jon Stewart's show informative when I took time to watch it. I watched Crossfire from time to time and found it simply more often than not a shouting match and decided it was not for me.

A lot of Democrats lost that year due to the apathy it encouraged.

Isn't he the hack who used to prostrate himself for Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson?