Jon Stewart, Lou Dobbs Discuss CNN, Argue Over Health Care Reform (VIDEO)

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart welcomed former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs with a Mariachi band because... why not? Over a long interview, only portions of which aired, Stewart and Dobbs discussed the newsman's decision to quit on the air... or not quit on the air... or come to some sort of mutual understanding tied up in contracts that dissolved the relationship between CNN and the controversial anchor. Dobbs basically offered that CNN "wanted to move in another direction," to which Stewart replied, "I see the direction they're going in, I believe it's called down."

Then, praising Dobbs for having "abhorrent and wrong" views that are nevertheless "consistent," Stewart pressed Dobbs on the issues he invoked in his "I'm quitting, in some contractual fashion" speech: "The issue seems to be -- and you allude to it in your resignation speech -- that the winds of change are blowing this country -- people have, apparently, lost their minds. there seems to be a panic that we have lost the fabric of our society and I'm having trouble getting a handle on what has happened that is so drastic that people would think it's tyranny or fascism or Hitler-esque."

Dobbs noted that "what has happened" goes back to previous administrations, and that the Bush administration fostered a great "indifference" to the way policy impacted the lives of Americans. Which strikes me as, uhm... suddenly very generalist! Stewart basically countered by saying that it seems to be the coming of the Obama administration that has set everyone's "hair on fire." Dobbs cited the "Obama health care legislation" as something that's uniquely scaring people about the current administration with the prospect of fundamental change.

Stewart countered by pointing out that there's really no such thing as "Obama health care legislation" ("Obama hasn't really said anything," Stewart said, "to his discredit."), adding, "We're not a fragile country. This idea that somehow getting a health care plan through takes us back to the days pre-revolution is bunk. There's a fear out there that seems irrational." Stewart contended that individuals like David Addington, architect of the unitary executive and the torture policy in the previous administration, represented to him a more frightening agent of change than an administration that seems to, essentially, want to "expand Medicare."

Dobbs allowed that he thought that "part of that fear is simply catching up with the events of some years ago." Stewart observed, "Why do they always catch up to the fears during the Democratic administrations? It feels like all the people that want limited government really just want government limited to Republicans."



Video Link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/jon-stewart-lou-dobbs-dis_n_363616.html

Dobbs just likes to make trouble. He really is just a curmudgeon.

What is so revolutionary about a plan that tries to make health care available to everyone without a huge tax increase for those who can least afford the increase? All other civilized countries insure everyone. Why is it so American to allow people to die without health care? Is there something particularly "free" about being able to live in comfort while your neighbors across town die prematurely because they couldn't afford to see the doctor until they were actually breathing their last gasps?

The statistics comparing American healthcare outcomes with those in other civilized countries prove the failure of our system. And Dobbs is shoring up the numbers who don't want change. He is an anachronism.

I hope that Dobbs will soon be joining the ranks of the unemployed himself. He adds absolutely nothing to the national discussion.

seems to like him genuinely, and was easy on him, but delivered, as always, the killer/cogent point, that CHEENEE's ADDINGTON's implementing the unitary executive plus torture policy is far more revolutionary than health care.

can have a conversation without screaming and over talking each other... and then you will really learn which one makes sense...

She has people on her show that she disagrees with, but she doesn't scream over them. In the end, it is clear who has brought the better arguments.

Comparing people who want health reform with neocons... Give me a break.