Alex Felker
5 HN recommenders · recommended in 18 months, 2009–2025
14:14 · 18M views · Jan 17, 2006
Jon Stewart appears as a guest on CNN's Crossfire in 2004 and criticizes hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala for turning political debate into partisan theater that hurts America.
HN returns to it constantly as the definitive critique of adversarial TV punditry, still seen as relevant to polarized media and online discourse.
20 comments from Hacker News
This is exactly what I thought about John Stewart during his epic debate with Tucker Carlson on Crossfire. It's so very worth watching again even if you've seen it multiple times. It really reminds people that John Stewart and Stephen Colbert really are only "characters" on their show. this video Bill Maher is another brilliant, politically insightful comedian.
After reading this, I don't think you understand what the Daily Show is. This is probably the best discussion about what the show is all about (note: crossfire was canceled almost immediately after this). this video
In TFA, Brian Williams mentions Stewart's takedown of Cramer in an interview in which 'the odds were stacked against Jim Cramer'. This brought to mind a brilliant attack on the now defunct political show "Crossfire", in which Liberals battled Conservatives. In a nutshell, Stewart was brought on as a guest after attacking Crossfire on The Daily Show. Although Stewart is the guest on the show, he takes the offensive and puts the Crossfire hosts at an instant disadvantage. Here's the link: this video
I have never seen something like his appearance on Crossfire on TV. this video And here is him speaking to Congress over their shameful handling of benefits for 9/11 responders. Nuff said? [LINK]
It's always good to follow this up with John Stewart's appearance, the one that got the show canceled: this video