Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Jon Stewart Post 9-11

I apologise to Americans who have probably seen this before, but as a resident of the UK, I have just come across it. Jon Stewart's first show back after 9-11.

His defence of dissent, or "spitballs" as he calls it, seems to undermine the whole Ann Coulter/Republican argument that we should all toe the line and always accept the government's version of events.

Dissent, far from being unpatriotic, is the very essence of democracy. Indeed, the very fact that it is allowed is the strongest indication of any democracy's health.

The argument of Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and others - that dissent in some way threatens our freedoms - shows that they completely misunderstand the foundations on which those freedoms are built. All ideas must circulate freely, not just our own. That is the very essence of democracy.

If we adhere to the neo-con position that we should accept what we are told unquestioningly, how do we differ from the fundamentalists?



5 comments:

Unknown said...

I have seen that, but it's worth a second look. It's a beautiful segment. His shellshock, his confusion, his groping-in-the-dark, as it were, are all honest and sincere. His reaction to 9/11 is so human. He's just a guy who feels dwarfed by world events, and we can all sympathize with that. Contrast that with Bush's immediate warmongering posturing, which made me ill and angry on a primal level. The moment I saw Bush's filthy disgusting face on that TV screen, bellowing at us about terrorism, I knew he was hiding a whole deck of cards up his evil sleeves. I could smell it, and it stank of Dante's Inferno. So I would disagree with you when you say:

"The argument of Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and others - that dissent in some way threatens our freedoms - shows that they completely misunderstand the foundations on which those freedoms are built."

On the contrary, they understand perfectly well the foundations on which freedom is built. That's why they are so adept at killing it, and killing it, and killing it some more.

Sorry for the venom, Kel. I'm in that mood again. But I know you understand.

Really glad you posted this clip.

Kel said...

Of course I understand. That's why we're a good team, you fulminate whilst I try to stay all British and reasonable. Always giving the benefit of the doubt.

We're the blog's version of Geldof and Bono. Apparently, Bono lays out the arguments and tries to keep everyone on side whilst Geldof eventually shouts, "Fuck this" and starts letting them have it full throttle :-)

Unknown said...

That's great! I'll take that. It takes a lot of inner strength to remain fair-minded; I respect that. A little emotional kick is helpful too. So yeah, it's a pleasure to be tag-teaming like this.

Unknown said...

I think that it sucks that Comedy Central has removed the video. It, IMO is such an uplifting speech. I just lost my father and for some reason since he's passed I've been searching out this clip. Tonight, I finally found it, and it just made me feel positive during the hardest time of my life. That's not an easy thing to do.

Kel said...

Booby,

They no longer allow any of Jon Stewart's show to be viewed outside of the US and, as this site is hosted in the UK, I fall foul.

Very sorry to hear about your loss.