Jon Stewart goes Colbert?

Is Jon Stewart following in Stephen Colbert's footsteps?

In late April, Colbert did a routine at the White House Correspondent's Dinner that mocked President Bush with a series of easy, predictable jokes. It was not very good comedy, but it made liberals happy, and many thousands of words were blogged about how great Colbert was.

Unfortunately, it's easy for satirists to give into the temptation, as Colbert apparently did, to (a) see themselves as serious political commentators and/or (b) play to their audience's preconceptions. The result, as I wrote then, is that "The Daily Show and Colbert are increasingly focused on telling jokes that make liberals feel good about themselves. The result is that the shows are both pretty mediocre right now."

Sadly, via Steve Benen at WashingtonMonthly.com, here's a report suggesting that Jon Stewart put Colbert to shame while hosting the Peabody Awards:

Thomas Jefferson once said: "Of course the people don't want war. But the people can be brought to the bidding of their leader. All you have to do is tell them they're being attacked and denounce the pacifists for somehow a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." I think that was Jefferson. Oh wait. That was Hermann Goering. Shoot.

An unfunny joke where the punchline is a Nazi comparison? Why hire Jon Stewart when you could get a commenter on Daily Kos to provide the same material? Sad, sad, sad...

Update 6/8 12:52 PM: Some commenters are mad that I don't like the joke and think I've appointed myself the humor police. So let's put the shoe on the other foot: Would people find it funny if Stewart's joke was to say "Howard Dean said X about President Bush. Oh wait, that was Osama Bin Laden." I doubt it. (Note: This is not hypothetical -- conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh draw that equivalence all the time.)

Update 6/9 8:26 AM: For those who are interested in a more detailed argument against Nazi analogies and jokes, see see my exchange with Matthew Yglesias from last September. I'd also note that Jon Stewart reportedly mocked people invoking Hitler and the Nazis last year, although I can't find video anywhere. (Does anyone have a link for this?) And for a lighter take, see the brilliant Beautiful Atrocities post "In the future, everyone will be Hitler for 15 minutes". Indeed.

Update 6/9 9:10 AM: Invaluable commenter Seth Kramer has found it -- video of Jon Stewart denouncing Hitler/Nazi comparisons (note: you have to watch an ad first). Money quotes from Stewart:

These days when it comes to demonizing your enemies there's a certain someone whose name is on everybody's lips... Yes, Adolf Hitler, one of the worst mass murderers in all history, has now become the go-to metaphor and comparison for anyone you have a minor disagreement with.

...And good for Pat Buchanan for showing that much strength. He didn't compare Terri Schiavo's husband to Hitler, just a Nazi in general. Now we can discuss this at a reasonable level!

So to sum up, please stop calling people Hitler when you disagree with them. It demeans you, it demeans them, and to be honest, it demeans Hitler. That guy worked too many years too hard to be that evil to have any Tom, Dick or Harry come along and say, "Hey, you're being Hitler." No! You know who was Hitler? Hitler!

Et tu, John?

[Disclosure: All the President's Spin was featured on The Daily Show -- Stewart interviewed my co-author Bryan Keefer.]

Comments

[SomeCallMeTim]

The standard counter-argument would note that attempting to satisfy everyone is precisely what yields the watered-down, least common denominator fare on television, about which everyone complains. Lots of people really liked Bill Hicks's material; lots of people really didn't.

[matt]

Brendan,

Stick to poly-sci, leave comedy to the professionals.

[Alan]

Hi Brendan,

Again we have a difference of opinion--I found Jon's "joke" to be both ironic and insightful, in other words, political comedy at its best. But if you would like to start blogging about political comedy, maybe you could share with us some things that you do think are funny--depending on your sense of humor, that might be much more interesting.

Alan

[unruly8i]

I used to find you an interesting read. But sadly, you have lost me after over-coverage of the Duke scandle and now this. You said it's easy for satirists to give in to temptation and see themselves as serious political commentators. It is their job to attack human vices, stupidity or follies through irony, derision, or wit. Satire was developed to make a social or political point. If you can't handle such sophisticated humor as satire, I suggest you find an old three stooges movie to watch.

[Seth]

True not funny, and what's with the Nazi card?

Stewart should know better. I remember him sermonizing that issue a few months ago in reference to Santorum (R-PA) and Byrd (D-WV).

You know what we need to fix this? A Constitutional Amendment!

[Alan]

Brendan,

To answer your Update question, J.S. makes jokes about democrats and liberals all the time, and yes, they are just as funny. Your example, of course, is completely not funny. Is that the best you can do? Sorry, we are simply not vibing on the issue of humor.

Alan

[Arjun]

Hey Brendan,

I thought about your comparison in the 'update' section.

Obviously it is ridiculous to suggest that people who appear to have similar views on a few issues are 'one and the same.'

However, couldn't it be said that Jon's 'joke' was not suggesting this? I think he was commenting on the scary Orwellian tone that we've all had to hum to over the past couple of years. I did not see it as a direct comparison of the Nazi's and the American Right.

Finally I'd like to say this: Comedy is all about atmosphere, timing and inflection. It's why Dave Chapelle is so friggin' funny. Neither of us were there at the Peabody Awards and we can't take a single joke out of context and critique how funny it was. By the same token, I agree with you that Colbert's Press Dinner-Thing wasn't that funny - he should have reserved some time to talk about Bears and Filliam H. Muffman. Instead he did to his audience what he does every day to the subjects of interviews - he made them visibly uncomfortable. Come to think of it - Maybe the joke was on all of us.

[Jon Henke]

"Everybody's a critic", said Jon Stewart after reading Nyhan's post. Wait, that wasn't Jon Stewart. That was Ghengis Khan!

They can't all be silver bullets, Brendan. When your job is to push the envelope with incisive political humor, you'll sometimes push buttons, too. Relax.

For my part, I'm much more concerned about poisonous rhetoric from people who claim to be serious.

[Brendan Nyhan]

Comparing the Bush administration to Nazis is sophisticated humor? You've got to be kidding.

[Seth]

Ask and ye shall recieve:

http://www.spikedhumor.com/articles/20152/The_Daily_Show_Hitler.html

"Yes. Adolph Hitler, one of the worst mass murders in all history, has now become the go to metaphor and comparison for anyone you have a minor disagreement with."

[Brendan Nyhan]

As far as Jon and Arjun's comments, I would ask you guys to think about how pundits use humor as a way to get away with saying things that would not otherwise be acceptable. Rush Limbaugh, for instance, did a long, supposedly comedic routine comparing Tom Daschle to the devil. Ann Coulter uses "humor" to get away with cheap shots and unfair comparisons. So does Michael Moore. Etc. etc. Just because a statement is made in the context of comedy shouldn't reduce the scrutiny that we give it.

[Alan]

Hi Bredan,

I also found the comments by Yglesias that you linked above to be distasteful. But I do not feel the same about J.S.'s comment.

In your previous comments regarding Yglesias, you wrote: "Almost always, the analogy isn't being used because it's accurate, but because it makes the other side look bad."

In this case, it looks like the analogy is being used because it is accurate. There are people here in the USA doing the kinds of things that Hermann Goering advocated in his quote (assuming the quote is accurate). I find the "Hermann Goering" approach for manipulating public opinion to be so distasteful that pointing it out is more than appropriate.

BTW, are you sure J.S. was referring to the Bush administration, or are you just reading that into what he said?

Alan

[Shakespeare's Sister]

In this case, it looks like the analogy is being used because it is accurate.

Yeah, I've got to agree with this. There's an easily discernible difference between invoking Hitler by means of comparison to suggest someone is being uncompromising or inflexible, which is what we often see, and drawing a parallel between policies. Even if one feels Stewart's joke was inappropriate, or simply unfunny, it's still not the same in kind to the old "You're being a total Nazi about this" type thing.

[Lettuce]

Ignore the commentators, Brendan.

It's all about YOU, man. You should be the final arbitor of everyone else's conduct. Funny man Jon Stewart should stay in his place and make us laugh, laugh, laugh and laugh.

Leave this politics stuff the the acknowledged expert: Grad student Brendan Nyhan.

[matt]

Brendan,

I thought you were acting as the comedy police in regards to Colbert, not Stewart. Colbert was funny, you just didn't get it.

[Pete]

Brendan,
Despite what the comments are above, you hit the nail on the head. People, however, put these comics on a pedestal. Let us break it down.
Pre-9/11: Mostly comics or Hollywood types on the Daily Show. This was because they were following the Jon Stewart Show's footsteps.
Post-9/11: Now they change to the political spectrum. More pundits and govt officials.

Now the proof that they were catering to the knee-slapping of the Liberal crowd: After the 2004 election, you could hear a pin drop in the audience after every joke. I felt a little uncomfortable watching it. Kinda like when the Python fellas did the Dead Parrot bit on SNL and no one laughed; at all.
So, Bush-bashing=Funny.
Bush wins election=Not Funny.
I'm thinking the audience is not leaning Conservative. ;-)
Producers have to keep those folks happy.
Pete