It was ridiculous when Senator Orrin Hatch read a quotation from Disney's Robin Hood to oppose the Obama budget back in April:
But Chuck Grassley's disquisition on the battle between "Sir Tax-a-lot" and "the massive, fire-breathing Debt and Deficit Dragon" -- complete with giant cartoon-style posters from Kinko's -- might be the most inane use of visual aids in the history of the United States Senate:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Chuck Grassley's Debt and Deficit Dragon | ||||
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Brendan Nyhan seems like a serious guy. I can understand how he would disapprove of using humor to make a political point. But, when John Stewart mocks the use of humor in political debate, that's chutzpah.
P.S. Stewart claimed he didn't understand Grassley's point. John, if you're reading this blog, Grassley asserted that the health reform bill wouldn't slow the growth of deficits due to medical costs. He said surtaxes required by the Health bill would damage the economy, thus destroying jobs.
Posted by: David | August 10, 2009 at 12:38 AM
David - between Grassley and Stewart - one of them is getting paid to be a Senator by the residents of the US. One of them is getting paid to be a comedian by Comedy Central.
Which of the two do you think does have an obligation to the people who pay him to engage in important policy debates with some seriousness?
Posted by: Sebastian | August 10, 2009 at 03:47 PM
Sebastian - Grassley's Senate paycheck is chump change to him; his employers are his campaign contributors who pay him to entertain us with his antics, so we don't notice he's helping them rip us off.
So they're both comedians, it's just that Stewart has higher ratings .. probably because he's more honest.
Posted by: rewinn | August 14, 2009 at 08:55 AM