I think he genuinely felt that joking about it was wrong. I don't think he was giving into public pressure, either. My son, Ben Richman, a fine rock guitarist who also has a keen eye for politics, had a different take on Facebook:
He might have even picked up a few viewers. (See his Wartime.) We have here good evidence for Fussell's claim.īut even allowing for the irony-impairment of American culture, did Stewart really feel he had to apologize? Did he think he'd lose his audience if he became known as one who is "flip" about the holy rite of voting? I realize that ratings are a matter of life and death, but come on. Paul Fussell, who wrote excellent books on how war degrades culture, said that World War II killed Americans' sense of irony. Maybe one reason political satire is so scarce is that Americans don't get it. Secretary of War Amanpour? Whether one believed Stewart's answer or not, how in the world was it the stuff of public controversy? Does no one have a sense of humor? Must he say "just kidding" after every sentence? So, I apologize.įirst off, how did his flip answer create "a bit of a story"? He's a comedian for heaven's sake! Several nights a week he makes fun of politicians and government bungling! He does flip for a living! Who got upset with his reply, aside from U.S.
I was being flip, and I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have been flip about that.… It sent a message that I didn't think voting was important or that I didn't think it was a big issue. To set the record straight, I did vote today.… I was being flip, and it kind of took off. That night on his own show, Stewart, after assuring his audience that he has known where "his thing" is since age 13, acknowledged that his answer created "a bit of a story." So he felt compelled to say, I don't even know where my thing is now." He said, "No"-to which Amanpour reacted with (or perhaps feigned) amazement, "No?!" In an election-day interview on CNN, Christiane Amanpour asked Stewart if he had voted.
Is it fear that keeps it safely limited? Or is it simply that so few people today can see the fundamental flaws in the American political system, which trashes liberty in so many ways?īy now most people who pay attention to these things know that The Daily Show's host, Jon Stewart, who is probably regarded as America's premier political satirist, felt it necessary to recant after apparently uttering a heresy according to America's civic religion: democracy. But no satirist risks his life or liberty in America today, which makes the scarcity of good satire so puzzling. Throughout history, satirists have risked their liberty and even their lives using humor to engage in deep commentary about the reigning political system and its exalted political figures-they're called leaders, though surely better terms are rulers and misleaders. Unfortunately, while it would be a slight exaggeration to say that political satire is dead in America, it's been on the critical list for some time.
Gilbert George Orwell Lenny Bruce Dick Gregory Tom Lehrer, David Frost, and That Was the Week That Was George Carlin Spitting Image, Yes, Minister the Smothers Brothers the early Saturday Night Live, Dave Barry, The Onion, South Park, Family Guy, and so many more. Political satire has a long and honorable history: Aristophanes, William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift W.S.
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