dagblog - Comments for "Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too"

It's easy to miss, but at one

acanuck — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:19:27 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

It's easy to miss, but at one point in the tape, Cramer refers derisively to "the long-term morons." That would be you and me.
Stewart's single most damning criticism: "It's not a fucking game." But for Cramer and his ilk, that's precisely what it was.
A lucrative game, fixed in the house's favor.
This is not just time for pitchforks. I want ropes, buckets of tar and torches.

Armchair: Watch that

acanuck — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:48:52 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

Armchair:
Watch that videotape again.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10196471-62.html
It's clear to me what it shows: Cramer talking candidly -- and not for TV broadcast -- about his own actions as a hedge-fund manager.
He talked, among other things, of manipulating the price of RIM or Apple shares by spreading false rumors.
So Cramer himself is, putting the best face on it, a RETIRED thief. But if you know the game is fixed (because you yourself have experience fixing it) and you still try to lure the gullible into playing, aren't you part of a conspiracy to defraud?
Stewart pointedly referred to actions that were unethical "if not criminal."
CNBC didn't just "get lied to" by CEOs. They were and are in on the game. Not just a sin of omission, but commission.
I think Cramer was such a meek lamb at the slaughterhouse because he knew that tape would be shown, and he didn't want to call attention to his arguably criminal admissions on it.
Now, CNBC is not the entire MSM; just one small part. But let me call your attention to a point Josh made yesterday: CNBC does not report to NBC News, so it isn't bound by that division's journalistic "standards."
NBC structured it that way. Why?
And if they aren't feeling guilty, why the coverup? Why order MSNBC to pretend Cramer-Stewart never happened?
CNBC is just one of the rocks on the MSM beach. Maybe we should look under a few more of them.

As Jon Stewart points out,

1849 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 10:03:43 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

As Jon Stewart points out, they CNBC are no better than info-mericals; only these info-mericals are dressed up in corporate logos and sandwiched between business commercials which lends an air of authenticity to the program.

When big business pays money to advertise, it is MSM.

I loved the segment,

Armchair Guerrilla — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:09:38 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

I loved the segment, but...

How are the MSM thieves?

Is CNBC the MSM? What is it's role? And what is Jim Cramer's function? I don't watch his show, but seems to me he's just a clown doling out shoddy investment advice with a huge grain of salt. Most everyone in that business got it wrong and they're deep in the crapper too.

Finally, what was that video that Stewart kept referring to?

I love the fact the Comedy

1849 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:50:36 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

I love the fact the Comedy Central made fun of itself between the Cramer segments by saying this will probably allow them to charge more for advertising. I have pointed this fact out in this forum that what we are watching is driven by ratings and CNBC is no exception. Should we always know the history and personal ties the person dispensing advise?

It was a brilliant piece of journalism. This is what I imagine broadcasting and journalism students should learn. I learned this lesson right down to the letter.

OK - well CNBC didn't just

MiddleClassBill — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:51:19 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

OK - well CNBC didn't just parrot what GE told them to say. They have always had hosts and guests that always showed both sides of the story. They have bulls and they have bears on their show. They have most of the major CEOs across all industries and they usually ask them the right questions. Maybe their not as tactless as Stewart, but their show isn't on Comedy Central and they're not supposed to be as satirical as Stewart.

I don't like Cramer but he's just one person. And I think he does dig in. And for Stewart to somehow assign blame to CNBC for not stopping the credit crisis is just not sincere. He's upset at Cramer because CNBC could have stopped it if they were just harder on their guests. That's baloney.

MCB... I think you are

jofga — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:33:07 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

MCB... I think you are missing one point.

Jon Stewart is part of the media and his primary target is MEDIA failures. He has a history of excoriating those who claim to be 'news' for not 'digging' and exposing anything and rather just parroting what authorities tell them.

That IS one of the reasons we have freedom of the press - to support the existence of sector whose self (financial and professional) interest is in debunking BS from authorities.

I'm sure Jon would be happy and ready to interview any derivatives traders, financial hustlers, heads of financial institutions, etc. if they would be willing to be interviewed.

Why doesn't Stewart have

MiddleClassBill — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:28:51 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

Why doesn't Stewart have people on his show that were really responsible for the credit crisis?

Instead he has on an entertainer/reporter/commentator. Nothing that Cramer said on his TV show caused the mess we're in right now.

And for Stewart to insinuate that CNBC should have had a bigger role in preventing this is just bogus.

If Stewart was really sincere about getting to the bottom of this, he'd spend more time lynching the people that really had a hand in the cookie jar. Cramer isn't one of them

You seem to have missed the

eds — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:00:23 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

You seem to have missed the point which Jon mentioned over and over again, and Cramer accepted, that it wasn't a Cramer Roast, it was a CNBC and Fellow Traveler Roast. Cramer was simply the representative from the far side...

I've been scoping out the

acanuck — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:28:46 +0000

In reply to Jon Stewart is my hero -- and he should be yours, too

I've been scoping out the reaction today, and commenters across the political spectrum scored it a Stewart knockout; some thought the fight should have been stopped as a TKO in the second round.
The one defense the right-wingers seem to be rallying to is one that MSA3 touches on above: that Stewart didn't take on Cramer until Cramer (who says he's a Democrat) started criticizing Barack Obama. So Stewart's a hypocrite and part of some liberal PC conspiracy.
They conveniently ignore that political preferences never even surfaced on last night's show.
TIME magazine's TV critic seems to have a rather clear-eyed view of what last night's smackdown was really about -- and why it was important:
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/03/13/stewartcramer-whos-this-song-about/