What a Tucker

Here's Tucker Carlson arguing that Jon Stewart has become a pompous, unfunny blowhard.

I think ol' Tucker might have an axe. Don't know why.

He's not without a point, but his endgame is faulty: Stewart's still pretty good at his game and Tucker's still a shallow hack. There is a worry JS will become the thing he mocks, but he's very aware of it, and he really seemed troubled by cheers during the election. S'it's still funny and when he goes serious like he did with Cramer, it's pretty damned riveting. In fact he's funny because there's something there behind it; it's not just snark, as David Denby wrote in Snark, his book on the subject. And Tucker's analysis is less intriguing because there doesn't seem to be much behind it.

And while there may not be a direct line between Cramer's nasty stock manipulations and the fact that he allows himself to be an admitted conduit for CEO's misinformation (stock manipulation) I think Stewart's view is that shows like Crossfire and Mad Money are just echo chambers for oversimplification, when they should be news shows that reflect the complexity of reality. There WAS knowledge of a housing bubble. Paul Krugman was talking about it all the time. It's just not as sexy as saying Buy Buy BUY! Stewart thinks news shows have an obligation to the public, not just the bottom line.

Stewart's right, and Tucker's a douche.

--Dan Kilian

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