Election Watch

Jon Stewart on “Electile Dysfunction”

Jon Stewart is an interesting person. He’s indisputably an accomplished comic performer who has been remarkably successful at lampooning public issues and figures for decades.

I think his longevity comes from the fact that he’s committed to the moral requirement of the best type of comedy, which is to gently poke at what seems false about what the world takes as true, and to make fun of what is clearly bad about ideas, strategies, and policies that governments and media giants tell us are good.

Which is to say that I believe Jon Stewart strives to do just that, which isn’t easy, because it requires the performer to maintain an open, independent, and critical mind, while also working to maintain as large an audience as possible.

From what I’ve read about his history, Stewart began his stand-up career as a conventional liberal/leftist and continues to hold many of the sentiments of that viewpoint in his heart. But his brain has been troubled lately by the idiocy of the ideological left, and this has somehow energized him to satirize the left’s most obviously idiotic ideas. For a mainstream American celebrity, this is a dangerous game to play. But he decided to play it and has so far managed to make it work. I don’t know how he is doing in terms of the ratings algorithms, but he still has a job on mainstream media, and that, in itself, is a considerable accomplishment.

Don’t get me wrong. I am impressed by Stewart’s natural and hard-earned talents, and I admire his drive to build his comedic career on his version of what is – and is not – good and true.

The one thing I don’t like about him is that he sometimes seems to see himself as a public “intellectual,” like Jordan Peterson or Thomas Sowell or Ben Shapiro. As a well-known comedian who is accustomed to speaking about controversial issues, the level of his thinking is considerably more nuanced than, say, Stephen Colbert’s. But he’s way too conventional (timid?) in his thinking to rank alongside the truly great (which always means brave) ones like Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, and Bill Burr.

Still, in his own uncertain way, I see Jon Stewart as a challenger of mainstream morals and ideas and a successful entertainer willing to risk some of his popularity (and personal income) by working on the front lines of culture. And for that, he merits my admiration and respect.

Here’s an example, a piece he did Feb. 12 in his first reappearance as the host of “The Daily Show,” where he talked about the 2024 Trump vs. Biden rematch.

Trends in Wokeness 

Freddie deBoer on the Ugly Reality of the College Admissions Process 

“Let me stress one basic point,” writes my favorite self-proclaimed Socialist in a recent post, “You cannot make a competitive selection process equitable, as the entire point of competitive selection is to identify inequality.”

Read his entire argument here.

Wins and Losses in the Gender Wars 

Following threats of a lawsuit… 

A Minnesota school district is allowing the children of Muslim families to opt out of LGBTQ classes. Click here.