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Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

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Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 3:52 PM EDT

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AlexRemington

First post: 5/24/2007
Last post: 8/4/2009
Total posts: 1566

As Howard Kurtz wrote, "Jon Stewart wasn't trying to be funny. Jim Cramer wasn't trying to be obnoxious." As with Stewart's infamous Crossfire appearance (when he said "We need help from the media and they're hurting us"), Stewart's explicit goal was to criticize what he perceived as a failure of the media, with genuine anger and without satire. And Cramer sat and apologized. Did you watch the show? Do you think Stewart's right that CNBC is part of the problem? Or has his popularity gone to his head?

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 4:00 PM EDT

mykulw

First post: 10/23/2008
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 2243

Replying to:

So, who's to blame for the financial mess we're in? Jon Stewart, the host of the Daily Show, called out CNBC, airing a viral video of a number of mistakes and overly rosy predictions made by the network as banks failed and the economy turned south. Jim Cramer, the host of "Mad Money," shot back at Stewart, and the two finally met on the Daily Show last night. As Howard Kurtz wrote, "Jon Stewart wasn't trying to be funny. Jim Cramer wasn't trying to be obnoxious." As with Stewart's infamous Crossfire appearance (when he said "We need help from the media and they're hurting us"), Stewart's explicit goal was to criticize what he perceived as a failure of the media, with genuine anger and without satire. And Cramer sat and apologized. Did you watch the show? Do you think Stewart's right that CNBC is part of the problem? Or has his popularity gone to his head?
Posted by AlexRemington

Alex in this as with many other things Jon Stewart, the ersatz journalist, has more gravitas and credibility than many "real" journalists.

Sometimes life not only imitates Art, it is Art.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 4:13 PM EDT

*Moderator*

AlexRemington

First post: 5/24/2007
Last post: 8/4/2009
Total posts: 1566

Replying to:

Alex in this as with many other things Jon Stewart, the ersatz journalist, has more gravitas and credibility than many "real" journalists. Sometimes life not only imitates Art, it is Art.
Posted by mykulw

Here's the complete interview; the TV broadcast edited it for time. If you only saw the broadcast, I recommend watching all of it.

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Media is Out of Touch

posted at 3/13/2009 4:42 PM EDT

Maddogg

First post: 7/25/2007
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 2172

Ocassionally though they stumble and accidentially get in touch. But that is rare.

Here would be a good media story:

The American citizen will sell their economy and soul to China without a blink, but turn around and war on a false adversary in Iraq. Go figure!

Naturally, the media could take on the US Congress for their automatic salary increases while the US military goes on food stamps.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 5:00 PM EDT

mykulw

First post: 10/23/2008
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 2243

Replying to:

Here's the complete interview; the TV broadcast edited it for time. If you only saw the broadcast, I recommend watching all of it.
Posted by AlexRemington

duly noted in my annal of Good Advice.

Absolutely positively riveting.

The clear eyed analysis and the powers of reasoning shown by Jon Stewart were prodigious and potent. and the potty mouth, instead of inciting laughs, was the punctuation of devastating insight.

Mr. Cramer has been shown as a brave and honest soul with an open mind to criticism.

All in all, highly satisfying and a news item by itself.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 5:28 PM EDT

erikdigitaal

First post: 3/13/2009
Last post: 3/14/2009
Total posts: 2

[QUOTE]So, who's to blame for the financial mess we're in?

I am a Dutchman from Holland (Europe, not Amsterdam!) and i would like to react to you Americans about what we think in my country.

The people who are to blame in this crisis are the rating-agency;s who put the high ratings on those lousy loanings. I still cannot believe that the ones who are responsible for this are not arrested nor prosecuted. In Europe we have sooo much damage because of this cheat and the Americans lost their credits in being a proper state to do business with.

Why are the ones who are responsible for those ratings still not arrested?? How can we ever go on in business between our continents if the Americans do not feel that they are guilty in this case??

Of course also our bankers are guilty by being so dumb to buy it, but they trusted on your financial system that a high rating means a good product to buy as investors.

Why the americans don't show the world that they found the causers from this crisis and prosecute them like you did with Madoff?

This crisis is about trust, the trust has been broken on the most worse level so for the future i would at least expect that you show the world who did it and then the next step is acknowledge that it will never ever happen again. The european union is breaking in parts these days and that;s all because some bankers/rating-ppl were so selfish to cheat the whole world.

I lost big money on this crisis, it would be fair if the american government pays off my losses. Just like our bank (ING) will guarantee the saving-money on all their accounts. The dutch citizens all are responsible for this bank in case it will fall down.

I just hope that the USA will make this mistake right with the whole world, if not then i think i will never ever buy an american product no more.

Let me know what you think please, if this reaction is in the wrong forum then please move it to the right forum and let me know where you put it.

Kind regards,

Erik the flying Dutchman.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 5:42 PM EDT

whistling

First post: 11/5/2007
Last post: 11/14/2009
Total posts: 150

Replying to:

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CRAMER AND CNBC TAKEN DOWN,

posted at 3/13/2009 5:48 PM EDT

whistling

First post: 11/5/2007
Last post: 11/14/2009
Total posts: 150

Steward was brilliant, on the mark--
it falls in the community service category.

And, anytime the obnoxious Cramer is taken down is a good time. That film! of his bragging about how crooks work was as good as such gets.

CNBC is guilty as H.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 5:50 PM EDT

mykulw

First post: 10/23/2008
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 2243

Replying to:

So, who's to blame for the financial mess we're in?

I am a Dutchman from Holland (Europe, not Amsterdam!) and i would like to react to you Americans about what we think in my country.

The people who are to blame in this crisis are the rating-agency;s who put the high ratings on those lousy loanings. I still cannot believe that the ones who are responsible for this are not arrested nor prosecuted. In Europe we have sooo much damage because of this cheat and the Americans lost their credits in being a proper state to do business with.

Why are the ones who are responsible for those ratings still not arrested?? How can we ever go on in business between our continents if the Americans do not feel that they are guilty in this case??

Of course also our bankers are guilty by being so dumb to buy it, but they trusted on your financial system that a high rating means a good product to buy as investors.

Why the americans don't show the world that they found the causers from this crisis and prosecute them like you did with Madoff?

This crisis is about trust, the trust has been broken on the most worse level so for the future i would at least expect that you show the world who did it and then the next step is acknowledge that it will never ever happen again. The european union is breaking in parts these days and that;s all because some bankers/rating-ppl were so selfish to cheat the whole world.

I lost big money on this crisis, it would be fair if the american government pays off my losses. Just like our bank (ING) will guarantee the saving-money on all their accounts. The dutch citizens all are responsible for this bank in case it will fall down.

I just hope that the USA will make this mistake right with the whole world, if not then i think i will never ever buy an american product no more.

Let me know what you think please, if this reaction is in the wrong forum then please move it to the right forum and let me know where you put it.

Kind regards,

Erik the flying Dutchman.
Posted by erikdigitaal

God bless you.

It is hard to put words to the degree of scandal this is. We are still in shock and turbulence over this. But the legal system had to wait for the new President. The previous one suppressed all news or reporting on its failings.

and its corrupted Justice Department (Ministry) politically chose prosecutions of distraction.

Please do not lose faith in us. The American people share your exact same feelings.

Although i'm not in a position to promise you anything, i strongly bet we will see justice in this matter. the stakes and consequences are already far too high.

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Cramer taken to task

posted at 3/13/2009 5:50 PM EDT

patisok

First post: 2/27/2009
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 23

Cramer showed his true colors when a clip from 2006 showed he used many of the same tatics Wall Street used to get us into this big mess. I think Stewart was brilliant. Bravo to you sir.

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Stewart one of the smartest people on earth.

posted at 3/13/2009 5:51 PM EDT

mcleangirl

First post: 11/14/2007
Last post: 8/20/2009
Total posts: 24

He's honest, compassionate, appropriately silly, self-deprecating, and his intelligence is beyond ken. His books are a scream from front to back and completely right on. It was Stewart who brought the Democrats to the White House.

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somebody's got to do it

posted at 3/13/2009 6:01 PM EDT

Grace5

First post: 6/24/2008
Last post: 3/13/2009
Total posts: 3

Has his popularity gone to his head? I don't think so. I think he's disgusted that "real" journalism doesn't get it -- see his appearance on Crossfire. It's like the framework for the discussion has been artificially defined and reporters and pundits don't ever look at the real issues from any other perspective. I'm grateful to Stewart for having the intelligence, common sense and basic decency to address the naked emperor. Does this mean he's laying all the blame for the economic meltdown on CNBC? No -- he's just calling them out for their role in it.

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Truth

posted at 3/13/2009 6:03 PM EDT

rlj1

First post: 6/4/2007
Last post: 11/14/2009
Total posts: 51

Stewart did a normal and truthful routine and Cramer got his toes stepped on and tried to defend himself and his network. CNBC and NBC should have let it go but noooooo they put loudmouth out front to defend them and they ended up looking worse.

He doth protest too much.

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liberal mouthpiece

posted at 3/13/2009 6:11 PM EDT

mhr614

First post: 10/3/2007
Last post: 11/22/2009
Total posts: 66

Stewart's comedic skills are few and his political acumen is stale. He is purely and simply another liberal loudmouth. Nothing funny about them. And they take themselves much too seriously. O'Donnell, Garafalo, Olberman, Matthews- a tiresome crowd.

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Yeah!

posted at 3/13/2009 6:13 PM EDT

rannrann

First post: 3/27/2008
Last post: 11/7/2009
Total posts: 30

Jon Stewart has every right to voice his opinion on what he sees on the "tube" just as you and I and everyone does. Popularity has nothing to do with it.

Also, it is very refreshing to actually hear some "real" opinions instead of "politically" correct opinions or opinions that "fall in line" with your advertisers.

There is so little "honesty" in any form on the "tube" that Jon Stewart is popular because he has a cable show that allows him that freedom and folks eat it up, they are hungry for a tad bit of honesty, because, frankly, the constant feed of bullsheet is ruining this Nation. President Barak Obama was elected because a Nation got feed up with the constant, blatant, dishonesty and bullsheet being told to them. Let's face it towards the end of the Bush/Cheney Administration those two didn't even bother to bullsheet us anymore they just out right sheet in our faces and asked, " so what ya gonna do about it?" Huh?

Jim Cramer and CNBC deserve everything Jon Stewart said about them. For Jim Cramer to say he should have done a better job, is really, sad, beause he should have done an honest job.

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The Talking Heads Blew It

posted at 3/13/2009 6:13 PM EDT

pdeblin

First post: 3/13/2009
Last post: 8/27/2009
Total posts: 5

Jon Stewart was right to take on CNBC. That network as well as their sisters and brothers all over the media were missing in covering the growing financial disaster.

CNBC is particularly troublesome because it is their beat but they embody the widespread problems: poor reporting, meaningless panels and a failure to define their mission properly.

CNBC's panels. which often resemble Hollywood Squares, seem more interested in how loudly they can argue a point tha what the point means. And the points they try to make more often than not are flacks for Wall St. or Republican big market wealth.

What is truly amazing is how critical these pundits are of the Obama administration and the Congress as if they had become sudden experts in something they could not come close to predicting.

Wall St. has finally been exposed as a large unregulated casino run by and for insiders. The sad thing is they are entrusted with our IRAs and 401Ks because we have no other choice.

When it became painfully obvious that CNB is derelict in its duty, Jon Stewart a la Will Rogers, abandoned his comedian cap and took on the role of muckraker. Somebody had to do it.

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Re: Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer -- A Comedian Spreads the Blame

posted at 3/13/2009 6:14 PM EDT

kls1

First post: 2/6/2009
Last post: 11/5/2009
Total posts: 6

TO:
Erik the flying Dutchman.
Posted by erikdigitaal[/QUOTE]

To everyone in Amsterdam (what a great city to visit!) and Europe,

Wish that didn't happen, but, we got a saying in the USA:
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!

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Not John Stewart

posted at 3/13/2009 6:17 PM EDT

Megaduck

First post: 2/20/2008
Last post: 6/10/2009
Total posts: 9

"So, who's to blame for the financial mess we're in?"

Not John Stewart.

He has every right to point out the absurdities in the world.

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WHY NOT?

posted at 3/13/2009 6:26 PM EDT

postal1

First post: 10/22/2007
Last post: 7/22/2009
Total posts: 30

Jon Stewart criticizes the President. Why would he not criticize Jim Cramer??

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I'll say this...

posted at 3/13/2009 6:28 PM EDT

metavosk

First post: 5/12/2008
Last post: 3/13/2009
Total posts: 5

I'm no fan of Jim Cramer's, but he at least had the guts to step into the lion's den and take his mauling.

Too little, too late, sure, but how many financial commentators out there are still -- 6 months after the beginning of the meltdown with no real end in sight -- trying to defend and prop up the behavior of the people both in and around Wall Street that gambled for that short gain at our expense?

I hope to see a lot more of the humility and FEAR that Jim Cramer displayed in that interview, from the people that really deserve it, and we shouldn't have to rely on a comedy show to put them in their place. Jon Stewart is a living embodiment of the great court jester tradition, but that shouldn't be the only avenue we have to criticize our kings...

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