Be Prepared: Why Jon Stewart is The Best

“Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning, decades of denial is simply why I’ll
Be king undisputed, respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder I am.”
(Lyrics from,’ Be Prepared’; The Lion King Soundtrack – Music Elton John, Lyrics Tim Rice)

Let this serve as both a lyrical salute to Jon Stewart…and yet another warning to anyone who agrees to be interviewed by him…that you’d better arrive ready. The host of Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show’ who, in this blog’s estimation…and we humbly submit that over forty combined years in television news and current affairs production gives us the right to an opinion in this regard…consistently proves to be one of the best prepared, most insightful and most skillful interviewers we’ve ever seen.

He illustrated why once again last night during an interview with former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey. She’s the self-serving, political ladder-climber whose alarmist criticism of a preliminary draft of the Health Care Reform package currently wending its way through Congress ended up forging that ‘Death Panels’ sledgehammer which whacked-out right-wingers have been using like a cudgel whenever seniors or their loved ones are within earshot.

Early on in the interview Stewart made it clear that although McCaughey herself had never used the words ‘Death Panels’ in her assessment of what has now become the most-discussed section of the package, he jokingly told her that “…that’s how it was translated in Alaska”, (hello Sarah Palin). He went on to say that her unfortunate interpretation of the section lit the fuse on a virtual stink bomb, and that it was not only wrong, it was “…hyperbolic and dangerous”.

McCaughey came armed with what looked like a six-inch thick binder, which she claimed was only about half of the Health Care Reform package being discussed. And she insinuated that she’d read it all, too…so obviously she knew what she was talking about. Well if that was the case, it sure didn’t show. Time after time when Stewart questioned her interpretation of part or all of the section in question… even to the point of telling her she was just plain wrong…she appeared stumped. And when he gave her chances to look things up in order to justify her pronouncements, once going to a commercial break to allow her more time, she still came up empty.

Things she said the package said, it turned out not to say. Words she used in going over parts of the section turned out not to actually have been used in the section. They were her words and her interpretations, and Stewart pointed out time and again that she was wrong. And the only thing she came back at him with during the televised portion of the discussion sounded not unlike a fifth-grade, school-yard argument retort. “No, you’re wrong Jon”, was the best she could do.

Here's a link to the interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zxKrPXLvFw

McCaughey has to be embarrassed today. She clearly underestimated Stewart’s abilities as an interviewer or, more likely, his willingness to both understand and familiarize himself with the portion of this very complex document that he intended to discuss. She should have known what would happen if she tried to baffle him with bullshit. Snow jobs don’t work on him. She should have asked CNBC’s faux financial blowhard Jim Kramer what happened when he rolled up his sleeves to face the Daily Show host.

It wasn’t pretty. As Jim Croce might have sung, you don’t mess around with Jon!


“It’s clear from your vacant expressions the lights aren’t all on upstairs,
But we’re talking (something important) so you shouldn’t be caught unawares.”
(More "modified" lyrics from’ Be Prepared’ – Music Elton John, Lyrics Tim Rice)

SC