Here is the video from Part 1 of Bill O’Reilly’s two-part interview with Jon Stewart. This is all over the media today, and most commentators and pundits are acting as if this was going to be some kind of epic showdown, like Stewart’s interview (re: beat down) with CNBC’s Jim Cramer last year. Now, it’s no secret that I think Jon Stewart is absolutely lovely. Many people even agree with me – last year, Stewart was voted “America’s Most Trusted Newsman”. During the overly-hyped Daily Show “debate” between Stewart and CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Stewart pretty much killed Cramer and lifted his leg on Cramer’s corpse. So how, perchance, would Stewart perform when he was no longer on his home turf? When Stewart left The Daily Show studio and went over to Fox News for a one-on-one with Bill O’Reilly?
In truth, this wasn’t the first time Stewart and O’Reilly have tangled. They’ve been guests on each other’s shows before, to mixed results. And while I think O’Reilly is a falafel-rubbing blowhard, next to Glen Beck, even O’Reilly looks sane and reasonable, and he played nice with Stewart. I also thing this was a factor too – Stewart and O’Reilly have never tangled when there was a Democrat in the White House. O’Reilly ended up being the most quotable of the event, claiming that Jon was used to criticizing “evil Republicans” and calling The Daily Show’s viewers “stoned slackers who love Obama”. Jon played it straight for the most part, although he did fall back on his “I’m just a comedian who talks about the news” shtick.
Here’s Part 2, when Bill and Jon really start to get into it:
So who won? Gawker has a blow-by-blow of points scored, and they declare Stewart the winner with this quote of Stewart‘s: “Here’s what Fox has done, through their cyclonic perpetual emotional machine that is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: They have taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into full-fledged panic attack about the next coming of Chairman Mao.” Okay, that is a good line. Bless Stewart’s heart. I love him.
I saw most of it, and thought Stewart was remarkably toned down. You know he could have really lit into him more, but I think he was actually trying to have a more serious discussion. I think O’Reilly tried to egg him on a little, but Jon didn’t bite.
I don’t like O’Reilly at all and rarely agree with him or his methods, but he at least is intelligent and a little more grounded in reality than some other news channel people. But I would have enjoyed a bigger smack down by Stewart. 😀
Can I just say I adore, love, would have stoned test bunny, rabid monkey sex with Stewart? [Gurgle drool]
Talk smart to me, baby!
I think that regardless of what anyone thinks, these two like each other on a human level so they would never rip into each other in a cruel way like Jon did with Cramer. I don’t like Jon liked Cramer just as a person and then what he was doing was pissing him off so he just laid into him.
Bill O’Reilly is a tricky character because, quite frankly, he can be rather reasonable depending on the subject matter. Of course he’s a dolt when it comes to being “fair and balanced” and he spins within his own “no spin zone” but that’s to be expected on Fox News.
From watching their interactions over the years, they seem to just like each others company and like debating one another. They make jokes and play around. I highly doubt Bill O’Reilly means anything by the “stoned slackers” thing because he knows that quite a bit of Jon’s audience are intelligent folk. You have to be fairly intelligent to understand the humor.
Anyway, I love it when O’Reilly comes on Jon’s show and they basically shoot the sh*t and goof off. I prefer that O’Reilly to the “No Spin Zone” doofus.
A commenter on Gawker wrote:
“Fuck it Jon, let’s do it live…”
I couldn’t stop laughing. And for those of you who haven’t seen it or those who need a humorous reminder, here’s a link to infamous Inside Edition meltdown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY
Those videos seem like they were edited in favor of O’Reilly -which is extra sad considering Jon still came out “on top”.
Bill O’Reily was an ass the entire interview. Playing down Jons intelligence and impact on the world. Desperatly making sure FOX’s audience thinks Jon is some idiot on a cabel access show who deserves no respect. Bill said some terribly nasty things to Jon while trying to mask it with humor and he failed miserably.
@,,,,
Good call – I saw that comment and laughed my arse off too!
@OMG – ROFL! I couldn’t have said it better!
Jon Stewart is infinitely more intelligent and infinitely less biased than Fox “News”/Bill O’Reilly, not to mention infinitely less sociopathic.
Sanity is so f*cking hawt. 🙂
Your glaring bias is showing. Fox news has 13 of the top 15 rated cable news shows. I think that clearly shows that oreilly wins over Stewart any day
@Annabelle – all that shows is just how much of our society has been dumbed down. It’s sad how many people either don’t realize how one-sided Fox is, or just don’t care. Either way it’s just embarrassing.
Dear gawd Annabelle, ratings does not equal quality.
A lot of people watch Charlie Sheen’s show too. Doesn’t mean it’s the best.
annabelle that makes no sense whatsoever.
Jon Stewart has won two peobody awards for election coverage among many other prestigious awards.
Bill O’Reilly wants to be Jon Stewart. That’s my take.
I love John Stewart as a comedian and host of the Daily show but it wasn’t until he interviewed John Woo that I realized he is really an intelligent, thoughtful and solid journalist. He really knew his stuff. Woo tried to drop a lot of lawyerly words and facts and Stewart totally knew exactly what he was talking about every time.I was really impressed.
Regardless of their politics, though interestingly they have both identified themselves as Independents in the past, they are both very bright, educated fellas. It is nice to see that even though their opinions differ greatly they can treat each other with respect. But one thing that some seem to be missing is that neither of them are hosting a ‘news’ show, O’Reilly is a political commentator and Stewart is a political satirist. As for Fox having 13 of the 15 top ‘news’ shows, please remember that most of those shows are not ‘news’ they are a bit of news, heavily mixed with commentary, opinions, and entertainment, as are shows on the other cable outlets (ex.Olberman, Maddow, Shultz, Blitzer, Morning Joe etc.).
Love John Stewart! I recommend seeing his show live!
Yes, Fox leans right. But MSNBC and the others lean left. Something for everyone.
Leticia,
You are correct, for the most part, I would exclude Morning Joe as a MSNBC left leaner though. And HLN as they basically just reads headlines over, and over, and over, and over…
Sadly it is hard to just get the news these days, though BBC America does a pretty good job of independently reporting the day news sans the silliness, bias and the opinions.
Fatality! Jon Stewart definatley won that one. I loved the “you’re the voice of sanity on Fox….but that’s like being the skinny kid at fat camp”
They are both tools
Stewart, always.
Fox news may be no 1 in ratings, but come-on their viewers are completely made up of conservative viewers. Fox enjoys a monopoy on cerservatives. The rest of the news outlets have to share everyone else.
I also think it is important to point out that it is rare to find anyone that thinks the MSM is good journalism any more. So Fox being no 1 is like saying they are no. 1 for people that trust any of the major news outlets, and to use John Stewarts words “That’s like being the skinniest kid in fat camp”.
I was not impressed by the interview. Both are good at what they do and played nice.
O’Reilly is such an asshole. I can’t believe some of the shit he says. Like how he can’t believe some people think he’s smart, constantly putting him down as if Stewart is stupid.
I love Jon Stewart. He is just amazing. Intelligence is pretty awesome and he’s one of the brightest guys on TV. O’Reilly is just a pundit that spits out rhetoric and when he fails miserably at that, he just falls back on personal insults. I think it would be interesting to see them debate without O’Reilly’s insults. Although, I really don’t think O’Reilly is much above average intelligence, if at all, and that would get boring after a while watching Stewart sweep the floor with him.
Then again, I’m a liberal atheist, so I don’t imagine I’d like anything anyone on Faux News has to say.
Ophelia,
I get what you are saying O’Reilly certainly is behaving like an A**hole when he cuts guests off, yells over them, or insults them, as is any other host who treats their ‘guests’ in such a fashion, but I have to wonder if most of (and I am speaking to TV/radio commentators in particular) these people, who are know for being really over the top tend to do/say things for shock value and ratings. I have always suspected that the ‘fringe’ types who are in the public eye are the ‘news’ equivilant of a Lady GaGa, it is a public persona that brings ratings as people are just waiting to see/hear what they come up with next.
That being said, good ratings and book sales do not excuse a person with a strong influence on others for pandering to the lowest common denominator and planting the seeds of fear through rhetoric, misinformation, conjecture and out of context sound bites into the minds of otherwise reasonable individuals.
I don’t personally care if the ‘personality’ is left or right wing. I do however care if the ‘facts’ the person is using are total BS. But that is a whole other issue. 😉
“I also think it is important to point out that it is rare to find anyone that thinks the MSM is good journalism any more.”
I second that! It is getting harder and harder to find straight news without opinion sneaking in. That’s what I like about the Daily Show, it’s more of a media watch dog than anything else, but in a hilarious way.
What I find annoying about Fox is that rather than just being what they are, they’re constantly forcing the fair and balanced slogan. The more a news organization needs to tell you they’re being fair, the less I believe them.
Lucy,
News, actual news, can be found, it is just hard to do so these days. Have faith. And try BBC america for acutal news, otherwise you will get nothing but some PetCo groomed talking heads with little or no education reading off cue cards between their cooking/gardening/shopping/sports segments.
Lucy2 wrote: “The more a news organization needs to tell you they’re being fair, the less I believe them”
So true, the ‘Fair and Balanced’ is to the news as Queen Gertrudes protestations of the over the top affirmations of the actress were to her own credibilty…
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
It’s really funny reading all the posts about viewers of FOX news being a completely stupid demographic, yet the geniuses throwing stones can’t even spell words like desperately, Peabody, definitely, monopoly, Conservative, etc., correctly. I am not a member of Mensa, myself, but I am not that quick to attack others’ intelligence, either.
I have been a news junkie for a while now and after years of watching CNN and MSNBC I finally switched to FOX. I even voted for Obama while being a FOX viewer. What I have always liked about their station is they constantly have pundits, congressmen and women, you name it, from both sides of the aisle. They ALL argue but in the end they for the most part do it and enjoy the banter.
I’m sure none of us are exactly what we seem and the same goes for politicians and pundits. They are all just lucky enough to be involved in something that they are passionate about and gives them purpose. They should be so lucky.
That being said, I thought the interview could have been better. O’Reilly was soft on Stewart and Stewart could have given better answers rather than decorating them with a bunch of big, lovely words. Stewart was confident and comfortable outside his element so he gets big point for that. I like them both.
I beg to differ, but Fox News is not and has not been equitable or ‘fair and balanced’ at all. They rarely have differing opinions and when they do they cut them off or shout over them. That is fine as it is their show, but they and other news networks should be honest about it, they are very biased either left or right. That is fine, but denying that fact is wrong. I have said before, and I will say again, I do not care about a persons political leanings but to say ‘I am not right leaning an I watch Fox’ is akin to saying ‘I am not politcally left leaning and I get my news from Olberman’ it is disingenous.
If you lean right and quote your ‘facts via Fox news or are left and quote your ‘facts’ via MSNBC, neither is necessarily correct or incorrect, at least be aware and honest about your bias. You do not need to defend that bias, but you should, as a bright individual accept that should you choose one these very polarized outlets for your primary choice of information you are working from a strong bias. If you do not want to portray that then it might behoove you to read/listen/watch all sides of each issue, even the fringe ones from time to time. Otherwise it comes across as a simple parroting of other peoples ideas.
You are smarter than heck, why allow others to form your opinions? I would bet a dime to a dollar that if you sat down and thought about your ideas and your feelings, you would probably find common ground with all political parties.
“I am not a member of Mensa, myself, but I am not that quick to attack others’ intelligence, either. ”
Yet typos mean that someone else is stupid? Peeerrrhhhappss yuu might want to revisit that attitude on the off chance you ever misssspell someething in th future? I would be willing to submit that even a member of Mensa has had a typo from time to time.
Sorry but if the best point an person has to make in a debate is grammar… well… need I say more?
Sorry, and I am not picking on you it is just that in this particular milieu the grammar police are a bit tired.
Take a persons point or debate for what it is, picking apart their typing skills is a moot point. 😉
Bill O’relly!!!
Didnt the Stoned Slackers beat yhr O’Reilly fans in a test on news knowledge.
Sorry but I am on SAICU call tonight. I feel like I am back in Vet school. Awake WAY past my bedtime. So I am killing time online.
Got a funny little black cat in the AIC unit tonight, an ‘American ShortTail’ (Vet code for ‘tail lopped off in a farm accident’ we get TONS of that ‘breed’ here) named Superman, with CFRF, but sweet as can be considering. He purrs like an asthmatic after a marathonn, in a good way.
Jesus, if Fox “leans” right I think you’d better look again. I think its fallen over!
I live how everyone talks trash about how biased fox is, when all the other stations are biased too, but people don’t mind because it’s in their favor. And, did anyone even watch the Cramer interview? It wasn’t such a beat down… I thought Cramer handled himself well against a “comedian who talks about the news”. You can always fall back on that one Jon when things get a little messy.
I don’t watch Fox ever. I’ve seen maybe a few minutes here and there in the past 5 years. So I cannot make a real determination on who or what they do.
But I will say this: any company that employs Glenn Beck is clearly more interested in profit than rationality. Which would make me lean faaaar away from them when it comes to me taking anything they do seriously. They can talk about how having opinion on the News is like having opinion in the newspaper. But I don’t care. That’s like including the sandwich board wearing, bell ringing, end-is-neigh psycho on the street corner for a regular Op-Ed in the Seattle Times. I wouldn’t read anything they published because it takes away all credibility.
Now that’s not reserved for Fox. I saw Olberman (sp?) do a segment called, “Worst Person in the Universe” or something to that effect. Um. No thank you. I prefer facts with my news. Not opinion. So I don’t watch MSNBC either.
But Stewart doesn’t get worked up about things. He makes valid points and holds his ground. I don’t think there was a stunning victory here–I don’t think Stewart was looking for a stunning victory either.
But certainly he wasn’t bullied or chided into submission. So if that means winning…meh.
For anyone interested, the unedited version of the interview is here a tthe Comedy Central insider. http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/2010/02/05/jon-stewart-on-the-oreilly-factor-complete-and-unedited/
Haven’t seen the full thing yet myself.
TaylorB, thanks, I have checked out the BBC news every so often after someone else recommended it to me too. I definitely prefer that to FOX, MSNBC, CNN, etc.
@Doe – I did see the aired version of the Cramer interview, and I actually felt like Cramer rolled over and took it more than he should have. He’s a smart guy too, yet I think he let himself be the scapegoat for the whole financial news industry, which to an extent wasn’t really fair.
@Peach, I’m with you on Glenn Beck.
Olberman is a blowhard too, but Beck seems to hop the line over to Crazytown a bit more often.
O’Reilly is ratings king. doesn’t that say anything about America in general?
Liberals are the “noisy” minority in your country because it is being espoused by uber-liberal Hollywood – the one who gives you the songs and movies that fill up your free time.
but i suspect that conservatism is a silent majority. Because when all the experimenting with anywhere-the-wind-blows idealogies is done, people settle in their lives still holding conservative values dear.
The end of the interview…..
“well you’re in your element…that’s a power gesture”
It turned into a documentary on alpha chimps.
Which is all this piece was anyway. A documentary on alpha monkeys.
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