low-functioning pinhead
This is
a rather good Jon Stewart interview by Bill Moyers. I find it
uncomfortable that as a Canadian I have in recent years, followed
American politics far closer than I should, but there you have it.
Now, I realize that relying on
Crooks And Liars, The Daily
Show, and
Keith Olbermann
for my slant on American politics might be a bit ideological and
naive but the alternatives do not seem much better.
A lot has been made of Bush's attempts to muddy the line between
Church and State but the slow merger of Media and State, to me, is
at least equally disturbing.
Even as Stewart himself dismisses his show as nothing more than
televisions equivalent of a political cartoon, it is almost sad how
the current administration almost writes the stories for
him.(
"Dick Cheney shoots a 78 year old man in the
face")
From the interview...
JON STEWART: Yeah, it's kind of astonishing. There is I
used to have a real disconnect, I think, with the administration, I
couldn't figure out what was going on. I think it's suddenly become
clear to me. They would rather us believe them to be wildly
incompetent and inarticulate than to let us know anything about how
they operate. And so, they do Constitutionally-mandated things most
of the time, but they don't — they fulfill the letter of their
obligation to checks and balances, but not the intent.
For instance, Alberto Gonzales, and you've been watching the
hearings. He is either a perjurer, or a low-functioning pinhead.
And he allowed himself to be portrayed in those hearings as a
low-functioning pinhead, rather than give the Congressional
Committee charged with oversight, any information as to his
decision-making process at the Department of Justice.
And I used to think, "They're doing this based on a certain
arrogance." And now, I realize that it's because they believe there
is one accountability moment for a President, and that is the four
year election. And once you get that election, you're done.
BILL MOYERS: They're right, are they not?
JON STEWART: They're completely not right. The election moment is
merely the American public saying, "We'd rather you be President
than that guy." That's it. The next four years, though, you still
have to abide by the oversight process that is there to prevent
this kind of bizarre sort of cult-like atmosphere that falls along.
I mean, I accept that kind of veil of secrecy around Tom Cruise and
Katie Holmes, but I don't accept that around our
government.