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John Kerry and The Daily Show's hoo-ha

Published Thursday, August 26, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

Pop culture quiz time. Why did the media go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over John Kerry's appearance Tuesday on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?

a) Because the media loves the Democratic presidential nominee
b) Because the media loves Jon Stewart
c) Because Kerry almost kissed Stewart on TV but did not, while Stewart did kiss Kerry's ass, at least figuratively, showing yet again that The Daily Show is a fake news show with a real agenda
d) Because Kerry proved he stands when he pees

The answer, of course, is D -- although you get partial credit if you chose any of the other options.

The folks at Slate gave Kerry a poor review, but otherwise, the newspapers were all a-titter over the "interview" that managed to produce less news than even a Larry King "interview," and that's saying a lot. We did learn that people have access to the potential president in the bathroom (where are the Secret Service agents when you need them?). And we almost saw a human side to Kerry in the process. Almost. It's been 44 years since the Kennedy-Nixon debates proved the power television had on politics, and still -- and still, politicians go on late-night talk shows and refuse to go "off message." Then again, some comedians do the same thing. Argh. But we were reminded of an important lesson: Never bring up politics or religion at the dinner table or the urinal. Save that crap for the crapper.