It may be possible for Republicans to be shamed -- some at least.

Much of the success of the lame-duck Congress is due to Republican inability to maintain complete obstruction against obviously good policies (DADT, food bill, START).

Shaming clearly works, not if we could just get the media on board. They never have a problem shaming dems. Why can't they do the same for R's????

In the days of print "if it bleeds, it leads" was the meme.

Now a story only needs compelling video- a bear falling out of a tree, and onto a trampoline, for instance- to become relevant.

Getting your story to 'go viral' on youtube has replaced Walter Cronkite.

Mark Twain and Will Rogers have been replaced by Jon Stewart and Bill Mahr- the latter having brought down a senate candidate with her own video clips!

Stewart can focus attention on an issue and perhaps move it forward. Odd that the president doesn't seem to have that power.

Shorter Gibbs: Jon Stewart is doing the work me and my boss are too lazy, incompetent, or pro-Republican to do ourselves. Heckuva job, guys

This 9/11 bill is one of the few times I've seen Mr. Stewart put aside his comedian roll and get entirely serious on his show. The difference was stark.

=====

["Stewart can focus attention on an issue and perhaps move it forward. Odd that the president doesn't seem to have that power."]

Oh, yes, quite odd. It certainly has nothing to do with the fact that 99% of the media is either openly on the GOP's side or easily spooked by accusations of liberal bias. That can't stop Obama; after all, everyone knows that he has a magical bully pulpit that overcomes all other media noise.

Odd that the president doesn't seem to have that power.

He has a "ruby slipper" problem. Where, O! where, is Glinda when we need her?

We don't know if Obama "has that power" or not, as he very rarely tries to use the power. Obama could have done what Stewart did for the 9/11 responders bill, and he would have had a much larger audience. He didn't.

Shade Tail & Soprano -- are you suggesting that Stewart's bully pulpit is bigger and better than the President's?

Well, there you go. The left's message has boiled down to a comedian on Comedy Central.

And the White House press secretary says: that's good.

Don't get me wrong, I [heart] Jon but on the one side we have these national GOP propoganda machines boiling our country's intelligence in a calderon of lies, spin, and opinion, and on the other side we have Jon Stewart with his comedic equivalent of an Easy Bake Oven keeping one issue hot.

"Shorter Gibbs: Jon Stewart is doing the work me and my boss are too lazy, incompetent, or pro-Republican to do ourselves. Heckuva job, guys"

Oh really? Seems to me like this poster is too lazy to actually know what's going on in the Obama Admin where he's been the most productive President in recent memory..not to mention bringing us back from the abyss that bush-cheney took us down.

So apparently Jon Stewart's far enough right that he can be praised by the White House. Not sure what that says about Stewart or the White House, actually.

Everyone knows that a single comedian, using the "bully pulpit," can't possibly influence public opinion or nudge along popular but politically obstucted legislation. Therefore, none of this happened.

I wish John Stewart would now shame as strongly as he can Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Diane Sawyer ........ put their corporate corrupted faces on the tv screen and ring them with fbi fugitive posters for the fucking journalistic frauds that they are ...

["Shade Tail & Soprano -- are you suggesting that Stewart's bully pulpit is bigger and better than the President's?"]

Are you suggesting that it's not? Or are you just forgetting about all the speeches, interviews, press conferences, White House blog posts, weekly addresses, and so on nearly ad infinitum? Anyone who thinks the President could just push the publicity harder needs to first explain why all the pushing he's already done has had little to no effect.

The White House speaks, and the vast majority of the nation ignore them, primarily because the news media don't cover it. Meanwhile, Mr. Stewart pushes something and it goes viral on the internet within hours. This is the reality we live in.

Shade Tail & Soprano -- are you suggesting that Stewart's bully pulpit is bigger and better than the President's?

I'm suggesting that Obama has the power if he is inclined to use it, but seems to be as unaware of that as Dorothy was of the power of her ruby slippers (i.e., that clicking her heels together three times would send her back to Kansas). Obama seems not to realize how much power that bully pulpit gives him -- or else, he doesn't want to get different results from the results he is getting.

Jim Hightower put it well when he said that the only things one finds in the middle of the road are a yellow stripe and dead armadillos.

Stewart dropped the ball at his big rally last October, but this time he used his platform to do good. Even if the bill fails, he did his part well. You can't ask more than that.

It's disappointing to see a pro-Stewart post turned into an anti-Obama thread. You'd think Fox News was behind it. Even if they aren't, if Ailes happens to read this thread, you just know he's chortling into his coffee cup. Cha is right: "he's been the most productive President in recent memory..not to mention bringing us back from the abyss that bush-cheney took us down."

As for the bigger picture, Stewart told Rachel Maddow last month that he's not "in the game," but rather, is "in the stands yelling things, criticizing."

Due respect, Jon, but the progress on the Zadroga bill suggests this self-analysis may need some revision.

The only thing Stewart's analysis misses is, that when it comes to political advocacy, there is no meaningful distinction between being "in the game" and "in the stands yelling things, criticizing."

Using whatever platform you have to yell things and criticize is, in a very real sense, the "game".

Stewart has the benefit of being able to concentrate on just one policy. Moreover, he doesn't actually depend on Republicans to get anything done. Stewart is free to rant with impunity.

Conversely, the Obama admin can't; and doing so would have likely have spoiled the chances of some of the other legislation we've seen pass during the lame duck.

Having said that, I think we are going to see Obama making more very public philosophical arguments in the next 2 years, if for no other reason than the makeup of congress severely curtails any legislative ambitions.

John Stewart brought a moral dimension an emotional intensity to the issue that the White House and Democrats in Congress (other than Anthony Weiner) were incompetent at raising.

And this occurs on issue after issue: The Democrats offer important legislation. The GOP says no. And the Democrats say "What do you want? The GOP said no. There's nothing more that we can do."

Jon Stewart proved that how you respond to the GOP matters.

And when the GOP holds the country hostage, when they act like political terrorists who refuse to extend unemployment insurance, you don't roll over and say "Fine. Then here are a bunch of tax cuts for corporations, the ultra-wealthy, and the heirs of the ultra, ultra-wealthy."

Instead, you act like you give a shit. You act pissed off. You try to shame the Republicans by publicly denouncing how terrible they are.

And, even if you ultimately lose or have to compromise you leave people knowing which side you are on.

It's only fair to mention that MSNBC also gave the Zadroga outrage plenty of coverage. The fact that Fox has so many more viewers than MSNBC also partly explains why Obama has a hard time getting his message out: there are a lot of fucking fools in this country.

Now that the White House has given public praise to Mr. Stewart for pushing this subject and bill, he'll have to "go off" on the White House, in return, so he can still be regarded as "fair and balanced."

What's great is, he can have a lot of fun with it in the meantime, for our benefit and entertainment. He can't be seen as on the side of only one camp.

Soprano -- I misunderstood. We agree.

Shade Tail -- You may be right, but I'm having a difficult time believing the office of the President is so powerless.

Why was everyone so eager to give relatives of victims of 9/11 so much public money - an absolutely unprecedented act - and so reluctant to pay for healthcare for first responders?

Square1: Your heart is in the right place,your head is not. First, if Weiner's rant was so effective, why is the bill still being filibustered? second,If Obama had acted even a bit like Weiner, all the Republicans would have huddled together and blocked DADT, the START treaty, etc. and would have done so because Republicans weren't getting "respect" or some other procedural canard.

Mo Rage
Ever watch the Daily Show????

J.S."goes off" at the White House regularly, as viewers know. Its what 'Fair & Balanced' actually means.

"Other voices in media (including, ahem, the one you're reading now) were reporting on the importance of the bill several weeks ago,"

**ahem**, Moore ( "Other voices in media (including, ahem, the one you're reading now) were reporting on the importance of the bill several weeks ago,"

**ahem**, Moore ( "Other voices in media (including, ahem, the one you're reading now) were reporting on the importance of the bill several weeks ago,"

**ahem**, Moore ( "Other voices in media (including, ahem, the one you're reading now) were reporting on the importance of the bill several weeks ago,"

**ahem**, Moore (

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386032/

Excuse me, but where was the US media then? Was Stewart still spouting his false equivalency crap back then? How many of those fine folk have died suffering through their disease before anyone else brought this up?

That didn't work too well did it. Just saying Michael Moore more than 3 years ago brought some first responders down to Cuba while filming Sicko.

Excuse me, etc. . . . .

well it is a sorry statement when a comedian with a fake news show has a better grasp on things than the politico-media complex.

I am half cocked now that my vacation has started, but didn't that guy at Fox News (Stu Shepard, or something) also take GOPers to task on this issue.

Could be wrong, and not to take anything away from Jon on this, but I believe that that guy also deserves some kudos.

John Stewart brought a moral dimension an emotional intensity to the issue that the White House and Democrats in Congress (other than Anthony Weiner) were incompetent at raising.

And this occurs on issue after issue: The Democrats offer important legislation. The GOP says no. And the Democrats say "What do you want? The GOP said no. There's nothing more that we can do."

Jon Stewart proved that how you respond to the GOP matters.

And when the GOP holds the country hostage, when they act like political terrorists who refuse to extend unemployment insurance, you don't roll over and say "Fine. Then here are a bunch of tax cuts for corporations, the ultra-wealthy, and the heirs of the ultra, ultra-wealthy."

Instead, you act like you give a shit. You act pissed off. You try to shame the Republicans by publicly denouncing how terrible they are.

And, even if you ultimately lose or have to compromise you leave people knowing which side you are on.

Posted by: square1

I couldn't think of anything better than that post, so I just quoted it.

Too bad the Whitehouse couldn't do it themselves.

This is one of the nicest things I have heard all day. I am glad to see Stewart getting well deserved props, but even more glad to hear that this new-found public awareness of the issue is percolating to the top. Hearing about this issue months back made my heart die just a little.

That does it. The Daily Show is now officially the nation's leader in Journalism.

The real attitude of the Republicans toward the responders and victims' families was revealed for all to see- they don't care about them as people at all, except when they can be used to bolster political arguments.

Okay, now, if Jon Stewart can figure out effective publicity and how to shine a spotlight on Republican jerks, how come Mr. Obama and Mr. Gibbs apparently cannot? Just askin"

""I think he has put the awareness around this legislation, and that's good," Gibbs said"

Here's a good question: Why the hell wasn't the White House or the Dems in congress raising awareness of this bill? It's ridiculous that it took a comedy show to jump start a no brainer bill like this.

It's partly because he's a comedian, as he pointed out to Rachel Maddow, that he gets an audience that knows he's not a politician, and bashes both sides, and trusts him. He's got room when he does get serious.