Tag: Jon Stewart

Of Jon Stewart & AI

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Jon Stewart remains a curious figure in American politics because, given the logic of the modern political world, he should run for president. He would be the anti-Trump.

Jon Stewart

He has a prove track record of getting shit done when he gets angry — specifically his work when it comes to helping 911 first responders. But it his rant about the dangers of AI tonight that reminded me of how, in a sense, he is a shadow presidential candidate.

In the segment I saw, he was able to clearly articulate what might be the basis of a modern day Luddite movement — the idea that the speed at which AI will be adopted could be so fast that it short circuits the usual “in the end, more jobs are made” idea and we endup with a lot of people out of work in a very abrupt manner.

I have long wondered if this dynamic might lead MAGA to naturally evolve into a neo-Luddite movement that might combine elements of the far Right and far Left. That would, of course, totally re-align the American political system, just like how MAGA did.

But the the fact remains — Jon Stewart would be a very, very strong presidential candidate. There would be a lot of people who would blanch at the idea, of course, because of the horrible experiences we’ve had with Trump, but I think Stewart is clearly so different from Trump that such reservations could be overcome.

It’s highly unlikely that Stewart would ever run for president, of course. There would have to be some Black Swan event to prompt him to do such a thing. But he is definitely someone to keep an eye on going forward.

American Zelensky: Jon Stewart, 2024

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Reading Ben Smith’s “Traffic” book, I am struck by how social media companies had a sense of the popularity of both Obama and Trump long before anyone else did.

Jon Stewart

As such, if I had a choice of for a “Black Swan” event during the 2024 presidential cycle it would be that Something Happened so there was a brokered Democratic convention and Jon Stewart threw his hat into the ring — and won. I think he would be very, very popular.

Now, obviously, there are some problems with this daydream.

One — I don’t want anything to happen to Biden.

Two, ding-dong Trump was SUCH a fucking HORRIBLE POTUS, that a LOT of people would justifiably be very reluctant to vote for another celebrity to be POTUS. And, yet, as Ukraine’s Zelensky has proven, someone like Stewart can, in fact, be a great leader.

And from all the evidence I’ve seen about Stewart’s leadership abilities, he really would be a great POTUS.

But, alas, for some very corrosive and dumb macro reasons, it definitely seems as though the United States is simply going to slouch its way into autocracy. And, really, at this point, in a cruel twist of historical fate, it could be that Trump thrashing around in 2025 could cause a General Strike that deposes him…which, of course, would only lead to a civil war as Red States left the Union.

Good times!

Every Revolution Eats Its Young

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s surreal to me that someone as good as Jon Stewart is now the subject of political vitriol from…the Left. People have been picking apart is first show back at They Daily Show…and a lot of people are pissed.

We’ve reached the point where anyone — ANYONE — who tries to give some sort of even handed approach to the issues that divide us…is yelled at for “bothsiderism.” Now that IS a real problem in American political discourse. A lot — A LOT — of people simply do not want to address the fact that MAGA is American Nazism and should be shunned accordingly.

A lot of people actually agree — or are complicit towards — American Nazism and they just can’t brook the idea of siding with the Blues against them. But from what I saw of Stewart’s show, he did a pretty good job of saying that both Biden and Trump have problems that we have to deal with, it’s just that Trump is worse because he’s an old, malignant ding-dong.

I continue to believe that in an ideal world Jon Stewart would one day become POTUS. Too bad the only way such a thing might happen at this point is if we had a Blue Glorious Revolution because Trump went full tyrant on us.

I hate violence. I don’t want that.

Come On, New Jersey, Name Jon Stewart To The Senate & Be Legends — If The Opportunity Arises

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is in something of a political pickle. It is at least *possible* that he will resign or be expelled before the end of the year. I’ve heard of a few names floated to replace him should that happen, but they’re all dull.

Jon Stewart

It seems to me that as the US could very well be careening towards autocracy or civil war / revolution that it sure would be nice if someone like Jon Stewart was Senator Jon Stewart.

But that’s very much my personal delusion. Stewart has shown no interest in any sort of retail political career, yet I will note those times that he has dabbled in politics he’s been VERY EFFECTIVE.

Lulz, what do I know.

Future Headlines: Blue Meanies & The Taking Of Trump Tower, Day 20

March, 2025
NEW YORK CITY — A radical resistance group calling themselves “the Blue Meanies” continued their occupation of Trump Tower, with no end in sight. The group’s long-term seizure of the NYC landmark was made possible in large part by the support of not just of the population of the city, but the city government.

There continue to be rumblings at City Hall that if the Trump Administration attempted to recapture the tower that a “free state” would be declared. These events happen as the Trump Administration’s long-term viability continues to be questioned.

The U.S. Military has all but halted its operations in major Blue portions of the nation as a Women’s Strike called 48 hours ago has now expanded into a General Strike. Millions of Blues across the United States have simply not gone into work, causing a brutal slowdown in national economic activity.

“This is far worse than what happened briefly during COVID,” Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Rattner said. “We risk a long-term global depression if this continues just a few more days. The economic pressure on the part of the Blue Meanies to do something about the Trump Administration is real.”

All indications point to the Blue Meanies leader Jon Stewart — who has been repeatedly photographed in various comic poses within what was once Donald Trump’s inner sanctum — is at the center of the growing national opposition to the Trump Administration.

“I think we need to take a long, hard look at the 14 Amendment,” Stewart said in a late night press conference deep inside Trump Tower. “It is clear that Trump isn’t even legally president and, as such, can legally be removed from office. In fact, I believe the office of POTUS to be vacant.”

Stewart denied rumors that he expected to be installed as acting president by the U.S. Military if Trump was forcibly removed from office.

“We, and everyone else, just want the Constitutional process to be followed,” Stewart said.

Meanwhile, the president has made it clear that the seizure of his beloved Trump Tower “will not stand.” Given the reluctance of the U.S. Military to follow his orders, he has put out a call for “MAGA shocktroops” to flood Blue areas of the country which are currently resisting his rule.

The governors of several major Red States have called a conference to co-ordinate what their response might be if the goals of the Blue Meanies are met and Trump is deposed.

“Secession is not off the table,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tweeted.

The chaos in the United States has not gone unnoticed by the outside world (see related stories). All evidence suggests that the DPRK may invade South Korea at any moment. The rumors that Trump may be using his “special relationship” with Kim Jung Un to start a distraction on the Korean peninsula were vehemently denied by a White House spokesman.

All Things Being Equal, Jon Stewart Should Be The Next President Of The United States

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — the best stealth political candidate in modern American politics is Jon Stewart. When he gets mad, he is articulate enough to actually get things done.

So, if the United States was a functioning democracy — and if ding-dong Trump had never been POTUS — we would all be waiting with baited breath for Stewart to run for president. He would likely be a historically good president for a variety of reasons.

But.

Given the bad taste that ding-dong Trump has put in a lot of people’s mouths when it comes to celebrities running for office…meh. And I would prefer if Stewart would run for governor or senator from New Jersey before POTUS. There is a possibility when the “Fourth Turning” strikes the US in late 2024, early 2025 that it could be someone like Stewart suddenly has the Finger of God point at him, telling him to step into the political arena to make a difference.

But, to date, Stewart has shown no interest in running for anything, so, lulz.

The Curious Case Of Jon Stewart Not Running For President

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

When the history of the United States’ final lurch into autocracy is written, at least one chapter will be written about something that didn’t happen: Jon Stewart running for POTUS.

Jon Stewart

I have long believed Stewart would make an excellent POTUS for a number of reasons. There’s evidence to suggest that he’s a great manager. And he’s a great speaker and he’s very articulate when something makes him angry. I have repeatedly suggested in the past that Stewart should run for the U.S. Senate or governor of New Jersey first before any running for POTUS.

Given what is known about Stewart now, he is almost a 1-to-1 with another Jewish comedian who rose to the occasion to be a great leader: Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

And, yet, for all his passionate anger over this pet causes now and again, Stewart has show no signs of wanting to anything else politically. He is content to run a glorified petting zoo and live a semi-retired life.

Having said all that, the United States, as I mentioned, is sliding into autocracy. And either Stewart might be able to slow that slide into autocracy some or he could very well become a Blue State leader should Blue decide to secede from the Union when it comes clear that Reds are determined establish an autocratic white Christian ethno state.

In the past, at least, Stewart has stepped out into the public eye for a political reason and then, when he grows too uncomfortable about it and begins to think people are taking him seriously — he cracks a fart joke.

I guess what I’m saying is — if anyone acted like Stewart is now and was as good at it, I would say, “He’s running.”

But even when people write Politico pieces about why Stewart should run, he’s gone all Gen. Sherman on us and said he has no interest in being POTUS whatsoever.

All I can say is — the moment Republicans take control of the House in January 2023, things are going to get very, very bumpy. And people like Stewart may find themselves doing things, like run for POTUS, that they might not otherwise be interested in doing.

Jon Stewart / AOC 2024(?)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Politico has run a piece suggesting Jon Stewart run for POTUS in 2024. I have long thought he would be a great president. But there is a problem — and that’s Jon Stewart.

He likes to have power but he doesn’t like the responsibility that comes with power. Time and again while he was hosting The Daily Show, the moment people pointed out how politically powerful he was, he would fall back to “but I’m just a comic” and tell a fart joke.

For him to run for office — especially high office like POTUS — he would have to grow a lot more comfortable with being taken seriously and with people being aware of his power. As it stands, he seems a lot more interested in having a middling podcast and playing with rescue goats in a glorified petting zoo.

But if you could get him out of that mindset, he definitely would be a great presidential candidate and a great president. Maybe Stewart / AOC 2024? But there is, of course the problem that the country is falling apart and Republicans are going to pretty much do everything in their power to steal the 2024 election. As such, we may have a civil war if we don’t turn into an autocracy.

One interesting thing about Stewart is he is far more a traditional liberal than one might think. He is tight with Dave Chappelle and for some of the people on the Far Left that, unto itself, would be a deal breaker. But it would also make Stewart more appealing to those 100,000 swing voters strone across five swing states that decide every presidential election.

I would prefer he run for governor or senator from New Jersey before running for POTUS, but, lulz, nothing matters. I really want Stewart to run — and win — but at the moment that seems very doubtful.

CNN Should Replace Chris Cuomo With Someone More Like Larry King


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Larry King was a hallmark of CNN for decades. And then he just vanished. It was kind of weird. And, even stranger, CNN has completely ignored that for a lot of long-term viewers like me, having a breezy, value free chat show on during CNN’s weekday primetime was a rather comfortable thing to see.

Chris Cuomo just doesn’t do it for me. He’s strangely off putting for some reason, nowhere near as affable as Larry King was in his prime. I struggle to think of who CNN could replace him with, however.

The first person who comes to mind is Joe Rogan. I think Rogan can be a real idiot at times, but he is affable and given his alt-Right lite credentials, I could see his presence on the network doing a lot to bridge the gap between CNN and the rabid, bonkers MAGA shitheads who hate it so much. (Yet, who am I kidding — MAGA hates CNN because it’s objective and they crave to be fed the party line. But, luz.)

I suppose someone like Jon Stewart might be able to do the type of show I’m looking for, but that just doesn’t seem very practical. Neither Stewart nor Rogan seem really all that interested in being on CNN for various reasons.

Now that I think about it, given how King was not a traditional journalist and, as such, you could even draw from an unexpected place: SNL. There are a number of SNL-connected people who would be great as a potential Larry King-like interviewer. Kenan Thompson or Tina Fey would be just the right mix of regular person and interviewer-with-an-interesting-personality to bring back the same vibe as Larry King.

But, who am I kidding. No one listens to me.

All Things Being Equal, It May Be Inevitable That Jon Stewart Becomes A Political Figure


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It definitely appears as though Tucker Carlson is zooming towards being the frontrunner in 2024 for the Republican nomination. He simply has too many viewers who watch him every night not to. Sure, Trump or one of his proxies might block him — or someone like Mike Pompeo might politically kneecap him in some way — but for the moment the nomination is his to lose.

Which brings us to Jon Stewart.

Stewart is unique because, in a sense, he’s the closest approximation to a Trump figure that the center-Left has. I only say that because if he did run for president he would have no political experience and would be coming from the infotainment industrial complex. Other than that, the two men could not be more different.

And, honestly, given that Stewart is actually smart unlike Trump it’s very possible he might run for, say, governor of New Jersey before president. And, given our choice in 2024 of either civil war or autocracy you could think up some pretty wild scenarios as to how, exactly, he might become a political figure.

Some of them are pretty dark, in fact.

Anyway. Keep an eye on Jon Stewart. He may pop up in our politics at some point over the next 10 years in a very unexpected fashion.