Intolerant of Intolerance

I was watching television last night, one of my favorites, John Stewart's Daily Show. I was tired and apparently easily annoyed because some of the news clips he had on, which were admittedly funny because they were so ludicrous, were fiercely grating on my nerves.

One of Stewart's techniques is to cull through old clips of some politician or talking head and then compare them with a recent one. There is a particular profusion of these lately with the change of administration and complete shift in the balance of political power nested within the disaster of social and economical issues the current administration is now wading through.

Perhaps the technique has been overused, which only implies that there is too much of the flip-flopping going on, not so much a commentary on Stewart's diversity. It's just becoming commonplace to find the political mouthpiece speaking only within the context and fervor of the immediately adjacent 72 hour period. It galls me to no end that even such previously admired figures as Rudolph Giuliani are willing to throw down the respectable reputation he garnered during late 2001, for the politically convenient stance that we should circumstantially abandon our higher morals.

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I'd love to be able to legitimately claim that Stewart's hackneyed performances in this arena are quotes taken from their original contexts, but honestly, if it weren't for this satire, there would be little left to challenge cable news to become worthy of its title.