Comedians should not be the political leaders we turn to
Jeff Moses
Talking politics with people of my generation is generally a contest of who can make the wittiest remark about a Fox News pundit or Republican power player. It seems that we are a generation of people who want the truth, but don’t want to bother with facts.
Comedians such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher are more often than not the only news outlet that young adults turn to for a fair and balanced view of the American political situation.
Though satire is an important part of the democratic process, to keep everyone in check, stand up comics should not be the only news outlet to gain facts from.
This country once had Walter Cronkite, who was labeled by many as “the most trusted man in America.”
A broadcast journalist known to be a classy person, and the country loved him.
Now when looking for that voice above reproach it seems we are left with Jon Stewart. No offense to the Daily Show which I watch regularly, but a standup comic should not be the voice of reason in a country of chaos.
What happened to the trustworthy bi-partisan news man?How did the country lose that balanced voice of reason?
Is it perhaps that we as a generation are soenamoredwith entertainment that we would rather be ignorant of our surroundings?
Why do we prefer to turn on a television program for entertainment and not education?
Jon Stewart being our voice of reason speaks directly to the undeniably bad situation the country is in right now.
Pundits such as Glen Beck and Sean Hannity are no Cronkites themselves, but they present themselves as well educated official types as opposed to people meant to be laughed at.
We could be the force behind systematic social change.
It’s always good to poke fun but maybe it’s time to stop laughing about the state of the economy, and this ridiculous occupation of asovereignnation, and find an impartial voice to tell us straight and true just like Cronkite did.
We need someone to tell us, as Cronkite once did, “that was the way it was.
