John Oliver, after ending his temporary job as the intern host of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, reveled in the fact that so many comedic stories popped up throughout the summer (the Anthony Weiner comes to my mind). With some of the comments on Syria below, it appears that Jon Stewart also has an easy job of poking fun at politicians and the media alike, due to a few rhetorical missteps from people on all sides of the Syria issue:
Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of State under George W. Bush): “There really hasn’t been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with this particular situation.”
While Americans are divided on what Obama has proposed, they don’t have good feelings about George W. Bush either. If Rumsfeld didn’t get involved in the Syria debate, the favorability ratings of himself and his former boss may improve (in part because they couldn’t get much worse). Instead, Rumsfeld just never has the good sense to leave.
He also doesn’t have the good sense to realize that his critique of Syria mirrors Americans’ critiques of Iraq. There was never any (truthful) indication from the Bush administration as to what their national interest was with Iraq. Sure, they claimed that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction, but we all know how that went.
Diane Feinstein (Democratic Senator of California): “But you see, then they [her constituents] don’t know what I know. They haven’t heard what I heard. And I like to believe now, after 20 years, that I have some skill in separating the wheat from the chaff in this thing, of knowing where we were when Iraq was considered and where we are with this.”
After 20 years, Senator Feinstein still has no skill in separating what her constituents can or cannot swallow. With the voting population troubled by many things like the possibility of war in Syria, it’s bad enough that a majority of California voters aren’t big fans of Senator Feinstein’s position on Syria. It’s even worse that she proceeds to call said voters ignorant. A strong opponent of hers is likely to carry this quote into the next election cycle and explain it as an example of how Feinstein is out of touch with her constituents.
Elections aside, she has never demonstrated skill in “separating the wheat from the chaff.” Look at her support for the invasion of Iraq and how she claimed in later years that she was misled. Maybe she doesn’t have much skill after all.
CNN Desk Anchor (don’t remember the name): What do the people on the streets think about potential involvement in Syria?
Reporter (in Lebanon, by the way): It depends on who you ask.
For a second, let’s ignore the fact that they are talking about the feelings in Lebanon, a country that is mainly involved in Syria; except for the fact that the country is taking in refugees from Syria. While this is not as relevant as seeing how Syrians feel about American intervention, I’ll let that slide.
But I can’t let the painful “reporting” slide. Duh, of course it depends on who you ask! On just about every issue that exists in every country, the responses will always depend on who you ask!!! CNN, you don’t need to pay six figures to a “reporter” who says something so painfully obvious.
