Plenty of Examples of Cowardice on “The Daily Show”

Scott Thill writes:

Jon Stewart has changed late-night television for the smarter, but “The Daily Show’s” satire kingpin has a way of cowering before powerful people when they come on his set for interviews, not asking the tough questions. It’s a stark contrast from his hard-hitting comedy sketches and reviews of the day’s news, where Stewart and his coterie of correspondents can really bare their fangs. Stewart’s guests on set are often the same people he lampoons, but something changes when they are in the room … easy targets get kid gloves. Here are seven of Stewart’s weakest interviews...

Paula Broadwell: He had her, right there in front of him, the woman who helped bring “King” David Petraeus’ military and political career to an ignominious end. But he, too, like the mainstream media, seemed too busy having sex with Petraeus’ exalted mythology. Sure, that legend was obviously more full of holes than the Bush administration’s shifting rationales for bombing Iraq, but Stewart and Broadwell’s awkward interview was nevertheless well-stocked with the same mini-legends making their way through the mainstream media’s complicit coverage...

John Yoo: Torture memo pimp to the Bush presidency John Yoo isn’t exactly an intimidating physical or even intellectual presence. His perverse interpretation of constitutional law and justice helped grant legitimacy and immunity for everything from America’s sadistic post-9/11 torture to its continuing global civil liberties abuses at home and abroad. But when Stewart had him in the studio, he folded and later lamented that Yoo “slipped through my fingers. It was like interviewing sand.”...

Condoleezza Rice: Speaking of Bush administration lightweights, Stewart also played soft and nice with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2010, when she visited “The Daily Show” to hawk her memoir “Extraordinary Ordinary People.” Rather than spending time taking Rice to task for her complicity in screwing ordinary people throughout Bush’s two terrorizing terms, Stewart sounded “starstruck... 

The Wrong Cheney: When Stewart interviewed The Dick’s wife, Lynne Cheney, in 2007, he sabotaged himself right off the bat. “This is very uncomfortable,” he bombed, “only because, you know what? Here’s the thing: You’re not your husband, and it’s not fair to challenge you on things that aren’t you.” Right, like Cheney’s wife was on “The Daily Show” only to promote her sappy memoir “Blue Skies, No Fences” and not cheerlead her husband’s corrupt administration, which she did as well...

2. The Drone Zone: The conscientious upstarts at CodePink recently gave Stewart a vagina, and even dressed him in a pink T-shirt, for bringing more public scrutiny and satire to CIA directorate nominee John Brennan’s unhealthy love of asymmetrical, inaccurate drone warfare. But Stewart faltered when he had a chance to dig deeper into privacy and sovereignty invasions and controversies with Melissa “Missy” Cummings, the MIT professor of aeronautics who was pimping PBS’ “Rise of the Drones,” which received underwriting from Lockheed Martin and the Koch brothers...

Compare the above with the way Judge Napolitano was treated on the show. SEE:  Judge Napolitano Gets Set-Up On the 'Daily Show'