[Dylflon]

I'm going to throw in my actual opinion of Colbert/Stewart and intellectual dishonesty just for fun.


I don't think what they do is as the professor said, "intellectually dishonest". The beginning of the Bush administration was a time of heavy censorship and many artists were put in a lot of trouble with the media for speaking out against the government (a good example being the Dixie Chicks). What Colbert does is make his jokes ambiguous.

He portrays himself as an ultra-right wing conservaChristian causing most of his humour to come from satire. Nobody could rightfully prove though that what Colbert does is in fact satire though. This ambiguous nature of Colbert's comedy cushions Colbert from getting in trouble. I don't think this is so much out of dishonesty as it is Colbert protecting his own ass.

Stewart just likes to poke fun at news events and will in fact take things out of context. But as Typhoid mentioned earlier, he is not the first to do this. Canadian programs like This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Royal Canadian Air Farce, and the Rick Mercer Report have been doing this for years. In fact, they've been doing it in a much more extreme manner than their American coutnerparts. But as a Canadian I have never felt it to be 'dishonest'.

These shows while making some pointed attacks are more there to make fun of the twisted and crazy world we live in rather than to misinform and indoctrinate. Also, Canadians in general are okay with making fun of the government, because criticism of the government is actually a very important thing.

I believe the case to be the same for Colbert and Stewart. They are there to make light of a scary and stressful world. But also in doing so, they point out relevant issues and contradictions in the government system. One of the things I've noticed as a difference between Canadians and Americans is that a lot of Americans have adopted the notion that it's not okay to question their government. And a lot of programs won't openyl criticize the government out of this sentimentality and also probably out of fear of being cancelled.

Colbert and Stewart fill an important niche. While they may be left-leaning, they actually do make fun of left-wing politicians whenever they can. They are two programs out there that have the guts to make fun of the stupid stuff that goes on in the government. And it actually is an important thing to do.

But if they're going to make fun of the government all the time, they do really have to protect themselves. That's why they perform their comedy the way they do.

I think callingg them intellectually dishonest is unfair. I think they are intelligent human beings who in many circumstances ask the right questions at the right times. They push the correct boundaries and get a lot of people to think and almost as importantly to laugh.

Some people may see them as leftist propagandists who are out to fulfill some sort of personal anti-government agenda, but think of who they are. They are comedians and entertainers who are telling jokes. Not the news.

If you're calling them intellectually dishonest, you may as well accuse every satirist who ever lived of the same thing.