Daily Show - Liberal, not Partisan
I’ll disagree with Atrios on this post. He says the Daily Show is only liberal in the sense of “picking on the powerful” - Democrat and Republican both. It is liberal in that sense, yes - and more-or-less non-partisan in that sense. That’s good. Partisanship kills humor, and it can become a problem when it becomes a tribal situation.
But, it is also liberal in other senses. Being opposed to stupid wars is more or less reflective of a liberal bent of mind. Resisting the hawk’s appeals to nationalism, that sort of thing. You are liable to get picked on by the Daily Show if you start a stupid war. If you have a stupid Assault Weapon Ban, however, you aren’t as likely to get picked on about it. Because opposition to stupid gun bans doesn’t really go back to any sort of liberal type principles - it goes back to conservative ones. And the writers & producers of the Daily Show are people with liberal bents of mind, which they reflect in their humor.
Fox News is trying to do the mirror image - a comedic fake news show with a conservative slant:
You Tube Sample.
I don’t think the problem is trying to repeat Comedy Central’s success. Good ideas should be repeated. I don’t think the problem is the conservative slant - ideologies don’t detract from humor. The problem is the partisanship, and personality. It’s a tribal thing. I’d go on, but you get the point (I hope) & I’m out of time.
