Wow, it wasn't until I saw this montage that I realized how creepy and forced Hillary Clinton's laugh sounds. I get the feeling that it was only because she was on FOX News, even though the idea of Hillary being an android incapable of properly feigning human emotion is mighty appealing."AhmadineMinute": All the angry Jewish fellows and tough guys of New York City have come together to rant about Ahmadinejad hanging out in the City, filling their air with their oh-so-mockable voices. Jon really went to town with the voices tonight, didn't he?
"The Cost of Freedom: Canadian Edition": Dan Bakkedahl filed a report about Canada's crazy Mexican immigration problem. I'm not entirely sure how -- or why -- he did it, but Bakkedahl managed to work in a series of shocker jokes for no particular reason.
The night's guest was the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales (and his all-important translator buddy). I'm still not entirely sure why he came on the show, without a book to promote or a huge recent event to ride. Or perhaps there was a huge recent event in his country and I just totally missed it. If that is the case, I'm sorry, I couldn't afford to keep my subscription to all the basic Bolivian newspapers. Anyway, did President Morales not understand that The Daily Show is a comedy program? Every time Jon made a joke and there was an awkward pause as the translator repeated it, I had weird flashbacks to all the times that I've had to explain jokes to my Chinese relatives. There's almost always something lost in translation, which is probably why President Morales responded seriously most of the time. I wonder how he took Jon's faux-flirtatious "Thank you for noticing!"
Moment of Zen: Ahmadinejad makes Mrs. Clinton giggle, thanks to some fun video manipulation.
EDIT: Before you post a mean comment about what I wrote regarding the interview, I just posted this in the comments. Hopefully that'll clear things up.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-26-2007 @ 10:21AM
rulesaremyenemy said...
The interview with President Morales was probably one of the best in the history of the show. I love how the daily show can maintain it's comedic appeal and still attract serious guests. Above all, I was most impressed with the audience. They were extremely respectful even though they probably didn't come to the taping expecting to see a sober discussion with the leader of 10 million people.
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9-26-2007 @ 11:42AM
sean tubbs said...
"I couldn't afford to keep my subscription to all the basic Bolivian newspapers."
You're a writer on an Internet blog. You can't googlenews the word "Bolivian president?" I don't usually take issue with TVSquad writers, but you could do some research. Morales is in New York because of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, the same reason why the Iranian president is in.
I second the above comment. That was one of the best interviews I've ever seen, because it was a huge risk for Jon Stewart to take. When's the last time you've seen a socialist on American television getting the chance to explain his or her view in a calm manner? The risk paid off, because I felt like I was watching an important moment.
On the point of Hilary's laughter, she gave a talk in my town over the weekend, and laughed an awful lot. She was interviewed by John Grisham at a fundraiser. I've posted the audio of the event on my website.
http://www.cvillepodcast.com/2007/09/24/john-grisham-interviews-hillary-clinton-at-the-paramount/
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9-26-2007 @ 12:33PM
Bash said...
Is it just me or isn't today the 26th?
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9-26-2007 @ 12:35PM
Fabioso said...
Dear friend, if you want no analize the world you shou try to get out of the USA buble. Evo talks like that becouse, Bolivian´s talk slowly. Maby if you wasn´t an ¨american idiot¨ you will realise that the comedy isn´t only to lough in stupid way, comedy in this program is use to say some things (opinons and ideas) that ¨seriusly¨ programs will ever show you.
There isn´t only one true my friend and this interview wanted to show you that.
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9-26-2007 @ 1:28PM
ianc said...
The initial article is pretty close to proud declaration of cretinism.
If you knew anything about politics - including the fact that the CIA tried to organise an assassination campaign and coup d'etat against his new government just over a year ago, you might not make such a fool of yourself.
The Daily Show is a political comedy show.Knowing nothing about Bolivia does not make it necessary for Morales to clown for you like an idiot.Does everything in America have to be reduced to the lowest common denominator?
He is a living example of quiet dignity.
Dignity.There's a word for you to look up.
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9-26-2007 @ 1:36PM
Joel Keller said...
Bash, you're right. I fixed Annie's headline.
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9-26-2007 @ 2:09PM
Karen said...
Not every guest needs to come in to flog their latest project. Jon Stewart has, to his enormous credit, turned the "Daily Show" into something that blends comedy with important political commentary. It would be madness for him not to take advantage of the all the world leaders in town for the UN General Assembly. I'll be the Daily Show bookers were on the phone with every embassy in Manhattan.
I thought the interview was fascinating, and I loved that Morales was able to prevent his own sense of humor from being lost in translation.
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9-26-2007 @ 2:38PM
Annie Wu said...
Whoa, whoa. Okay. I think some of you misunderstood me. I wasn't expecting President Morales to make fart jokes or anything. I was just wondering if he knew what kind of show he signed up to be on. Did he think 'The Daily Show' was just another news show or did he understand that it was a comedy program on a cable channel?
Also, I knew he was in NYC for the UN assembly, but I was just wondering why it was the Bolivian president, out of all those other people, that decided to be on TDS. And yes, I checked Google News to see if something big happened in Bolivia recently that I was just totally unaware of. I just saw UN assembly articles.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:49PM
Wyoming Knott said...
Listen. Morales was on the show because he represents progressive change in the world. Do you know that he's the first indigenous president to be elected in Bolivia since the conquistadores? That's 500 years, in case you're counting. And, of course, he realized what the Daily Show was. You think the president of every sovereign nation is as out of it as George Bush? He was also clearly nervous. It's actually refreshing to see a relatively natural down-to-earth, serious person who's the President of a nation. We can only hope...
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9-26-2007 @ 4:29PM
sean tubbs said...
The Daily Show is one of the only places you'll ever see someone like Morales, because the other shows wouldn't deem him important or significant enough. A lot of people get their news from the Daily Show, and it's because Stewart is willing to present new ideas in the form of these interviews.
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9-26-2007 @ 8:09PM
Bash said...
Problem is that the only reaction people can show to a different approach than their own is fear.
Listening to Morales and trying to understand him spurs the feeling that the way he does things he (or better: his ideas) might want to invade the US to "liberate" it. An indigenous US president, imagine that. An actual indian, president of the US, annexing all resources and channels the profits directly into the governments budget, minimizing the share of the companies who exploit those resources (remember what Bill Maher said in "The Decider"? The Bush administration added "mining" to things that are allowed in a National Park Area)...
And when you feel frightened because of those radical ideas you might think about how people in other countries in the world feel when the US gets there with their idea of free market and democracy and how much it would change the way of life in "their" country... you might wonder no more why those people are the most perfect fertile ground for extremists.
Because you can think that your way is the best all you want, you are still trying to change theirs, and you frighten them. Morales seems to know that. Bush Jr. seems to be totally oblivious of it.
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9-26-2007 @ 10:33PM
Nick said...
Funny how Bakkedahl's piece had a translator as well. I noticed a running theme last night.
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9-27-2007 @ 5:12AM
Readie said...
To echo the general sentiment here (a day late because I'm in the UK) - I thought this was one of the best and most moving interviews I've ever seen on The Daily Show. It was fascinating to hear a politician talk of peace, unity and real change - something we don't hear too often from Western politicians.
I fully admit I was not familiar with Morales or the situation in Boliva but this didn't matter - I was captivated and by the end of those five minutes eager to learn more. Not bad for a short piece on a comedy show.
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9-28-2007 @ 6:59PM
La-Di-Dah said...
i too loved the interview with Morales. That's the kind of leader i wish for my home country - someone who cares about what happens to his country and his people.
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9-28-2007 @ 7:00PM
La-Di-Dah said...
i too loved the interview with Morales. That's the kind of leader i wish for my home country - someone who cares about what happens to his country and his people.
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