Jon Stewart and Bill O鈥橰eilly: More compatible than you think?
Jon Stewart did a two-part interview this week on 鈥楾he O鈥橰eilly Factor.鈥� When it was over, Bill O鈥橰eilly said, 鈥業鈥檓 very, very pleased.鈥�
Washington
Jon Stewart versus Bill O鈥橰eilly: Who won the great policy smackdown?
Comedian Stewart (we loved him in 鈥淓lmopalooza!鈥�) appeared on Fox鈥檚 鈥�O鈥橰eilly Factor鈥� in a two-part interview broadcast Wednesday and Thursday nights. And he sparred with his host about national governance in a manner that would not have been out of place at a Brookings Institution seminar.
鈥淭his was pretty intellectual. I鈥檓 very, very pleased,鈥� Mr. O鈥橰eilly said when it was over.
The tone was not always, um, decorous. (鈥淵ou have become the most reasonable voice on Fox,鈥� Stewart told his host at one point. 鈥淲hich in some ways is like being the thinnest kid at fat camp.鈥�)
But the pair started off with a fairly lengthy discussion about the nature of executive power, in which Stewart opined that President Obama had ceded too much by allowing Congress to draw up healthcare legislation on its own.
鈥淥nce you allow a vacuum of power, what will assume power in Washington is special interests,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淚f you allow too much nitpicking on the edge of legislation, it will be necessarily turned into a type of lobbyist gruel.鈥�
Then they moved to whether Mr. Obama is, or is not, a socialist.
鈥淚f he鈥檚 a tyrant, he鈥檚 a pretty tame tyrant,鈥� Stewart said. 鈥淗ow many tyrants do you know of that suffer because they can鈥檛 get cloture?鈥�
(He鈥檚 referring to the fact that Obama no longer has the votes to overcome a unified GOP filibuster in the Senate.)
Then O鈥橰eilly said he was thinking of running for president in 2012, and he wanted to pick Stewart as his running mate, if they were compatible. The pair went issue by issue:
The war against terrorism. 鈥淥ur strategy for battling terrorism can鈥檛 be that you overthrow governments, and then make the United States military commit 150,000 troops to those lands until they can be stabilized enough so you can prevent 10 people from plotting terrorism in a basement,鈥� Stewart said.
鈥淚 agree.... It鈥檚 bankrupting the country,鈥� O鈥橰eilly said.
The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Stewart sounded pretty tough on what he鈥檇 like to have happen to accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
鈥淚鈥檇 like him executed at half time of the Super Bowl and then reanimated so we can do it every year,鈥� he said.
The comedian disagreed with his host, however, who believes that trying KSM in civilian courts shows weakness.
鈥淚 understand the value of showing that the American justice system has the ability to handle even the worst,鈥� Stewart said.
Global warming. Stewart said he thought cap-and-trade legislation to curb greenhouse gases 鈥渋s something of a silly idea.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not a scientist. I can only assume common sense. If you burn a lot of stuff and put it in the atmosphere, it means something,鈥� Stewart said.
Stewart and O鈥橰eilly have appeared together many times and seemed more compatible on the issues than one might think. But it doesn鈥檛 take much to exceed expectations, since one would probably think that they weren鈥檛 compatible at all.
However, in the end Stewart did say, 鈥淚鈥檓 not running [for president] with you! I鈥檇 get one job, and that would be to light the White House 尘别苍辞谤补丑.鈥�
As to who won, we鈥檙e fair and balanced. Watch the , and you can decide.
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