Well that was interesting to watch

[godix]

Tonight I watched the unedited Stewart/Cramer interview. Surprisingly it was well done. Stewart had well presented facts and opinions, and of course those clips that absolutely nailed Cramer to the wall. I say surprisingly because because I had quit watching the Daily Show last summer after their convention coverage. If you'll recall that was about

Comments

[godix]

If someone has the means to do something and chooses not to they really don't have that much validity when they bitch that others choose not to as well. Again, Stewart bitching about irresponsible media would be like me bitching about org assholes. It might be correct, but it's also something that the person bitching is at least as responsible for as who he's bitching at. If he wants to be a comedian then he should bring out the funny. Instead he turned his show into a shill for Obama and a bully pulpit which means the 'I'm just a comedian' excuse doesn't carry much water with me. He certainly acts like he's more than a comedian.

As far as the disclaimers, I'm not saying it's all the peoples fault. Clearly there were greedy fuckers doing unethical things with other peoples money that lead us to this. But reality has always been if someone doesn't think for themselves then they're gonna get fucked up the ass. I do not excuse the assholes who got us into this mess but I also don't think it's JUST their fault. One of the things Stewart was right on is that if someone promises you'll get rich without working for it then they're lying. The corollary he doesn't mention, if you choose to believe in the magic money fairy instead of hard work then it's just as much your fault. People should have read the terms of their mortgage before they signed up for hundreds of thousands in debt. They should have thought about the fact the stock market does go into down cycles, and in fact had twice in the very recent past (2000 dotcom bust & post 9/11 2001), before they tossed their life savings in the ring. They should have investigated how sound companies were instead of blindly believing a guy on the TV who's throwing around stuffed bulls and bears. They should have carefully contemplated the phrase 'past performance is not indicative of future results' which was repeated so often it's almost a cliche anymore. Half the country just fell for a giant 'make $$$ fast' chainmail and I really don't have much sympathy for that combo of stupid and greedy. So yeah, string up the dickheads who lead us to this giant fuckup but don't pretend that most of the people who lost their money are dove eyed innocents.