Jon Stewart
on the not-so-subtle differences between the evidently unvetted audience questions in British debates and the sycophantic ones in American debates. The clip unfortunately requires Windows Media Player, and broadband connectivity..
For those disinclined to view it - that clip compares a Tony Blair town hall meeting in London to a Bush one in Washington. Bush arrives to an adulatory standing ovation, while Blair's entrance is marked by cheers and jeers in equal measure. An audience member pipes to Blair "If that wasn't fraudulent, it was grossly negligent, and for that you you should be resigning anyway", after which the camera cuts to Bush's meeting where an audience member goes to the microphone to say "I'm so proud to have you as a president" - it's so clawingly sweet its enough to make you want to throw up..
Blair is a very articulate speaker, and certainly come across as a reasonable sort of bloke, wonder why he's so ready to kiss Yankee butt? All said and done, I think I prefer the British (and Indian) parliamentary system to the American presidential one.. There are more checks and balances in the parliamentary system, the premier is merely the first among equals and not this larger-than-life figure..
The Daily Show is pretty much the only thing I watch on tv, Jon Stewart is always funny, rarely slapsticky and every once in a while is simply brilliant. Like in this segment on Rumsfeld's news conference last week. A reporter asked Rumsfeld whether he thought that in light of a report on Abu Ghraib, the Pentagon could really investigate itself, to which he dismissively replies " I haven't read it yet" - Just great, he hasn't read it yet, where could he possibly find time to catch up on his reading? He's so reliably disdainful of press questions, his news briefings have become incredibly amusing..
The last clip in this post is on Bush's Energy Policy. Bush made a major policy speech saying America needs to reduce its dependence on fossill fuels, and then proceeded to say with a straight face, that he's going to ask Congress for $2 billion for his coal energy initiative...
For those disinclined to view it - that clip compares a Tony Blair town hall meeting in London to a Bush one in Washington. Bush arrives to an adulatory standing ovation, while Blair's entrance is marked by cheers and jeers in equal measure. An audience member pipes to Blair "If that wasn't fraudulent, it was grossly negligent, and for that you you should be resigning anyway", after which the camera cuts to Bush's meeting where an audience member goes to the microphone to say "I'm so proud to have you as a president" - it's so clawingly sweet its enough to make you want to throw up..
Blair is a very articulate speaker, and certainly come across as a reasonable sort of bloke, wonder why he's so ready to kiss Yankee butt? All said and done, I think I prefer the British (and Indian) parliamentary system to the American presidential one.. There are more checks and balances in the parliamentary system, the premier is merely the first among equals and not this larger-than-life figure..
The Daily Show is pretty much the only thing I watch on tv, Jon Stewart is always funny, rarely slapsticky and every once in a while is simply brilliant. Like in this segment on Rumsfeld's news conference last week. A reporter asked Rumsfeld whether he thought that in light of a report on Abu Ghraib, the Pentagon could really investigate itself, to which he dismissively replies " I haven't read it yet" - Just great, he hasn't read it yet, where could he possibly find time to catch up on his reading? He's so reliably disdainful of press questions, his news briefings have become incredibly amusing..
The last clip in this post is on Bush's Energy Policy. Bush made a major policy speech saying America needs to reduce its dependence on fossill fuels, and then proceeded to say with a straight face, that he's going to ask Congress for $2 billion for his coal energy initiative...