Jon Stewart Schools Tony Blair

[urban_stoop]

Former British PM was on The Daily Show last night to promote his new book A Journey. When they ran out of time on the show, Jon continued the interview for another twenty minutes, which you can watch online. And you should!

Part One (actually on the show)



Part Two (Extended- talk about Iran, mostly)


Part Three (Extended)


Source is www.thedailyshow.com

Comments

[red_pill]

dose anyone know where a brit might be able to see this? downloads or the such?

[spinnigold]

Seconded; I always appreciate people laying the smackdown on Bozo Blair. I hate being restricted by region!

[spinnigold]

No, it still blocks you :[

I wouldn't say he schooled him...

[jugglingeggs]

Tony Blair is a war criminal.

It wasn't a bad interview though Jon kept apologizing for his opinions, which irritated me. You don't need to apologies to war mongers like Blair.

What Jon should have asked, "Why was torture/secret rendition so necessary? Why aren't any of these prisoners allowed fair trial? What are companies like Blackwater doing in Iraq? .. If all the UK/US ever wanted to do was liberate people from evil dictatorship regimes (that you/US set up to begin with/at the very least funded)?"

I know...I expect too much from comedy central, but I've given up on almost every real news channel.

But I liked his etcher-sketcher(?) analogy!

Re: I wouldn't say he schooled him...

[jugglingeggs]

oh damn, my html is all messed up! gaaaahhh always preview before post!!!

[amethyst_amore]

No, he didn't, sadly, and I'm pretty certain if this were Bush or Cheney in that seat instead, Jon would've ripped them a new one.

I agree, those are fair questions to ask, but I think Blair already gets that treatment from his own people far more than the US should be doing to the likes of Cheney. (Which isn't to say that he should be treated any differently here, but at least he's having a harder time justifying himself to the UK then the US's former pres and VP is from Americans.)

I think what John was apologizing for more was his tendency to sort of cut Blair off, which, much as I love the guy, he does tend to overpower the conversation in a lot of his interviews. I have to go back and watch it again, but that's what I got out of it.

The etch-a-sketch analogy was fantastic. I also like how he pointed out the other dictatorships and nations not so friendly to the West with nuclear weapons and asked what Blair would propose we do about them. I noticed he really didn't have an answer which right there proved Jon's point.

[jugglingeggs]

I honestly do hope Blair does get that treatment from his own people (I've just never read about it, probably cause I don't really read up on British politics much). The man makes me sick.

I agree with Jon cutting people off a lot, but he kept on saying 'my naive pov' which was perhaps him being sarcastic in a subtle way, but I just got annoyed and wanted to shake him and be like ARRGGHH stop saying you're sorry/naive!

Jon did point out a lot of things to Blair that were very valid which Blair didn't really know how to respond to though he kept justifying himself. I felt like for the nuclear one Blair was almost going to blurt out, we should bomb the s*&t out of them! DUH!

I also liked the cockroach analogy, that was hilarious.

[amethyst_amore]

I give Blair a few points for at least articulating his POV in a sense that wasn't ideological. He's still guilty for a lot of horrible things that have resulted from his actions, but I can't see someone like Cheney making the same argument in more practical terms.

It was an interesting interview. I can't say Jon "schooled him," but he certainly gave him some amazing couter arguments.

[fatpie42]

Giving Blair a run for his money isn't easy. He's pretty much the real life equivalent of Grima Wormtongue. He was put in front of a panel considering the legality of his actions regarding the war and he did a great job then of countering accusations when he was blatantly guilty. I'll bet the panel questioning him wished they could have resorted to sarcasm too....

Hey OP

[ubiquitous_a]

This is a minor thing, but could you correct your subject line? It's Jon Stewart with a "t", not a d.

Re: Hey OP

[urban_stoop]

Ooops, fixed! Thanks, I don't know why I keep doing that...

[ghost_busting]

Looking forward to seeing this on more4 tonight.

Is there anyway people could put the extended interview on daily motion or something? I always like to see Blair squirm.

[brandontaco]

ikr I am on the edge of my seat over here.