The Health Inspector of our Buffet

Having known what I was going to post this morning since Friday, it was fitting that yesterday, WikiLeaks.org, an online whistle-blower site, posted thousands of classified military field reports about the war in Afghanistan.

We're at a point in history where, news-wise, we are no longer bound by time, channel, source, or slant. Those who flock to the extreme ends of either side of any debate believe they are the only ones in full-possession of "the truth," while the fact is that they are the most sheltered from reality.

What is true is that mainstream news sources are dying. They are too loyal to outdated models, too slow to change, too in-debt to networks and corporations.

The pundits can't be trusted as a source of news either--they're a source of opinion on the news, also tasked with turning a profit, selling ad time, and staying relevant, all eventually turning to Lady Gaga-esque techniques that sell the spectacle and not the substance.

The bloggers, the Wild Wild Internet, can't be trusted either. The same rules of fact and source aren't in place, and much like the pundits, the Internet offers us all the ability to run and hide behind whatever we'd like to believe, rather than what we're being forced to see.

So what's left?

The buffet line--the process of choosing a little news from here, a little news from there. There is no one fountain of news that we can go to and expect to receive the full picture, but by piecing together items from various sources, we can consider ourselves as up-to-speed as possible.

But we need to be responsible eaters. No one will force us to take a balanced meal. If we'd like, we can take only dessert, or only shrimp cocktail, or a disgusting mix of both, which for the most part, is what we're doing, and then blaming the power's that be when we develop diabetes and gout.

I recognize that I can't convince everyone to be responsible. What I'm more concerned with is that there is someone out there not focusing on reviving the old model, or selling their opinion, or occupying a niche. The health inspector of our buffet, if you will.

On Friday, ESPN's Bill Simmons posted a new column, a two-part mailbag. In the second part, someone asked:

Who is the funniest man alive right now? Personally I like Zach Galifianiakis -- he's the Kevin Durant of this category. We know he will be great, but he isn't quite there yet.

This led Bill to come up with an "MVP of Comedy" from 1975 and on. For 2004, he wrote:

2004: Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart (tie)
Season 2 for Chappelle and a breakout year for Stewart (the 2004 election, his "Crossfire" appearance, the release of his book and his Peabody Award).

I'm only a recent Jon Stewart convert. During the period Simmons is referring to, I took politics too seriously to give someone like Stewart credit, never appreciating the fact that he insisted on pointing out the he shouldn't be taken seriously. I was happy to oblige.

Now that I've learned to temper my fiery political rage, I have a deep respect for Stewart, and not just his show. His leanings aside, he is fair, even-toned, intelligent, and the fact that this needs to be pointed out highlights where we are at the moment, news-wise.

So I clicked on the Simmons link and proceeded to sit and watch, amazed, as Jon Stewart, the health inspector of our buffet, spent 14 minutes eviscerating Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson:



The amount of quotable lines in there is mind-blowing. An amazing performance. An MVP performance, if you will. The Wikipedia page for Crossfire even links to a quote from CNN CEO Jonathan Klein saying that part of the reason Crossfire was canceled in 2005 was because of the Stewart appearance.

Jon Stewart may say that The Daily Show is a comedy show, on Comedy Central, and it is, but this isn't totally true. What The Daily Show does is point out the hypocrisy, and the ridiculousness, and sometimes, the flat-out lies told by the people delivering and/or covering the news, and the mostly unintentionally hilarious way that they tend to do it.

Which makes the choice of using comedy as the vehicle to point out these issues quite fitting, when you think about it.

So check out that video, and maybe even check out The Daily Show if you don't already. You'll laugh at the humor, and because of the truth, and maybe learn a few things in the process.

Most importantly, keep yourself in check while at the buffet.

Nobody's going to do it for you.


More soon,
JS