On Monday night's "O'Reilly Factor," Jon Stewart showed up to debate Bill O on the so-called "Common Controversy," a seemingly endless stream of speculation and soundbite-ry that stemmed from the rapper's invitation to appear at a White House poetry event, and his "support" of "cop killers," including a visit he paid to one of the accused, "the notorious Joanne Chesimard," (as O'Reilly put it,) in Cuba (gasp!)
The gist of O'Reilly's agitation seems to be that, by having Common appear at the White House, Barack Obama was "validating" the rapper's entire career ? not to mention his support of Chesimard and Mumia Abu-Jamal ? and that the whole thing was, simply put, "a bad idea," one that undermined national unity (a concept we all know the folks at Fox News certainly strive to nurture.) Not mentioned in all of this were the facts that a) Common's career was pretty nicely validated before the White House invite, and b) Common has, in the past, said some rather nasty things about former president George W. Bush, which didn't exactly put him in good standing with the Right before this whole "controversy" began, but still, it's nice to see America officially give a crap about poetry again, especially since it's been about 16 years since "Spoken Word Unplugged" (shout out to Maggie Estep!)
And while Stewart basically ethered Bill ? that's a "rap phrase" ? when he brought up the fact that performers like Bono and and Bob Dylan have both penned songs that supported convicted killers (an early version of U2's "Vertigo" was titled "Native Son," about jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier, and Dylan's famous "Hurricane" proclaimed the innocence of boxer Rubin Carter), and both have been invited to the White House in the past with little incident, Monday night's debate inspired us to go back and look at some of Jon and Bill's greatest hits. After all, the two have traded barbs on each other's shows at several points in the past, and here are some of the best bits.
Stewart Gets Edited
In a September 2010 appearance on "The Factor," Stewart addressed the issue of "Obama Remorse" (guess who said it?) and controversy arose when Fox News edited his comments down. The network eventually responded by posting the full interview on its Web site, and in its complete context, we not only see Bill speaking in generalities (talk of "the folks" who feel alienated by Obama) but get to hear Stewart make several cracks at O'Reilly's so-called charitable embrace of the Tea Party (and the inherent profit of such a noble cause), with the comedian joking "You're making charity hand over fist ... you're a regular Mother Teresa out there."
"Uncertainty Breeds Fear:
On the eve of the 2008 election, O'Reilly headed to "The Daily Show" to answer Stewart's claims that Fox News was attempting to create a culture of fear around Barack Obama (claims supported by various fear-drenched Fox clips). J Stew presented Bill with a Teddy Bear and a mug of hot cocoa, and proclaimed his show to be a "safe zone," and Bill responded by saying he wasn't just fearful of Obama's governance, but the entire federal government, famously proclaiming "I'm an anarchist ... power to the people." He also jokingly referred to Stewart as "the master of propaganda."
A Frank Discussion Of France
In 2004, Stewart came by "The O'Reilly Factor" to promote his just-released book, "America (The Book):A Citizen's Guide To Democracy Inaction," but the discussion quickly turned to O'Reilly's calls to boycott France, since the nation "help[s] worldwide terrorism." Stewart asked "Do you really believe France is in any way worthy of a boycott?" to which O'Reilly replied "I do, I think France has really hurt the U.S.A." Also of note, O'Reilly referring to "The Daily Show's" audience as "stoned slackers, and Stewart comparing "The O'Reilly Factor's" back-stage snack selection to the food at Guantanamo Bay. It's almost enough to make hyperbolic discussion of a poetry event seem sane. Almost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Iwr3gCxDA
Source: http://newsroom.mtv.com/2011/05/17/jon-stewart-bill-oreilly-common/
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