Political sensibilities

Tucker Carlson doesn’t know when he’s been beat.

“I thought that he looked ridiculous,” Carlson said in an interview Monday, “and I think the tape makes that clear.”

Carlson said Stewart continued lecturing the “Crossfire” crew after the show went off the air. “I wasn’t offended as much as I was unimpressed,” he said.

Stewart wasn’t talking about the confrontation on Monday, a spokesman said. Comedy Central executive Tony Fox said there may be some regret over the vulgarity, but that Stewart has been a longtime critic of cable news networks and their political argument shows.

The comedian hasn’t gone out of his way to endorse Kerry. In a public forum last week in New York, he was asked who he would vote for, and he said he’d back the Democrat.

Carlson noted that many of the great comedians kept their political opinions to themselves, not for fear of offending anyone, but because it could hurt their art.

“You’re selling out,” he said. “If you are a satirist or an acute social observer, and he is, and all of a sudden you suspend disbelief on someone or suck up rather than prod or poke someone, people will look at you and say, ‘Even if I agree with you, I don’t like it,'” he said.

Fox said “The Daily Show” poked fun at people in power, regardless of their party. Most people who watch Stewart are aware that he leans to the left politically.

“I don’t think it really impacts the show at all,” he said. “The show does what it does regardless of Jon’s political persuasion.”

Wow. Comedians…keeping their political sensibilities to themselves…who knew?

Bob Hope: he could have been one of the Greats

Mr. Carlson: please, for the love of God, shut up before you do yourself any more harm, ‘kay? Because it could hurt their art? Are you high? The great comedians have always been political. You have access to Google (I should hope): check out the etymology of “the court jester.” (Also, watch the Danny Kaye movie. It’s funny stuff.) Maybe as comedians get more successful they have more to lose if they offend the people in power, so they doing do the pointed stuff and thereby become the bland bores we all think of when we think of comedians. But one of the great things about being a comedian is that you get to speak truth to power and if you do it well you make people laugh as well. Not just the laughter of recognition but because you said something funny. Sheesh.

Get it? Got it? Good.

Now take off that ridiculous tie. You’re an insult to nerds.

(No, I don’t know for a fact that Hope was a Republican. He made fun of everyone. But he seemed to have more Republican pals. Besides which: not the point of my joke.)

Update: And now…your moment of Zen.