911 Comedy Commission

In the unlikely event that you are still under the impression that the 911 commission is comprised of representatives who are earnestly and soberly examining shortcomings in intelligence leading up to the attacks on New York and Washington… I direct your attention to commission panelist Bob Kerrey [D] and his appearance on the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” a couple of nights ago.
Michelle Malkin

Now, it would be one thing if Kerrey used his privileged position to inform Stewart’s younger audience of the gravity of the 9/11 panel’s task. But instead, Kerrey yukked it up. First, he dished with Stewart about President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney’s upcoming private meeting with the commission. When Stewart mocked the president’s “buddy system,” Kerrey guffawed: “He is bringing his buddy, that’s exactly right, for safety.” Emboldened by audience applause, Kerrey riffed that it was more like “Screw you, buddy.” Asked by Stewart whether people were really blaming each other over the terrorist attacks during closed hearings, Kerrey snorted: “Oh, Jee-zus, yeah.” More audience approval. (Taking the Lord’s name in vain is always good for a few cheap laughs.)
Next, echoing a profanity uttered earlier in the show, Kerrey blurted out with a clownish grin: “Life is [expletive bleeped].” When Stewart proposed that Kerrey ask the vice president, “What the [expletive bleeped] is wrong with you people?” Kerrey cracked up and promised to use the question. And when Stewart called Attorney General John Ashcroft a “big [expletive bleeped],” Kerrey chortled some more.
After nearly ten minutes of knee-slapping hilarity, it was time for Kerrey to wrap things up. Instead of paying lip service to those who died in the terrorist attacks, Kerrey used his last moments on the program to suck up to Stewart. The Daily Show, Kerrey cooed, was one of the few shows he TiVo’ed. The other, he joked, was [the PBS kids’ show] Boohbah. Ho-ho-ho.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R., Mo.) was spot on Tuesday in his reaction to Kerrey’s performance: “His appearance on a program designed to satirize current events proves that Kerrey lacks the seriousness of purpose that this Commission requires and the American people deserve. This is not a laughing matter.”

I saw the show. It was pretty disgraceful, all round. But Stewart stopped being funny a long time ago too. Somewhere in his rabid partisanship, Stewart has forgotten that satire based upon false premises or misinformation isn’t satire anymore – or funny.
In the episode last night, Stewart lobbed his jokes at Bush and Cheney’s interview with commission members yesterday. Yet, he didn’t mention that his guest of a few nights earlier had left before it was over. I wonder why – there’s ripe opportunity for satire there, don’t you think?
“Kerrey explained to reporters: “Yeah, it’s a little awkward to leave early. But the president certainly understood what we were doing.”