The Film Archives-C-SPAN: 1997 White House Correspondents Dinner Featuring President Bill Clinton and Comedian Job Stewart

 

Source:The Film Archives– comedian and political satirist Jon Stewart.

“Bill Clinton & Jon Stewart: Stand-Up Comedy – White House Correspondents’ Dinner (1997) Although best known for his work on The Daily Show, Stewart has had roles in several films and television series. More Jon Stewart…

From The Film Archives

President Bill Clinton was the Comedian in Chief. Because, For one he has a great sense of humor and has always had that and if you live the life he has, the life of riding a roller coaster full-time. Having to stop to vomit because of all of those rides and going from being up one second to falling flat on your face (the clean version) the next second, you would have to have a great sense of humor and be able to make fun of yourself to keep your sanity.

But President Clinton was also Comedian in Chief because of the time he was president. Running and getting elected President of the United States at the birth of the internet. Email and websites already up by 1992 and of course those things having not been fully developed. Like they were in the mid and late 1990s, but they were already there. Cell phones already around by 1992 and the phones you saw then look like the phones you saw by 1995 when cell phones became popular and cool and almost universal.

The twenty-four hour news cycle was big by the early 1990s and just got bigger during the Clinton Administration. With cable news plus the internet to go along with television and radio news along with print media. With these news organizations being addicted to the twenty-four hour news cycle. Having to be the first to report on a story that five people care about. Otherwise it could cost them a tenth of one rating point, or an entire newspaper or magazine subscription.

President Clinton was also Comedian in Chief because of his hate squad, I mean opposition. Who actually turned out to be his best friends who saved him from himself. Because the American people had already decided they liked President Clinton and the job he was doing. And already accepted his flaws and decided they really didn’t like his opposition. Especially since these overly moral and extremely perfect people just also happened to be guilty of the same things that they were accusing President Clinton of. House Speaker Newt Gingrich comes to mind in a hot second. Who needs friends when you have enemies like this?

Once you become President of the United States, the number one sacrifice you give up and sacrifice is your privacy. The whole world is going to know about the same mistakes you and they make. Like having affairs when you are married with a daughter to a women half your age. Or raising money from other countries and you also have to know that your best friends, I mean opposition is going to accuse you of making the same mistakes and doing the same things they’ve done which is just the price of high power.

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George Carlin: Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin

Source:George Carlin– being interviewed by fellow comedian and political satirist Jon Stewart, in 1997 or 99.

Source:The Daily Times

“Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin from HBO 40 Years of Comedy.”

From George Carlin

What separates George Carlin from let’s call them other counter-culture satirists and comedians on the left (let’s say) who critique American society and culture, is that for one George Carlin is often more right than his other colleagues. But he also doesn’t have a political agenda that he’s pushing. He’s not trying to get government to do this or that for the country.

Also George Carlin’s satire is bipartisan, he doesn’t critique politicians in both parties just to look fair, but he critiques politicians that he disagrees with. No mater their political or ideological affiliations.

Carlin is a classical rebel in the sense that he’s against the establishment whoever it. Because he doesn’t have a political agenda of his own. His real political message (if he has one) is about education and that the people need to educate themselves and stop reelecting people that keep the same system in place and that we should take responsibility for our own lives.

Carlin didn’t believe in blaming people that we elect and reelect for giving us the system that we have or where we are in life, but the people who elect and reelect the politicians who give us and maintain the current system. It’s not Carlin’s consistency that I admire so much, but that he’s consistently right.

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