Jon Stewart Demolishes Glenn Beck’s Attacks on Progressivism and Social Justice

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:03 pm

On last night’s The Daily Show, complete with a full Beckesque set, and a dead on impression, Jon Stewart mocked Glenn Beck’s recent attacks on progressivism as a cancer. Stewart said, “I looked approvingly at child labor laws, inspections of meat and poultry and other food stuffs, women voting. I thought it was progress…America I have cancer, we in this country have cancer, value and document eating cancer.”

Here is the intro from The Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Intro – Progressivism Is Cancer
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Stewart said, “You know for many years I thought that government when competently run could help provide basic safe guards not just against enemies both foreign and domestic, but against other forces that might seek to exploit the less powerful. I looked approvingly at child labor laws, inspections of meat and poultry and other food stuffs, women voting. I ah, thought it was progress. I didn’t realize how sick it was making me, making all of us. America I have cancer, we, in this country have cancer, value and document eating cancer.”

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Here is the segment:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
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Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Stewart continued, “America, I thought as perhaps Teddy Roosevelt did, that some basic protections backed by the legal authority of the United States government if necessary, could enhance all of our pursuit of liberty and happiness and life, but what I didn’t know was to even entertain that thought makes me a progressive and that’s not good.”

After playing a clip of Beck saying that progressives want to control your life, Stewart said, “I didn’t know that that’s what I wanted, but I guess I want to control every aspect of your life. As a progressive I might say I think it is a good idea for an agency to monitor pollution, but I guess what I really mean is, it’s in the state’s interest that we be allowed to put a chip in your head that tells you when you can masturbate, total control.”

Stewart then went after Beck’s attacks on social justice, “It’s not that believing, I’m not saying this. I’m not saying that believing that there should be a minimum standard for how much lead can be in our paint, might lead to the government having the right to sterilize and kill Jews. I’m not saying that that might be the case. I’m saying that’s the case and that even though you didn’t realize it. It’s been your goal the whole time.” Stewart then pulled out the chalkboard to show ovals of progressive policy.

The Daily Show host took on Beck’s circular blackboard logic. From the blackboard Stewart said, “This is Glenn’s blackboard so we have to play by Glenn’s rules, which are if you subscribe to an idea, you also subscribe to that idea’s ideology, and to every possible negative consequence that that ideology remotely implies if you carry it to absurd extremes. For instance, progressives if you believe in a minimum safety net for the nation’s neediest, you believe in total and absolute government control, so if you believe that faith provides a strong moral tent post for a nation’s foundation that can only lead to totalitarian theocracy.”

Once again, Jon Stewart revealed himself to be most observant critic of the absurdities being pushed by Beck and the right wing in order to achieve their political goals. Beck discovered that the golden path to success was not only exploit the fears of others, but to create a realm where every issue topic and concept is intellectually carried out to its most negative and absurd conclusion. Stewart nailed everything perfectly, the tone of fear, the exaggeration, the irrationality. No one takes on the media’s overhyping and logical blind spots better than the people at The Daily Show. When a comedy program is the nation’s media watchdog, then there is something wrong with the media.