After a rerun last night while Stewart and his crew attended the Emmys,
The Daily Show returned to first-run episodes tonight, featuring an interview with author Vali nasr. Stewart opened by patting himself and his crew on the back for their 7th straight
Emmy win in the category
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or
Comedy Series.
He then proceeded to discuss President Obama’s interviews with four major
news networks and Telemundo this past Sunday. Those interviews occurred in succession at the White House and have led several
news outlets to speculate that Obama might be overexposing himself. Responded Stewart: “Being on five morning news shows doesn’t risk overexposure. The overwhelming majority of Americans at that time are either in church or sleeping off something they
should be in church for.”
In the next segment, entitled
Moral Combat, he talked about the Washington DC-based
Values Voters Summit, an annual political event for
social conservatives held this past weekend. In the funniest part of the segment, Stewart reviewed the speech of Mike Schwartz, chief of staff to Senator Tom Coburn. That rambling,
illogical speech dealt with the attitudes of pre-
adolescent boys towards homosexuality; it also covered the ways that pornography turns one's
sexual drives inwards, thus predisposing that individual to homosexuality. No, I’m not making that up.
The interview was dry but informative.
Vali Nasr is an Iranian American scholar, appearing on the show to promote his new book
Forces of Fortune. The book deals with the rise of the Middle Class in the Muslim world, with Nasr asserting that a larger middle class among Muslims fosters improved relations with non Muslims. The session offered zero
laughs—unusual for even the driest of Stewart’s interviews—but it was, nonetheless, an intelligent, reasoned discussion. The moment of
zen was disposable. One hopes for funnier interviews, but tonight’s guest was the exception, not the rule and, otherwise, this episode offered plenty of laughs and a fun way to start the new week.
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