To Jack Savage Pine:

“Both networks are owned by GE.  Ask yourself who the real winner in this fight is…” 

Your point is well taken, and—well—savage. 

Nothing would delight me more than a non-violent march on Washington DC with 50 other simultaneous non-violent marches in all 50 states, all with a single theme: Break up the corporate news media.

One news station per company. You can own a news company. But that’s all you can own. Nothing else. One corporation per set of talking heads. End this nonsense. 

I would hope journalists would be leading those marches, too, because they’re the ones being nailed in various and sundry nether regions for the shenanigans of corporate news managers and owners.

Ah, sweet justice:

STORY: Jim Cramer, CNBC Ratings Down Since Stewart Attacks Began

In the first three days of this week, CNBC’s Business Day programming block was down 10 percent in the key demographic of adults 25-to-54 versus the same period the week before, and down 11 percent among total viewers….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/13/jim-cramer-cnbc-ratings-d_n_174873.html

To Kersey Seven,
That is what is wrong with journalism, just look at Hannity and Matthews.  Their “objectivity” is entertainment, which as you say, is what the networks want and make money from.  But, it should not be called “news” it should be called “entertainment!  I want “news”, that is what I pay for and tune in for!  If I want entertainment I will watch ‘E.
Someone needed to shine the light on this objectivity nonesense, the arguing during the “news” is stressful, there is enough arguing in our lives, let us have a civil discussion with actual facts, do not leave me guessing at the end of the broadcast what the news of the day is!
Ibett

Both networks are owned by GE.  Ask yourself who the real winner in this fight is…

Jon Stewart got this all wrong. Thank God he is not a journalist. He would destroy journalism as we know it.

Here are the rules of journalism.  When you invite a pathological liar on your show such as Jim Cramer you are not supposed to present visual evidence confirming he is a liar. You are supposed to invite someone else on your show with an opposing point of view and then let them duke it out. 

Similarly, you are supposed to call each person beforehand and say: “You are going to play the role of the ‘critic.’ And you are going to play yourself, Jim, a venal talk show host who will say anything for a buck.”

And then, as any journalist knows, no guest can mention books, television programs, or history that backs up his or her argument. No, guests must simply talk and talk and talk and the host is supposed to ask each guest “objective” questions. 

This is the genius of modern television news.  This is how it’s supposed to work.  Viewers are supposed to watch two speakers bicker, and neither speaker should have ability to buttress his or her point with that silly little thing known as documentary evidence.  The genius of this is that each viewer can walk away from the program without changing his or her mind.  This is called “objectivity.”

It simply will not do to have talk show hosts such as Stewart presenting evidence of lies and disqualifying speakers.  What would journalists do if they were forced each time they brought a guest on a show to broadcast previous clips of the guest lying, of the guest being wrong. No journalism would not, could not, and does not function this way.

The way of corporate journalism is to pretend that the journalist just stepped off a spaceship from another planet. He does not know history. He does not know who is telling the truth. And his corporate employer needs a lot of money to fly him back to whatever wormhole he came from. 

See. Politics simply could not function as it does now if journalists were in the business of pointing out what is the truth, what is self-evident. No, when it comes to interviewing powerful people, journalists must continue to play the role of non-violent sociopaths. They must pit people against each other. They must confuse their audiences. They must pretend nothing is self-evident and everything is subjective. They must ignore it when they know one person is telling the truth and another is lying. They must abdicate their constitutional responsibility of being the final check on the checks and balances system. The genius of this simmering crock of BS is that journalists can then somberly report that their reports are “objective.” 

You see, Jon Stewart just doesn’t understand the greater good. Journalists must be focused on making money for their corporate employers; they must be focused on not offending anyone. They must be focused on drawing the largest possible audience and the highest possible advertising dollars.

We can see how well this “objectivity” is working out for newspapers across the nation. They are all doing so well. We can only hope similar prosperity will spread to network and cable news stations. 

Because, let me ask you this: What’s Jon Stewart gonna do when he finds himself all alone in the world with no myopic talk show hosts around to make him look like a genius? That’s what I’m talking about. Jon Stewart is an abomination and we can only hope that he will get his comeuppance in the afterlife.

I am sooo not seeing the “Cramer got ass handed on platter” claim, but hey - i don’t expect truthdig to say different.

Stewart’s apparent point that CNBC should be a regulatory agency is lost in the irony of two admitted snake oil salesmen having a discussion that’s supposedly not snake oil.

Stewart’s shtick here is his “man of the people” righteous indignation which he disingenuously tries to diffuse with his claims of “just entertainment”.  He’s right of course - it is just entertainment, just as Cramer is - but Stewart pretends it’s more and his audience eats it up.

Me?  I say many of us passed around the irrational exuberance koolaid and swigged heartily while many who didn’t (and who did) are now made to suffer.  Maybe we can tweak the system to reduce the likelyhood of a future repeat, but maybe we all need to start learning lessons rather than repeating mistakes.  In the meantime, Cramer and Stewart are thriving off their business; rock star.

Um, excuse me, but does it not appear that Cramer could be subject to prosecution on the basis of what he appears to confess on these video clips which Stewart produces?

I mean, at one point Cramer says something like, “See, the way it works is, I do such-and-such. Of course, such-and-such is illegal, but, the SEC people are stupid, so you can do it anyway….”

Jon Stewart and Bill Moyers are tremendously worthy of respect. They are state of the art in terms of what can be done to clarify and elucidate major issues on television these days.

With that stated, don’t expect them to usher in social democracy in the U.S. They don’t want the job. Still, such work is necessary.

Blue Eagle

Sorry, I went to bed early before you belted out the old conservative diatribe of “everything that happens to you, good or bad, is your own fault.”

Many people have, for the last few years, done their own investment research, checked all the publications, all the websites, listened to the “experts” and the “pundits”, and nearly all of them had one thing in common, they did not predict this economic collapse. When the system is rigged by bankers, investment houses, the media, and the government regulators to lead us all to believe that our national financial house was in order, what was the average Joe to do? Are we all supposed to have a sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out a Ponsey sceme?

While I had removed my money from the market two years ago, I cannot blame an individual investor who faithfully read the wall street journal and watched CNBC, or fox business news everyday and heard nothing about the coming economic tribulation. We were all sold a bill of goods almost thirty years ago when big businesses convinced the government and the people that a self managed 401K plan we be far superior and more lucrative than those old fashioned pension plans the company had to manage. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The only people that benefitted from 401K plans were employers who could put much less into employees 401K’s than they were pensions, and not have to manage them anymore. And of course, Wall Street, who had millions of more investors and trillions of more dollars to invest in their newly created junk bonds and hedge funds that were nothing but giant Ponsey scemes, benefitting few, while ripping off many. And with a conservative government gleefully looking the way, the system tanked and the average 401K is now worth 40% less than it was two years ago. (by the way, the average 401K was worth just 60-80 thousand dollars a couple of years ago, not the 250-500 thousand the investment houses had been selling for the last 20 years)

So when everyone in the financial sector was in cahoots with a media that served as spokespersons, and a compliant and ignorant regulatory system that looked the other way, I do not nesesarily blame everyone who lost their shirts in the market the last two years, for who were they to believe when almost every source says the same thing?

I do, however, blame the people of the US in general for the government they themselves put in place the last 30 years. We should have known we were being lied too, cheated, stolen from, and taken advantage of. But we believed that if we wrapped ourselves in the flag, put all our money in the stock markets, and had faith, we would all be rich. We put our faith in the false gods of prosperity, and found out the hard way the real truth about capitalism, that for every winner, there are thousands of losers.

The time has come to burn wall street and the white house to the ground and start over. That would be taking true responsibility for the mess that a few created, but all of us end up accountable for.

Jim Cramer is a shill controlled by CNBC executives who push their advertisers’ stock hype and Wall Street propaganda at the expense of the investing public. Once the stock market goes into the toilet, screwed investors never return to the markets, but as P. T. Barnum says, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” and a new investing generation is ushered in a few years later to begin the process all over again. Corporate TV, radio and newspaper media are no better than CNBC, making Jon Stewart a standout at presenting the truth with humor. This is why newspapers are going out of business, the public, for good reason, doesn’t trust media controlled by huge conglomerate corporations.

Propagandaist who conspired with those committing Economic Treason, along with all the other media financial analysts.
Trickle Down was Economic Treason- a system our ancestors fought a Revolutionary War to free US of.
Once they siphoned of the Wealth and gained control of our Free market (created FOR the people and BY the people- Not the Corps nor the Wall Street Gamblers)they proceeded to swindle americans out of the last dime in their pockets (and retirment accounts) By Selling the idea that the Average American should jump into their shark infested waters through DIY trading- E- Trade, Scot Trade, all more Cons to access the reamining wealth. While they are telling you to buy, they have a bet the stock will go up. When they tell you to sell they have a bet the stock will go down- and their High Priced Customers have the same bets- got to keep the weathy investors happy. Wall Street IS a Ponzi Scheme.And all those who were to be the Umpires were in on the conspiracy.This isn’t just Greed, it’s economic Treason!It is not the mere fact they speculate, bu their ability to manipulate- either by actual control over the resource, or how they manipulate their customers(viewers) buying & selling trends.
If the Stock market on speculated and manipualted the stock of cosmetics and office furniture- it wouldn’t be an issue. But they do this with commodities which support human life and welfare. It’s not only unethical it is immoral.Driving Energy costs up effects production (esp food) and thus effects entire economies- increased business costs, causes layoffs, reduces consumption which intern causes further jobs loss, which lead to homelessness, Bankruptcies, and ultimatlely throws a larger burden on taxpayers and charities who people depend on for food, shelter and healthcare.
We will Never be energy independent if individals and companies are reliant on Energy Corps and Wall street for access and the costs. Betting and manipulating the access and cost of Energy literally causes Children to starve. Remove all essential resources off the Stock market Casino Board- energy, food, healthcare.then let them have an Orgy betting Revelon makes bigger profits the next quarter than Max Factor.
Wall Street should not determine the Economy and Welfare of the Citizens- that makes them Our Overlords, something a country Founded on ‘For the people and By the people’Should never allow.. Not by our Public servants, our Corps nor any Religion.

Jon Stewart is a hypocrite. He’ll nail Cramer to a cross, but when Clinton, Biden, Carter, Zbig, even Kissinger come on his show, he gets all facetious and starts tossing them softballs.

Jon Stewart really called out Jim Cramer. Cramer could not back away as he tried to do before the Youtube clip was slapped in his face. I hope the end of the cons will be over sometime this year. I am feeling it is happening.

Now with Meghan McCain calling out the rightwing nut jobs, hopefully there will be other conservatives lining up along side her.

Good riddens to the neo-fascists.

http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com

CNBC is not going to put guys on their shows who say things like Wall Street banks may be insolvent.  If they did, they soon would not have advertisers or people to be interviewed.

None should have bought Bear Stearns as none should buy self-serving shtick offered up by Jon Stewart.

Right, Jon, American’s financial ruin happened because Jim Cramer said (not quite when you said he said) to buy Bear Sterns. Thanks, Jon, for that in-depth reportage amounting to nothing more than “gotcha.”

So what is Stewart’s point exactly? Or is Jon advocating some kind of revolution? (If so, good.) Or does he just think that capitalism would behave itself were it not for renegades at CNBC imaginarily with power to direct capital? (By now for at least three deregulated decades as wages have not risen over that time. Which is not to say that regulated capital ever did much better. Yep, Marx is back. He said it some time ago. Nothing has changed, but for extravagance.)

Though likes of both Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer are still doing just fine. They have far more in common than not.

Stewart is the worse offender for his patronizing condescension. As a matter of fact, most Americans ARE dumbasses, Jon. Since you mentioned it. Not stupid in the least, but ignorant—products of lousy educations if lucky enough to have got one at all. And then “victims” of mainstream-media culture, whether press or radio/television, wherefrom tens to emanate drivel. As much from the New York and Washington times as from CNBC/CNN/MSBNC/Fox and Comedy Central too. (Though giving credit where credit is due, Colbert takes the position—rightly or wrongly—that his audience is lot wiser than Stewart regards his audience. Colbert does not condescend.)

By Stewart, one would think that among sub-prime lenders, Bernie Madoff and now Jim Cramer, the middle-class was made to disappear. Forcibly. While Barnum said something about one being born every minute, he failed to say anything about about one being born every week or so all ready to make excuses for ones born every minute.

Now, all-wise Stewart is coming over like all-wise Lou Dobbs—both self-proclaimed champions of lower orders in their different ways. (For ACTUAL news and smart opinion, read here at TD, or watch Democracy Now, or listen to Background Briefing. There IS alternative media, along with array of outstanding books written by seriously knowledgeable, adult people.)

I’ve watched the Daily Show and watched Mad Money an equal number of times. What I notice about Cramer is that like Colbert he never condescends, while Stewart does just about nothing but condescend, sometimes comically, sometimes irritatingly.

Cramer does his own shtick for sure, but then he’s scrawny and ugly, hardly TV material. Otherwise he’s a whole, whole lot smarter AND more knowing than Jon Stewart. Cramer assumes you might just have the brains to make up your own mind regarding his touts. He’s no snake-oil guy in the way Madoff is, or was.

What’s become America’s (and the world’s) second Great Depression is the result of massive greed on the part of entire populations that in ignorance got to believing capitalism had finally been tamed, and that there really was such a thing as a free lunch.

But then the same people go out to vote every couple years for the same tired crap. When there are alternatives. Who media, of which both Stewart and Cramer are part and parcel, characterize as not quite savvy enough; thus, loons.

Then along come people like Stewart to make excuses by way of people like Cramer.

Who’s savvy now? What’s happened is EVERY citizen’s responsibility, not only that of Wall Street types, by whom—until about a year ago—most of Stewart’s audience was handsomely benefiting. What with just-about free houses and high rates of return on investments. Where was Stewart then? To issue warnings?

Gotcha, Jon. Easy. Not that warnings would have been heard even had you known enough to issue them. Besides, the Daily Show is only variety show. Evidently hosted by buffoon.

Big B - The short answer is yes, we hire people we trust to help us with our decisions. If those people are wrong or intentionally steer us in the wrong direction it is our fault. Mistakes are made, but there is only one person I blame for my mistakes and that is me.

We should also be smart enough by now to realize the game is rigged and it’s not in our favor. Is there anyone on Truthdig that owns stock or bonds in a company including USA Corp. (E.g. Treasuries or Federal Reserve Notes)? Well if they do they are just rolling the dice and they should know that.

Yes, I take personal responsibility for my actions and expect others to do the same. Should we subsidize stupidity, gullibility or other people’s mistakes? IMHO, no we shouldn’t.

Finally, don’t be a laymen. Educate yourself on all topics that concern you. Money, banking and finance are important topics. I’ve educated myself on these matters and if those people don’t want to be conned again they should do the same. The books and information are free and it can all be found at the public library or on the internet. Lack of education is not an excuse.

Blue Eagle;

Isn’t that why we layman out here hire financial consultants, accountants, and the like? to manage our money to the best possible outcome for both parties? How is the average american Joe to know that the game that we have put all our faith in for decades, the game of capitalism, has been a shell game all along? And rigged by an international banking system to benefit only a very few powerful men at the top of the pyramid?

No, you can’t blame regular peoples gullable nature for this mess. they believed in the system. And they learned the hard way that the game was/is always fixed. The (banking) house always wins.

That was a very interesting for Jim Cramer to take the apologetic approach.

He could have said to Jon Stewart, “How can you be so naive. Don’t you know the banksters control the markets. I am a Rockefeller agent, just like Kissinger, of the banking system. Everything is manipulated by me and my kind to rob you and your kind. Get with the program Stewart. CNBC is just propaganda with a profit motive. Yes, in Stewart’s Shangra La world CNBC would be looking out for the little guy, but that not their mission statement. Shed your tears and focus your anger on the people that made the bad decisions to be in the market. For that you only need to look in a mirror.”