The UW-Madison campus has long been a hotbed of political activism. The campus is constantly pasted with flyers, sidewalks are marked with chalkings and Bascom Hill is often covered with a political statement of some sort. It is this young, politically-attuned demographic like UW-Madison students that were attracted to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's ""Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear"" in Washington D.C. last week.
After first hearing of the rally, I thought that it was going to produce nothing of importance, maybe a good time for viewers and attendees. And for the most part I was right: It had great music, funny skits and John Oliver in a Peter Pan costume. But once the comedy and music was over and Jon Stewart gave his final monologue, the serious Stewart showed up, leaving the viewers with some criticism of the major news networks that should instead have been directed towards the government.
Stewart's final monologue resembled his usual ""Daily Show"" rants. He pointed out the well-known fact that cable opinion news shows thrive on exaggeration and that politicians do not work well together. Stewart correctly pointed out that by calling all Tea Party members racist or calling all Muslims terrorist is harmful and wrong—two viewpoints that are unfortunately perpetuated on some cable news shows.
Stewart has often been critical of major cable news shows. Some people attribute his 2004 appearance on the show ""Crossfire"" for its eventual cancellation, and though he has tried time and again to push for news networks to become less polarizing, his efforts have been all for naught. Other pundits on shows like the ""O'Reilly Factor"" and ""Countdown with Keith Olbermann"" still receive negative attention from ""The Daily Show.""
And why should shows change if people still enjoy watching them? Many people enjoy watching controversial figures like Bill O'Reilly and Olbermann shout their opinions, however inflammatory they might be. News shows are going to continue watching until the public finally grows tired of their antics, which probably will not happen any time soon.
While Stewart was quick to point out that it's the cable news media's fault, going as far as to say that they make it harder to solve the nation's problems, he leaves out one important criticism. He only once mention the partisanship and lies that are so constant in Washington and in our government. The news networks may perpetuate some panic, as Stewart pointed out, but it is when our Senators, representatives and executives go along with it that things really begin to be a problem.
The Obama administration promised to end politics as usual, but they have yet to do that. For example, just before the midterm elections, the Obama administration wrongly accused the Chamber of Commerce of accepting and using foreign funds for political advocacy commercials, even though it admitted there was no proof of it happening. The few Republican ""birthers,"" who think Obama is not an American citizen, is another example of extreme partisanship and destructive politics. It is politicians like them that should have been the focus of Stewart's message, not just the media.
Some pundits are finally beginning to extend Stewart's media attacks to the government. Joe Scarborough, former U.S. Representative and current host of MSNBC's ""Morning Joe,"" wrote an opinion column for Politico.com that does just that. Instead of mainly blaming the media like Stewart did, Scarborough pushes for representatives and senators to begin to work with one another to ""meet the great challenges of the day.""
Though the media may try to influence their viewers, it is ultimately the politicians that have the responsibility to make decisions that change the nation. Stewart used his rally to criticize the cable news networks, but it he should have spent more time—instead of just one quick mention—on our leaders' ""partisan hackery.""
Luckily, the world is not made up of cable news and politicians, as Stewart pointed out in his speech. It is made up of students, career people and normal citizens. The cable shows may have a larger platform, but it is people like UW-Madison students that make up the world. They are the people who may have strong and differing political beliefs, but they still will sit down at College Library and finish a group project. The news and politicians may never be ""sane,"" but that does not mean that everyone else cannot be.
Matt Beaty is a sophomore majoring in mathematics and computer science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
