Last night, Jon Stewart carefully showed how Fox News covered the RNC versus the DNC, and how the criticisms and praises were completely switched.
Which brings us to our new segment, Last Week/This Week.
This week, some members of the Hollywood elite showed up to endorse President Obama. Fox News, no likey.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, THIS WEEK: Do the American people, do they want to listen more to Hollywood celebrities and who they endorse? Sometimes they can't really get into the details of policy. Or do you want to listen to people who've actually lived it?
Yeah, exactly! By the way, how'd you feel about Hollywood celebrity last week at the RNC?
LAST WEEK:
LAURA INGRAHAM, : I loved Clint Eastwood from beginning to end.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Many people thought that he was fantastic, speaking off the cuff, no teleprompter, didn't sound like a politician.
STEVE DOOCY: He was so Clint Eastwood.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Yeah, that's what I love about him.
(wild audience applause)
Yep, that's what they love about him. Spoken like a woman who spends most of her mornings sitting next to two empty chairs.
....
Look, we already know Fox completely forgot the Bush presidency ever happened, but that was like four years ago. Now I realize they can't remember what happened a week ago.
....
Yes, apparently between the weekend of Tampa and Charlotte, Eric Bolling's heart shrank three sizes. Much like Brit Hume's cranium. Because last week, Hume couldn't get enough details and policy figures.
BRIT HUME, LAST WEEK: Wonderful example of what could be called the Ryan effect ... details of the tax plan ... details about Medicare, details of all these issues ... point by point rebuttals to Obama attacks ... you sense his knowledge ... this is what Paul Ryan has brought to this race.
Yeah, how'd you like policy details after Clinton's speech?
BRIT HUME, THIS WEEK: It was wonky. You know, he got off into policy details at greater length ... if you're trying to follow along, you know, you get a little bit lost in all the details, and it seems to me that a lot of the arguments, therefore, are going to fall away because people simply can't remember them.
Oh-ho!
(wild audience applause)
No Brit, you'd be amazed... you'd be amazed at what people can remember. Like, a week ago you loved policy details.
Even Fox's head news guy thinks we're all goldfish. Here's what he said last night after the President's speech.
CHRIS WALLACE, THIS WEEK: We heard a lot of goals tonight, but we heard no specific plans. No specific plans about how he would grow this economy. No specific plans about how he would put 23 million Americans back to work. No specific plans about how he would deal with the entitlements.
Cogent analysis immediately following Obama's speech. Last week after Romney's speech?
CHRIS WALLACE, LAST WEEK: You know, guys, I was going to go through a long checklist of what I liked about the speech, and I didn't like. But it's silly, because tonight, people are only looking at these extraordinary pictures of these beautiful families, and.... You know, I don't think anything you can say is going to match any of this. So I'm just going to shut up and watch.
You know what? That's a good idea. I think Fox News just found a great new slogan. Shut up and watch. (wild audience applause)
Video and full transcript below the fold.
Now, we've been in Charlotte, North Carolina, been here all week covering the Democratic National Convention. I think we mined some interesting humor during the Democratic National Convention. Obviously some of our more dogged viewers at home might be going, "C'mon! You know, you know what we want." Don't worry, while we were here, we watched Fox News too.
And, ah, couldn't help noticing certain discrepancies between their take on this convention, and the one last week. For instance, you remember going into the RNC, when Fox was chastising the media for letting silly social issues distract them from jobs and the economy.
SEAN HANNITY (8/23/2012): I know that the media in this country ... they want to talk about abortion, they want to talk about a phony war on women.
GREG GUTFELD (8/24/2012): The media's going to try to make it about social issues, about abortion, about Akin. He's gotta make it about the economy.
NEIL CAVUTO (8/24/2012): The Republican Party is focused — the economy, economy, economy. Like a laser, no side issue, no abortion, none of this, none of that.
8/21/2012:
LAURA INGRAHAM: Mitt Romney doesn't write the platform, and he doesn't actually have to abide by the platform.
ALAN COLMES: That's what he said today.
LAURA INGRAHAM: It's written by other people.
(in Mean Girls voice) "Yeah! I mean, the platform's just a statement of the party's core principles and beliefs. I mean, whatever! I mean, Mitt Romney could wipe his ass with it for all we care!"
I wonder how they feel about the social issues and party platforms this week.
GRETCHEN CARLSON (9/5/2012): Zero times. That's how many times the DNC's official platform mentions the word "God" now.
SEAN HANNITY (9/5/2012): "God-given potential" was removed. It was down from seven mentions in 2004, one mention in 2008.
BILL O'REILLY (9/4/2012): How can there be an entire section on faith if you don't mention God?
ERIC BOLLING (9/5/2012): Thank God, Fox News is on it, pushing the buttons, saying hey, where is God in the platform?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank God. Fox is truly doing God's work — well, God's busy work. The kind of work he doesn't need done — cuz he's God.
But you took it upon yourself anyway, like the house-sitter that rearranges all your shit without telling you. Which brings us to our new segment, Last Week/This Week.
This week, some members of the Hollywood elite showed up to endorse President Obama. Fox News, no likey.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, THIS WEEK: Do the American people, do they want to listen more to Hollywood celebrities and who they endorse? Sometimes they can't really get into the details of policy. Or do you want to listen to people who've actually lived it?
Yeah, exactly! By the way, how'd you feel about Hollywood celebrity last week at the RNC?
LAST WEEK:
LAURA INGRAHAM, : I loved Clint Eastwood from beginning to end.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Many people thought that he was fantastic, speaking off the cuff, no teleprompter, didn't sound like a politician.
STEVE DOOCY: He was so Clint Eastwood.
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Yeah, that's what I love about him.
(wild audience applause)
Yep, that's what they love about him. Spoken like a woman who spends most of her mornings sitting next to two empty chairs.
I tried to gauge the level of Fox News's amnesia.... (wild audience cheering)
Look, we already know Fox completely forgot the Bush presidency ever happened, but that was like four years ago. Now I realize they can't remember what happened a week ago. Like Eric Bolling, who heard touching personal stories at both conventions.
ERIC BOLLING, LAST WEEK: The story about Mitt's father leaving a rose on Mitt's mother's bed stand every single day, and that's how she found out that he had passed away because one day the rose wasn't there. The whole place was just like, tears coming out.
ERIC BOLLING, THIS WEEK: She kept talking about what a tough time she and Barack had growing up. They come from very, very nice schooling backgrounds, high schools, into Harvard Law School, both of them. ... They were talking about how he had — his car was rusted down at the bottom. C'mon Bob, you can't say he comes from the lower-middle... lower than middle class.
Look, I know you don't care about the Obamas, but could you at least give a shit about the car? Yes, apparently between the weekend of Tampa and Charlotte, Eric Bolling's heart shrank three sizes. Much like Brit Hume's cranium. Because last week, Hume couldn't get enough details and policy figures.
BRIT HUME, LAST WEEK: Wonderful example of what could be called the Ryan effect ... details of the tax plan ... details about Medicare, details of all these issues ... point by point rebuttals to Obama attacks ... you sense his knowledge ... this is what Paul Ryan has brought to this race.
Yeah, how'd you like policy details after Clinton's speech?
BRIT HUME, THIS WEEK: It was wonky. You know, he got off into policy details at greater length ... if you're trying to follow along, you know, you get a little bit lost in all the details, and it seems to me that a lot of the arguments, therefore, are going to fall away because people simply can't remember them.
Oh-ho!
(wild audience applause)
No Brit, you'd be amazed... you'd be amazed at what people can remember. Like, a week ago you loved policy details.
Even Fox's head news guy thinks we're all goldfish. Here's what he said last night after the President's speech.
CHRIS WALLACE, THIS WEEK: We heard a lot of goals tonight, but we heard no specific plans. No specific plans about how he would grow this economy. No specific plans about how he would put 23 million Americans back to work. No specific plans about how he would deal with the entitlements.
Cogent analysis immediately following Obama's speech. Last week after Romney's speech?
CHRIS WALLACE, LAST WEEK: You know, guys, I was going to go through a long checklist of what I liked about the speech, and I didn't like. But it's silly, because tonight, people are only looking at these extraordinary pictures of these beautiful families, and.... You know, I don't think anything you can say is going to match any of this. So I'm just going to shut up and watch.
You know what? That's a good idea. I think Fox News just found a great new slogan. Shut up and watch. (wild audience applause) We'll be right back.
Jon also noticed the amount of
Osama bin Laden is dead talk on Thursday night before
Obama's acceptance speech.
The
Daily Show correspondents then gave their
final thoughts on the city of Charlotte.
Meanwhile, Stephen noted that
Obama's speech was at the same time as the
Video Music Awards, and
compared the rhetoric of the two conventions.
Then, panicking that several speakers at the DNC may be experiencing a
Colbert Bump, he took drastic measures and shut the whole thing down.
Stephen then talked with former Pennsylvania Governor
Ed Rendell.