Jon Stewart’s rhetorical dismemberment of CNBC’s gimmicky, histrionic stockpicker Jim Cramer made big media news last week. And justifiably so.
The Daily Show host stepped out of his parody role to turn avenging angel and skewer Cramer as an enabling profiteer. It was good TV – and, ironically, good journalism on the part of the faux anchor. Stewart probed where none dared go before – at media brethren whose stock in trade are rants, touts and hyperbole about short-term sacrosanctity. Some things should be too important for show business.
It should already be considered a classic.
Only ego could have prompted Cramer to accept Stewart’s invitation to self-destruct.
But what didn’t draw nearly as much attention was Chris Mathews’ thrust-and-parry interview with Ari Fleischer, the former White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, on Hardball.
Journalism schools would be well advised to archive both videos.
As much as I disagree with Fleischer on the Bush White House impact on America and the world, I salute his rhetorical skills and preparation ethic for on-the-record encounters. Then and now. He’s fast on his feet, is a good listener, does his homework and has a sense of humor.
Mathews was the perfect foil — and in many ways Exhibit A for what’s wrong with politics as a prime-time TV staple. It must be good theater above all else. That means conflict. Thus, provocative gotcha questions. Inaccurate paraphrasing. Constant interruptions.
A lesser guest, especially of a polar-opposite ideology, might have been intimidated, if not destroyed.
Fleischer wouldn’t be bullied and wouldn’t be interrupted. He called out Mathews for being “disingenuous” when Mathews took liberties with a Fleisher quote about the Bush Administration’s notoriously wrong call about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Fleischer had admitted the administration was “wrong,” but not “dishonest” as Mathews mis-characterized his phrasing back then.
The lesson: Be well-prepared; pay close attention to your inquisitor; and don’t be bullied. And you can win with a losing hand.