Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
I'm was disturbed to see that Jon Stewart basically blew off Salman Rushdie when the latter called to protest Stewart's booking Yusuf Islam (a/k/a Cat Stevens, né Steven Georgiou) who famously called for Rushdie's execution for blasphemy. I was even surprised. I figured Rushdie's greater celebrity (at least among those who, you know, read) would have triggered Stewart's suck-up reflex.
Rushdie writes to a British journalist:
I spoke to Jon Stewart about Yusuf Islam's appearance. He said he was sorry it upset me, but really, it was plain that he was fine with it. Depressing.
Depressing is right. I see two possible reasons for Stewart's insousciance.
Theory One: Yusuf here is just Stewart's stand-in for Muslims generally, and Stewart's flaunting his alleged "tolerance" of Islam in contrast to his evil opponents. Ex-Cat is a token, and Muslims are mascots Stewart's using to ostentatiously demonstrate his moral superiority to the bad guys. "Dude, yeah, but, I mean, Christine O’Donnell! Am I right?" (Looks for APPLAUSE sign.)
Theory Two: Stewart's been smoking his sycophantic press clippings, and he's stoned to the point he can't see he's done something wrong. "Hey, I know he wanted you dead, but my rally man, it's really important. I mean, yeah, he said some crazy things years ago, but Fox gives Glenn Beck an hour every night! What's up with that?" (Mugs to his writers.)
Thing is, Steve Georgiou, or whatever he's calling himself these days, repeatedly called for Rushdie's death (and lies about it now) and has apparently told a reporter that he favors stoning women in cases of adultery. He famously abjured music (for a while) as un-Islamic. Which is to say he's got all the hallmarks of a Wahhabi-style extremist, not the kind of Berlinskian Moderate Muslim one would assume Stewart would want to be defending against anti-Muslim bigotry. Rushdie put it best:
If he's a "good Muslim" like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar then I'm the Great Pumpkin.
And yet…it doesn't seem to matter. "Hey, we all know that movements have murderous extremists on their fringes…but enough about the Republicans!"
Or do I have it the wrong way around? What do you think? Why would Jon Stewart, soi-disant standard bearer of Civility and Sanity, take the side of the un-civil, insane guy here?
- Comment (10)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments :
Jun '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
[Comment removed by an editor]
Edited on Nov 2, 2010 at 4:26pmAug '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Give ol' Jonny a break, Bill. Maybe he just likes 70s pop music that doesn't age well.
Or maybe he's a hyper-hypocrite like most of the Lefty media...
Aug '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Charles Mark
Check out where Yusuf/Cat stands on the Salman Rushdie Fatwa- freedom of speech indeed!
For the record, this was my post to Ricochet the minute I found out that character was onstage last Saturday- glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed.
Sep '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
He saw what happened to Juan. He knows better than to run afoul of the newest protected class within the liberal victimhood sphere.
Jul '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Yeah, it's kind of weird - if your aim is to get a cuddly Muslim to prove that hey, we're all pals here, couldn't you find one who hadn't endorsed someone's murder?
He couldn't have gotten Waffa bin Laden, Osama's niece, who hates her uncle and was living a mile from Ground Zero on 9-11?
Or maybe the guy from GoRemy.com, who's funny and plays the guitar. Oh, wait, he's also a Republican. Never mind.
Jun '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
[Comment removed by an editor]
Excuse me? What "code'" did that break? It looks like someone concurred with the comment, apparently "an" editor was offended?
Geesh
Aug '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Ironically, his most famous song " Father and Son" begins- "Its not time to make a change(just relax and take it easy)"- guess that won't be an epitaph for Midterm 2010!
Jul '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Jon Stewart is a giant astride contemporary culture, far bigger than Pee Wee Herman at his height. Rushdie is a fading literary memory (no good book for ages, man). If you were hip, whose side would you choose? Anyhow, Salmon is still alive, isn't he? That's got to count for something.
Jul '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
Actually, Paul Reubens is about 5'10 and Jon Stewart is 5'6 or so.
Edited on Nov 3, 2010 at 6:55amMay '10
Re: Mascotry? Ego blindness? What’s up with Jon Stewart?
"If you were hip, whose side would you choose?"
Good point. After all, the essence of coolness is nihilism. Morality is for squares.