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21 April 2009 Charles J. Brown
10:43 am

Torture Memos: Humor vs. Satire


With all due respect to Jon Stewart, it’s awfully hard to be funny when you’re talking about torture (h/t):

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c
We Don’t Torture
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The worst part:  Karl Rove saying that “All these techniques have been ruined” — as if we invented techniques like waterboarding and “walling.”   No, Turdblossom, the only thing that has been ruined is AMERICA’S REPUTATION.

In fairness to Stewart, he’s a humorist.  In the past, however, he has managed to convey his outrage without trying to be funny — a good recent example is his confrontation with Jim Cramer.  And when Stewart gets angry, he is less a comedian than he is a satirist in the best tradition of Swift, Twain, Orwell, and Carlin.

Torture is a subject worthy of that level of anger — and for once, Stewart failed to match his best work..

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