Tagged: Jon Stewart.

Muslim Brotherhood tweets video alleging Jews control U.S. media, in apparent dig at Jon Stewart

.@AJArabic feature on West’s double standards regarding freedom of speech, or lack of, and anti-Semitism

 

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party is the most powerful in Egypt and is allied with President Mohamed Morsi, posted a message from its official Twitter feed late Tuesday that linked approvingly to a video that suggests Jews control the U.S. media. The tweet appeared to be a dig at Jon Stewart, the host of the “Daily Show,” who recently aired a searing segment criticizing Morsi for his government’s imprisonment of a popular TV host and political satirist named Bassem Youssef.

The Arabic-language video, a clip from the Islamist-friendly TV network al-Jazeera Arabic, is actually from 2010. It focuses on a spat between Stewart, who is Jewish, and former CNN host Rick Sanchez. Sanchez was fired for alleging that Jews control the media and for criticizing Stewart, calling him “bigoted” and suggesting that, as a Jew, Stewart does not belong to an authentic minority group. The al-Jazeera Arabic segment suggests that American media have a double standard in which Jews are afforded special privileges and their critics silenced. It also backs Sanchez’s insinuation that Jews control the media and suggests that they enforce this double standard.

Here’s the back-story: Over the weekend, Egyptian authorities arrested Youssef, the satirist who had criticized Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, on charges of “insulting Islam” and the president. He has since been released on bail but is still facing charges. Youssef is frequently compared to Stewart — a label he has embraced — and the two are friends. So, on Monday, Stewart ran two segments on Youssef’s arrest, portraying Morsi as “petty” and comparing him to former president Hosni Mubarak.

The “Daily Show” treatment did not go unnoticed in at least some quarters of the Egyptian government. The official Twitter feed of the president’s office (distinct from Morsi’s own official account) criticized the U.S. Embassy for tweeting a link to the “Daily Show” clip, calling it “negative political propaganda.” The same Muslim Brotherhood official Twitter feed that sent out the al-Jazeera video also criticized the U.S. Embassy for the move, saying, “Another undiplomatic & unwise move by @USEmbassyCairo, taking sides in an ongoing investigation & disregarding Egyptian law & culture.” The feed has fiercely defended Youssef’s arrest.

It’s not entirely clear, but the implication of the Brotherhood’s latest tweet appears to be that Stewart is hypocritical for criticizing the government’s arrest of Youssef. It implies that the Egyptian satirist’s perceived crimes are akin to those of Rick Sanchez, and that, therefore, if Sanchez’s firing was justified, then so is Youssef’s imprisonment.

Of course, if I’m reading that correctly, which I admittedly might not be — the Brotherhood feed is not always crystal clear — then it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Firing someone from CNN is not the same as locking him up in prison, of course. And it’s not clear that Youssef, who is Muslim himself, has said anything nearly as inflammatory as Sanchez did. And, finally, the video seems to suggest that Sanchez was wrongly fired. So, by its own logic, wouldn’t Youssef’s imprisonment also be wrong?

Of course, the Brotherhood feed is probably not trying to make a nuanced argument so much as to taunt Stewart, in part by drawing attention to the fact that he is Jewish, and deflect criticism of Morsi’s government for arresting a prominent and respected critic. Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have threatened to revoke the broadcasting license of the TV station that hosts Youssef’s show. The government, it seems, is really digging in on this one.

source: Washington Post

 

 

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Rice: Investigation into Lies About Benghazi Worse Than Murder of Four Americans

It’s a tradition now that whenever any member of Obama Inc. wants to say something horribly self-centered and inappropriate about Benghazi, he, she or it goes on the Late Show to deliver a line about it being “not optimal” or a “bump in the road” to the sympathetic smirk of Jon Stewart.

Now it was Susan Rice’s turn to explain that the investigation into her lies about Benghazi was worse than the murder of four Americans. And from her perspective, it no doubt was.

Susan Rice Misspeaks: Focus on Benghazi Talking Points ‘Bigger Tragedy’ Than Actual Terrorism Attack | CNS News

There’s always confusion when you have a tragedy of that sort and Americans are killed,” Rice told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on Thursday. “The bigger tragedy, Jon, is we’ve spent all of these months trying to figure out the origin of some talking points, which were cleared at the highest levels of the intelligence community and, in my opinion, not enough time doing the service that we owe to our fallen colleagues.”

The bigger tragedy is apparently not the crime or the coverup, but the investigation of the coverup.  Note also how Rice uses the passive voice and ambiguous language.  Rather than discussing a murder or a terrorist attack, she talks about a tragedy in which Americans were killed by person or persons unknown.

Just think. This woman could have been Secretary of State.

source: FRONTPAGEMAG