Now some are going to say, he's just a comedian, or the
Daily Show is just "fake news." Not only are both of those claims belied by Stewart's quite serious (and quite newsworthy) assault on Bill Bennett later in the show, but it also misses the point. The sentence about Iran wasn't intended as humor in any way, merely as a "truthful" statement which was part of a set-up. And the fact is that Stewart's
Daily Show is a very influential show, and that, just listening to that one sentence, tens or hundreds of thousands of people internalize just a little bit (if not a whole lot) an out-and-out lie about Iran -- not only that they are developing nuclear weapons, but that they are threatening the world with them. Even if you
believe that Iran is embarked on a program of developing nuclear weapons, which I don't, they
certainly aren't "rattling" any "nuclear sabers." If they are, they sure have a funny way of doing it, by denying they even
want nuclear weapons.
Is this a minor matter? Absolutely not. Because the more Americans are conditioned to think that Iran is "threatening," the more willing they are to endorse whatever hostile measures the U.S. government tries to implement, which in turn makes the implementation of those measures -- sanctions, bombing, or whatever -- just that much more likely.
Does Jon Stewart want war on Iran? Probably not. Does he support sanctions? I have no idea. But with remarks like this one, he does just a little bit to help beat the war drums, even if subconsciously, and makes it more likely that war (or attacks of some kind) will occur..
Nor is Stewart the only one to make such a statement who ought to know better. Danny Schechter makes nearly the same mistake, with this today on his "News Dissector" blog:
"Iran's 'hard line' may have been a negotiating strategy -- not really a threat."
A "threat"? What part of "we have no intention of developing nuclear weapons" constitutes a threat, exactly?
As a "preemptive strike" against some possible responses to this post, let me just post two links for further reading:
An in-depth discussion covering Iran's completely unambiguous renunciation of nuclear weapons.
A discussion of Iran's supposed desire to "wipe Israel off the map."
Reprinted from Left I on the News
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