JOHN STEWART AND SANITY

John Stewart represents many persona to many people. At the most simplistic he is light entertainment at the end of the day. To others, the dissafected youth, he represents the only source of news there is. To the right he is the epitome of all things wrong in this country and it's social and financial degradation and a "bigot" to boot. To the left he is a double - edged sword. On the one hand he can potentially mobilize the youth that catapulted Obama into power. However, he is totally disolutioned with the whole process of Washington and it's inherent corruption, which by definition includes the Democrats.

Notwithstanding all of the above as a result of his consistent approach to the news and the media he has  found himself central to the debate of the future of the country in general and the cliffhanger November election in particular.

From all appearances  this is a role he does not relish. His appearance on Larry King Live showed a tired, somewhat irritated and haggard Stewart. His appearance in of itself represented acknowledgment of his central role in the US social and political scene. In this interview he outlined his assessment of the US political scene. He came short of maintaining that the elections were irrelevant but echoed the Tea Party cry that the citizenry were angry and felt left out. He maintained the obvious - that the central government and their backers were only interested in their own agenda rather than the " 85% of the electorate." The latter, he maintained, were too busy meeting the needs of their families than to involve themselves in the manipulations of Washington.

In all the interviews he has conducted Stewart has maintained that it is not responsibility to provide an unbiased assessment of the options but rather that this is the responsibility of the main media. His is the "false news", he is a satirist, and the 24 hour media has a responsibility not to pander to the sensational but rather the facts and the options society has.

If anyone doubts the significance that this "one man show" has on the American scene they just have to reflect on the fact that President Obama is appearing as his guest on The Daily Show on  October 27th - 5 days before a crucial election. He appears to be genuinely flattered but not side tracked from his main objective - the truth and the American people. To this end he is organizing a rally to take the American people,"Back to Sanity". Sanity, it would appear to be defined, as distinct from hype, special interest, inherent corruption, manipulation, distraction from reality, hyperbole and all the other distortions. He maintains that he has  not any political objective but rather a reorientation of the current reality society faces. The latter, for example, need not have to worry about what a candidate said 20 years ago but rather focus on the options and sacrifices we face to survive and the candidate's solutions to these.

Ironically, the extent of the impact he might have or not have in the future, depends on the turnout and the outcome of his rally that he has designated as a "Rally for Sanity" on October 30th, 2010 in Washington D. C.

At the end of the day it is a sad commentary that a satirist is central to a debate on the political future of the USA. It is unfair to put this responsibility on him when there are several media channels whose ostensible mission to objectively inform society of their options. As he is pointed out again and again they are putting other commercial agendas ahead of this.