The best thing about Entertainment Weekly's new interview with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert is probably the cover photo, in which the comedians reinact The New Yorker's infamous Barack Obama cover -- a satire that was far more controversial than any "real" image this year.
Which says a lot about the election process itself, during which the candidates have been making as much entertainment news as they have political news, and it's becoming harder and harder to tell satire from reality. It also says a lot about Stewart and Colbert, who both just won Emmys (for best comedy show and best comedy-show writing, respectively), and whose "fake news" programs may provide more insight into the political process than the real news does these days. (Plus, they're much, much funnier.)
So what do the two of them think about it all? Some highlights from the interview:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Forget the two presidential candidates: The most prominent person in this election right now is Sarah Palin. With the attention she's getting, you'd think she was running for president.
STEWART: Everyone likes new and shiny. We're bored. What's
great about that is [Democratic VP candidate Joe] Biden is an
absolutely eccentric character. That's how powerful Palin's story is —
it has cast the first African-American presidential nominee, the oldest
[non-incumbent] presidential nominee, and a really wild cork vice
presidential candidate completely out of the picture. The press is
6-year-olds playing soccer; nobody has a position, it's just ''Where's
the ball? Where's the ball? Sarah Palin has the ball!''
Jon, you've had McCain on your show 14 times and have spoken fondly
of him. Do you think he's changed as a candidate as the election has
gotten closer?
STEWART: I think it's somewhat inevitable.
The most interesting moment to me was the difference in protocol when
he came on the show in May, after he was the [presumptive] Republican
nominee. The minute you are your party's nominee, you are a museum
piece that is shuffled around by guys in earpieces. You are
spectacularly managed. And I just felt the difference. When you were
walking down the hallway, you were now walking into history, as opposed
to going and seeing this guy that comes on your show and is a senator
and has a sharp sense of humor. So that inevitably changes a person.
Many people saw the conventions as little more than a series of talking points.
STEWART: We're all sort of complicit in forcing them to make those narratives in the first place.
COLBERT: You mean us, or the real press?
STEWART: Everything. The whole mechanism of dissecting their
every waking moment has created somewhat of a paralysis. We have
drained them of their ability to remain human. Because any human moment
will be so fiercely dissected and digested and metastasized by the
media.
COLBERT: People can be hung by anything they say. We've done it.
STEWART: We've done it too. You can kill people all the time for things that are absolutely human frailties.
COLBERT: You can even manufacture the frailty, and then hang them with it.
STEWART: That's why I don't excuse what I guess you'd call the satiro-industrial complex from culpability.
COLBERT: That's funny: I absolve me. I could absolve you if you want.
STEWART: That's the beauty of having a demagogue on right
after your show — he can actually absolve our show, which is incredibly
convenient.
COLBERT: One of the reasons I think politicians are very
easy to interview is because you know what they're going to say. I can
write the entire interview before I even meet them.
For years, studies have come out saying that many young people get
their news from late-night comedy, and Jon has always pooh-poohed this
idea. But your shows are some of the only ones out there actually
digging into archival video to prove when politicians are lying or
contradicting themselves. You might not want the responsibility, but
haven't you been given it by default?
COLBERT: I don't know if responsibility is the right word.
STEWART: It's more that we're an emotional show, not a
political show. I don't know if you've ever spent time in s---hole bars
in New Jersey with old people yelling at the TV, but that's what it is.
It's a guy going, ''I never said that,'' and in the back of the room
Elbow Eddie looks up from his Pall Malls and his Budweiser and goes,
''That's f---in' bulls---! I heard you say it two days ago!''
Previously:
Notes From Hell: Our Recap of the Emmys
The Daily Show Is Like Scream Therapy for Jon Stewart
Video Fun: Hey, John McCain -- You Won't Like Dave When He's Angry
