I know I’ve been slacking on the blogging lately. Grad school has been kicking my butt.
Speaking of butt kicking, Jim Cramer was on the Daily Show tonight. I’ve always been pretty impressed with Jon Stewart, especially now that I understand more an 1/17 of the show’s jokes. I like the Daily Show a little more than the Colbert Report mostly because Stewart’s interviews are the best part of his show, and tonight’s interview was particularly impressive.
I think the Daily Show has really evolved over the past 5 or 6 years. Though Stewart consistently claims that he is just a comedian and has no obligation to report the truth, he and the show’s writers are clearly recognize themselves as a very politically persuasive influences.
Even with that in mind, I didn’t expect such a lopsided knockout of Jim Cramer that made Peter McNeeley look like Ivan Drago. Stewart definitely came prepared, and the show had dug up some pretty incriminating evidence that left Cramer like a deer in headlights. Still, I don’t even think he needed it. Cramer was apologetic, obsequious, and mostly concerned with trying to distance himself from CNBC as a whole. “People make mistakes” was pretty much Cramer’s best argument. Stewart was open about perhaps unjustly targeting Cramer for the assault on irresponsible financial reporting by CNBC. But Cramer was trying to make himself out to be the victim, as if the satanic CEO’s pulled the wool over his innocent, hedge fund-running eyes. It was bad acting, and Stewart wouldn’t let him off the hook. He twisted the knife, and twisted it hard.
As much as I’m sure Stewart prepared for the interview, when push comes to shove, it was still all him- no writers or scripts, and he knocked it out of the park. Cramer had nothing. I’m disappointed. A high profile like Cramer should have had more. At least Bill O’Reilly puts up a fight.
And my last kudos is because Stewart is often criticized for exchanging blows in solo segments but then not calling out his targets when they agree to interview on the show. He didn’t back down or sugarcoat it, and it was damn impressive.
But maybe Jim Cramer being speechless is akin to the day the music died (or something metaphorical like that). When one of the country’s foremost financial media personalities gets a verbal raping from a pseudo-political comedian, maybe we can understand just how big of a screw-up this financial crisis really is. The more I’m learning about it, the more I’m realizing that it really could have been avoided.
Glad I’m halfway through my first Accounting course. I think it’s a good time to start learning a little something about money.
