Have you been following the recent ‘war of words’ between The Daily Show’s John Stewart and Mad Money’s Jim Cramer?
This has been an amusing and yet horrifying saga. Although the media has blown the rivalry up to be a much bigger “battle” than it really is, John Stewart hits the nail right on the head. It’s the most ruthlessly honest, sobering conversation you’re likely to see on any show. Jon Stewart blames CNBC and Jim Cramer for essentially cheering on Wall Street in the run-up to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. He questioned whether it was "selling snake oil as vitamin tonic" in a way that was "disingenuous at best and criminal at worse."
But first, a little bit of history: It began when The Daily Show made fun of CNBC and Jim Cramer for recommending that viewers buy Bear Stearns stock days before it collapsed.
So the video went viral and this story was covered near and far. A few days later Jon Stewart announced that Jim Cramer is scheduled to appear on the show, where they would no doubt work out their long-range war of words.
Cramer on The Daily Show Part 1: Here is the beginning of the show where Jim Cramer comes on and immediately admits to getting a lot of things wrong
Cramer on The Daily Show Part 2: As we really get to the interview, Jon begins by reminding Cramer of his shady days as a hedge fund manager. Despite his ethically dubious past, Cramer calls for indictments for the economic collapse. Wonkette got it right when she said that ‘devastating’ is just not the right word and John Steward is absolutely right, this is not an f-ing game.
Cramer on The Daily Show Part 3: Jim Cramer wishes he had done a better job reporting the economic collapse and promises he will get back to the fundamentals of reporting the financial market.
It’s hard to remember the last time an interview left us in such a state of stunned silence. Yes, Stewart uses funny clips and interrupts his guest way too frequently given the breadth of his questions, but you can’t just cast this aside as some popular fake news comedy show host pulling a stunt for ratings.
This is a scary time for a lot of people I love. I greatly respect both Jim Cramer and Jon Stewart for tackling this issue and can only hope for more open and honest dialogues like this in the future.
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