John Stewart's monologue 9/20/01

[TOhioLiberal]

Run time: 08:52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mZOPXmu_wM   Posted on YouTube: August 16, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 16, 2007 By DU Member: TOhioLiberal Views on DU: 14939

 
What John Gibson dared to mock. x(

[patrice]

1. Amen brother Stewart! nt

[UndauntedD]

2. Amen!

[aquart]

3. Thank you so much. I'd never seen this.

[ashlarah]

5. Neither had I.

I think I was too overwhelmed at the time to watch, but I would have appreciated what he had to say. This sure brings back to immediacy the feelings we had then. It does seem a bit innocent, though, in that Stewart (like the rest of us) had no idea that the Constitution itself was about to be assaulted. We will be picking up the pieces from that well into the next presidency. We had better get this next election right.

[aquart]

17. No, we knew Bush was bad, but this was unimaginable for Americans.

But I put it together with what I'd read about Ashcroft not flying commercial because of a credible threat almost immediately. That's how I knew they'd known, and anything else they said was a lie. But it was so overwhelming, the shock lasted so long, HOW it happened was remarkably irrelevant just then. Aside from a brief remark about hanging intelligence officers from lampposts (unjust because they'd done their duty for the most part--shouldn't have fired the gay translators, though--and passed sufficient info to the Executive branch, which decided not to act to hinder the attack in any way), I really wasn't interested in cause or retribution. My focus was in making sure I knew exactly where every single person I cared about was. And in answering the emails checking on me, the first of which came from my BBC-employee cousin, who'd heard it ahead of everyone else.

[Whoa_Nelly]

38. Re: the Constitution about to be assaulted

Within the first days after 9/11, that was my greatest concern. I absolutely believed at that time that Bush would begin what I believed he and his pack of wild PNAC thugs would do to work toward destroying our nation. I expected martial law to begin at that time. And now, as we are seeing in the present, martial law still has the potential to occur, all for their political tyranny and corporate greed.

From 9/11 to this day, I carry my passport with me wherever I go.

From 9/11 to this day, I carry a small piece of paper with my amendment rights with me wherever I go.

From the theft of the election in 2000 to this day, I have been pissed off and more politically aware and active than I have ever been.

I refuse to forget all the moments, the words and the acts against democracy, our nation and our world that the PNAC/BushCo criminals have put into motion.


I think Stewart was aware of the potential of what has come to be within the past 7 years. But, for the way the acts and events of 9/11 shook the global community to its core, I cannot even begin to imagine what is was like to be in Manhattan on that day and the days that followed.


Kudos, Jon.

[Gregorian]

4. I remember this.

But I must have been in shock still, because I really didn't remember it.

His message is true. The free speech that literally enabled him to bring Bill Kristol onto the show and resist his lies. The fact that our dream of Democracy is a sustainable one. The optimism that sees beyond the downed towers to the Statue of Liberty. But what he didn't know yet was that the dream was squelched by some rotten people in the administration. And it still is. But overall I love Jon Stewart. He has carried me through these hard times.

[BeliQueen]

35. Not only resist his lies...

...call him on his tactics. Two nights ago he put forth that Kristol devised the plan to invade Iraq and Bush followed it. It was masterful. Kristol of course glossed over it, but for my money Jon Stewart asks the best questions and gives the best "I-can't-believe-he-just-said-that" retorts.

On a side note--look how young Jon looks. awwwwwww... :-)

[lordsummerisle]

6. I'm glad Jon Stewart has reproduced...

but has John Gibson? (if not can we pay him not to?)

[progressoid]

7. Wow, I hadn't seen this before

I vaguely remember Letterman returning to the air but missed Stewart.

[ClayZ]

8. Thanks for posting this.

K and R

[gumby]

9. Jon Stewart is a Great American.!!.

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[SleeplessinSoCal]

10. I'm almost pleased that Gibson brought this up ...

...at this time. I remember watching that brilliant talk delivered live in 2001. Jon said so much. It's just sad that some of what he was happy about - like democracy and liberty - has been attacked by our own government.

I hope this gets spread far and wide. The whole country needs to see it in today's context.

Oh, and Gibson is a weeny.

[jhrobbins]

51. That's very generous of you to elevate John Gibson to weeny status-

it just shows how much class those of us on the left really have, since we all know he is really on of the devil's handmaidens.

[hedgehog]

65. Same her e all Gibson has done is remind us of a truly wonderful

speech. How did John Stewart say it? Something like "today we have seen the fulfillment of Martin Luther King's Dream"? What about his comment that chaos can't win?

Our governmental response to 9/11 could have been so different. Remember when the rest of the world mourned with us?

[SusanaMontana41]

11. I had seen this

and like all things 9/11, it moved me to tears then and still does.

Thanks for posting it.

[Itascapark]

12. Bless you

I've never seen this...thank you for finding it and posted it here. My view was from Park Slope. O8)

[ekwhite]

13. This is the first time I saw his monologue

On September 20th, I still was not in the mood for Comedy. I'm sorry I missed it then, but it has more impact now.

I still have tears in my eyes as I type this. I too remember the time when the company was united, when we were - for oh so brief a time - judging people by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. Perhaps the greatest crime of Bush, Cheney, and the neocons is perverting that sense of national unity, that sense of national purpose.

Nearly six years later, we are sitting midst the rubble of the American republic. Bush and company and their sycophants such as Gibson, have managed to do what the terrorists could not do - destroy American democracy. As wrong as it is, I sometimes can't help but fantasize that the Erinyes, the Furies themselves, would rise from the bowels of the earth to drag them down to Hades - that the bolts of Zeus would rain down on them from the heavens.

But that is just fantasy. In a little less than a year and a half, Bush will leave office unscathed and uncaring. Someone else will take the oath of office, and begin the hard and thankless task of cleaning up after him. But all of those who were killed and maimed in his war of choice will remain so, the damage he did will remain for decades. Thinking about this, and thinking about the chance we had but threw away, I join Jon Stewart, years too late, in weeping.

[Wednesdays]

23. "...Someone else will take the oath of office..."

We hope! :scared:

[Norrin Radd]

14. John Gibson is a piece of shite who mocks everyone who was saddened by those events.

[fooj]

15. He's right.

"Chaos can't sustain itself."

I've never seen that. So powerful. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[orleans]

16. thank you for posting this. i don't think i've seen it before. n/t

[iamjoy]

18. Good One (eom)

[TexasEditor]

19. This was when the Daily Show became what it is today.

[MelissaB]

20. I had never seen this. Thank you!

K&R

[sce56]

21. In this Orwellian world we live in it is fitting that we get real news commentary from a COMEDY SHOW

And other than Keith Olberman we only get entertainment from the rest of the M$M. You know something is terribly wrong with our media and our society when this becomes the norm.

[johnlal]

22. Could somebody put together a clip

of how Gibson reacted to 9/11. I would really know how we were supposed to behave, because now I'm just confused. Were we supposed to be united? Were we supposed to grieve for the victims. If we have another 9/11 like Gibson wants, will we be mocked for grieving again?

As I remember, Fox News simply played the explosions over and over and over ad nauseum. I didn't really watch it all that much, so I don't know how the commentary went. I would say that if we looked back at Fox coverage of the event, it probably wasn't united with us. It was probably a lot of Cover Bush's Ass and point fingers at the Democrats.

[wryter2000]

34. I didn't know about Fox at the time

I'd worked all day and missed most of the coverage. I went looking for news when the networks had gone back to regular programming. I found Fox. I remember not being upset by anything stupid they said. IIRC, they covered it as straight news. Of course, this wasn't one of the opinion shows.

[SutaUvaca]

24. Rather amazing that

the likes of John Gibson can be a self declared "patriot" and John Stewart often be described by wing nuts as unpatriotic. I don't believe I've ever heard any more elegant expression of love for our country than John makes in this monologue.
Thanks for this video. I had never seen it either.

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. Offhand, I can think of a half dozen things that make me cry.

Thanks for posting #4.

I think this is the most powerful speech of the 21st century. This is what patriotism is about.

[byronius]

26. Well. that hit home.

But how little we knew. On 9/20, Rove was snickering and rubbing his hands with glee, and planning surveillance on political enemies.

And no one was talking about WTC 7.

[abluelady]

27. Thank you for posting this.

It is so sad to that we can look back and see what could have been but know what has been. So sad that we don't learn from history like we should. There has been so much more damage as a result of 9/11 than there ever had to be.

[Laurab]

28. Thank you for posting that

I've seen it several times, but it is still so moving. Jon referred to Gibson mocking it last night. Anyone who could mock a beautiful, heartfelt thing like that has no humanity and very few brain cells, if any. I don't know much about Gibson, but when I watched his clip, it made me sick - the man needs help.

[Gen. Jack D. Ripper]

29. In the bizarre world of John Gibson, simply

because John Stewart has been critical of the Bush admin., that some how contradicts and negates his demonstration of emotion in '01. Apparently, in Gibson's (disturbed)mind at least, it is impossible for we, the Bush critics, to have been genuinely affected by the events of 911, particularly to the same, deeply sincere way in which Bush supporters were touched by it.

[Maraya1969]

30. OMG I'm welling up and I haven't even pressed "play". I remember

this so well.

I remember the memorial service in Yankee Stadium also, (I think it was there) when there was several different religious people there and they all got up and said a prayer or did whatever their particular religion did in a time like that. And then Bette Middler sang "You are the wind beneath my wings to the firefighters.

Everyone was the same. We were all humans and it didn't matter what our religion or lack of religion was.

What happened?


I guess I'll go press "play" now. :cry:

[redqueen]

31. What did he say? "they can't shut that down?"

No... the terrorists can't.

But our enemies in DC sure can. *sigh*

[DU GrovelBot]

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[wryter2000]

36. I love Grovelbot

Jon Stewart would approve of this post in this thread.

:rofl:

[wryter2000]

32. I can see why that needed to be mocked...

Gibson, you POS.

[Chalco]

33. I love you, Jon Stewart, more than I could every say. nt

[swimmernsecretsea]

37. What I posted to the YouTube clip, with small addition.

Two of the men I most admire in public life are Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann. What they share in common is a sense of humor, eloquence, intelligence, and maturity. When I think of people who make me most proud to be American, I think of Jon Stewart, and this is why. He brought into focus what is really important, and the path to healing after such a horror of an event. What he does every evening of the Daily Show is to make all that important stuff get seen, and somehow makes it all sweeter.

One of the things I've most admired about Mr. Stewart is that under all of what he does, he blends in feeling. He empathizes with others, and he feels. Sounds as basic as breathing, doesn't it? But it's not. It's tough, and we often shy away from it because it's so hard to deal with. He is genuinely concerned for others, and genuinely proud of all of us. That gives his work an emotional weight beyond the comedy, making it lasting and giving it resonance.

I love you, Jon Stewart. Watching this made me cry again, the way you feel an old wound when you are tired and vulnerable. But I was happy to watch you in what is one of the finest moments of television and of the Daily Show that I've seen.

Thanks to you, TOhioLiberal, for reminding us why we're all here, doing what we're doing, and when we go home and want to relax, we go to the Daily Show.

[larryepke]

39. No doubt...

it was the part about "democracy" that Gibson objected to. His type doesn't like that idea at all!

[emmadoggy]

40. I missed this Gibson incident everyone is speaking of...

can someone point me in the direction of some info on it??

As for the clip, I had never seen it (don't have cable/satellite tv). I vaguely recall seeing a small snippet of it somewhere, but I appreciate being able to see the whole thing. It sure dredges up all the deep, searing emotion of that time. Makes me cry all over again.

I love John Stewart and this monologue really shows just why I do.

[zauberflote]

43. Here it is

<http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rvx73OawqBw>

It's quite despicable

[emmadoggy]

46. OMG, thanks for the link (or not)

That is heinous and despicable. Disgusting. :puke: :puke: :puke:

[TankLV]

69. Gibson and their kind are fucking disgusting...

"we need another 911"

Yes John - only I hope it is limited to YOU and YOUR FAMILY and FELLOW REPUKES so we can SAVE this country from YOU!

[Hamlette]

72. And Bill O'Reilly is upset about Daily Kos???????

This should be played by every Democrat on every commercial every day until the election or until they take this guy off the air.

When was Gibson's piece? Did Jon do anything on it?

[zauberflote]

75. Yes he did

It only came up briefly -- but at a key moment -- in his interview with Stephen Hayes who wrote the Cheney book. A great interview, by the way. Stewart absolutely eviscerates him but he's so nice about it. You can find it here:
<http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/08/16/jon-stewart-grills-cheney-biographer-stephen-hayes-calls-out-john-gibson-too/>

[Irishonly]

41. Thanks for Posting

I had not seen the monologue before. How anyone could make fun of it defies reason. What I saw was a man shaken to his core by what he had seen.

[SeattleGirl]

42. This choked me up today as much as it did the first time I saw it.

May Gibson burn in hell for attacking this man in his grief.

[mzmolly]

44. I remember this when it was said. I only wish we had a President with half of Stewarts

compassion, intelligence and vision.

[southpaw]

45. I wish this would blow up on Gibson...

but, realistically, I can't imagine that there are many Jon Stewart fans who watch or listen to Gibson in the first place, so a boycott is pretty much out.

[meowomon]

47. Goddess I love this man

I'd turn not gay for him.

[YOY]

48. What did Gibson say about this?

I've heard nothing but JS being the best he could be in an emotional time.

[UndauntedD]

53. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvx73OawqBw

[xxqqqzme]

49. I saw this. It was the first night Jon was back on the air fter 9/11.

I was soooo glad to see some normalcy returning. By the 20th, actually by the 13th I was sick hearing about what a great leader dimson was. I couldn't believe there was no voice of sanity anywhere in the corporate media. I remember sending off a long ranting email to a girlfriend who responded 'Thank goodness, I'm not crazy' - she was fed up as well.

[ProudDad]

50. I was struck by his statement that

with the absence of the towers the view was now of the Statue of Liberty...

I was saddened further by the fact that they used that event to relieve us of what was left of our Liberties...

I don't have much hope left...

The forces of "Commerce" represented by the towers are still in charge and the concepts of Liberty, Freedom and Embracing Differences are seriously depreciated...

[sonias]

52. Thank you for this trip back in time

I'm sure I watched this but with the numbness of those weeks. Jon was right on with the right amount of sadness, hope and resilience that is America. The whole world was with us then.


Sonia

[Love Bug]

54. One of his finest moments, IMO

[tomreedtoon]

55. Thank you for posting this honest, human response.

I'm sure this Gibson character, whoever he is, responded that day with a bunch of "Kill the ragheads!" responses. He probably thinks like Republicans do, in terms of cliches repeated from someone else.

What Jon Stewart provided in this clip - which I also have never seen before - was a human being's reaction to a horrible event.

Most comedians in this day and age tend to put on cynical, pretentious personas. That's part of comedy. Unfortunately, those masks tend to stick to their faces. They can't take them off. They end up reacting like their performing characters to everything. It was gratifying to see Stewart speaking to the audience like a human being, sobbing, feeling bad for sobbing, but unashamed to sob in the face of this event. (I'd also note that Stephen Colbert has occasionally been willing to drop his mask in speeches and on camera. He doesn't confuse his imitation of Bill O'Reilly with reality. The real O'Reilly does.)

And maybe it's unfair to compare, but I remember when Walter Cronkite began sobbing when he reported the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

[azmouse]

56. This is simply amazing and humbling.

Thank you Jon Stewart.

[outofbounds]

57. Wow

I just watched the Gibson clip and I must say I find it remarkably hard to imagine a bigger waste of skin. Mr Gibson you are a pitiful human being. John Stewart's heartfelt monologue was sincere. How dare you? I don't want an answer, I don't want to waste a moment trying to understand how you could say these things or act this way. Your existence is pure shame.

[Swede]

58. Truly heartfelt.

And heartrending.

[On the Road]

59. "Chaos Can Never Sustain Itself...

it's too easy and it's too unsatisfying."

One of my favorite Jon Stewart lines. Never heard it before.

[bamacrat]

60. I remember that..It was when everybody realized what a true jornalist and patriot John Stewart it.

That clip fills you with such emotion and I thank John Stewart for putting into words what so many felt after 9/11. Thank you for reminding us of this true American.

:patriot: :hi:

[SemperEadem]

61. there is an extra hot place in hell for Gibson

a person that miserable isn't worth saying much else.

[L. Coyote]

62. Any Fool can blow stuff up and destroy. Prophetic words about BUSH.

[kma3346]

78. So true

When Jon said, "Chaos can never sustain itself," the first thing I thought of was the Bush administration/enablers and the chaos and destruction they've caused to our poor country and her people (AND, of course, the hundreds of thousands of other people in the world who have suffered under their reign). I think we're seeing the chaos unravel and that's a good thing, but it's a very scary time as well since these people won't easily relinquish their power.

[williesgirl]

63. This is an all-time low even for Faux Noise. Thanks - I hadn't seen either. rec'd

[Cant trust em]

64. Jon Stewart is a national treasure

If we're lucky he'll be going strong for the next thirty years.

[onehandle]

66. What a phony.

Jon's so artificial that he could work at Fox News.

:+

[Laurab]

68. Phony?

You must have watched a different video than I did.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

67. This is fantastic

thx

[Vickers]

70. John Gibson needs to brush his teeth.

Holy shit, they look worse than Dumbya's.

[Hamlette]

71. thank you for posting this, its been a long time since I've seen it, we should watch it every year.

God bless Jon Stewart.

[Danger Mouse]

73. John Gibson is a stupid piece of shit.

...and a traitor, considering that he has openly advocated the deaths of more civilians in another terrorist attack.
Fucking scumbag.

[BobTheSubgenius]

74. I once read this in a thread somewhere...

...and JG brings it to mind, somehow. To paraphrase:

"Please stop bloviating. The time you're wasting could be spent killing yourself."

Just sayin'...

[LSK]

76. that was very powerful

How could anyone dare make fun of that?

:shrug:

[cynthia]

77. Thank you for sharing this

I had never seen this. I've loved Jon for years but didn't know this existed, and it confirms my high opinion of the man.