Father Forgive Bernie, For He Knows Not What The Hell He's Talking About

You've seen 'em a million times. Authors come on to the Today show, David Letterman, Jay Leno. The idea is that these writers are there to impress viewers at home that they're an interesting person, their book is a compelling read, and that viewers should buy a copy of their book. No, make that two copies!

So I tune in tonight for my only real appointment television--TheDaily Show With Jon Stewart--and who's on but Bernard Goldberg. You may remember that Bernie is a former CBS correspondent who ran afoul of the network, then wrote a book (fiction?) lamenting the network's entrenched Bias. Bias was in fact its title. This makes him the darling of the right, and not one of my favorite authors.

Bernie comes out to hawk his new book (100 People Who Are Screwing Up America) and Jon Stewart tries not to hide his bias--there's that word again--against the upshot of Goldberg's book. Problem is, he quickly fails to hide that bias. And I can't blame him.

A couple of establishing facts for you regarding the book. More than 90% of the people in the book are liberals--no big surprise. But they're not the movers-n-shakers in DC who necessarily are going to affect all of our lives. They're rappers and movie makers and Al Franken and Barbara Streisand.

Babs?

These facts don't go unnoticed by Stewart who (and I speak from memory here) questioned Goldberg about the premise of the book. He said these are almost all people who are involved in what the right calls the culture wars. Right, Goldberg responds. Stewart: But the people with the REAL power are in Washington DC. Those are the people who can make or break us, not these people.

Goldberg tried to mount a defense that popular culture was indeed very important and affected us all...but it was very weak. It got to the point where I actually felt sorry for Bernie. He started awkwardly into a joke and Stewart leaned forward, puts his hand on Bernie's shoulder and said "Bernie, humor is very very difficult..."

Couldda heard a pin drop.

But one of the most telling moments is when they went to a break and video was shown of former President Jimmy Carter pounding nails at a Habit for Humanity house. Then this came on the screen:
#6
"Oh my God!" I thought. Jimmy Carter is the #6 in d0ing harm to this great land of ours. If you take nothing else away from this, please take this: an old man with a hammer can't do squat against this country. At least not when you put him up against the dirty dozen: Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz, Delay, Cheney, Rush, Hannity...and three more than I can't think of at 11:31 at night.

Something tells me that when Bernie left the Daily Show set his agent didn't slap him on the back and say "You hit it out of the park Bernie...out of the park!"