Complete Jon Stewart monologue
Billie
since the tragedy in New York City and there is really no other way to start
the show then to ask you at home the question that we asked the audience here
tonight and that we've asked everybody we know here in New York since September
11, and that is, "Are you okay?" And we pray that you are and that your family
is.
I'm sorry to do this to you. It's another entertainment show beginning with an
overwrought speech of a shaken host--and television is nothing if not
redundant. So I apologize for that. Its something that, unfortunately, we do
for ourselves so that we can drain whatever abscess is in our hearts and move
on to the business of making you laugh, which we haven't been able to do very
effectively lately. Everyone has checked in already. I know we are late. I'm
sure we are getting in just under the wire before the cast of Survivor offers
their insight into what to do in these situations.
They said to get back to work. There were no jobs open for a man in the fetal
position under his desk crying. . . which I gladly would have taken. So I come
back here and tonight's show is not obviously a regular show. We looked through
the vault and found some clips that we think will make you smile, which is
really what's necessary, I think, right about now.
A lot of folks have asked me, "What are you going to do when you get back? What
are you going to say? I mean, jeez, what a terrible thing to have to do." And
you know, I don't see it as a burden at all. I see it as a privilege. I see it
as a privilege and everyone here does. The show in general we feel like is a
privilege. Even the idea that we can sit in the back of the country and make
wise cracks. . . which is really what we do. We sit in the back and throw
spitballs--but never forgetting that it is a luxury in this country that allows
us to do that. That is, a country that allows for open satire, and I know that
sounds basic and it sounds like it goes without saying. But that's really what
this whole situation is about. It's the difference between closed and open. The
difference between free and. . . burdened. And we don't take that for granted
here, by any stretch of the imagination. And our show has changed. I don't
doubt that. And what it has become I don't know. "Subliminible" is not a
punchline anymore. Someday it will become that again, Lord willing it will
become that again, because it means that we have ridden out the storm.
The main reason that I wanted to speak tonight is not to tell you what the show
is going to be, not to tell you about all the incredibly brave people that are
here in New York and in Washington and around the country, but we've had an
unenduring pain, an unendurable pain and I just. . . I just wanted to tell you
why I grieve--but why I don't despair. (choking back tears) I'm sorry. . .
(chuckles slightly) luckily we can edit this. . . (beats lightly on his desk,
collects himself).
One of my first memories was of Martin Luther King being shot. I was five and
if you wonder if this feeling will pass. . . (choked up). . . When I was five
and he was shot, this is what I remember about it. I was in school in Trenton
and they turned the lights off and we got to sit under our desks. . . and that
was really cool. And they gave us cottage cheese, which was a cold lunch
because there were riots, but we didn't know that. We just thought, "My God! We
get to sit under our desks and eat cottage cheese!" And that's what I remember
about it. And that was a tremendous test of this country's fabric and this
country has had many tests before that and after that.
The reason I don't despair is that. . . this attack happened. It's not a dream.
But the aftermath of it, the recovery, is a dream realized. And that is Martin
Luther King's dream.
Whatever barriers we put up are gone. Even if it's just momentary. We are
judging people by not the color of their skin, but the content of their
character. (pause) You know, all this talk about "These guys are criminal
masterminds. They got together and their extraordinary guile and their wit and
their skill. . ." It's all a lie. Any fool can blow something up. Any fool can
destroy. But to see these guys, these firefighters and these policemen and
people from all over the country, literally with buckets, rebuilding. . .
that's extraordinary. And that's why we have already won. . . they can't. . .
it's light. It's democracy. They can't shut that down.
They live in chaos. And chaos, it can't sustain itself--it never could. It's
too easy and it's too unsatisfying. The view. . . from my apartment. . .
(choking up) was the World Trade Center. . .
Now it's gone. They attacked it. This symbol of. . . of American ingenuity and
strength. . . and labor and imagination and commerce and it's gone. But you
know what the view is now? The Statue of Liberty. . . the view from the south
of Manhattan is the Statue of Liberty. . .
You can't beat that. . .
"STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!"
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Sophie
moving. I like Jon Stewart, I think he's funny, he's great with Matt Lauer
when they have him on the Today Show but I don't know what it was. I think
Letterman was the most genuinely moved obviously. Leno seemed completely
insincere and scripted. And Jon Stewart was somewhere in the middle.
JMO of course.
--
Sophie
See us at www.mcgehees.com
Billie
about now that the WTC is down he can see the Statue of Liberty really got to
me.
Billie
sophie wrote:
"STUPIDITY IS NOT A HANDICAP. Park elsewhere!"
Sophie
Yeah I think we are too. Lol.
>Although the part
>about now that the WTC is down he can see the Statue of Liberty really got
to
>me.
>Billie
That's another thing though. When they keep showing NYC's skyline now that
the 2 buildings are missing, it really doesn't mean much to me cos I really
couldn't have told you what it looked like before. I don't mean that *it
doesn't mean anything to me * in a cold way, just geographically what was
where, I couldn't have told you.
Patra
lived or worked in that area and saw the Twin Towers all the time.
The Twin Towers mean something to me because the downtown area is not grid
like and the streets aren't numbered (like they are the rest of Manhattan)
so I would always use the Towers as a reference point. Plus I was there
often enough for conferences and such. I'm going to miss the Towers.
"Sophie" <fakea...@home.com> wrote in message
news:tqsa8k...@corp.supernews.com...
Patra
what happened at the World Trade would probably care to differ with your
statement. I don't think anyone outside of New York cared about the
destruction of the Twin Towers. What got the nation going (and parts of the
World) was the horrible death of so many innocent people that the attack
caused. Making this worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor. Innocent
civilians were killed instead of the military. Particularly the
firefighters who died because they were running *up* the stairs (towards the
destruction) while others were desperately running *down* the stairs. That
image is indelibly printed on the minds of so many Americans and that's
what's causing this overwhelming sadness. And if that doesn't cause
someone's spirit to break, I don't know what can. The terrorists knew
exactly what they were doing when they went after the World Trade in broad
daylight on a weekday (increasing the chances of killing thousands of
people) and not the Statue of Liberty.
If they went for the Statue of Liberty, Americans would be hopping *mad*
not feeling this overwhelming sadness & hopelessness that the destruction of
the Twin Towers brought on.
The terrorists knew what they were doing alright.
Though I think they miscalculated on the resiliency of the American people.
"Brandy AlexandreŽ" <bra...@kamikaze.org > wrote in message
In a way, we thought it strangely better that he just wanted to kill
American bodies, because
killing the symbol of American spirit would have been much more
devastating.
>
> --
> Brandy Alexandre
> http://kamikaze.org (Adults Only)
>
> I'm retired, but work part-time as a pain in the butt.
Lisa
<bra...@kamikaze.org > wrote:
> But had the statue been the target, it really would have
>been a major blow to the morale of the nation. In a way, we thought it
>strangely better that he just wanted to kill American bodies, because
>killing the symbol of American spirit would have been much more
>devastating.
Uh, I beg to differ. Killing 6,000+ people is far more devistating
than losing any statue, IMO, although I agree somewhat that losing the
Statue of Liberty would be devistating, but probably not as much as
this. I, as well as many others, would much rather have lost the
Statue. They knew what they were doing. They are not stupid. They
are diabolical. We wouldn't be seeing all these people crying so
much, or hearing all the rescue stories, except for the ones who would
have been in the statue (do people go in there?). Also, Wall Street
wouldn't have closed for 4 days, and quite possibly the market
wouldn't have dropped as much, although it would have dropped for any
attacks. Low stocks and economy=low morale.
Lisa
<bra...@kamikaze.org > wrote:
>The market absolutely would have dropped because of people who think
>the sky is falling running to cash out, just like people run on banks.
>War is war. It wouldn't have mattered what they hit. Wall street
>closed because the entrance to the building was buried in 15 feet of
>rubble.
I know, the market drops if Alan Greenspan catches a cold.
Kewl Kat
>
> After serious umbilicus contemplation, Billie wrote in
> news:20010923141415...@mb-co.aol.com:
>
> > I agree, but I think we're the only 2 who think this way. Although
> > the part about now that the WTC is down he can see the Statue of
> > Liberty really got to me.
> >
>
>
> I was at a dinner last night and talking to my boss' wife about the
> attack, and we seemed to agree that had the statue been targetted, we
> would have felt a whole lot worse. Most Americans, while saddened at
> the attack and the enormous loss of life, don't really have a
> connection with the WTC and don't feel the loss of those buildings the
> same way. But had the statue been the target, it really would have
> been a major blow to the morale of the nation. In a way, we thought it
> strangely better that he just wanted to kill American bodies, because
> killing the symbol of American spirit would have been much more
> devastating.
>
Last night I had a friend over and I was showing her some picture of me
when I was a teenager - in this album was photos of a trip I took to NYC
when I was 16 and it being my first time to NYC, I had taken pictures of
all the landmarks, Statue of Liberty, United Nations, Times Square,
Radio City Music Hall, and of course a photo of the World Trade Towers.
I've had these pictures and never thought twice about them for
practically half my life now but when I saw this picture of the two
towers it took my breath away.
It was still devasting to think that these buildings are now gone.
GiantandBlue
>... I had taken pictures of
>all the landmarks, Statue of Liberty, United Nations, Times Square,
>Radio City Music Hall, and of course a photo of the World Trade Towers.
>I've had these pictures and never thought twice about them for
>practically half my life now but when I saw this picture of the two
>towers it took my breath away.
You too, huh?
I've only been to New York twice -- the first time was a three-hour detour on a
Memorial Day weekend, so all I had time for was the Empire State Building and
going to Macy's. But I made sure to have the obligatory picture taken from the
observation deck with the WTC and the Statue of Liberty over my shoulder in the
frame. (Oddly, I thought I'd lost that picture, but it turned up this past
week.)
My second trip to NYC was a shade under 48 hours, but there was so much else
planned in that trip that I missed the WTC again. Made it to the ESB again, but
at night this time. You couldn't help but be drawn to the WTC from the
obsevation deck (it always seemed to me there was a visual tightrope between
the two, moreso than with any of the other landmark buildings in the city, if
that makes any sense). The pictures are a little blurry (there was a lot of
movement at the ESB that night), but the towers were really impressive, even at
almost 10 at night: still largely lit, looking like enormous lighthouses at the
end of the island.
Each time, I made a mental note that I'd make it there "next trip."
:o( ...
I'm thinking I ought not put off seeing the Statue of Liberty anymore, but I
don't know how I'll be ready to do that anytime soon.
Sophie
devistating
>than losing any statue, IMO, although I agree somewhat that losing the
>Statue of Liberty would be devistating, but probably not as much as
>this. I, as well as many others, would much rather have lost the
>Statue.
I totally agree.
Podkayne Fries
<bra...@kamikaze.org > wrote:
>I was at a dinner last night and talking to my boss' wife about the
>attack, and we seemed to agree that had the statue been targetted, we
>would have felt a whole lot worse. Most Americans, while saddened at
>the attack and the enormous loss of life, don't really have a
>connection with the WTC and don't feel the loss of those buildings the
>same way. But had the statue been the target, it really would have
>been a major blow to the morale of the nation. In a way, we thought it
>strangely better that he just wanted to kill American bodies, because
>killing the symbol of American spirit would have been much more
>devastating.
>
That's just *sick*. How could anyone think that the loss of the Statue
of Liberty would have been worse than the slaughter of innocents at the
WTC and the Pentagon?!
Everyone one of us in the US has a connection to the innocents who have
died - most of the victims were Americans, and the others were guests in
our country. How can the hypothetical loss of a big hunk of metal on an
island compare with these murders? I'm at a loss for words.
--
Regards, Podkayne Fries
Nobody meets me and walks away unchanged. At the very least,
they have to change their underwear. - Arthur M Levesque
Mary Beth
>That's just *sick*. How could anyone think that the loss of the Statue
>of Liberty would have been worse than the slaughter of innocents at the
>WTC and the Pentagon?!
>
>Everyone one of us in the US has a connection to the innocents who have
>died - most of the victims were Americans, and the others were guests in
>our country. How can the hypothetical loss of a big hunk of metal on an
>island compare with these murders? I'm at a loss for words.
>
>
>
>--
>Regards, Podkayne Fries
I'm sure the families of those who died would happily have handed over the
statue if it spared their loved ones.
Regards,
Mary Beth
Sarcasm -- just one of the many services I offer!
Patra
At the gross insensitivity.
If the Statue of Liberty was demolished, we would be angry. But I'd take
the demolition of the Statue of Liberty over the destruction of the Towers &
the Pentagon & the 4 hijacked flights hands down without a moment's thought.
And I think most Americans would too. As someone else said, who cares about
a stupid building over the loss of so many innocent lives.
"Podkayne Fries" <fr...@fairfieldi.com> wrote in message
news:3bafa93d...@news.cis.dfn.de...