The Language of Politics

We talked a bit in class about how "The Daily Show" ought to be required material for class. Even if Jon Stewart and others believe that it's a sad state of affairs that more college students get their news from Comedy Central than from anyplace else, I disagree. The television news is biased. Making fun of the news helps to emphasize that TV news is not to be taken seriously. "The Daily Show" has managed to subvert the cultural authority of television by turning viewers' attention to the way that the media frames truth and ideas. It is important to realize that, like the media, language also frames ideas in order to generate specific emotions and actions in the audience. (more)

"The Colbert Report," a satirical pundit-based show also on Comedy Central, goes even further than "The Daily Show" does to subvert the language of the corporate-military-industrial-fundamentalist Christian complex. Colbert was voted one of Time Magazine's most 100 influential people in the world because of the way that he calls attention to the close-minded worldview that is reinforced and protected by the patriarchy that has dominated imperialist culture for hundreds of years. If "The Daily Show" is required viewing for understanding the way that language controls political frames, "The Colbert Report" should be required to understand the strengths and shortcomings of conservative ideology. Here is a link to Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert Video page. Watch some of the "Word" segments to get a sense of the way he uses written and spoken text to elicit specific emotions and ideas in his audience:

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/the_word/index.jhtml