LogFAQs > #979364135

ClemStudebaker posted...

That segment was a warning shot to democrats that they need to do more than what they have been doing, more than what they did in 2016 and many other elections.

"The next nine months or so ... they're gonna suck. ... And it's all going to make you feel like Tuesday, November 5th is the only day that matters and that day does matter. But, man, November 6th ain't nothing to sneeze at, or November 7th. If your guy loses, bad things might happen but the country is not over. And if your guy wins, the country is in no way saved.

... So the good news is, I'm not saying you don't have to worry about who wins the election. I'm saying you have to worry about every day before it. Although on the plus side I'm told that at some point the sun will run out of hydrogen."

And then in a later episode:

"Now we've had our fun dancing around the former President's rather eccentric interpretations of our country's founding document. May I offer you something more explicit? [Trump] 'I only want to be a dictator for one day.' [Stewart] Just so you know, that is how it starts. I'm not saying anybody has to do the arm salute. ... He is advocating for complete and total presidential immunity. His words not mine. That is monarchy shit. And it's your right to support it, but just do me a favor for historical accuracy. Next time you wanna dress up at rallies, wear the right colored coats."

The problem between the closing monologues of these two episodes is that Stewart acknowledges that a victory for Trump is in fact an existential threat to what actually makes the United States the United States. So to say that if Biden ("your guy") loses and somehow, the country will endure...is...a bit of a miss. Clearly he understands the scale of the threat, though. (As an aside, anyone familiar with Stewart's work on The Problem With Jon Stewart or his advocacy in general knows he's far from the alt right.) But the core of his message from his first episode back is not that the Democratic party needs to do more - it does, don't get me wrong. But the message is to urge voters to slough off their complacency and get active.

It's the same message activists have been urging constantly.