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‘No Holds Barred’: Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly Debate Everything From Big Bird to Libya During Epic ‘Rumble’

E.D. Hill, Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart attend O'Reilly Vs. Stewart 2012: The Rumble In The Air-Conditioned Auditorium at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on October 6, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)
(TheBlaze/AP) — There were all the trappings of a high-octane presidential debate: the over-the-top declarations, the pre-practiced zingers and the schmaltzy appeals to America’s truest values. But the presidential candidates were nowhere to be found.
In their place Saturday were two celebrity gabbers who have staked their claims at the polar opposite ends of the political spectrum: Bill O’Reilly and Jon Stewart. The political odd-couple came to Washington ready to tangle in an event mockingly dubbed “The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium,” hosted by E.D. Hill.
Choice words not suitable for the faint of heart dotted the 90-minute exchange between the Fox News anchor and the star of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” who bantered aggressively but good-naturedly over birth control, President George W. Bush, and the “War on Christmas.”
Stewart came prepped with a mechanical pedestal he used to elevate himself in the air, making the height-challenged comedian appear taller than the lanky O’Reilly when he wanted to drive a point home.
“I like you much better that way,” O’Reilly quipped at one point as he gazed up at his ideological foe.
The political feud between the two caffeinated TV personalities dates back more than a decade. Much like family members who just can’t resist pushing each other’s buttons over Thanksgiving stuffing, Stewart and O’Reilly love to disagree, but appear to hold nothing against each other once the latest spat has run its course. The two have appeared on each other’s programs since 2001, but the face-off Saturday at The George Washington University marked their first head-to-head debate.
Appearing wholly presidential in dark jackets and face makeup under a sign reading “Yum, this banner tastes like freedom,” the two quickly turned to talk of government spending and the 47 percent of Americans that Republican Mitt Romney said in a video are dependent on government.
Here is a clip of the debate, where the two joke over taxes and “Big Bird” (content warning for language):
Stewart, defending government involvement in health care and social programs, said the U.S. has always been an entitlement nation.
“We are a people that went to another country, saw other people on it and said, `Yea, we want that,” Stewart said. “Have you ever seen `Oprah’s favorite things’ episode?”
Asked who he’d like to see as president, O’Reilly dead-panned: “I’d have to say Clint Eastwood.”
“Well why don’t we ask him,” said Stewart, mocking the Hollywood actor’s widely analyzed speech in August at the Republican National Convention by getting out of his chair and staring at it while the crowd erupted in laughter.
Here is a foreign policy clip where O’Reilly mocks those who are vehemently opposed to waterboarding, but fail to protest the increased use of drones (content warning for language):
In an apparent show of bipartisanship, Stewart even got on O’Reilly’s lap at one point. “And what would you like for Christmas, little boy?” O’Reilly said slyly.
“The display that you saw tonight is why America is America. Robust, creative, no holds barred,” O’Reilly told reporters after the debate. “You can call it whatever you want, but you wouldn’t see this in a lot of other countries. That’s for sure.”
Organizers said about 1,500 people attended the event, but the main audience was intended to be online, where the event was live-streamed for $4.95. On Twitter, viewers complained they missed the event when the video servers crashed. Organizers said video will be available for download and that those who experienced errors will be eligible for a refund.
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Comments (136)
LIBSALWAYSLIE
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 7:29amI cant watch stewart, I have no respect for ANYONE who thinks its fine to drop f bombs in an auditorium full of people. Thats the leftist mentality, lower the values. Stewart is nothing more than a socialist imbecile, plain and simple.
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americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 8:52amAgreed. This was nothing more than a comedic review of our political landscape. But, the F bombs are not funny and they add nothing to the conversation.
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turkey13
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:27pmThey can banter back & forth untill frogs grow wings and fly south for the winter. There wiil be a National Emergency an there will be no elections held. Thats why Obama refused to give up his golf to study crib notes. Both of these guys need to read “The Last Election” by Kevin Carrigan.
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slowrider
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:06amPoor Stewart is an idiot. Only in America.
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LuvsYeshua
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:28amThese two multi millionaires are good friends and made a killing off of this. They also contributed a lot to that super-scam known as the Wounded Warrior Project. Don’t be surprised if they go on tour together.
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GETLIFE
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 4:34amStewart didn’t know the difference between yearly deficits and national debt.
Stewart’s humor is for those who never want their college days to end.
Now I have nothing against blind idealism, but I sure saw a truly ignorant/uneducated side of Stewart.
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kadster01
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 9:23amOh look, two liberal yucking it up with each other. How….unusual.
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saranda
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:30pmLuvsyeshua – what did i miss about the Wounded Warior Project? I hope you are mistaken as much money has been directed to them and some celeb talking heads have used them to enrich themselves.
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Rowgue
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 2:00pmYou didn’t miss anything about the wounded warrior project. There has been a lot of fraud and embezzling in wounded soldier/returning vet charities as a whole, but there isn’t even a single accusation of that in the wounded warrior project. Somebody is just trying to associate the scam artists with all the charities in order to attempt to impune someone they apparently can’t impune directly.
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nevergofullpotato
Posted on October 9, 2012 at 1:00pmOH NO!! NOT WORDS!!! THEY HURT THEY HURT!!!!!!! MY FRAGILE LITTLE PSYCHE CAN’T HANDLE THE WORD!!!!!!
meanwhile in Afghanistan a 14 year old girl is shot in the head cause she wanted an education……….Americans….
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steve-in-pa
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 7:20amIt’s funny how soon liberals forget that they voted to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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SolitudeBliss
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:33amExcuse ME???????
Who voted on going to war?
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woodyee
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:43amIf you think that’s fast, you should compare it to how fast they forget their oath of office and the words to the Pledge of Allegiance…
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johnjamison
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 7:35amBliss,
98% of Congress voted fpr both wars…….a large number of congress being liberal democrats must of which still had their office until 2010 when the Tea Party orginized a congressional take over.
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ming70415
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:58amThe closest the U.S. has ever come to wiping out the national debt was in 1835 when the national debt was at $33,733.05.
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ming70415
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:54amJon Stewart is WRONG! the National Debt was not wiped out under Clinton, here are some factual stats from the government itself:
Clinton Administration
(January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
National debt on January 20, 1993 = 4,188,092,107,183.60 (inauguration day)
National debt on January 20, 2001 = 5,727,776,738,304.64 (last day in office)
Bush Administration
(January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
National debt on January 20, 2001 = 5,727,776,738,304.64 (inauguration day)
National debt on January 20, 2009 = 10,626,877,048,913.08 (last day in office)
Obama Administration
(January 20, 2009 – Present)
National debt on January 20, 2009 = 10,626,877,048,913.08 (inauguration day)
National debt on October 07, 2012 = 16,154,905,088,589.25 (and counting)
Reference: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
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oneshiner
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 10:41am@MING70……..Thanks for the refresher course. That’s more in line with what I remembered and that obama is close to having a SIX TRILLION national Debt. Woopee, we can all be on the streets begging.
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JBT48
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:46pmI was screaming at the screen when Stewart was trying to say the first ten trillion was due to Pres. Bush. Most people hear it the same way as he understood it though. Budget surplus vs deficit spending vs national debt can be spun infinitely by the media.
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Inlightofthings
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:02pmThe morons don’t know the difference between debt and deficit. The old joke about men was actually about liberals. You know the one: “I can’t be out of money, I still have checks left!!!” Fiscal fools they are…
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fraumj
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:41pmStewart does not know the difference between debt and deficit. Debt is the amount of money borrowed. Deficit is the shortage of funds at a given time. The govt borrows in order to cover the deficit. I want to know if the surplus after Clinton was because the country brought in more revenue or because we borrowed a lot of money.
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USALOVER2011
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:20amWhat the BLEEP just happened!?!?!?! Bill let Stewart and host interrupted him not once, not twice, but more than 3 times? Seems like every time he opens his mouth he was interrupted. Where was the Bill O’Reilly that debated Barney Frank and other people during his show!!! What the BLEEP!
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DrIvey
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 12:28pmIt’s amazing how people think Stewart is smart. The deficit isn’t the debt. And Washington’s voodoo accounting can show anything (e.g. increasing spending less than you planned to increase spending is a cut, and unemployed people who have been unemployed so long they lose their benefits are somehow no longer unemployed, according to the gov’t.).
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Magyar
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:15amIt was stupid. In my mind, there were TWO empty chairs on the stage!
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Histrees
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 9:02amAmen!!!
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Itchn2go
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 10:35amDitto x2
I don’t expect much from Steward except twisted statements to be made funny but O’Rielly – the genius who is never wrong – please this was a joke and he showed how uninformed he is and what a Progressive he really is.
Stewart won just because he was a populist – wrong but a populist anyway.
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ddg7
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 3:31pmMore like two empty suits!
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AJAYW
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:09amVery poor judgement by both-
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apgreco
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:07amI watched 4 minutes of the video and that was just plenty for me. The room was full of college wingnuts who get their ‘information’ from Jon Stewart, a left winger. To save everyone’s time and money…let me sum up the rest of the 90 minutes. It is Bush’s fault, Obama is great, the war was not paid for, time to invest (ie tax us more) in our country, it is Bush’s fault. OK? Now I can use the other 86 minutes that I saved not watching the rest of this fiasco to listen to the unbiased NPR (which I pay for). Please, please save me from the madness and get Obama out of office so that America can be America once again.
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jadams1214
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 8:14amI don’t know how getting Obama out of office is going to change anything. Republicans on several occasions have had a chance to defund NPR and voted every single time to fund it. The only thing worse than democrats lies are republicans lies!
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fastfacts
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 5:27amThe whole thing was quite funny, would I have paid the full $5, well I didn’t but I would see the replay for free ( http://www.thedailycandidate.com/video/2012/oct/oreilly_stewart_rumble.html ). Take a look it is quite amusing and shows the difference between the right and left… well, you will just have to see it.
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sethklinefelter
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 8:44pmI have watched it and at times it is funny, but it does not show the difference between the right and left. Stuart is honest in his position and for that i respect him (even though i disagree). On the other hand, O’Reilly is horribly inconsistent in his beliefs. He wants government to do some things and not others, but there is no clear line. The best example from the debate is when Stuart cleaned his clock on wealth redistribution. Stuart is right that Social Security is wealth redistribution now. It may not have been intended to be that way originally, but it is now. So in the end we had a debate between some one that was on the left and a some one representing the RINO Republicans (even if he is not a republican, he acted like one).
We need consistency in our arguments on the right let’s examine our own beliefs then have a real debate.
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GreenSicko
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 5:03amThis is a joke that is not funny. what a waste of time.
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Hiswill
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 7:33amCome on folks………this was a charity event. It wasn’t meant to be a serious hard hitting debate..
“One-half of the net profits from “The Rumble 2012″ will be donated by Jon and Bill to benefit charitable causes such as: New York Collaborates for Autism, Wounded Warrior Project, Fisher House Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, Boomer Esiason Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Tuesday’s Children, Portrait Project, NYC Coalition for the Homeless, Project A.L.S., Bob Woodruff Foundation, Haitian Health Foundation, The USO, Responsibility, Childcare, Best Friends Foundation and FealGood Foundation.”
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ambrosia
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 10:46am@ HISWILL
Agreed !
Very, funny evening-
benefiting terrific charities !
Everybody needs to take a breath
and allow their funny bone to be tripped & tickled,
every now & then
to lighten & dissipate all the heavy fog & malaise.
C’mon, tickle, tickle ?
That same light-hearted feeling, after the Romney rumble
should permeate everything else.
Yes, there’s lots of work to be done
and yes, we can never be too confident of the outcome
but a joyous heart will sweeten the anticipation
and quell the anger coming from the other side.
Nothing was lost on this bipartisan rumble,
if one feels nothing was gained-
then everyone’s even.
Don’t be a Party-Pooper !
For those who want to get their DIAPERS-in-a-TWIST,
over a silly event like this,
which actually covered MORE topics & facts,
than the Boy-King & his Royal Press have, during his whole administration-
remember, you are the ones walking around in them-
your self-inflicted discomfort is your own.
Solution-
Change your drawers and get a life !
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13Lena
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 4:50amIt is just two egomaniacs needing to be in the spotlight. Half the money was suppose to go to charity, I hope they collected enough. O’Reilly has been very liberal leaning lately. I am not that impressed by him. Oh well it’s over and done with. I would have loved to see Dennis Miller against Stewart or Glen Beck.
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KyleD
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:22amO’Reilley has always been liberal leaning, it just took a while for people to notice because they weren’t used to seeing anything but complete communists on network news.
It’s why Stewart sets him up as the pinnacle of Conservatism…conservatism always beats liberalism in a debate but when you set up a liberal as conservative you can beat him.
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spikebu
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 4:35amI honestly can’t see a difference between the two. Maybe Stewart is funnier, but he’s just as wrong. As far as the audience is concerned, they could have been talking about putting down their children, or their pets. Actually, I think it was discussed. I think the audience laughed.
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coizinho
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 3:08amAdd your comments
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john141714
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 4:25amwhy dont they choose someone like Willkow to go up against stewart? O’Reillyand so many others cant call BS when it so needs to be. One in this debate stewart says something about why should we be able to decide what our tax money is spent on. Easy answer the constitution says what the gov. can and cant spend our tax $$ for. The second one I heard was subsidies for oil company’s well we dont give oil company’s oil subsidies we give them tax breaks….. Willkow would have mopped the floor with him…
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Kevin The Elder
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:33amHow sad for those of us that remember the debates between William F Buckley and anyone else on the left crazy enough to get on stage with him. Stewart wouldn’t have dared. Heck, O’Reilly wouldn’t have, either.
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coizinho
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:59amNow I know why we are a such big trouble. My father used to said, as long the stupid’s agreed, the smarts going to be rich and enjoy a long life. If these BOZOS today depend of me to live, they end up die with hunger tomorrow.
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thetreyman
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 4:08amWhat the h*ll are you babbling about? If your father said those things and you understood them, you are some kind of idiot savant. I am very conservative and I can’t make heads or tails about anything you just said.
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GO-FOR-LIBERTY
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:25amIf you read between the lines it sayes O, aka Brrick, Sucks!
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Diego Roswell
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:23amSelf promoting pompous asses.
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RLTW
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 3:37amFour words that perfectly describe these two pompous asses who are not connected to real Americans in any way.
well except only the thier pompous minds.
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TreeTrimmerJim
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:21amThe last time our national budget was able to pay down on the national debt was 1957.
If the national debt is going up each year which of those years has a balanced budget?
If the national debt is increasing how can there be surplus?
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voodoolife
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:10amI’d love to see Beck VS. Stewart. I like (not love) O’Reilly, but Beck would mop the floor with Stewart’s one liners…
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tuffterf
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 10:32amGlenn has been invited to go on Jon’s show… I wonder why he won’t accept. Glenn is afraid to have an intelligent conversation. I’d like to see them debate, but I know Glenn feels safer on his frat boy show.
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PurrrpleMtnMajesty
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:14pm@tuffterf
Says the one who hides behind a computer screen
There is no point in going on lib shows.
Nothing there but lies, degradation and distortion..
There is enough of that in this world.
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BIGWUN
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:06amBill is a very fine, good and nice man. I am in disagrement with him that “fair and balanced” coverage means that we do not call out and identify the people who wish to destroy Americans and America like our State Socialist President. I have recently switched to Hannity and Glenn.
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ModerationIsBest
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:28amHannity is the biggest partisan hack on TV.
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Lord_Frostwind
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:41amNo Moderation, Chris Matthews runs circles around Hannity. You could say Hannity is the biggest “Conservative Hack” but he isn’t even in the same class as mister “Thrill up his leg when Obama speaks.”
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mamapajamas
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 5:01amModernisbest… in what way is Hannity a “partisan hack”? He isn’t a Republican, you know. He is a registered as a Conservative in New York.
Further, Hannity says up front he is a conservative. He doesn’t even pretend to be “neutral” as so many of the partisan hacks on the alphabet networks claim to be.
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grimmster
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:22am@moderation aka encinom
Really? hannity has never said he wasnt a conservative,he his show has always leaned left.This is all you do moron, “partizan hack” are the only words you know to describe someone on the right,and exposes the f-n idiot that you are!But i guess since media matters pays you .50 cents a post, you dont care how stupid you look……
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jadams1214
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 8:24am@MAMA Hannity is a registered conservative who has probably never voted for a conservative in his life and won’t in this election either. Actions speak louder than words. Voting for a republican is not voting for a conservative.
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edmundburk
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:52pmI never thought I would agree with MODERATION IS BEST, but Hannity is a rebulican hack.
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Gary S
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:02amWow! I saved $4.95.
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Teufel Hunden
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:55amThey should have showed more of ED Hill!
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KevINtampa
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:39amBoth these clowns are morons.
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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 2:02amI would not consider either one a friend of the Constitution.
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Huguenot Descendant
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 3:28amAgreed, Stewart was a loud mouth comedian proving how uninformed he is about anything related to common sense in the economy and how the government works, I mean seriously he doesn’t know the difference between debt and deficit? That is just sad.
O’Reilly on the other hand was also a joke but in a different way, for one he kept laughing at Stewart’s unfunny jokes, and two he let the moron talk over him most of the time. O’Reilly could’ve defended a lot of Stewart’s points but instead he just stood there looking like a fool laughing it up at Stewart’s childish behavior, just like the teenagers who watch him.
Seriously, O’Reilly let Stewart jab at the constitution and bible claiming that because the words Union and Welfare are in them means that the founding fathers were socialist! Is that not the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever heard!? That was Stewart’s argument as if that is intelligent and O’Reilly said NOTHING! What a major let down.
As far I am concerned they are both idiots and I don’t want to watch either of their shows as this debate just proves how childish they both really are. Literally, Stewart acted like a loud mouth child on stage and people fine that “funny” and “intelligent” which proves just what has America come to and why Obama was elected.
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Live Slowly
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:34amFor real? Stewart really didn’t know there was a difference between the debt and deficit? He thought that when Clinton left office the US was debt free and had a Positive balance sheet? What an F’ING idiot! And he sat there and tried to defend his ignorance. That by itself should disqualify anything else he said as uninformed.
No wonder the left doesn’t make any sense to me. This guy is there GURU and he doesn’t even understand the most basic difference between these two words. If he can’t take the time to learn that tidbit then how can anyone believe he has a CLUE about anything more complicated?
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jman-6
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:57amI think it was part of the Act. Hope so or were in Bigger trouble then we thought! Its cool these guys got together an raised a bunch of money for Wounded Warriors!
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SPOT_OF_TEA
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:34amI paid the $4.95 to listen to Stewart use vulgar language for an hour and a half and for O’Reilly seeming uninterested,waiting for the opportunity to plug his books……..I wont make that mistake again..
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CatB
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:33amTalk about a snooze fest … glad I didn’t pay for that .
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JERRIO
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:21amspeaking as an o’reilly fan, from the clips I saw, he seemed as unprepared and unpolished as obama did. maybe he’s getting too old and lacking the mental agility needed. dennis miller may have been a better match. kudos to stewart. fortunately romney took the time to prepare for his debate.
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lisalake
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 6:36amO’Rielly always sounds unprepared and unpolished! He ALWAYS leaves so much on the table, and usually the most important points… like the PBS/Big Bird discussion!!! Simple answer…Government IS NOT charged to FUND PUBLIC TELEVISION per OUR CONSTITUTION!!! Is IS NOT their job.
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ARealCharliesAngel
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 1:17amStewart tends to be a challenge to Bill’s balance…….flaming liberal & moderate for ratings nervertheless.
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