Reply #46: His stance is nuanced and subtle, that's why

[Spike89]

He never said a thing about moral equivalency. However, the volume is high on both sides. I'm aware and obviously so is Jon Stewart that the right is almost constantly attacking with emotional outbursts and the left is almost constantly responding with facts, snark, and ridicule. It really isn't about which side is right or wrong any more on the "news" shows. It is about sustaining the emotional fever pitch on the right (why "content-free" slurs like socialist, nazi, etc. are used there) and it is also about sustaining the intellectual disdain on the left.
The left is correct on almost every issue of course, but that is not the point. I've personally been "right" in a lot of arguments and totally lost because I mistakenly thought that was all that mattered. In fact, there is no end to any argument until the emotions and the facts are all addressed.
I do believe the right cynically began attacking and playing shamelessly on the fears, anxieties, and worse thoughts of the american people. That has had horrible consequences for our democracy. However, I don't think the left's solution of shouting back "liar liar, here are the facts" works. All that happens is we become more polarized and less inclined to work with the other side.
If the left maybe spent a little less time defending itself and instead just went about doing (instead of just talking about) the important things like improving health care, making taxes more progressive, reining in corporations, etc. then people would not be hurting so much and not nearly so vulnerable to the emotional manipulation of the right.