"The grand irony in this is that Santelli has been...

2009-08-19T18:09:35.842-04:00

"The grand irony in this is that Santelli has been right all along: people losing their homes are losers. It doesn't mean they're bad people, it only means they failed to care for their investments properly, possibly because they listened to the wrong people."

The fact is, the financial market is so ridiculously bloated and complex at this point that people actually need to either hire someone or find financial advice through some other means just to play the game. Not everyone can afford or have access to this. It's ridiculous to assume that everyone with a mortgage has some source of financial counsel, and it's ignorant to assume that everyone in America has had the same educational resources that you or I have. Some people just don't understand investments, and that doesn't make them losers.

Jon Stewart's point is that CNBC is claiming to be something it's not. They present themselves as a network that helps the average American citizen with no finance degree understand our incredibly complex financial system. Meanwhile, they tout hosts like Jim Cramer, who are either participating in or advocating methods to cheat within this system.

The problem is that there seem to be two different worlds of finance -- the outward-facing manifestation which we are all privy to, and the insider circuit where people like Cramer trade sordid methods of molding the market for personal or collective gain.

There's no need for CNBC to be a pseudo-regulatory agency, but why couldn't they serve as a buffer between the market and the people? Even if they lost intimate relationships with CEO's, they could still provide truly helpful analysis of the finance system to an audience that thinks of gardening rather than stocks when they hear the word hedge. I don't think its 'populist' to expect a news network that purports to present financial news to the masses to be honest when they do it.

"But what about your responsibility, Jon? What about your analysis of the situation? Is it really the job of a man throwing plastic cows and playing sound effects to make sure you're well-informed?"

Yes, we all have an individual responsibility -- but we also have a reasonable right to expect truth. You say that you're not defending Cramer, but you also seem to accept the financial system in its current state. Jon Stewart is doing something that most celebrities don't, or only do ineffectively; he's using his fame to do some good. He's trying to change a system that he and a lot of people see as corrupt and convoluted.

No, he's not an arbiter of financial responsibility, but he is an intelligent citizen. Every once in a while he sheds his joker hat and speaks out intelligently about issues that are important to him. Just because he's a comedian doesn't mean he shouldn't be taken seriously. His claim that people like Cramer treat the stock market like a game resonates with a lot of people, including me.

Maybe he is populist, and a comedian, but he's a better voice for America than Jim Cramer is.

Comments on You Can Stay, But I'm Leaving: Jon Stewart vs. Harsh Reality

"The grand irony in this is that Santelli has been...