Jim “Mad Money” Cramer was on the Daily Show last night. All I can say is – Wow. In the words of Andrew Sullivan:
I watched the Daily Show with growing shock last night. Did you expect that? I expected a jolly and ultimately congenial discussion, after some banter. What Cramer walked into was an ambush of anger. He crumbled from the beginning. From then on, with the almost cruel broadcasting of his earlier glorifying of financial high-jinks, you almost had to look away. This was, in my view, a real cultural moment.
Full text and video embed at andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com
Update: video
Glenn Greenwald provides some good commentary on the Stewart/Cramer smackdown and illustrates that Cramer is not the exception, but the rule.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/13/cramer/index.html
“But there’s absolutely nothing about Cramer that is unique when it comes to our press corps. The behavior that Jon Stewart so expertly dissected last night is exactly what our press corps in general does — and, when compelled to do so, they say so and are proud of it.”
We get the Daily Show 24 Hours late in the UK.
Saw that show tonight.
Loved watching the Cramer Weasel squirm.
That thing literally took my breath away. How is it that the quality of U.S. journalism has fallen to the point where the only person who makes any sense at all, and the only guy with both the moral authority and the gravitas to take the business reporting industry to task, is a guy who does a comedy show on cable television? How did it ever get so bad?
Stewart hit every single note. He completely demolished Cramer while making it absolutely clear that Cramer was just a piece of what he was tearing apart.
If someone were ever to do to me what he did to Cramer, I would spend the following year hiding in a closet, weeping and ashamed.
It should be remembered that Cramer actually went on the Daily Show and took the hits like a man.
He knew what he was walking into, you could see it on his face when he came out.
Rick Santeli and the others just talked shit, but do not seem to even have the integrity to admit what they have done, let alone go on a show and completely get called out for their actions.
Call Cramer a lot of things, but at least he has displayed some character.
I would never listen to him about finance, but I’d still at least drink with the guy.
Oh I completely disagree with Ryan. I think Cramer walked straight into that buzz saw thinking he was going to win the day. And his mistake came from a bottomless fount of arrogance and self-adoration. This was the stuff of Greek tragedy.
It was hubris, not character, that propelled Cramer onto that show. IMO.
meanwhile, in like, real financial news –
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/business/economy/06insure.html?_r=1&em
so AIG flat out refuses to say where the money went. these are the real issues. Cramer shoulda been bounced when he told the world not to worry about Bear Stearns. This telenovella drama with Stewart is just a distraction from maters of more serious consequence, like our gov. paying out huge sums to crooks with no questions asked or names taken. sorta like when they stacked pallets of cash on C-130’s and flew them over to Bremmer to give away in a warzone.
Cramer got knocked the f**k out!
I think this has given Cramer an opportunity to make a real difference in financial reporting. If he does a 180 with his show and goes after the CEO’s that he called out Thursday and creates a ‘kangaroo court’ of his own with real reporting it might just be the penance he needs to pay to reestablish his credibility. Personally I think he’s smart enough to have thought about this as he was considering the invitation to sit across from Jon Stewart. Certainly he knew his opponent had him both outclassed and dead to rights. With the amount of back footage of his show, Mad Money that Stewart and the Daily Show writers pulled together for previous shows certainly clued him in on what he’d be walking into. Although I doubt he even remembered the clips from 2006 where he incriminated himself in creating rumors to drive down a stock price much less thought that he’d have to explain what he meant only to be caught in a lie with his explanation by more clips of the same interview. But I think he’s going to surprise most viewers and shock a lot of the Wall Street criminals when he hold their feet to the fire. Mad Money with the emphasis on MAD!
I’m down with what Cary said. And ya’ll might know that they have pre-interviews so’s the two can get the gist. shit might have been spontaneous, but I’m guessing the punches were fixed as with any t.v. interview. Cramer ain’t stupido. He knew he was on the down side of the crash and he’s doing his penance.
Again, if ya’ll want to learn how the money vacuum is happening, hit up the This American Life show called Bad Bank. It is worth the time.
I am in the financial world. when I meet potential clients who watch this assclow I respectfully suggest they find another advisor. I won’t waste a second of my time. Because of this stupid fuck people day trade in their 401Ks and IRA’s.
BTW did you post about McCain’s daughter calling out Ann Cuntier? dude that was a cultural moment in the least. I have not scrolled down to read the past few weeks yet been OC
John Stewart is the Jester of our times. Back in the day, the jester was the only one who could tell the king the truth without getting his head chopped off. Cramer took his licks but in the beginning, should have STFU! It has made for great television.
the take away: cnbc is for suckers. when you encounter a snake oil salesman, give em a “fuck you!”
Too bad for Cramer about getting reamed but he is not a journalist. He does a entertainment show about day trading and thats a high risk fuckin game. If grown ass adults want to play that game then they are responsible for the losses. Yeah, Cramer should have warned about the system more but the government has been all encouraging of bad habits in the markets for years now. Even now as people are just trying to get on thier feet Obama is going on TV and trying to get people to invest.