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Pakistan’s Ambassador Interviewed by Jon Stewart

By dcmediagirl on May 14, 2009 at 10:00 AM in Current Affairs

Husain Haqqani on the Daily Show
Full disclosure: I know Husain and his wife Farah, who is a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, quite well. Farah is my former colleague. When Farah first introduced me to Husain he was teaching at Boston University, a respected author and regular on the anti-Musharraf lecture circuit.

Having said that, I’m not here to do PR for Husain, the embassy or the government of Pakistan. They have an extensive network of lobbyists and spindoctors who are handsomely compensated to do just that.

Pakistan is in trouble, but it’s necessary to analyze the situation intelligently. I’ve pretty much given up on getting news from American, Indian and Urdu television outlets. With very few exceptions, the American press has fallen into the trap of endlessly flogging the exciting “24″ plotline “the-Taliban-are-going-to-seize-the-nukes”, rather than focusing on the seriousness of what’s happening on the ground in the here-and-now and, just maybe, questioning how likely it is that the Taliban actually could get ahold of the nukes. Urdu TV is embarrassing, rife with defensive hosts and guests, rampant denial, conspiracy mongering and shifty-eyed paranoia. Indian TV (both English and Hindi), when not blathering on endlessly about cricket and the latest Bollywood news, treats news from Pakistan like a made-for-TV drama, featuring television packages with sinister music, biased and grossly inaccurate “reporting”, and a healthy dose of schadenfreude mixed with, yes, conspiracy mongering (one anchor speculated that the aid President Zardari was requesting was earmarked by Pakistan and the United States to attack India). So nobody wins here.

It’s a damn shame that a show meant to be a spoof is the program where the host has actually done some reading and preparation beforehand.

  • Diana L. C.

    Thanks for the link! There’s lots to think about from this interview. And you are absolutely right: too bad something this important has to be done on a “comedian’s” show.

  • Zoom

    The “comedian” is doing the job the Press-titutes are not willing to do.

    • politicalidentitycrisis

      I just wish that comedian had been a little more skeptical of a little known Senator from Illinois with no experience being touted as a messiah. What sayeth Stewart then? Nada. He didn’t have the balls to make fun of a messiah.

      I still cannot watch Stewart, who I watched faithfully every night for more than 8 years!

      • Liz

        Yep, it was sad to see him and Colbert drink the koolaid.

  • Diana

    Excellent interview, we need more straight talkers like this gentleman. As far as Jon Stewart goes, I have this love/hate thing going on with him. There are times he makes me want to pull my hair out. Other times I adore him and he makes a lot of sense. There are times he’s hilarious. Other times I want to reach through the screen and pop him in the back of his head. Can I just ask…What the hell are you thinking?

  • sjc-tx

    stewart, colbert, maddow, olbernuts, obama et al… They all have so much in common… They all have more EGO than stones. This always gets in the way of objectivity

    • Animal Control

      I think you’ve covered all the bases–you will soon be accused or raceism, sexism, anti semetism, anti gay, and anti comedy. Way to go!

      And by the way-I agree with all you wrote.

  • http://twitter.com/jonstewartvideo jon stewart

    Jon stewart proposed to his future wife through a personalized crossword puzzle created with the help of Will Shortz