Of course, Jon Stewart's satire is aimed mostly at the right because "there is no evidence of similar detachment from reality on the Democratic left."

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Liberals, Conservatives and Jon Stewart
Letters to the Editor
August 14, 2015

To the Editor:

I take exception to “Jon Stewart, Patron Saint of Liberal Smugness” (Sunday Review, Aug. 9), in which Gerard Alexander bemoans what he sees as Mr. Stewart’s contribution to “our polarized public discourse” and, more generally, liberals’ failure to respect conservatives.

When conservatives abandon their plan to prevent women from having an abortion; when they relinquish their refusal to expand Medicaid because of their contempt for the poor; when they desist in their efforts to deport millions of illegal immigrants because of their bigotry toward Latinos; when they grow the mere semblance of a social conscience and reverse their slashing of funds for food stamps and nutrition programs for poor single mothers and their children, and instead substitute a tax on billionaires and the closing of a single tax loophole; and when they suspend their actions to decrease minority voting, depriving millions of a right that is most elemental in a democracy — then I will respect them.

Indignation should not be conflated with smugness.

ROBERT STRAUSS

New York

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To the Editor:

Yes, Jon Stewart is a liberal, and he may have had a few smug moments. But on countless occasions he was an extremely gracious host to people on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

I frequently came away from his exchanges with conservatives feeling more empathy for his guests and attributing to them greater intelligence and more respectable motives. Mr. Stewart had a gift for revealing the human side of his political opponents and for giving their viewpoints the most generous interpretation he could muster. I imagine that’s why so many notable conservatives agreed to appear on his show, some many times.

LISA JANIS

New York

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To the Editor:

Gerard Alexander takes Jon Stewart to task for aiming his satirical barbs mostly at the right. But do the two main political parties really present equal opportunity for satirists?

Mr. Alexander criticizes liberals for fixating on figures like Sarah Palin and Todd Akin, but where are the Palins and Akins, not to mention the Trumps, Santorums and Carsons, among prominent Democrats? How many of the latter deny the sciences of climate change and evolution? Large percentages of Republican voters question President Obama’s birthplace, his religion and even his loyalty to America; there is no evidence of similar detachment from reality on the Democratic left.

The plain fact is that there is asymmetry in our political life, and it provides great fodder for a liberal comic genius like Mr. Stewart.

ANTHONY GRECO

New York
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