On a recent show, Jon Stewart said that he thought Harry Truman should have been tried as a war criminal for authorizing dropping nuclear bombs on the civilian population of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He backed it up with some justification as to why the acts were just plain wrong. I cheered when I heard it because it’s very rarely that I hear Americans recognize the fact that the bombings were completely unjustified and a war crime of huge proportions. Even my American friends who are pro-justice and anti-war find it extremely hard to say “Yes, the bombings were wrong”. They justify it anyway they can.
Then, on last night’s show, he started by apologizing, saying he was wrong, and completely backing down!
You have to wonder what happened behind the scenes? I totally don’t believe his whole “Oh I knew it was wrong when I said it” shtick. The powers-that-be obviously came down on him HARD. But which powers? The Comedy Central powers? MTV? Viacom? And why? It’s not like Stewart doesn’t say lots of things that the elite don’t like on a nightly basis. Why this one statement?
If anyone can help me understand it, I’d appreciate it. Here’s Stewart talking about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
Here’s the segment where he backs down:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M – Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Harry Truman Was Not a War Criminal | ||||
| http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:225918 | ||||
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Cam, I definitely agree. His “apology” seems most forced and unnatural. Don’t know whose interest group he might be trying to cover, but I would much rather that he hadn’t backed down.
I don’t understand it either. 😐