Jon Stewart Takes C-SPAN Host To Task For ‘Appreciating’ Racist Caller

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show took on the C-SPAN caller last night who was sick of hearing so many black people and wanted the network to change it’s name “from C-SPAN to Black-SPAN.”

But it wasn’t so much the caller that Stewart had a problem with – it was the reaction (or, non-reaction) of the host.

Stewart began with the prospect the caller could have an actual, productive suggestion. Maybe “I’d like to see a cooking show where you make different Senator’s favorite pastas” – anything to “make this channel more interesting than staring at a shampoo bottle.”

Well as we know, that’s not how it played out. And the C-SPAN host, Bill Scanlan said, “Well Bill I understand your frustration. We appreciate your input.”

This infuriated Stewart. “You don’t have to appreciate all input! If someone pisses in your iced tea, that is input that really should go unappreciated,” he said. Then he proceeded to show how he would deal with the caller, drawing from his past experience with hecklers in clubs. His version would be Blue-SPAN.

He makes some valid points – when does politeness become the wrong decision in favor of calling out a person who is saying something particularly offensive? There has to be a line – and maybe next time C-SPAN will be ready to take a stand (or at least screen calls better). Also, this isn’t the first time Scanlan has let some offensive comments play out in their entirety.

Here’s Stewart’s take: