this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
386 points (95.5% liked)

politics

25238 readers
2442 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] mister_flibble@sh.itjust.works 11 points 5 hours ago

I mean, ideally we shouldn't be just running celebrities but after 8 months of this shit I don't give a fuck anymore. Mentally I am here:

If it works I literally could not care less. Clearly the people want vibes so let's just give them the fucking vibes and deal with THAT issue when things aren't actively on fire.

Whatever else Stewart is, he's knowledgeable, charismatic, willing to fight for a cause, and DOES genuinely seem to give a fuck about the average person. That's a damn good start at least.

And all of THAT is even under the assumption we get something at least vaguely resembling a normal election, which at this point I think is entirely dependent on when exactly Diddler on the Roof finally strokes out on the shitter.

[–] bigbabybilly@lemmy.world 7 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I love Jon Stewart as much as the next guy. I think he could do a better job than Trump is doing, but that’s setting a very low bar. Surely there’s someone more qualified than comedy news host John Stewart.

[–] Ton@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

Zelenskyy was also a comedian, they are both pretty smart.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 hours ago

I'd want someone to represent the populace, not the power. I'd want them to be competent in how society works more so than how money works. I'd want them to have both compassion and charisma. Changes should piss off the minority of the electorate, not the majority. Change should be progressive and forward thinking not the old..."How can we capitalize on this and produce a revenue stream?". I don't care if they are famous or not. That being said, I do like to be entertained. I am really tired of the sell, sell, sell business shit that goes on nowadays. Hell, you can't even write and perform a nice pop song anymore without automatically having a new scent and a clothing line. Hawks everywhere, picking apart the dying corpse of mother earth.

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 hours ago

Literally 0 lessons learned. Lmao. The US is so fucked

[–] Montreal_Metro@lemmy.ca 23 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Why the fuck are people so obsessed with celebrities? Elect someone actually competent for the job. Idiots.

[–] drcabbage@lemmy.ml 13 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

The competent people never get elected.

[–] EightBitBlood@lemmy.world 11 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Unless they're competent AND popular. Zelensky was a comedian before getting elected as well. Now he's basically done the impossible and held his own against Russia despite overwhelming forces. Regardless of your political beliefs, a comedian has done better fighting off Putin than literally anyone else ever. That's an undeniable fact.

So Stewart should run. Because he's the closest thing to competent who's popular enough to win we'll likely ever get again.

[–] drcabbage@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

Correct, Jon Stewart is a populist that could totally win. I would almost say it is his patriotic duty to run. As Donald Trump shows, you don't actually have to do anything once you are in the office, lol.

[–] SheepHerder@lemmy.world 11 points 16 hours ago

The election is a popularity contest, so skill has almost nothing to do with it.

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 19 points 19 hours ago

Well, the Ukrainians elected a comedian and got a true leader.

[–] KingPorkChop@lemmy.ca 29 points 21 hours ago (10 children)

It's so cute that Americans think there will be a 2028 election.

[–] Mandog@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

There will be.

load more comments (9 replies)
[–] pjwestin@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago

Eh, I trust Stewart's motivations, but not necessarily his judgment. I listened to him interview Ezra Klein and Stewart fell for his neoliberal Abundance bullshit without any pushback of critical thought. I could see him getting led astray by some of the same Democratic hacks that destroyed the party.

[–] Steve@startrek.website 9 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] beejboytyson@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

Better a political commentator then a movie and reality TV star.

[–] tamal3@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A lot of people here are condemning celebrity in US politics, and I get it... but at this point in time we might need someone who is already famous yet consistent and trustworthy. Stewart has shown himself to be a good person for decades. He's also politically informed, progressive, and whip smart.

We need a candidate who wants real change for the betterment of the working class. Somehow people thought that was Trump... I guess because he said he would be, a few times? And people were hoping hard? And not looking at his track record at all? Also racism? More importantly though: people didn't think that candidate was Harris, who got pushed through by the Democratic party and ran an uninspiring campaign. Those people didn't vote. Those people were excited about candidates like Bernie, who's track record on class issues is indefatigable. Those people could potentially be excited about Jon Stewart tearing shit down for the actually betterment of the poor, and might trust that he would try.

That's my read, anyway. A Mamdani could come along and stir up some real enthusiasm, but I think it's harder for a no-name without a proven record to win a national election. Last time that happened we ended up with Obama, and people still feel burned by his lack of progressive action.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'd normally say "hells no, stop electing celebrities!" but this is a person who is actually politically informed (savvy even) and at this point possibly bthenonoy person why might get the US out of this miserable shit it's in and on to a path towards an actual representative democracy.

If anything, Jon Stewart might be the only person able to get the US to stop electing celebrities in the first place

So yeah, Jon 2028!

[–] Scrizzle@lemmy.zip 8 points 20 hours ago

Let’s not forget his relentless lobbying in congress and the senate for the first responders of 9/11. He had the balls to tell politicians the truth without sugar and never gave up because it was the right thing to do and he could.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 10 points 23 hours ago

I want to say no celebrities or billionaires so badly, but if you believe that nearly ALL politicians are irredeemably corrupt, then that's where we have to go for the people with the money and/or name recognition to win.

If you are going to vote for someone other than a politician, than an intelligent person who has spent the last couple of decades closely following politics and commenting on it every night might be a good option, provided they have the morals for it. I generally don't think much of the morals of billionaires or celebrities, but they're far better than MAGAs. At least they aren't enthusiastic traitors and pedophiles.

[–] iamdefinitelyoverthirteen@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Jon needs to run as a Democrat, and he needs Colbert to be his running mate ars a Republican for teh lulz

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Colbert

He's a more decent catholic than many of the cardinals (the ones that played hide the pedophile)....

[–] BotsRuinedEverything@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Stuart Colbert 28'! My fingers would break I'd vote so hard for that.

No. I would actually like Jon to win if this really were to happen, not have a laugh at the irony. I love Colbert, but the vp would need to be an actual politician. So no. No fucking Stewart/Colbert. Please.

[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago

I'm just saying, his name is spelled correctly right there in the original post... lol

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] owlboy@lemmy.world 5 points 20 hours ago

Whoa, this thread has the most comments I've ever seen on Lemmy, I think.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Can you stupid fucks stop worshiping celebrities for like FIVE MINUTES.

I don't get how mindless our population is.

[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 1 points 57 minutes ago

Im not sure how this request is relevant to the topic. No one is talking about nominating Ashton Kutcher. This is not someone who's famous because they're pretty or act well, he's famous for his mind, and just happens to also be funny. So I have to believe all these comments calling him a "celebrity" are knee-jerk reactions or in bad faith.

[–] daddycool@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a standup comedian and I think he's doing a pretty good job as president.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] nul42@lemmy.ca 2 points 16 hours ago

But we like Jon Stewart. Why ruin a good thing?

[–] ZombieMantis@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

God, I hope we can do better than Jon Stewart.

I love the guy, but a Bush Jr. era comic is not what we need right now.

[–] cdf12345@lemmy.zip 8 points 19 hours ago

Look where we are: Stewart is incredibly smart and understands the nuances of a lot of what’s causing the problems in this country right how.

You are way under estimating him.

[–] jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 2 points 15 hours ago

Seems like Ukraine made the right decision with their "comic"

[–] Daggity@lemmy.zip 7 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Did I time travel to 2000?

[–] Hikuro93@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

The bar is now so low that you could even have a thief, a serial killer or a regular rapist of adults, and it still wouldn't top having a PDFile Rapist Nepo Baby megalomaniac with authoritarian and racist, genocidal tendencies.

Seriously, worse than him I'd think only the likes of Hitler. And there's still a lot of time and leeway for him to become worse than Mr. Funny Mustache in the history books, if allowed. Imagine surpassing the worst man in history by triggering mass nuclear destruction across the globe, ending billions of lives, and for what it'd likely be the pettiest of reasons from a small excuse for a human stain.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes please. I've been wanting him to run for decades and I was hoping when he left the daily show he might end up on the path. I know he doesn't want to do it, but no one who SHOULD have the job really WANTS the job, because they know what it means to do that job properly.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ToiletFlushShowerScream@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The Venn diagram overlap of personality characteristics of modern politicians and celebrities is extraordinarily large. Pure charisma drives success in modern media-driven politics. It's sad, but I believe it's truth now.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›