QOTD: Trevor Noah
by digby
Great:
In the past, Noah has described himself as a "progressive," but on Friday he provided more details on what that means. "I'm not a political progressive, but I consider myself a progressive person," he said. "What makes me a progressive, in my opinion, is the fact that I try to improve myself and by and large improve the world that I'm in — in the smallest way possible. I know that I cannot change the entire world, but I've always believed I can at least affect change in my world. So I try and do that. Progression, in my opinion, is often identifying shortcomings — whether it's views or the things you're doing in your life, your relationships — and trying to find the places where you improve on those."
Eventually, Noah offered some specifics. "In an American context, let's say gay rights or marriage policy," he said. "That's a progressive thing. I understand that in an American context, that skews liberal. Okay, that's fine, then."
"I'm not a political progressive, but I consider myself a progressive person." --Trevor Noah
But he refused to place himself in any partisan category. "I'm neither left nor right," he said. "We don't have rural conservatives in South Africa…even in the big parties, we have very conflicting views. It's interesting to come into this space and then point out from both sides what I think is right or wrong — or really just trying to find the truth in the matter without saying I have to find this truth because this is my side."
Noah also touched on his admiration for certain stances expressed by Rand Paul during the Republican debates. "There are certain issues from Rand Paul where I say, 'Yeah, I like that, I think we can move forward with that,'" he said. "When it comes to social security reform and ways of adjusting benefits for people, there's definitely a conversation to be had there. I'm not an expert in it, which is the best thing. I just keep on reading and absorbing…but I do believe there's a conversation to be had there."
I try not to judge these things before they happen. Shows have to evolve and find their groove. So I will eagerly tune in to see how it goes. But let's just say that this doesn't reassure me. I have little doubt that a political show with a person from another country at the helm could be great. Maybe a little more of an internationalist view is just the fresh kick the old program needs. But that comment shows that Noah may be taking a very typical and tiresome approach of some younger naive folks (mostly men, for some reason) who assume that both sides are equally wrong about everything so the best way to approach this is to take on from column A and one from column B and then pat yourself on the back for your tremendously brave "independence."
In the past Stewart had the habit of saying "can't we all get along" and that was bad enough. But he shed that in recent years for a deeper understanding of just how tremendously screwed up the right really is. This sounds like something more ominous but I guess we'll see. Trying to present himself as "a different kind of progressive" is worrisome. I don't suppose they could have found someone who already understood our political ecosystem? Or perhaps already understood the show's audience?
If he's as good as his iconoclastic hero Dave Chappelle then none of us will have complaints I'm sure. But that's a very high bar.
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