In my opinion, CNBC has lost some of the luster of being a “serious” news source and turned more to the entertainment aspect. Trouble is, a lot of people didn’t catch the turn until it was too late. I watch CNBC because I find some of it funny, but I don’t take it too seriously.

Stewart had every right to be angry, as does the American public and anyone else who was affected by this economic crisis (which is affecting people around the world).

Second, while I agree with you that, yes, Cramer is a guy who sometimes gets it right and sometimes wrong as a financial guru, the real damning thing is the video that got him in trouble with SEC. And in the interview with Stewart, after they played that video, his go-to response to begin with was “if the regulators saw that…” blah, blah, blah. So really, Stewart nails him in calling him out on this — in that, the duplicity of market professionals, like Cramer, to on one side of their mouth say “I’m trustworthy”, and on the other (the “insider” side) be talking about how to essentially screw people over in running their hedge funds, etc.

I do think the media overblew it a bit…but (and it’s a significant but), can you expect otherwise in economic times as these? And I further think the indignation on Stewart’s part is completely justified (“I can’t tell you how mad this makes me…”) because the underlying point is that many people on the inside knew exactly what they were doing, and were indifferent at best, to conspirators-for-personal-gain at worst, who saw what they were doing, knew where it was heading, and either contributed to the mess we’re in now, or did nothing. As Stewart said “Sins of Ommission” *and* “Sins of Commission”. And Cramer was right in there advocating to insiders financial impropriety (to maybe illegal actions) with the justification that “there is a market for it”.

Sorry you can’t see the clips – I’ve heard they are blocked in Canada… They may be on YouTube already, but when I checked, I couldn’t find them (at least when the post went live, I haven’t looked since).

Karen: I think the folks at Comedy Central were extremely well prepared and made some excellent points about he financial crisis. They asked some very difficult questions. I applaud Cramer for coming on this show, knowing full well he could get crucified. I think he handled the situation very well, with the exception of trying to pull one over on Stewart and talk his way out of the market manipulation video (which is why I posted that video in it’s entirety). On Stewart’s part, I think he also handled it well and did not sugarcoat what has happened and how the media has responded.

Manshu: As I mentioned above, I thought Cramer did well to come on the show knowing he could get crucified. Stewart showed singular video clips of Cramer, but didn’t make this interview about Cramer – he made it about CNBC’s handling of the financial crisis and the politics and financial industry that allowed the financial crisis to happen in the first place.

FV: Does it make me sick to my stomach? No. But it pisses me off. Stewart’s reaction at the end of video 1 basically my reaction.

Chris: I watched the unedited versions, but didn’t post them here because of language (some people view this blog from work, so I try to keep this work-friendly). Stewart’s approach was no hold’s barred, and I appreciate him for that. Not many people have the balls to do that.

In the same regard, I appreciate Cramer for coming on and handling the situation as he did – with the exception of trying to weasel out of the market manipulation comments Stewart made. The entire video Stewart referenced is about market manipulation, which is why I posted the video here in its entirety. Other than that, I thought Cramer handled his role as well as he could.