Jon Stewarts Executive Producer Arrested for Assaulting 911 Activist

Matt Meyer

We Are Change NY
October 28, 2010

It has been remarked that “all the world loves a clown”. Thinking back to Stephen King’s Pennywise or John Wayne Gacy’s Pogo that might be debatable, but it is probably at least true that most people enjoy some form of well crafted humor or good satire. With that in mind many people may scratch their heads wondering why comedic talk show host Jon Stewart would be the recipient of serious questions regarding his stance on the events of September 11, 2001. Those same people may also scratch their heads wondering how, or even become angry at the suggestion that Jon Stewart’s Daily Show is simply another layer of misinformation laid out by the corporatocracy to be mindlessly absorbed by the zombified “moderate liberal” segment of the well-trained population. The theses submitted for your approval here are that 1.) Jon Stewart is a well entrenched member of the establishment’s mainstream media propaganda machine. 2.) The people putting on the “Rally to Restore Sanity” are the complete antithesis of what they claim to be – peaceful moderates who would rather talk things out and listen to the ideas of others. And, 3.) the Daily Show actually employs angry, sometimes violent, anti-American radicals and globalists who peddle the REAL conspiracy theories concerning U.S. domestic and foreign policy, geopolitics and science. Their conspiracy theories are then given a humorous spin and represented by funny pictures or captions on The Daily Show. These “funny” graphics are then placed next to Jon Stewart’s face so he can proceed to mug, smirk and feign outrage, ultimately resulting in applause and laughter from his obedient audience. But in the end it’s not real news, it’s not fake news, it’s propaganda peppered with jokes.

One month ago I was punched in the face by the executive producer of the Daily Show. I also had my camera damaged by another Daily Show writer, and had my shirt torn by Jon Stewart’s security guard. Jon Stewart and the writers and staff of the Daily Show were appearing at a popular book store in Manhattan to present and sign copies of their new book of humorous pictures and captions. I was moved to peacefully confront Jon and ask him a few questions after watching his show a few nights earlier. On the September 16th installment of The Daily Show, before a gushing and edge-free interview with notorious criminal Bill Clinton, Jon announced his “Rally to Restore Sanity”. He billed this as a rally for which people should “use indoor voices” and “take it down a notch for America”. It was clear that this “Rally to Restore Sanity” was, in part, to be a mockery of the now co-opted and neo-conned Tea Party movement and its successful rallies featuring Glenn “the Judas Goat” Beck and the Palin the Pied Piper of soccer moms. It was also designed to poke fun at the more vocal elements of the anti-war movement. Essentially, the Daily Show had cooked up a rally for wishy-washy people who believed that other people were “insane” for being enraged by a corrupt and out-of-control government that increasingly ignores We the People, while bowing to Wall Street bankers, corporate interests and the military-industrial complex. Jon’s rally was to be for those who think injustice, theft and mass murder should just be laughed off (and that sarcasm is what should pass for humor). Getting upset and then vocalizing it using the first amendment, apparently, were the actions of lunatics. Once again a mainstream media talking head was reminding us that the first amendment should really be used to express popular and benign ideas, not controversial ones. These stand-down orders disturbed me, especially in the wake of a watered-down liberty movement, but the “joke” that encouraged me to take action was Jon’s mock protest sign suggesting that “9/11 was an OUTSIDE job”. He was not, by the way, suggesting Israeli Mossad or British MI6 involvement. He was goofing on the many concerned, often credible individuals who reject the ridiculous and impossible “official story” of 9/11. Again, it was “insane” to question 9/11’s official fable about cavemen with box cutters defeating a multibillion dollar defense, defying the laws of physics in the process. Yes, the hundreds of well-known military, intelligence service, and government officials, the engineers and architects, the pilots and professors, the members of media, artists and entertainers, the family members and survivors who rejected this nonsense – were all insane according to him. This was quite a dismissive and insulting statement by the diminutive comedian, but to his credit he did not launch into a clichéd “tin foil hat” reference. Still, I decided that I would question Jon when the opportunity came about.

The Incident
In the past I have peacefully confronted a number of well-known politicians and members of the mainstream media on both sides of the false left-right political spectrum about 9/11(Michael Moore, Sean Hannity, Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, Jimmy Carter, etc..). I’ve been shoved by cops and security, but never punched in the face before. On the evening of September 27th, 2010, I left work and headed alone to the Manhattan book store where Jon and the Daily Show writers were signing their new book. I happened to run into Luke Rudkowski and some other fellow members of We Are Change NYC in the bookstore, also hoping to question Jon. When I got the opportunity I asked Jon a polite, albeit unpopular question about his take on 9/11 truth.  He and the crowd mocked me and I left, heading down the escalator and outside the store. Some We Are Change NYC acquaintances and I were outside the store, hoping to ask Jon Stewart a follow up question. Instead, The Daily Show staff and writers came out before Jon.  The executive producer of the Daily Show, Rory Albanese, was belligerent and taunted us. He immediately used a common tactic of those who want to defeat the 9/11 truth argument without actually using facts – he used emotional appeal, telling us that we were disrespecting the victims’ families. Like many who use this ad hominem approach he ignored the fact that 9/11 victims’ families started the 9/11 truth movement. It is important to note that Albanese put his hands on me twice by this point, lightly shoving my body as well as my hand holding a camera. He stated that he would put his hands on me if he so chose. He was also looking to fight with others, and mentioned that he wanted to punch a We Are Change member’s face because of his “knowledge”. Soon after, another writer for the show, named J.R. Havlan, was engaged in a heated exchange with another We Are Change member, Matt Lepacek.  I was videotaping with my handheld camera as Havlan suddenly reached past two people to grab it – and proceeded to press and twist the viewfinder.  He succeeded in damaging the camera, so I repeatedly asked him why he did it and suggested that he might have to pay for the damaged property. He walked briskly away.

Believing that the camera was irreparably broken, I put it in my pocket.  Luke and the others with cameras had not made their way down the block just yet. I was walking along with Havlan and a few other writers as we all made our way down the sidewalk.  There was some general body bumping made towards me by some of the staff and writers, telling me to “just walk away” (although admittedly, they were not as physically imposing as the bad guys from The Road Warrior).  Once again, the aforementioned Rory Albanese was before me, blocking my path as Havlan crossed the street.  I did nudge him out of my personal space without much force, as I reached into my pocket to once again inspect my camera and see if I could use it.  Without warning Albanese landed a right handed, closed fist to the side of my face, which I did not see coming.  By all definitions it was a “sucker punch”. I was stunned momentarily and when I came to, he had moved down the block, about twenty feet away.  I did react defensively at first and did suggest that I was going to hit him back, but Jon Stewart’s security guard “Brian” grabbed me in a bear hug from behind.  I threw him off and he grabbed me again, ripping my shirt in the front.  Two other men stood between me and Albanese telling me to “just walk away”.  At this point Luke arrived, helped calm me down and urged me to not hit Albanese, which I agreed to. (I was reminded of the arrest and false charges put on We Are Change’s Gary Talis, who was eventually cleared of the charge of assaulting a woman in a wheel chair, as well as the false terrorist charges placed against We Are Change L.A.’s Bruno Bruhwiler.)  As I saw Albanese making his way around the corner I told an acquaintance to call the cops to report the assault, which was done.

My face was bruised and cut and I had a scratch on my nose.  Albanese, I was told, made his way to a local bar.  A while later he returned, right before the cops arrived.  We both approached the police – reporting different stories.  His consisted of me pushing him with two hands for no reason, when the reality was that he had already put his hands on me, had been harassing me, was blocking my path so his fellow Daily Show writer could leave, invaded my personal space, and then sucker punched me before taking off. Albanese was put in handcuffs and brought to the 14th street precinct.  I was brought separately, where I gave my statement and a photo of my wounds was taken.  Although I was told I would hear from the D.A. I never did.

One month later my cuts and bruises have healed, and I have realized it would be fruitless and a waste of time and money to pursue the matter. The important fact was that this incident was documented, and the NYPD (whose general attitude toward We Are Change is completely different than it was five years ago) helped make that happen. This is about a much larger point. The people holding the “Rally to Restore Sanity” are not moderate, rational or sane. Allow me to present that case.

The Reality About the People Who Want to “Restore Sanity”
Since 1999, Political satirist Jon Stewart has hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central, owned by Viacom – the fourth largest media conglomerate in the U.S. Jon has gained considerable attention and respect for his ability to “deliver truth through humor”. Many articles have been written about how his Daily Show delivers and assesses the news more accurately than the networks and cable. In recent times Jon was credited by the Huffington Post, NPR and other left-leaning outlets for his “hard hitting” interview with Mad Money’s Jim Cramer. Now to be sure, Cramer is a suspect individual who is alleged to have used his show to “pump and dump” stocks (not mentioned by Jon). However, while Stewart took on Cramer for putting entertainment before journalism, did we ever hear Jon mention the Chief Operating Officer of the NYSE who presided over the infamous “flash crash” of May, 2010 – who just happened to be his brother, Larry Leibowitz? (Jon changed his last name.) Certainly not. On the day of that “flash crash” Jon had some pretty good zingers about “fat fingers”, but alas an opportunity for some real insight from a real insider – his brother – was passed over. Larry Leibowitz is a former international investment banker who has served on a number of market and industrial committees, and again – is the current COO of the NYSE.

It is openly admitted that chicken hawk neoconservatives like William Kristol love doing The Daily Show, where Stewart might make them mildly uncomfortable for a minute, before jumping past the really hard hitting questions and shaking their hands with a smile. In the spirit of his “moderate liberalism” he has given a pass on real issues and war crimes to the likes of Doug Feith, John Bolton and Condoleeza Rice among others. How could a “sane” person joke around with the architects of an illegal, unjustified war that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of innocent people being dead? If neocons love doing his show, one can only imagine how the eugenics loving globalists who pose as concerned liberals on his show feel about it (Clinton, Gates, Gore, etc.). For proof of a globalist connection to the Daily Show, one need go no further than one of the show’s Emmy Award winning writers, Kevin Bleyer, who is a member of the globalist round table group known as the Council on Foreign Relations, whose stated mission can only be described as the erosion of U.S. sovereignty. His Wikipedia entry proudly boasted about his CFR membership until recently, but it can still be confirmed elsewhere, like on the CFR’s own website and Bleyer’s Facebook page in which two of his five “likes” are the CFR and Foreign Affairs, the CFR’s publication. In addition, Bleyer (who was one of the writers present on the night I was assaulted) is a Truman National Security Fellow, an organization that “recruits, trains, and positions progressives across America to lead on national security”. It appears that Bleyer is positioned nicely. One of the Truman National Security Project’s objectives is Operation Free, a particular project that “organizes military veterans to speak out on issues of climate change and sustainable energy security”. One can assume that Bleyer will not be writing any comedic exposes of “Climate Gate” anytime soon. He may, though, continue to write jokes for Barack Obama as he has done in the past – another instance that makes one consider possible conflicts of interest for The Daily Show and its true range of political satire.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with the peaceful assembly of individuals to support any cause. However, as individuals it is important to closely inspect those who are “rallying the troops”, whether it’s Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin or even Jon Stewart. The establishment loves to make reference to Hitler and the Nazis, but it may be appropriate here to point out that the people standing and saluting at Nazi rallies actually adored Hitler – and by no means were they all evil people. They were just misled. I believe the people attending the “Rally to Restore Sanity” are being misled – once again. What is being advertised as a gathering of moderate and sensible people to laugh away the implosion of the Constitution and the dollar, has actually been designed to dull the senses so as to repress the most sane reactions to looking at the state of our Union, which should be anger, frustration and a steadfast resolve to fight.

In April of 2009 Jon Stewart was completely honest, before retreating back behind the flashing, pixilated curtain he helps hold in place. In an interview with CFR and Project for a New American Century member Clifford May, Jon rebutted the neocon’s defense of George W. Bush by stating that Harry S Truman was in fact a war criminal for his part in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Considering the thousands of innocent Japanese civilians who were vaporized or radiated to death, it is difficult for any “sane” person to argue that Truman was anything less than a mass murderer, let alone a war criminal. Yet only a couple of days later in a cringe-worthy display, Jon pathetically apologized for calling Harry a war criminal, explaining that it was a “dumb” and “stupid” thing to say. Even Robert McNamara admits that the only thing that saved Harry and his crew from not being labeled “war criminals” was that they won the war. Never the less, maybe Jon really had a change of heart, or maybe he didn’t want to insult his writer Kevin Bleyer, the Truman National Security Fellow. I guess only an insane conspiracy theorist would ponder such things.