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Jon Stewart 'regulatory mechanism' for Papa Bear Bill O'Reilly, the FOX video, part one

By April MacIntyre Feb 4, 2010, 16:34 GMT

US television personality Jon Stewart (L) and Haitian-American singer Wyclef Jean (R) EPA/KEVIN MAZUR

"Come'on Stewart, wise up man..." shot FOX pundit and top rated host Bill O'Reilly to Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, who took the Papa Bear of the network on in a meeting of the minds, and a dialogue meant to bridge the chasm between the left of center and the right.

There were moments when O'Reilly, a very tall man (6'5") punctuated his points with snapping right jabs at the considerably shorter Stewart, who jumped in his seat and quipped he felt he was in the boxing ring with Ali.

It wasn't the "Rumble in the Jungle," more like two very powerful men in the media who seemed on a level to be friendly, disagree over the current administration, and the very nature of O'Reilly's network, FOX, which serves the conservative audiences with consistently GOP positive spin on all their reporting.

"Daily Show" host Jon Stewart's Wednesday night dived head first into Papa's pool as O'Reilly led the questioning, and couched his questions in such a way that Stewart hardly rose to the bait, often times deflecting any remark that could have been construed as contentious and flip to a humorous retort.

"...Your audience are primarily stoned slackers who love Obama..." said O'Reilly to a bemused Stewart.

In the first of first of a two-part interview, O'Reilly began his grilling of Stewart by trying to pin down exactly how the tri-state comedic host felt about President Obama.

"I'm torn," he said. "For me I can't tell if he's a Jedi Master, playing chess on a three-leveled board way ahead of us, or this job is kicking his ass."

Stewart also pushed the notion that Obama kowtowed to congress too much:

"He has decided that Congress is an equal branch of government," Stewart said. "Huge mistake."

O'Reilly also jumped on Stewart for commenting that the narrative of FOX was of singular mind and that opinion shows like O'Reilly's passed off as news, which engaged O'Reilly to compare FOX to a newspaper, which consists of news and opinion pieces.

"Do you think people don't know that the 'O'Reilly Factor' is an opinion show?" O'Reilly said. "That's like saying people who watch your show don't know it's a comedy show."

Stewart did praise O'Reilly for being somewhat moderate on a network of rabid right mouthpieces like Glenn Beck.

"You have become the most reasonable voice of Fox," Stewart said, adding: "Which is like being the thinnest kid at fat camp."

The second round of the O'Reilly/Stewart bout airs Thursday at 8 p.m.