Stewart Vs. O'Reilly Over Common's White House Visit

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on May 17, 2011 9:00PM

Should being the satirical anchorman for "The Daily Show" not work out for him, Jon Stewart has a pretty promising career as a musicologist. (Or at least a music critic).

On Monday, Stewart appeared on Bill O'Reilly eponymous Fox News cable news show to debate the host about Chicago rapper Common's recent nontroversial appearance at The White House.

Stewart and O'Reilly have a pretty great rapport, having appear on each other's shows numerous times, so it's quite a treat to watch the two of them go at it. For our humble money, Stewart scores the most trenchant points.

Stewart argues that if Common isn't an acceptable White House guest for throwing his support behind someone who he believes was wrongfully convicted of murdering a police officer, then neither are Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. (All three past White House guests who've written songs about people they believe to have been wrongly convicted of murdering police officers.)

O'Reilly counters that Common's appearance is insensitive in light of National Police Week, and that Common was ignorant to have visited Assata Shakur in Cuba. (Here's the Assata Shakur Wikipedia page, and her FBI page as well).

Watch the videos below. (Via Salon).

Part I:

Part II:

For his part, Common has been tweeting out followers' reactions to Stewart's appearance.