Everyone here (besides `jerfelix` apparently) is missing something crucial:
Jon Stewart showed 4 people using the word 'nerd'. Three of them were anti-SOPA! These were the congress(wo)men that were trying to bring in experts/techies/geeks/nerds/whatever. So, I'm sorry that the techies here were insulted by that word (I wasn't!) but most of the people using the word were actually fighting for your side! And if you listened to them in context (instead of such a short clip) I think you would have thoroughly agreed with them.
I can excuse Jon Stewart for ignoring this important fact here because he is, after all, a comedian.
It's not about being insulted, it's about understanding the mindset of Congress. The fact that even the anti-SOPA people see engineers that way is even more concerning.
I think this all makes a lot more sense under context. As I recall (I watched the first two hearings, nearly entirely), somebody asked a technical question like "What are the consequences of [something]?" and one of the supporters of SOPA said something like "I don't know, I'm not a nerd" and that prompted the opponents to respond with "Exactly! We don't know! Let's go ask a nerd!"
>Jon Stewart showed 4 people using the word 'nerd'. Three of them were anti-SOPA!
So what? Were they anti-SOPA from the beginning, or just when we started getting serious pressure applied... Even if they were instinctively anti-SOPA, would it be fine if they refer to you as something similar to carnival show (okay, that's a geek), as opposed to a concerned expert in the field? That was at least my take-away from the clip, have not watched the full episode yet.
Do they refer to bankers as Till Fiddling Cash Rapists? Decorum counts for something, and we are not a side-show.
You're currently attacking some of the representatives who actually tried to prevent/mitigate the damage of SOPA (yes, before the PR storm) over some quotes you've heard out of context. The term "experts" actually was used as well, it's just not good comedy fodder.
You shouldn't comment if you aren't at all informed on the subject.
My point was not to attack those people, that word means something different. What if they would refer to a member of the Marines as a jarhead?
My point was that The Daily Show may be slightly anti-SOPA by being liberal, but they still have a point about the fact that they:
a) don't understand what they are legislating and rely on experts
b) don't appear to have enough respect to refer to these experts as anything other than nerds
I don't care if they are for or against SOPA, that was not my point.
Lofgren, Issa and Chaffetz were anti-SOPA at least since the first hearing Dec 15th (That hearing is the source of those clips). I'm not sure when you consider "serious pressure being applied".
Jon Stewart showed 4 people using the word 'nerd'. Three of them were anti-SOPA!
so?
I don't care that they were calling us nerds, but if someone does care do you really think the congressperson's interests temporarily lining up with theirs really makes any difference?
Jon Stewart showed 4 people using the word 'nerd'. Three of them were anti-SOPA! These were the congress(wo)men that were trying to bring in experts/techies/geeks/nerds/whatever. So, I'm sorry that the techies here were insulted by that word (I wasn't!) but most of the people using the word were actually fighting for your side! And if you listened to them in context (instead of such a short clip) I think you would have thoroughly agreed with them.
I can excuse Jon Stewart for ignoring this important fact here because he is, after all, a comedian.
Lofgren (Anti-SOPA) [http://lofgren.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&vi...]
Issa (Anti-SOPA) [http://issa.house.gov/]
Watt (Pro-SOPA) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Watt#Support_of_SOPA]
Chaffetz (Anti-SOPA) [http://twitter.com/jasoninthehouse]