Shlonkom Bakazay?

When I first saw Jon Stewart berate Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on CNN's Crossfire I was enamoured in delight [small, large, qt: very large]. Now we have the show's cancellation. And this is clearly a signal that the man is not only the most respected political commentator for "fake news" in America, but he's also changing your TV programming. Here's the NY Times with a wonderful point about the tsunami making clear what those like FoxNews and MSNBC were clearly failing to accomplish: reporting the news.

Perhaps this trend [of screaming talking-heads reporting little] has gone as far as it can go. Mr. Stewart's "Daily Show," which is especially popular with young people, is a reminder that television was supposed to be a "cool" medium, best suited to people whose jugular veins aren't throbbing. And last month, when the tsunami hit Asia, viewers got a chance to notice what they were in danger of losing to talk TV. CNN, with a comparatively large international army of journalists at its disposal, went out and covered the story. Fox News and MSNBC had to depend more on conversationalists in the studio, all of whom agreed that tidal waves were very, very bad.

Of course Stewart's intervention was an extremely important moment in the annals of modern culture. I repeat myself when I say he's a hero of our day for sparking action to report real news. And these are the things I don't mind repeating!

OUt, liminal

ps: Could you say somebody is anti-semetic if they hate Jon Stewart?

pps: Jon Stewart's follow-up to his appearance on Crossfire

ppps: Here's Jon's reaction to the cancellation of Crossfire

The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Exit, Snarling