Dec. 29/Jan. 5 issue - Some people are allergic to milk. Some people are allergic to dust. Jon Stewart is allergic to liars, spinners and boasters, even pint-size ones from Ohio. "I heard Dennis Kucinich in the last Democratic debate say, 'When I'm president ... ,' and I just wanted to stop him and say, 'Dude'." So it's a little surprising that Stewart is boasting a bit himself tonight. It's a windy, frigid evening in Manhattan, and about 100 brave souls—mostly guys in baseball caps and the women who love them—have assembled to watch Stewart host "The Daily Show." Stewart—gray suit, graying hair—is onstage pumping up the crowd just before taping. "We've got us a Democratic general!" he says, clearly elated about having Gen. Wesley Clark as his guest. "That's like a gay black Republican. It's a rare beast." The audience laughs.
snip
Dude, that is so not true. Sure, "Saturday Night Live" had Al Sharpton, and Jay Leno entertained John Kerry on a Harley, but "The Daily Show" has got everyone by the throat. The program won two Emmys this year—beating "Leno" and "Letterman"—and is becoming the coolest pit stop on television. And it does it the hard way. Unlike late-night talk shows that traffic in Hollywood interviews and stupid pet tricks, "The Daily Show" is a fearless social satire. Not many comedy shows would dare do five minutes on the intricacies of Medicare or a relentlessly cheeky piece on President George W. Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Iraq ("A small group of handpicked journalists accompanied the president on his top-secret mission to tell the entire world about his top-secrecy"). His cut-the-crap humor hits the target so consistently—you've gotta love a show that calls its segments on Iraq "Mess O'Potamia"—he's starting to be taken seriously as a political force.
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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3769869/
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