We just watched the video of John Stewart's appearance on Crossfire. You really must check it out, it's fantastic. There are several links to the video here.
John did a pretty good job of slaying Tucker Carlson, but there is one point where I wish he would have had a chance to respond a little differently. At one point Begala asks which candidate will provide better material for Stewart. I think this question reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of The Daily Show. The politicians don't matter as much as the news media. It's the news media that provides the best material, and they aren't going to change.
Here's how John could have responded to this question:
BEGALA: Which candidate do you suppose would provide you better material if he won?
STEWART: What do you mean? Which candidate? It won't make any difference. That's not what the show is really about. I mean, we make fun of candidates, sure, but it's a side effect of who we are really making fun of. You. Mostly we make fun of you, the media. Don't you get it? Do you think the media will change one way or the other depending on who wins? Look at our show, we have these "reporters", they're clowns, they're always missing the point, and emphasizing the wrong part of the story. The stories they cover are absurd, and the reporters are idiots that take it all seriously. But the real joke isn't the absurdity of the story, it's how the media reacts to it. It's called satire, don't you see? What do I have to do to make it more obvious, wear a bow tie?
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