Here's Your Problem With The Village Right Here

A growing number of liberals have already admitted it, but at this point even arch neocons say the best place to get a serious political interview in America TV is The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

Conservatives like Stewart because he's providing them a platform to reach an audience that usually tunes them out. And they often find that Stewart takes them more seriously than right-wing political hosts, who are often just using them to validate their broad positions, do. Stewart will poke fun, but he offers a good-faith debate on powder kegs — torture, abortion, nuclear weapons, health care — that explode on other networks. "Shepard Smith did the same discussion [on torture]," says May. "He kept yelling me at me: 'This is where I get off the bus! Not in my name!' He wasn't arguing with me. It was just assertions and anger. That's not what Jon deals in."

To be sure, Stewart wants to outsmart and discombobulate his conservative guests. He loves catching them in inconsistencies. "I feel like you just trapped me," a grinning Kristol told Stewart, after Kristol conceded that the government provides "first-rate" health care to American soldiers. "I just want to get this on the record," said Stewart. "You just said ... the government can run a first-class health-care system." (Asked about Stewart, Kristol e-mailed back: "I enjoy being on the show, don't mind serving as his punching bag, and am happy to do my little bit to broaden his horizons.") But conservatives respect the rules of engagement. They're trying to trip up Stewart just the same. Says May: "As soon as we finished, he leaned forward and said to me, 'I can't believe you got me to say that Harry Truman was a war criminal.'" (Stewart later recanted.)

"Maybe he's discovered that interesting discussion attracts viewers," suggested Bolton. But it's more than that. At the end of the day, the spirited debate on The Daily Show doesn't leave people feeling queasy or upset — and that includes the guests with whom Stewart spars.

To repeat, conservatives feel that the best, most challenging, most fair-minded and most intellectually stimulating interviews on television right now are being conducted by a stand-up comedian. I've got nothing against Jon Stewart, I happen to agree with neocons like Bill Kristol and John Bolton about Stewart, he really is one of the smartest interviewers out there right now.

It's the fact that an industry of trained journalists are now nothing more than vapid talking heads that couldn't out-argue a sack of potatoes, there to spit out talking points. The best guys in the deck at this point ARE the comedians: Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and Bill Maher. These are the guys asking the hard questions. It's hysterical.

And the Village wonders why the news industry is falling apart financially. Jesus wept.