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| The news won't be the same without Stewart |
When Stephen Colbert bailed on his show last year, I was more bummed than I am today after Stewart's last show, but it's still a down day.
Together they formed the yin and yang of satire and mockery.
They cut through the bullshit better than any other news sources out there.
Stewart made reference last night to how they approached the show by being ever vigilant of the "three layers of bullshit" that cover, and sometimes, smother us.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart mocked the way "real" news channels, particularly Fox and CNN, covered the news with layers of bullshit.
He did so in an often hilarious way. Also, the field segments were often brilliant take-downs of the way "60 Minutes" does their ambush interviews.
What the "real" news channels got wrong about Stewart is that he didn't just appeal to "millenials," but to us "baby boomers," too.
And, we don't just get our news from The Daily Show. In fact, Daily Show viewers are often more informed than most Fox News addicts.
Studies have shown that those who rely on Fox News for their information know less about what's going on in the world than those who watch no TV/cable news at all.
What Fox News and CNN don't admit is that they are in the entertainment business, just like Stewart.
They pretend to inform and enlighten, but they do the opposite. Fox News, in particular, traffics in hate and paranoia.
Jon Stewart didn't pretend he was anything other than a comedian, and provided better insight into the daily news than anyone else out there.
Stewart was also impressive by the diversity of his staff. He not only had many nationalities represented, along with many women, but he also gave breaks to the oddballs, misfits and class clowns out there who wouldn't have enjoyed such success otherwise.
His legacy is showing how us, and future comics, how to understand the news of the day through biting humor.
"Bullshit is everywhere," he said. "If you smell something, say something."
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