] A trot through the blogosphere suggests that Stewart's
] hyper-sincere Crossfire turn may have cost him a few
] fans, even as it solidified his diehard base. I wouldn't
] be surprised if the news media's recent crush on Stewart
] -- the rave reviews of America, the high-profile
] journalists appearing on his show -- turned a corner
] after this. As America: The Book makes clear, nobody
] likes a civics lecture. But you'd be hard-pressed to ask
] for more entertaining television than Friday's live
] smackdown. Stewart's naked appeal to his hosts to "please
] stop, stop, stop. Stop hurting America," had a loopy,
] apocalyptic power. It burned a hole in the screen, like
] Peter Finch as the crazed anchorman in Network,
] bellowing, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it
] anymore."
]
]
] A while back, I called Jon Stewart the "court jester" of
] this election. But he may be more like the fool in King
] Lear, speaking brutal truth to a king who is already too
] far gone to hear it. Sure, Stewart's job is to make us
] laugh, not to lecture us. But as Lear's fool asked, "May
] not an ass know when the cart draws the horse?"

[ Yep. -k]