This week Jon Stewart and the whole gang at the Daily Show returned from a two-week hiatus. They rolled out the new studio and most people hated it. Sadly, that is what most people focused on though. What I noticed is that Jon is taking the show to the proverbial "Next Level".
Jon realizes that the show is starting to have a serious impact on Americans and how they view their country and politicians. I have never been to get my hands on the number of people that watch the show is, but it is rumored to be in the 2-3 million range. If this is true it would make him the top watched cable "news" show.
What makes "The Daily Show" so unique is that they are able to be the final word on the day. So they get in the last word on everything before people call it a night. (FOX may want to think about moving O'Reilly back to counter act Jon.)
This has made the show a great platform for Jon to convey the message he wants to. Wednesday's and Thursday's shows this week were perfect examples of this.
On Wednesday's Jon interviewed Bernard (I am no Rightwinger) Goldberg. Goldberg was there to discuss his new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America : (and Al Franken Is #37)". Now Goldberg is a real prick. It was his book, "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News" that gave meat to the whole argument that the Media is Liberal. Then it turned out that Goldberg was just a pissy little toad that wanted to be promoted at CBS, but didn't, so he wrote a book about how they are biased (against him).
I loved how Stewart pointed out that only 3 of the 100 people he listed in his new smear book were "conservatives" and one of them blew up abortion clinics. I don't think Goldberg was prepared for the grilling Jon laid out on him. But Jon was calling him on his bullshit, like a real journalist should. Jon has the audience now and he is going to us it. Jon mentioned on Tuesday's show that the new set was because he is no longer just a "fake" anchor, but a "spaceship commander". Yes he is. And the commander is going to ask the hard questions. Maybe that is why the couch is gone. Jon is telling them - don't get comfortable.
But what really convinced me that Jon is taking it to the next level was last night's interview with Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, the reporter that really let loose on the Rove investigation over the weekend that started the Scotty Boy grillings Monday.
When Jon stated-
It seems to me that whether or not this is a crime is a moot point. It seems to me that whether or not what Karl Rove was doing is a moot point. What seems like the real issue to this is simple: when it first came out that her name was released and people started wondering, 'was that a leak of a CIA operative?' the White House pretended they didn't know anything about it. And Karl Rove pretended he didn't know anything about it. To me that is so far, the only issue.
Right then I knew that Jon was no longer a comic with a show, but a serious political interviewer. Something that I knew was true all along, but right then it hit me in the face.
So future interviewees, you are on notice. Be prepared to be asked serious questions. Rightwing Bull Shiters, you better come up with some other tactic, because Stewart's audience is going to continue to grow and he is going to be calling you out and make you look like the fools you truly are. And if you attack him, you will really look like fools, because you are attacking a comic with a show. Enjoy.