My husband texted me from the bus this morning to ask why I hadn't responded to Dan Drezner's excellent post about the impact that Jon Stewart has had on cable talk shows. I'm getting to it, dear pushy husband, who has figured out how to read my blog at the office again. Whew. My audience has returned.

Drezner reminds us of Jon Stewart's evisceration of Cross Fire five years ago, where he told Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala that their show was hurting America and ridiculed Carlson's bow tie. His criticism was spot on. Those phony debate shows were staged and did turn American politics into a WWF match. The two sides were cartoonish oafs who widened the gulf between Americans rather than looking for compromise or subtlety.

Stewart's rant is excellent, excellent TV. When I have shown that video to my students, they cry with laughter.

Stewart has become a serious media critic. He's also gone after Jim Cramer. His words have power; his criticism of Cross Fire led to the cancellation of the show. And now the only time we have to see Tucker Carlson is when he's doing a foxtrot on Dancing With the Stars. 

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