CNN's moment of Zen

I sure hope Comedy Central pays better than CNN.\nIf you missed it, probably one of the most important debates concerning how young people watch and understand the news was held on CNN's "Crossfire" last Friday. The "sensitive" conservative's Tucker Carlson went head-to-head with America's sweetheart, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," in what turned out to be an interview that made O'Reilly vs. Moore look like a mother/daughter tea party in the Hamptons.\nEver the renegade, Stewart admitted to coming on the show to say one thing: \n"Stop, stop, stop hurting America."\nClaiming that shows like "Crossfire" were venues for "partisan hackery" and nothing but political "theater," Stewart raged, dropping bow-tie jokes and laying the conspiratorial blame for American dirty politics on "Crossfire's" part in the media's "spin ally."\nMeanwhile, in Adultville, Carlson critiqued Stewart for shirking responsibility to ask "real" questions of important figures such as John Kerry -- who visited "The Daily Show" but has never appeared on "Crossfire" -- creating an equally "partisan" venue for, as Carlson put it, "suck(ing) up." \nLater, Stewart glibly replied, "You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls."\nYet I didn't see him bat an eye when he accepted his numerous Emmy's for being "the smartest show on television."\nIn the end, they all live to entertain. One admits it too freely while the other too begrudgingly. The price: Well, we'll find out in November. \nI'll give Stewart his due. He made a grand observation in unveiling "Crossfire" as merely "theater." It boils down the issues of the day into a gruel of left vs. right that presents a billy-goat image of American political discourse. There are rarely resolutions, mostly posturing and the occasional body slamming.\nHowever, Stewart was weak. When the issue of "responsibility" was tossed over to his side of the table, he settled for ending a joke with two guys kissing -- he took the comedian's easy way out.\nInstead of believing in his art, he simply cracked wise about how his program was a merely for laughs, giving him a free ride from any intellectual criticism.\nIt was enough to make Bill Hicks turn over in his grave.\nIf you believed Stewart, wouldn't that make O'Reilly's slams on "The Daily Show" valid? \nIf O'Reilly's wrong, and I believe he is, then how can Stewart lecture Carlson for irresponsibility while he himself balked at what could have probably been the best interview of his career?\nPlease, tell me that Stewart doesn't really think his show is any less a part of the political spin machine than "Crossfire." \nOr is it that Kerry made his Comedy Central debut because he just loves reruns of "Mad TV?"\nThey're all entertainers, and it's all theater. "Crossfire" is just the high school principal's "The Daily Show" -- another venue for like-minded individuals to feel better about themselves.\nI see through Stewart. It wasn't intellectual outrage fueling his fire, it was professional jealousy.\nStewart, and the rest of America, must own up to the fact that our own jaded view of traditional journalists have given the Mo Roccas and the Carvilles and the O'Reillys of the world much more power than they "theoretically" wield. As long as we settle for the cop-out rationalizations of "it's just comedy" or "it's just commentary," we allow both sides of the spectrum to continue, "hurting America," as Stewart so grimly put it.\nComedy is power, Jon. You know that. If you want to play with the big boys, treat your craft with the respect it deserves. Otherwise, I'll be praying that NBC throws you a late night talk show offer. \nThe world could always use another clown.