Quotes From "The Daily Show: An Oral History As Told By Jon Stewart The Correspondents Staff And Guests" By Chris Smith

LIZZ WINSTEAD Instead of Jon playing a character–the news anchor, one of the derelicts in a derelict world of media– Jon made a creative decision to take the show in the direction of the correspondents presenting the idiocy, and then Jon is the person who calls out the idiocy with the eloquence that the viewer wishes they had. And he did it in a way that’s not condescending, it’s not smug. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s calling out bullshit. So Jon became the voice of the audience. . Chris Smith

If comedy is tragedy plus time, I need more fucking time. But I would really settle for less fucking tragedy.” ~ Jon Stewart Chris Smith

And this, this, is their genius. Conservatives are not looking to make education more rigorous and informative, or science more empirical or verifiable, or voting more representative, or the government more efficient or effective. They just want all those things to reinforce their partisan, ideological, conservative viewpoint. Jon Stewart