Stewart for President

I don't watch the news. I don't watch national, I don't watch local, I don't read the newspaper, I never have any idea what is happening in the world. On purpose. Honestly, the only way I knew what happened in Arizona last week was because the bar where I was watching football forgot to change the station when the game was over.

But I watch The Daily Show.

I watch The Daily Show because Jon Stewart is amazing. I tune in particularly when something awful happens because I know that Stewart will manage to make me feel better. And Monday's broadcast after the Arizona shootings was no exception. It is unbelievably comforting to know that there is a voice for those of us who can't stand politics, who detest the 24-hour news stations, who think that the constant stream of hatred and violence our media seems so often focused on is despicable; but who are intelligent enough to understand that it isn't to blame for our country's problems.

With self-deprecating humor and measured reactions, Stewart manages to always find the light in terrible situations. In his opening on Monday, he reminds us of how much good the victims have done in the world, urges us to change what we expect from the media, and wants us to learn from this event, to be better. I am constantly amazed at how much credit he gives his audience. He doesn't talk to us like we are stupid. He knows that we care about the world and want to help, but that we are prone to apathy because we are exhausted of the bullshit. He knows that sometimes we just want to laugh, but we are going to need permission first.

More than anyone else on TV, he feels like someone I can trust not to lie to me. I know we "Can't outsmart crazy", as he said on Monday, but I also know "It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn't in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV." I love that he can say both, because it is exactly how I feel. More importantly, I appreciate it.

So, thanks, Jon. For giving those of us who are tired of the bullshit a place to go to laugh at it, so we can try to change it.

 See all of Stewart's Awesomeness