Missing the Point

For some reason, there is a movement amongst Daily Show viewers to get Jon Stewart to endorse a candidate. This movement is so strong there is even a website with an open letter to Jon as well as the "signatures" of over a thousand TDS viewers. Now, the open letter never actually states which candidate Jon should endorse. But most people guess, and probably rightly, that if Jon were to endorse someone, it would be Kerry. Though not because Jon Stewart seems to have some sort of big giant respect and love for Kerry, but he seems to just really not want another 4 years of the Bush Administration.

The problem with all this is that endorsing a candidate is totally antithetical to the role Jon Stewart is able to play in the media. He is sort of like the Shakespearean court jester: the clown who makes the insightful and pointed commentary on everything that goes on around him. Though his preference isn't hidden, it has never been stated. Once he states it and openly endorses one candidate or the other he loses his status as court jester and becomes a member of the court. Being a member of the court, he loses all the rights and privledges that came with being the one person who could tell the truth and get away with it. The Daily Show is a COMEDY SHOW not a news show. YES, it does comment on the news and it does deal mainly with politics but it is not news. As soon as the writers, the correspondents, or the anchor choose partisan sides, all bets are off.

So while I understand the desire for someone you admire and find credible to come out so to speak, by wanting Jon to say "Vote for Kerry", you are asking to put an end to the very reasons you admire that person to begin with. Also, people, make up your own goddamned minds! You don't need someone on TV to tell you what to think. Or maybe you do, and we're in a whole bigger heap of trouble.