Thursday night's show was unusually pointed, which is usually a good thing. The targets, though, were almost beside the point: Fox News and the Washington Redskins.
For Elmer Fudd to be an entertaining foil for Bugs Bunny, the writer has to do more than make fun of Elmer's denseness. By the same token, for Fox News to be a good target for Stewart's satire, the show has to do more than point up the network's hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is as fundamental to Fox News' DNA as stupidity is to Fudd's. (There's a large component of willful stupidity to Fox News too, but that's beside the point here.)
And to hold up Redskins diehards as utter morons incapable of empathy or understanding, well, the entire media beat you to it, guys. There was absolutely no twist to Jason Jones' piece. Even incorporating the Redskins fans' mortified reactions as quoted in the Washington Post didn't tell us anything new, unless you count finding out that there are still people who don't realize that appearing in a Daily Show segment is not likely to enhance your reputation.
Yeah, I still get a bit of a charge out of Stewart telling Fox News to shut the fuck up. It's still a bit gratifying to be reminded I'm on the right side of history regarding the name "Redskins". But I expect more than just a bit of entertainment and gratification. You guys have set the bar high for exploding my assumptions and making me think. You didn't exactly leap over it Thursday night, though.
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