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comment by aloysius
aloysius  ·  3155 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Jon Stewart, Patron Saint of Liberal Smugness

I'm not sure if it's what this article describes, or other things as well, that's lead me to just kind of ignore the Daily Show for the past few years as I felt it wasn't that great at promoting liberal ideas, or even making me laugh at opposing opinions I found ridiculous.

I guess this makes me a bit happy that John Oliver got his own show instead of taking over. The freedom he gets on HBO has led to me discovering issues I didn't even know were issues, and has made me incredibly more supportive of movements I didn't care to understand before. I can't think of any time the Daily Show really did that for me, but maybe that wasn't the point. Maybe it really was just to be smug and laugh at the opposition. Sometimes comedy is helpful for frustrated people who can't bring the change they want.

But it's hyperbole, I think, to say he spoiled a generation of liberals. I don't see people acting anymore smug about their opinions among liberals than I do amongst conservatives. Albeit, they're both often incredibly smug, but I don't think this is far from the norm. Politically minded people will often be very convinced of their opinions, and as a result will easily think themselves smarter than those who disagree.