Likes on Wednesday: John Stewart

Tina Fey is, by and large, an extremely likable person. Let's run the list:

-She turned the cultural touchstone that is Saturday Night Alive from the land of "God This Sucks," and exalted the beloved Lorne Michaels brainchild to the paradise of "Eh...What Else Is On" as head writer.

-Her brand of comedy is very clever. No denying it, she's funny and she's bright.

-Fey equals loyalty. How else do you describe putting the black hole of talent that is Tracy Morgan on your highly rated NBC show "30 Rock."

-Finally, she's got the strong, hot woman thing going. She's adorable and extremely competent.

To clarify, I'm not a fan. I don't watch "30 Rock" though everyone whose opinion I respect tells me I should, and never caught "Mean Girls" nor do I plan to catch "Baby Mama" this summer. But, I hold no ill will toward the lady and respect her talent.

So imagine my surprise when she decided to rip on John Stewart, in Readers Digest of all places.

Make no mistake, Fey is hot right now, but Stewart is a god damn institution. The man has been legitimately funny for 20 years, though not respected for most of them, and it's only over the past 8 to 10 years that he's moved from very funny to mildly (though distinctly) important. Tina Fey can be cute and funny and clever and make as many American Express ads that she wants (a sin I even rip on Bob DeNiro for), she has yet to come close to what John Stewart is to this country as a comedian and social commentator.

To back up, here's what Fey, who oversaw SNL during the time when "Deephouse Dish" ran for 8 consecutive weeks on basically the same one joke, had to say about the host of The Daily Show and forebear to Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell, among others: "You can prompt applause with a sign. My friend, SNL writer Seth Meyers, coined the term clapter, which is when you do a political joke and people go, "Woo-hoo." It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] The Daily Show."

OK, not a high cross body, but definitely a whip to the turn buckle. I take umbrage with two portions of her argument.

1) The reason people clap at John Stewart's show isn't because he's employing some sort of cheep applause line. He's making decent observations that people agree with. Take, for example, a couple weeks ago when Fey hosted SNL and threw out a line about "bitch being the new black." People clapped more than they laughed because....they agreed. They thought it was astute and funny and showed their appreciation with more than a chuckle. So not only is Fey guilty of the same thing, more or less, but the "sin" she's manufactured doesn't mean what's being said isn't funny. It means it's relevant and funny and elicits a different reaction than Justin Timberlake singing about his dick in a box.

2) Maybe, just maybe, John Stewart has already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's funnier than hell, and is now shooting a bit higher than gut laughs.

Not that Stewart needs defending, but in an age where national reporters tend to worship candidates, don't investigate important stories like the build up to a war and routinely ignore issues like the gutting of the Constitution, Stewart is a stalwart. He's actually asked harder questions of John McCain than just about any journalist out there (you can search on Youtube and find a few killer clips). He routinely cuts to the heart of the matter in a way "serious" journalists cannot because their craft doesn't allow it or their too busy contributing to the eventual suicide of Britney Spears. He's not a crusader, he's an intellectual who finds himself in a position where he can make important points, and he freaking does. When you criticize that, you show ignorance of what Stewart is trying to do.

If you need proof Stewart is funny, read "Naked Pictures of Famous People," a forgotten gem of a book that's dated but laugh out loud funny. See "The John Stewart Show" that lasted for about two weeks in late night in the mid-90s. Hell, see an episode of the Daily Show which packs more thought into one half hour than SNL can in 90 minutes - and he does it four nights a week.

John Stewart is tyring to help in a tangible way, and sees his job as a responsibility. Tina Fey was a pretty good weekend update host.