Jon Stewart ought to be grateful for Glenn Beck. Practically every night, Beck's on-camera weeping and chalkboard rants provide fodder for The Daily Show's comedy writers. But is Stewart really all that different from Beck? Last week, Stewart addressed that question in an interview with NPR host (and Atlantic Wire friend) Terry Gross. Somewhat surprisingly, Stewart said "We actually share quite a bit in common":

He’s a reaction to what he feels like is the news, and so are we. We actually share quite a bit in common in terms of, not point of view necessarily, but reason for being. We’re both in some ways an op-ed. We consider ourselves editorial cartoonists in some respect. Not him, but the show. Op-ed cartoonists, or the Messiah. We’re both different. I very much wanted to avoid the idea that [the Rally to Restore Sanity] would be a reaction to him. ‘Cause I don’t think that’d be fair to him and it’s not meant to ridicule activism or the Tea Party movement or religious people.

via Mediaite

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John Hudson