14. Stone Phillips

13. Jim Lehrer

12. Joe Scarborough

11. Jim Cramer

10. Pat Buchanan

9. Ira Glass

8. Rachel Maddow

7. Katie Couric

6. Fareed Zakaria

5. Chris Matthews

4. Geraldo Rivera

3. Anderson Cooper

2. Cookie Monster

1. Bill O'Reilly – The Lost Tapes

Jon Stewart's smackdown of CNBC's Jim Cramer? Obama was eager to see it. But when it comes to the real news, and not the fake kind, Obama takes a pass — rarely ever tuning into 24-hour cable chatter or replays of his own performances.

But what I found really cool was this…

But some of Obama's choices definitely have an edgier bent — such as the HBO drama "The Wire." His favorite character is Omar, a gay stickup artist who steals from drug pushers to give to the poor. ("That's not an endorsement. He's not my favorite person, but he's a fascinating character," Obama said last year.)

That's excellent news. Omar is unquestionably the best character on the Wire. Okay, I guess I also could have accepted McNulty or Stringer.

But, if he said Cheese… I'm sorry, but that just might have been grounds for impeachment.

Nuclear Weapon Free World! President Obama is going to cancel nuclear Armageddon! Amazing! Now Europe has to love us, they just have to!  [yahoo.com]

It's Not Unemployment, It's FUNemployment! There's a bright side to being laid off, and these recent hobos can admit that there's a bright side! Like more time to oneself! Alot more time! [themorningnews.org]

Man Finds Super Old Message In A Bottle! It's like a Sting song come to life! A Spokane, Washington man took a stroll and discovered a message in a bottle from 1913! Oh, what could be inscribed on the 96-year old message?  [kings5.com]

And other times, you just want blood.

Here's a collection of some of Jon's most ruthless, gloves-off moments from The Daily Show…

Lou Dobbs

Jim Cramer

Bill Bennett

Bill Kristol

John Bolton

All of CNBC

Chris Matthews

And then the kid would apologize and cry so that everybody felt so sorry for him that they couldn't beat him up without feeling like a dick. But then as soon as they turned away, he'd start mumbling a stream of shit all over again?

I think Jim Cramer was that kid…

Appearing on one of CNBC's sister-networks and friendly media platform NBC, Cramer told Today Show host Meredith Vieira Thursday morning that Stewart was "naive and misleading" for laying so much of the blame of the financial crisis on poor reporting by financial reporters at CNBC.

Noted Vieira of the interview, "He was very tough on you. He was very tough on CNBC. He basically said that you guys had been cheerleaders for the financial bubble, that you had also allowed CEOs to come on the shows and essentially lie to the American public without really challenging them… Did he have a point?"

"I don't think so. I think it was naive and misleading to attack the media," Cramer responded. "CNBC, in particular, has been out front on this."

Just ignore him. Pretend you can't hear him and walk away. Believe me, being dismissed always hurt me worse than the beatings.

I mean, hurt him. Hurt the kid. That's what I meant.

(In case you're one of the four people who hasn't seen Jim Cramer on The Daily Show last week, here y'are.)

Here's just one small spoonful…

CARLSON: No, I think Jon Stewart is dishonest. And by the way, I also think he's a sacred cow. There's nobody who has the huevos to attacks Jon Stewart because he's too popular. The press sucks up to him like I've never seen — it's like Oprah. Jon Stewart, all the kids watch Jon Stewart. He's brilliant. I would like to see somebody have the stones to come out and say, Jon Stewart's kind of a pompous jerk, actually.

ZURAWIK: But he's not. That's why people aren't saying it.

CARLSON: But he is!

Here's the full transcript. But be careful. Too much will make your brain morbidly obese.

But while you may have formed your own opinions about the show's content, how do you really know what you saw until you find out what everyone else is saying? I mean, if Jon Stewart and The Daily Show have taught us anything, it's the importance of buying into public perceptions of reported discourse, right?

With that in mind, I was asked to plough through the oodles of Indecision comments as well as the media at large to find out what really happened. My findings were intensely varied, but one thing became clear: many Daily Show viewers, inexplicably, do not understand how to spell Jon Stewart. (I counted over 100 spellings of "John.")

The comments pretty much broke down like this…

The overwhelming majority lauded Jon for his efforts, calling him everything from "smart" to a "patriot" to a "real journalist." Most felt Stewart had the courage, intelligence, and eloquence to say what should have been said by journalists and regulators years ago, and although this article provides a sampling of voices, that overall take should not be lost. Rather than fill this article with all the praise Stewart received, I thought I'd boil them all down to one fictitious comment…

EDWARD R. MURROW HAD SEX WITH THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WHO GAVE BIRTH TO JON STEWART WHO THEN WENT ON TO SAVE OUR NATION.

That pretty much sums up the praise in one perfect sex-based sentence.

Of course, I should probably mention that fancypants Andrew Sullivan who encapsulated Stewart's value in one fairly literate sentence even if he doesn't have my gift for fictitious procreation-based metaphor…

There is a cloying familiarity among many cable show hosts and television personalities. We all have to get along, even though some of us may believe that others of us are very much part of the problem, rather than the solution. And what Stewart has done is rip off that little band-aid of faux solidarity for a modicum of ethical and moral accountability.

On the other side, a minority view bashed Stewart, ascribing his attack on Jim Cramer to purely to political bias…

"Jon Stewart… is a political hitman for the Democratic Party. Anybody says anything negative about his party, they get slammed on the air."

Comment by Patrick — March 13, 2009 @ 8:35 am

Joe Scarborough also felt the need to break the interview down by political analysis on his Twitter account…

Joe Scarborough on Twitter: "Cramer just sat there and took his medicine. He's clearly shaken that his fellow Democrats have turned on him."

(I don't follow Joe on Twitter. Are all his comments like this? "11:20 p.m. Eating a Twinkie more loaded with fats and sweets than Obama's stimulus bill.")

* * *

Perhaps, because Stewart's destruction of Cramer was so thorough and expertly achieved, few commenters felt the need to bash Cramer further, although several did give him credit for taking his beating with class.

[Cramer] listened maturely and patiently to the brutal and painfully accurate criticisms levied by Jon with an ear open genuinely to learn how to make himself better.

This seemed like such an ass-kicking because Cramer was open to criticism, and that should be respected and treated with dignity.

Comment by Tim Richardson — March 13, 2009 @ 4:25 am

So while most believed that Cramer gave the most unsettling performance since Ned Beatty in Deliverance, many (including me frankly) believed he made the most he possibly could of out the situation by expressing contrition and avoiding Tucker Carlson's 2004 indignation on Crossfire. That sentiment was also echoed by Gawker who reported that…

[W]ith Cramer seemingly apologizing for everything CNBC has ever aired, Stewart couldn't uppercut CNBC the way he did CNN and its Crossfire co-host Tucker Carlson a few years ago.
He was left to deliver (still very good!) packaged lines and videos and counter whatever coherent arguments he could distill from Cramer's sputtering.

(On an unrelated note, they also have insight into Lindsay Lohan's "Crazy Tweets!")

* * *

Of course, the most interesting criticisms were not based on politics or personality, but on the roles of The Daily Show and Mad Money. Much in the way Stewart schooled Begala and Carlson in 2004 for failing to do their job as reporters, Stewart attacked Cramer and CNBC for merely perpetuating notions of market strength and corporate solvency offered by self-interested CEOs and hedge fund managers. But is that a perfect analogy? Some commenters claimed they never really viewed CNBC as journalists in the first place:

CNBC's prerogative is not to pursue investigative reporting. This is where Stewart is confused. All those shows that air during market hours are intended to cover what is currently moving the market… Should CNBC actually try to be a news channel that covers news like CNN, with a focus on financials? Maybe. But I would prefer to watch CNN's financial reporters to do this job.

Comment by David — March 13, 2009 @ 11:03 am

These viewers see Cramer's Mad Money as sort of a fake financial show in the same way that the The Daily Show is a fake news show. And as such, feel Stewart himself could be brought down by the same kind of interview tactic.

This would be the same as Television and Print Journalist inviting John Stewart into an pseudo interview where they essentially point out all hypocritical things that he does on his show as well as his support for politicians who in hindsight did not deserve the recognition and accolade's he accords them.

Comment by Robert — March 13, 2009 @ 3:36 am

While that assertion might be somewhat attenuated, it indicates a discomfort a small percentage of viewers feel in The Daily Show's mixture of comedy and hard reporting (even if it is self-professed "fake reporting").

I enjoy that Jon Stewart goes after people, I do. However, I get tired of him torching people and then acting like he's just some show with 'fart sounds.' So he can say whatever he wants about anyone and if they dare question him or take issue with what he's saying, he can just say, "This is a comedy show, come on! Now, let's get back to me telling you how awful you are."

Comment by China Brown — March 13, 2009 @ 3:26 am

Or maybe ReneeS has it right? Perhaps, Jon Stewart has accepted that he fills a void left by a deficient media and labels his show fake news only out of a sense of humility and manners?

You can't hide behind the "Just a Comedian" label anymore, Jon. This interview was the best piece of journalism we've seen this year…."The Daily Show" is what remains of our fourth estate. THANK YOU!!!

Comment by ReneeS — March 13, 2009 @ 11:07 am

What do you think? Did Jon annihilate Cramer or simply destroy him?

Update 10:50 a.m.: For more on how this interview came to be, check out The Daily Show and Colbert's best Jim Cramer moments, and some other stuff about Jim Cramer here.

Update 12:20 p.m.: Dig this? Digg this.

Here's a video that Huffington Post recently dug up of Jim Cramer — of the CNBC Cramers — being interviewed in what appears to be my uncle's basement. And, for some reason, admitting to manipulating the market for the benefit of the hedge fund he used to run…

He suggests all hedge fund managers do the same. "No one else in the world would ever admit that, but I could care. I am not going to say it on TV," he quips in the video. He also calls Wall Street Journal reporters "bozos" and says behaving illegally is okay because the SEC doesn't understand it anyway…

On falsely creating the impression a stock is down (what he calls "fomenting"): "You can't foment. That's a violation… But you do it anyway because the SEC doesn't understand it." He adds, "When you have six days and your company may be in doubt because you are down, I think it is really important to foment."

I'm not an expert on economics, but I am an expert on being stupid. And I'm pretty sure that was a stupid thing to admit.

Hopefully, he can explain his views on the market better when he's Jon Stewart's guest tomorrow night.

Where should Cramer and Stewart throw down?