Remember that devastatingly interesting and thoughtful Daily Show interview with conservative pundit Cliff May that you pretended you watched all the way through a few months back? Well, that interview almost didn't happen, presumably because May was intimidated by Jon Stewart's sharp wit and superlative physical stature.

You'll never guess who was ultimately responsible for making him go through with it. (Or maybe you will. I don't know you. I don't know anything about you!)…

May had a change of heart after soliciting advice from his friend Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard. "Kristol told me: 'You'll be pleasantly surprised. He doesn't take cheap shots. Jon is smart. You'll do just fine.'" Kristol proved to be right. Stewart's interview of May — a crackling, lengthy debate about where to draw the line between freedom and security — produced one of the most clarifying discussions about torture on television. "Literally, this is the best conversation I've had on this subject anywhere," May told Stewart.

"There is genuine intellectual curiosity," May told New York. "He's a staunch liberal, but he's a thoughtful liberal, and I respect that." May isn't the only conservative gushing about Stewart. While the movement professes a disdain for the "liberal media elite," it has made an exception for the true-blue 46-year-old comedian.

"He always gives you a chance to answer, which some people don't do," says John Bolton, President Bush's ambassador to the United Nations and a Fox News contributor, who went on the show last month. "He's got his perspective, but he's been fair." Says Bolton: "In general, a lot of the media, especially on the left, has lost interest in debate and analysis. It has been much more ad hominem. Stewart fundamentally wants to talk about the issues. That's what I want to do."

Stewart fundamentally wants to talk about the issues, huh?

That's why he's the fake news guy.

See also:
Jon Stewart's Extended Bill Kristol Interview
John Bolton on The Daily Show

Who's the biggest douche on cable news? It's like asking me which of my racist fingers I want to cut off. It's like making me choose which sociopath star is the most beautiful. It's like if my wife thought Barack Obama was a communist and my son thought he was a fascist and they were both drowning, but I could only save one. In short, it's an impossible question to answer, but Jon Stewart gave it a shot last night.

After the jump, Jon welcomes former UN ambassador John Bolton's mustache back to the show.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

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Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, did a little digging into the Congressional Record and found 16 variations of the "lipstick on a pig" phrase have been uttered by 13 separate members of the 110th Congress. Behold the list of chauvinist, unpatriotic community organizers currently disgracing our government…

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(Indecision 2008's Dave Anderson stumbles around the Xcel Energy Center and finds old cronies, safe sex and high fashion).

On my way to the convention Tuesday night, I passed the Trojan Condom bus just four blocks from the Xcel Center. I kid you not. I asked if they thought it was ironic that they were pushing a form of birth control considering the circumstances with Governor Palin… "No comment," the woman said. Then they began packing up their bananas.

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