Not sure how much buzz (outside of the Internet, where everything is buzzworthy if you find the right forum) it's generated at home, but Jon Stewart's tirade on CNN's Crossfire was rad. (The segment with Stewart starts about 1/3 of the way down the transcript. Searching for "nerf" with your browser's Find function should take you there.) If you don't care to read it, a hyper-abridged summary: rather than plugging his new book, he berated Begala and Carlson - and really, the media in general - for allowing themselves to become a tool of politicians and corporations rather than serving ordinary citizens. He also mocked Carlson's bowtie.

I rarely enjoy talking politics. Do it with people who lean your way, and it becomes a depressing bitchfest. With a mixed group, it becomes a polarized, equally-depressing shouting match. We all know I lean well to the left - mailed my vote for Kerry last week, though I'm not terribly happy about it - and so does Stewart. This, in addition to the fact that he really tore into Carlson, the right's representative on the show, will no doubt result in his views being dismissed by most of those on the right. But the issue Stewart was trying to raise - that politicians have effectively castrated journalism by threatening to relinquish access from those reporters/outlets who deviate from watered-down, talking-point appropriate lines of inquiry - seems awfully non-partisan to me. In what way is demanding honest answers on issues of concern to the public a bleeding-heart liberal issue? It is not partisan in the traditional Republican/Democrat sense, but perhaps it is in the sense of politicians/constituents.

This Bill Moyers interview with Stewart is a more articulate and a less piss and vinegary discussion of the same stuff. It seems a bit odd that a celebrity needs to get involved before these issues get any attention. Wait, on second thought, it's not odd at all.

Hey, a bunch of links to the video clip are here:
http://www.wonkette.com/archives/tuckergate-the-video-023539.php

"Do it with people who lean your way, and it becomes a depressing bitchfest."

Gads, you summed up my sentiments on the topic of political talk exactly. Bravo!