The takeaway from the three clips below is that when you have to explain yourself, you're losing -- and Stewart is desperately having to explain himself. Rachel Maddow obviously likes and admires Stewart but doesn't buy his above-it-allery for a second or, in a desperate effort to retain his clown nose, his latest spin that he's being criticized for not getting out on the playing field as opposed to -- and this is the subtext of Maddow's criticism -- admitting he already is.

Maybe Stewart isn't being dishonest. Maybe the left-wing comedian honestly doesn't see himself for what he is -- a political warrior for the Left disguised as a lofty satirist. Does the "Daily Show' host not possess enough self-awareness to understand that when you have to run around doing rehabilitation interviews that maybe it's not everyone else who's got it wrong?

'Restore Sanity" was a bridge too far and damaged Stewart's brand. HE became the story and whether by design or due to a crippling inability to turn anything resembling a penetrating insight onto himself, the disingenuous posturing finally caught up to him. Blame it on a raging case of Beck-Envy.

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