Jon Stewart's Brilliant Audience

Are Jon Stewart fans smarter than the rest of us? Is that the reason why many of us do not find him hilarious… that we’re too dumb to get the joke? His audience goes into stitches when he rolls his eyes and puts his hand over his mouth, and I’m left befuddled. Or am I too old? We all know that the people who watch “The Daily Show” are young, intelligent and informed. Or at least that’s what they’ve been trying to tell us. Unfortunately recent polls paint an entirely different picture.

Maybe it is generational. I know that’s how some fans explain the humor gap to me. Stewart is playing to the young kids and I’m just too old to get it. The problem is, while “Daily Show” viewers might still think they’re kids, they aren’t anymore. Rather than holding a Student ID in their wallets, most “Daily Show” viewers are much closer to their AARP cards. In fact, a recent analysis puts the average age of a “Daily Show” viewer at 41.4 years old.

But are they brighter? Well, according to a recent online poll by Time magazine, 44% of respondents claim that Jon Stewart is America’s most trusted “Newsman.” You cannot convince me that bright people would trust a comedian to be a “Newsman.” (Or maybe it’s just normal for the kids today, since comedy is now considered ample experience to be a United States Senator.)

Of course, this is probably more telling of the Time Magazine readership than anything else. After looking at nothing but editorials and propaganda for the past several years, the readers of Time are perfectly incapable of distinguishing news from opinion. But this isn’t the first time. A 2007 Pew study found that around a quarter of internet users rely on “The Daily Show” or “The Onion” as their primary news source.

Are they complete and utter morons? “The Daily Show” conducted a poll to determine the education level of their audience and proudly trumpeted the results. According to Nielsen research, “Daily Show” audiences are more likely to hold a four-year degree than those watching “The O’Reilly Factor.” Of course, they didn’t find out what KIND of a degree those people hold, or whether it left them employable, or even employed. But that really doesn’t matter. If they’re confusing a comedian with a newsman, they certainly aren’t very bright. Once again we see how the value of an education is highly overrated. Just because you went to school with intelligent people doesn’t mean you are one yourself. You cannot gain intelligence through osmosis.

I think this is why the Left is so snarky. They assume they belong to the party of intellectuals and they can gain intelligence just by their allegiance. So even if they were never too good in school, as long as they vote Democrat, they can look down on the ignorant right-wingers.

These are the same people who make fun of Dittoheads and Spell Fox news “Faux.” They should at least give the Rush and Fox audiences a little credit. Even if you disagree with our assessment, and consider us impressionable zombies, we’re only doing what we’ve been told. If we think Fox is “Fair and Balanced,”” perhaps it’s because we’ve been told it’s Fair and Balanced–ditto for Rush. You cannot really fault us for that. On the other hand, Jon Stewart goes out of his way to tell everyone that his show is fake news, but millions of Americans refuse to believe him.

I’m reminded of a girl I once met who was selling dietary supplements. She was one of those girls who would be considered really dumb if she wasn’t so pretty. In the midst of her failing vitamin pitch, she thought she might turn things around by making a carnal appeal: “You know,” she whispered seductively, “we also carry Spanish Fly.”

(For Jon Stewart fans: “Spanish Fly” is what us old people used to call that stuff Russian spammers email you about every evening.) I still wasn’t buying. “I’ve heard all that stuff is just a placebo.”

She continued the pitch, “Well that’s what they SAY it is. I can’t promise you that it’s a REAL placebo…”

Not only is the “Daily Show” fake news, it is the home to fake intellectualism. It is the modern equivalent of a PBS tote bag–a way of signaling to the rest of your scrap-booking class that you find regular TV too pedestrian.

And the most frustrating part to me is that you KNOW every single one of these people voted for Obama.