Jon Stewart had Judith Miller on his show last night for the kind of one-on-one discussion that I rarely see on any so-called "news" show. He politely — without using any inflammatory language — accused her of being a bad journalist who was duped into reporting Bush Administration propaganda in the New York Times that helped lead the U.S. into the Iraq War on a lot of false premises. He gave her ample time to respond and state her case and did not turn it into a wrestling match with theatrics and outbursts. He was well-informed and it ended with one of those agreements to disagree with both sides stating their case rather well.
For what it's worth, I thought both scored some good points and I'm a wee bit more sympathetic to Miller's position, which is not to say I think she didn't do a bad job. But she has been singled out for a sin committed by quite a few others, the Times editors included. And a large part of what I think was wrong there was not that the Times reported a lot of bogus information but that once it became evident that so much of it was not true, they did a tepid job of correcting the record and holding the exaggerators (the most charitable thing I can call them) accountable.
I've seen some one-time lovers of Mr. Stewart's work say they think he's tired and the show is not what it once was. I disagree…and it was all real good last night, not just the interview but also the first segment which mocked some of the arguments made against Gay Marriage at the Supreme Court.
I'm not certain but I don't think there's an Extended Interview that will be available tomorrow on the Daily Show website. I think we got the whole thing. But if there is a longer version, I'm eager to see it.