Brad Friedman Byon 12/17/2010, 1:34pm PT

I'm preparing to host tonight's Mike Malloy Show, so not much time to go into details or deep background. Suffice to say, once again, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show have shamed the bulk of the mainstream media by demonstrating, in just a matter of minutes, what journalism looks like. Or is supposed to. His entire show last night became devoted to one single issue.

It starts here, in the first segment, with Stewart taking his final shot of the year (on his final show of the year) at Senate Republicans who have shamefully "filibustered" to avoid voting on the "Zadroga Bill", an act to provide health care funding for 9/11 first responders, many of them suffering and dying from severe issues, including cancer and other serious respiratory disease, along with the failure of Fox "News" and the major broadcast networks (ABC/NBC/CBS) to even mention the story and the outrageous insult by those who have, for years, pretended to give a damn about 9/11 and those who gave their lives in responding to it...

Next, in perhaps the most important/journalistic segment, Stewart interviewed, in studio, four New York City first responders, some of them suffering from cancer following the toxic, hazardous conditions they worked in, with inadequate protection, on the day of, and in the months following 9/11, and allowed them to respond directly to the behavior of GOP Senators and Fox "News"...

Lastly, Stewart speaks with his guest, former and future Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and current host of a Fox "News" weekend show, about the GOP's outrageous position on the bill, and Fox's hypocritical failure to virtually even mention it...

And that's what journalism looks like. Is that so frickin' difficult?! Thanks to Stewart, The Daily Show and Comedy Central for the reminder. Again.

[The extended web interview with Huckabee, largely concerning his book, his possible run for the Presidency, and on Fox "News", can be viewed here.]



