A reader writes:

I can't bear to watch them anymore, but this has nothing at all to do with either gent, or their humor they're both incredibly talented, and their shows are consistently excellent. But in the end, I think they've become part of the problem, and not part of the solution.

The problem lies in the role they play in the overall mediasphere, especially among Gen X and Gen Y; namely, the fact that for many of these viewers, Stewart/Colbert have become a surrogate for actually engaging with politics and current events more deeply, or treating it all as anything other than an ongoing joke.

I know this makes me sound like a fuddy-duddy -- I'm only 40 -- but still... I can't tell you how many people I know who get their political news exclusively from Stewart/Colbert, and that's pathetic.