The Stewart Cycle

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm now convinced, more than ever, that Jon Stewart is the most influential media figure in America, the one who really drives the news, who really makes things happen.

Everyone talks about the weekly news cycle, with bad news often breaking (or being leaked) on a Friday. This has been especially the case with the Bush presidency, so much bad news kept for the end of the week, buried over the weekend, popping up, for the junkies, on the Sunday-morning talk-show circuit.

But what of the Gonzales resignation and the Craig bathroom-sex scandal? The news of Gonzales's resignation, long overdue, came on Monday, four days ago, the news of Craig's lewd conduct the very same day, conveniently, two months after the fact. The Craig story may have been put out, at long last, to deflect attention away from the Gonzales story. That makes sense, does it not? Even for a Monday.

But could there be another explanation? What else is going on this week?

Right, Jon Stewart is on vacation, The Daily Show is in reruns. Coincidence? I think not.

Both the Gonzales resignation and the Craig bathroom-sex scandal are perfect Daily Show stories -- lead items, in fact, worthy of satire, irony, and every other comedic weapon at Stewart's disposal, worthy of extensive coverage, multiple correspondents, huge laughs, a montage. No one could have tackled those two stories more devastatingly, more truthfully, than Jon Stewart.

And, surely, the powers-that-be know that. Which is why the cycle that matters is The Stewart Cycle. When you have a really bad story to break, something embarrassing, wait until he's on vacation.

I miss Jon Stewart more than ever this week. He will likely address these stories upon his return, but, by then, they'll be rather stale, a bit dusty, old news -- still funny, perhaps, but, ultimately, tiresome, having been tackled into oblivion by so many others.

Enjoy your vacation, Jon. We need you back.

(And what are we to do in the meantime? There's always Olbermann, of course, and thank goodness for that.)