TVSquad

"Rustbelt Midwest Swing State F@#kfest": Taking a break from talking about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Jon Stewart took on two other Democrats. This time, the targets were Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and their wacky sex scandals. We saw that these folks' sexual escapades (sexcapades?) were mild compared to the Eliot Spitzer-esque craziness we have grown accustomed to, once again proving that Midwest states are the land of "under the shirt, over the bra" scandals.

It was also nice to see the return of R. Kelly impersonations. Obviously, I still haven't gotten over "Trapped in the Closet". Plus, those text messages were spectacular. Who needs comedy writers when shows can just read dangerously unsexy sex scandal text messages and sing things like "Ben's Chili Bowl."



"John Ollie's Ticket to the Pollies": Oh, my word. My last review was right: That really was Cojo taking over the red carpet with John Oliver, covering the political consultants' Pollie Awards. That was kind of a cute pairing, but Cojo/Oliver is no Wilmore/Oliver. Despite its general mockability and the lovely production of the report, this wasn't as funny as I expected. Perhaps the attack ad gods had already done a good enough job of ridiculing themselves by having this ceremony in the first place.



The night's guest was Newsweek International's Fareed Zakaria, promoting his new book, The Post-American World. Everyone loves Fareed Zakaria! It's quite possible that the only person that has been on The Daily Show more than him is John McCain, who is pushing thirteen appearances, if I accurately recall. This interview was unusually positive for the cynical landscape of the show. Zakaria shared the good news that the booming economies and stability of other countries doesn't necessarily mean America is being left in the dust, but means we have new buddies to support us in times of need. Does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside about our dying businesses and salad-worthy currency? Also, I absolutely loved Zakaria's closing words in this interview: "Buy this book. It will make you even more positive. And handsome."



Moment of Zen: Kwame Kilpatrick is coming back, no matter what.