There Are No Embarrassing Questions, Only Embarrassing Answers

"Sheehan's vigil near the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch is likely to continue until the end of Bush's extended vacation without reaching resolution. Unless you count embarrassing a president who badly needed embarrassing. In which case, Sheehan's demand for a meeting has already been a smashing success."

-- "A question that needs to be answered" by Leonard Pitts, Jr., the Miami Herald

"Why I ridiculed the President was, he refuses to answer questions from adults, as though we were adults, and falls back upon platitudes and phrases and talking points, that does a disservice to the goals that he himself shares with the very people he needs to convince."

-- Jon Stewart on last night's Daily Show, during an interview with author Christopher Hitchens (about the only human being I've ever heard make the Iraq war sound like it makes any sense at all).

I have been amazed at the guts Stewart has shown recently in having on several guests that I never would have expected, such as Rick Santorum and Trent Lott, who turn out to be actual thinking, feeling human beings (however misguided their actions). It's easy to demonize people you disagree with, but to his credit, Stewart honestly engages in conversation with them, and even works to find common ground. Best of all, he quickly reveals who has a sense of humor about themselves and who doesn't, one of the best gauges of true character.