For some reason I find The Daily Show very annoying these days, although I used to find it funny. Is this just boredom with the familiar? Do more people share this experience? I can't watch it anymore.

That's because it's getting harder and harder to distinguish the D.S. from the actual newscasts. This problem seems endemic in modern society -- you'll recall that "Saturday Night Live" lost its bite when it became simply impossible any more for it to be "outrageous" compared to reality, and back in the 1950s "Punch" worked out a fake satiric itinerary for a British visit by Khrushchev and then had to hastily cancel it because it turned out to be so close to the real thing.

And, really, the phenomenon isn't so amusing when you consider that it reflects an increase in both intellectual laziness and lack of moral shame on the part of people, including powerful people. When rogues no longer think it's even necessary to be hypocrites any more, look out.

Did anyone else see the surreal segment where Stewart interviews Bolivian President Morales? Stewart says something like, ''You nationalized the oil industry, redistributed land, (a couple more Chavez-esque/Socialist policies, etc.); and you did it in 8 months.'' The DS crowd goes wild...Morales talks about how government revenue from oil has increased (of course it did -- the gov't owns it now!!)....crowd cheers....and nothing else happens. Not even an obligatory ''hard'' question like ''how will you keep the government from completely destroying its oil infrastructure and setting the country back in the long term, etc.'' Or even ''could you explain why are those policies a good thing?'' Not even a little joking around or give and take, as Stewart usually does with leaders, like Musharraf. Just an absolutely bizarre scene. Am I the only one that thought so? Was it a precondition for Morales coming on the show? It's not a liberal vs. conservative thing -- this is supposed to be comedy! DS has become harder to watch because it veers into self-importance so often. Stewart is also remarkably Bush-esque in his unshakable belief that he is on the right side of history....

Did anyone else see the surreal segment where Stewart interviews Bolivian President Morales? Stewart says something like, ''You nationalized the oil industry, redistributed land, (a couple more Chavez-esque/Socialist policies, etc.); and you did it in 8 months.'' The DS crowd goes wild...Morales talks about how government revenue from oil has increased (of course it did -- the gov't owns it now!!)....crowd cheers....and nothing else happens. Not even an obligatory ''hard'' question like ''how will you keep the government from completely destroying its oil infrastructure and setting the country back in the long term, etc.'' Or even ''could you explain why are those policies a good thing?'' Not even a little joking around or give and take, as Stewart usually does with leaders, like Musharraf. Just an absolutely bizarre scene. Am I the only one that thought so? Was it a precondition for Morales coming on the show? It's not a liberal vs. conservative thing -- this is supposed to be comedy! DS has become harder to watch because it veers into self-importance so often. Stewart is also remarkably Bush-esque in his unshakable belief that he is on the right side of history....

Wasn't Joe Bob Briggs the guy that hosted cheesy movies on late Saturday night on Showtime(Or was it Cinemax)?

John Stewart's biggest credit prior to The Daily Show was co-host of a clip montage program called "Short Attention Span Theatre." Just sayin'