TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

John Bolton explains why he enjoys the Daily Show:

“He always gives you a chance to answer, which some people don’t do,” says John Bolton, President Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations and a Fox News contributor, who went on the show last month. “He’s got his perspective, but he’s been fair.” Says Bolton: “In general, a lot of the media, especially on the left, has lost interest in debate and analysis. It has been much more ad hominem. Stewart fundamentally wants to talk about the issues. That’s what I want to do.”

The Daily Show is the only political show I consistently watch, for precisely that reason: Jon Stewart is the only news commentator on TV who is interested in discussion and understanding.

My grounding is in high school debate, where we debated both sides of deep, meaningful, and relevant philosophical questions. We learned to understand and respect multiple sides of an issue, and thus that no issue has a simple right and wrong. By debating both sides, I also learned that political discussions should not be two people yelling unjustified claims at each other.

Political discussions are when two people, who disagree, explain their viewpoint to each other, and respond to the other’s arguments, in good faith. They respect each other, and do not doubt that the other person has good intentions.

That’s what Stewart does.

I can’t say that about any other news show. That a show on Comedy Central is the only news show worth watching if you want to learn something and understand others’ view is a sad commentary on the state of cable news, however.

(Thanks to Jack Shedd for providing the link.)