The eulogies have been delivered, the set disassembled and the echo of Jon Stewart’s parting “bullshit-is-everywhere” monologue is fading.

What now? After 16 years as America’s leading comedy/political TV satirist, Stewart leaves no clear successor even as America enters a presidential election season overflowing with satirical promise.

On the first day of his final week at The Daily Show, Jon Stewart really went off on his most frequent foe: Fox News.

Jon Stewart tells Obama: You don’t have much time left to put us all in FEMA camps
Obama Tells Jon Stewart: You ‚Cannot Leave The Show‘
Jon Stewart tonight sat down with President Obama for the last time, talking everything from Iran to America’s war mentality to how much the media drives the president crazy.

They bantered a bit about “senioritis” and the president said, “I can’t believe that you’re leaving before me. In fact, I’m issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show.”

After announcing he is leaving The Daily Show, Catie Lazarus spoke with Jon Stewart about directing Rosewater, leaving Comedy Central, and being fired from Woolworth by his brother.

Stewart to leave show later this year; replacement host for Comedy Central‘s show has not yet been named.

Strong contenders for the 2016 race begin to emerge, John Boehner invites Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress, and Bob Odenkirk discusses „Better Call Saul.“

Jon Stewart found it just a little bit odd that President Obama dropped everything to go to Saudi Arabia for the late king’s funeral but couldn’t be bothered to go to the Paris unity rally.

(…)

Jon Stewart’s coverage of “March of the Parisians” on the Daily Show the other night was fantastic. His guest was Jimmy Carter, who was his fabulous self, but for an episode packed with multiple hysterically executed clips (Hassan, the ‘denounciest’ Muslim ever! – see below ), for me at least – Mohammad Saba’aneh‘s flash appearance stole the show. Did you recognize him?

After a brief introduction a mini montage of the crowd pencil-photos appeared with Stewart claiming “the march gave Parisians a chance to introduce a new icon of liberty”, that pencils were “the new symbol of freedom of expression was everywhere.”
„Bow before new Graphite King, be not afraid“ Screenshot (2:41)

“Bow before new Graphite King, be not afraid” Screenshot (2:41)

Immediately I thought of Saba’aneh’s timeless 2011 Freedom of Expression cartoon we featured in our first article about Saba’aneh when he was detained by Israel back in February 2013.

Stewart emphasized the flagrant hypocrisy of world leaders attending the march, whose regimes are complicit in gross violations of human rights pertaining to the suppression of free speech. Ticking off the names countries — Russia, Egypt, Turkey, blogger-flogging Saudi Arabia, he referenced Israel (renowned for the arrests, imprisonment, and murder of journalists) with a quote “Palestinian cartoonist…work landed him in an Israeli Prison for five months” .. all of the sudden the image jumped off my screen, of the very person on my mind just seconds before; Mohammad Saba’aneh.

Jon Stewart on The Colbert Report – November 21st 2014 – Full Interview

Fight power with humor, Stewart’s body of jokes seems to scream, as he relentlessly bangs away at his targets – chief among them Republicans. Not that the Dems get spared his lash.

As for national and foreign leaders who don’t find him funny: “If your regime is not strong enough to handle a joke, then you don‘t have a regime.”