Jon Stewart- please procreate.

Tucker Carlson, as well as the CNN show Crossfire which made him and his bowties famous, has officially been sacked.

Everyone who is anyone immediately asked themselves: "Did Jon Stewart have anything to do with this? Please god tell me that Jon Stewart had something to do with this."

Oh, and he did!

For everyone who isn't anyone, Jon Stewart is the beloved host of the "fake news" Comedy Central creation, The Daily Show. Contrary to the description, he reports news that really isn't fake at all (although the audience usually wishes it were) with humorous commentary in between. Very humorous commentary.

But he's more than just funny (and insanely attractive.) He's the voice of a generation (even though he doesn't technically belong to that generation.) This was never more evident than in his now infamous Crossfire appearance when he called Tucker Carlson a dick. Right there. On CNN. A dick!

We'd all been thinking it for years, but even in my wildest fantasies I could not imagine it actually taking place.

That would have been enough for me to die happy. But he didn't just call him a dick. He called him a dick amongst a laundry list of other much-needed criticisms. But a summary by me would do no justice to Mr. Stewart's complaints. So here are a few of my favorite quotes from that episode, taken from CNN's transcript:

"I think, oftentimes, the person that knows they can't win is allowed to speak the most freely, because, otherwise, shows with titles, such as CROSSFIRE Or "HARDBALL" or "I'm Going to Kick Your Ass" will jump on it. In many ways, it's funny. And I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, amongst my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad. And I wanted to -- I felt that that wasn't fair and I should come here and tell you that I don't -- it's not so much that it's bad, as it's hurting America. See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks. I'm here to confront you, because we need help from the media and they're hurting us."

I mean, damn. All this from the guy who's show comes on after a half-hour program of puppets making prank calls. Which Stewart proudly admits.

Anyway- what was I talking about? Oh yeah. So today, CNN announced the end of Crossfire, and of Tucker Carlson (at least on their network.) And in explaining his reasons for doing so, the chief executive of CNN stated:

"I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp... " And what's more, the Associated Press reports that "He said all of the cable networks, including CNN, have overdosed on programming devoted to arguing over issues. Klein said he wants more substantive programming that is still compelling."

This is huge for fans of Jon Stewart. But it's also huge for fans of intelligent discourse. Will Klein live up to his stated ideal? Or will we be seeing yet another incarnation of "I'm going to kick your ass" in the spring lineup?

I don't know. But it seems that Jon Stewart was correct when he charged on that ill-fated Crossfire episode that "the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity."

I just can't believe they admitted it.