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Jon Stewart pwns Jim Cramer

If you missed Daily Show Thursday night (and have been living under a rock since then), then you missed Jon Stewart at his best. He dominated CNBC's Jim Cramer in a well-prepared and bitingly sarcastic interview. The whole interview is available in three parts here.

Personally, I think Cramer acted like a dog with his tail between his legs in Stewart's presence. He even started off the interview kissing Stewart's ass, stating how he was a "big fan of the show."

Stewart had some good points regarding the subprime mortgage crisis and who should be to blame for putting us all in the situation we're all in now. Namely, the a-holes who tried to gamble on packaging high risks loans all together instead of diversifying with lower risk loans. He also caught Cramer in some flat-out lies. Seriously, didn't someone warn him that Stewart would be coming at him with guns blazing? I feel like CNBC just told Cramer to go on the Daily Show, kiss ass, and hope for forgiveness from Stewart.

This interview is great in that (1) it proves that Daily Show is not just dependent on being the comedic counterpoint to the Bush Administration and that it can still be funny and relevant in the Obama Nirvana; and (2) it shows just how powerful Jon Stewart has made the Daily Show. I mean, does anyone remember the Daily Show with Craig Kilborn?

Stewart's smack down has apparently lead to a ratings dip for CNBC. Interestingly though, it seems to have led to a slight rise in college-age kids (who likely get all their news from the Daily Show) tuning into Cramer's Mad Money. Even more interestingly, it appears that MSNBC producers were asked to not highlight the interview on Friday. Because, yeah, let's just forget it happened and maybe it will go away.

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on March 15, 2009 (boomark / email).