The Daily Show

Rarely does a piece of legislation take over the national dialogue the way the Stop Online Piracy Act did yesterday; but that’s what happens when Wikipedia shuts down in protest. What remains puzzling, though, even after a day of widespread virtual protests, is how the lawmakers who originally supported SOPA failed to gauge public sentiment so spectacularly. That’s where Jon Stewart came in and illuminated matters on “The Daily Show” last night, with one particularly valuable insight: The people responsible for SOPA — the members of the congressional subcommittee who gave the legislation their seal of approval — have no idea how the Internet actually works.

The grand experiment launched late last week continues: Stephen Colbert is exploring a run for president, while Jon Stewart manages Colbert’s former super PAC — and enthusiastically smears the candidate’s would-be Republican primary rivals in the process. The problem with managing a PAC in support of your business partner’s campaign, however, is that not a whole lot of it feels legal. (Even if it almost certainly is.) That’s why Stewart and Colbert powwowed with their lawyer on “The Daily Show” last night — just to make sure their “good”-faith efforts at non-coordination were still strictly within the bounds of the law.

The next week and a half is a pivotal one for the Republican Party. Its candidates for president have their sights set on South Carolina’s January 21 primary; and, just three contests into the season, Mitt Romney could lock up the nomination with a win in the Palmetto State. But there are storm clouds on the horizon. However, the other candidates — let by an angry and embittered Newt Gingrich — will pour millions of dollars into negative advertising in the next 9 days, making the South Carolina primary the most brutal one yet. Last night on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart and co. investigated:

Tensions have been running higher than usual between the United States and Iran this week. Not only has the Islamic republic begun enriching uranium, a fact confirmed by international watchdogs Monday; it has also threatened to block off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and sentenced an American to death for what it says was acts of espionage. That all in mind, Jon Stewart took time out from “The Daily Show” last night to have a candid conversation with Iran about the risks of its bellicose behavior

The year-long grind of the Republican nominating contest has had a strange effect on the remaining candidates in the race. Sure, they’re all still arguing for less government, less regulation, lower taxes on America’s “job creators.” And each of them will still emphatically state that our country’s richest businesspersons don’t deserve Barack Obama’s “class warfare” and the politics of the 99 percent.

How is it, then, that those very same candidates have spent the past several weeks lambasting Mitt Romney over his significant net worth? The former Massachusetts governor — between his history as a successful businessman and his free market ideology — is the human embodiment of the Republican party platform. As Jon Stewart put it on “The Daily Show” last night: “You’re mad at Mitt Romney? For God’s sake, it’s like Mitt Romney answered the Republicans eHarmony ad, and now you’re saying its unfair.”