I was going through my YT feed, and I came across this long video about the Tucker/Stewart beef. It is over an hour, but I think it really puts John Stewart Leibowitz into proper context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlIynbYUA1Q
I had never seen those Crossfire clips before, so watching Leibowitz lecture Tucker on his moral failings was all new. I don't know how Tucker put up with his moralizing ass, I would have tossed him out almost instantly. I couldn't stand Colbert or Leibowitz back then because of how blatantly one sided and disingenuous they were, but I can see what Leibowitz is doing a lot more clearly now. It isn't about politics, it is about moral lecturing, and he cloaks it in comedy.
I agree. That Crossfire interview took place in a very different time. Stewart was right in criticizing political commentary as partisan theater that helps no one.
The problems with Stewart calling out political commentators like Tucker was at the time: