Public Enemy No. 228,117,094

So a study apparently finds that “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart� may have a deleterious affect on society. Like the rest of TV is so good for us?

The columnist, while citing the study, doesn’t really quote anything from it that is actually negative. “‘Jon Stewart,’ they write,� he writes, “‘may have a unique effect on young viewers.’� Stewart’s makes his viewers more cynical about politics, the study found. No fooling? Perhaps because Stewart bothers to point out how, with a war in Iraq, attacks on personal freedoms, high gas prices, a health-care crisis and other random nightmares, the Senate has been spending its time debating Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and flag burning? How could that make anyone cynical about politics?

Another finding: The show’s viewers “reported increased confidence in their ability to understand the complicated world of politics.� Even Stewart himself would probably declare those respondents misguided. But “Daily Show� viewers are no worse off than people who watch, say, Bill O’Reilly, Rita Cosby or Nancy Grace.