Before the inevitable cavalcade of eulogies, before the avalanche of elegies, I thought I’d weigh in on the looming void that awaits liberal America on August 10th.  Though his last show is scheduled for Thursday, August 6th, chances are that neither you nor I will truly feel Jon Stewart’s absence until the following Monday night, when we turn on Comedy Central at 10:57PM, accidentally catching the last few minutes of South Park, or Archer, or whatever other amusing but forgettable fodder is on offer before The Daily Show comes on, and there is no new satirical news to be had.  That’s when it’ll really hit us, when we’ll finally realize that the cultural landscape has shifted and our comfortable, established routine has been forever altered.  And that the most lucid voice in liberal news has moved on.

I’ll admit that the specter of Jon Stewart’s impending absence has me more than a little unsettled.  Where will I go for my daily dose of news and levity?  For going on a dozen years now (admit it, you didn’t tune in for the rocky first few years either), there has been one trusted name in satirical news.  One person that we could count on, above all others, when we needed to mock an election, take down a reactionary demagogue, or expose the never-ending cascade of lies and distortions that gush out of Fox News like diarrhea from a cholera patient.

Over the course of his impressive run, there’s been a notable change in the intent and effect of The Daily Show.  What began as Onion-level tomfoolery gradually morphed into high-minded satire.  During the Bush years, Jon Stewart slowly shifted from comedian to social critic.  From Dennis Miller, mocking the news during “Weekend Update”, to a modern version of Voltaire, ridiculing the king and his evil henchmen while entertaining us all the while.  Exposing the inconsistencies of administration policy, lambasting our Sisyphean efforts in Mess-o-potamia, and shining a spotlight on our shameful human rights abuses in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, among other crusades.  It was far better journalism than the repetitive screeching noises emanating from frequent punching bag CNN; it was the bane of the lunatic fringe at Fox News.  His duels with Bill O’Reilly were epic, and his willingness to take on unpopular fights valiant.  He and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2010 was the stuff of legends, attended by no less than 200,000 people.  Few fought the good fight or rallied the lagging liberal rear guard over the last decade like he did, all the while making us laugh at stories that might otherwise make us cry.

But more recently, when something truly terrible or inexplicable happened, we turned to him as well.  After the South Carolina shootings, during the Ferguson riots, after Sandy Hook, we trusted Jon Stewart to treat these matters with the appropriate mix of seriousness, scorn, and disbelief.  And our trust was not misplaced.  Time and again, he made the difficult arguments lucidly and poignantly, while cutting through the vast amounts of bullshit to hit at the heart of the ills that plague our society and our democracy.  He’s one of the few voices calling out the NRA for their ridiculousness and hypocrisy, Republicans for their stupidity and greed, and mainstream Democrats for their consistent cowardice.  He put his finger on our ongoing racial problems while most politicians would rather pretend they didn’t exist.  I frequently find myself nodding in agreement during different segments and wondering why our political class lacks the courage to take on the reactionary right and make the kind of compelling arguments for change or justice or equality that he makes on a daily basis.  Jon Stewart, consciously or not, became the voice of our generation.  And we will greatly miss the intelligence, wit, and temerity he brings to the fake news desk every night.

When the announcer chimes in with the date and those sweet mainstream 90s power chords ring out, I know that I’ve reached the capstone of my day.  I know that I will get an insightful opinion to help me digest the events of the day, work through my frequent frustration and bafflement at the state of our country, and, more often than not, laugh about it all at the same time.  Jon Stewart is for us was what Walter Cronkite was for our grandparents and Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather were for our parents.  He was the trusted, familiar face at the end of the day, telling us like it was.  But unlike his more serious peers he didn’t just supply us with the facts, he gave us a moral compass and commanded “Go forth, be provocative and multiply!”

I’m not sure when the withdrawal will set in, but I feel the sweats coming on.  Sure, we’ll keep fighting the good fight.  There will be others.  John Oliver has taken on the mantle of late, though he lacks the gravitas and commanding presence of his former boss.  For my part (on an admittedly much smaller and less-efficacious scale), I promise to keep pointing out the ridiculous or farcical as I see it, albeit it with far less wit, humor, and grace.  These are shoes that won’t soon be filled.  When he does finally sign off, we’re losing a towering cultural figure, a tireless fighter, and a generational voice.  He’s one of the truly good guys.  Here it is, your moment of Zen: I’m going to miss the f*%king s&$t out of Jon Stewart.