Thank goodness for Jon Stewart. I can recall watching his first talk show on MTV many years ago, but it was not until the 2000 election that I became hooked on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Since then, not only do I credit Stewart with getting me interested in the news and politics, but on a nightly basis, he does in 25 minutes what the 24-hour networks cannot do in a day: inform me.

Recently, Glenn Beck featured Michael Scheuer as a guest on his program. Scheuer said Osama Bin Laden needs to gather his troops and attack America again because that is the only way the American government will protect its people. Instead of beating his guest with a stick, or at least arguing with him, Beck more or less agreed with the sentiment.

I am all for freedom of thought and speech. Let the guy say what he thinks. Hypocrisy, not so much. When Bill Maher loses the smartest show on television because he said the 9/11 terrorists were not cowards, and this guy can, without consequences, call for another attack on America so his idea of good government can play itself out, things are not fair and balanced.

Stewart demonstrated his point by swearing at the man, then telling his viewers that they did not hear the curse word because the government decided we should hear a bleep instead. Obviously, Stewart’s one word was worse than saying America needs another terrorist attack.

That was not the only mistake on Fox’s part. Also pointed out on Stewart’s program, Fox has again resorted to calling criminal Republicans Democrats. It is an ever-so-sly move, simply replacing the “R” by the politicians name and replacing it with a “D.” Presto! It is no longer the Republican hypocrisy machine back in action, it’s another one of those darned Democrats! In this case, the politician in question just happens to be disgraced South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, who also happens to be the head of the Republican Governor’s Association. Oops!

To do this once is a mistake. Fox has done it at least three times, each involving a highly hypocritical Republican politician who made a stand on an issue at some point, then was caught smashing that ideal. One might call this yellow journalism, but I happen to like the color yellow, and this is no where close to journalism.

Finally, Stewart’s reporters often break away from the show to form successful careers of their own. Ed Helms moved to NBC’s “The Office” and recently starred in “The Hangover.” Rob Corrdry has been in a variety of films. Stephen Colbert, now with his own show on Comedy Central, has had no problem keeping his name in the national media.

It was on Colbert’s show that I learned of Missouri Republican Cynthia Davis’ disdain of the free lunch program. Davis thinks anyone over the age of 16 should work at McDonalds so they can get free food there, and not on the taxpayer’s dime. Also, she thinks “hunger can be a positive motivator.”

My writer hero Ernest Hemingway had similar sentiments in his early days in France. The difference is, Hemingway was a capable adult and consciously made the decision to go hungry, not a kid relying on responsible parents for the most basic of needs, and in their absence, using a government that could occasionally try to care for its needy.

I enjoyed Colbert’s solution. After quoting a Bible verse (he is, after all, a Sunday school teacher) and adding in a passage about letting kids starve, Colbert used Davis’ logic to determine that her ability to eat was holding her career back. Anyone who sees Davis eating, even in her own dining room, should take her food away.

Obviously, Stewart’s show slants to the left, and my tilt that way began around the same time I began watching his show. But really, who should we take more seriously? People who say the most ridiculous of things and the network that supports them, or the guy who makes fun of these people?

Leave me alone! In recent history, at least since Nixon, definitely since Reagan, the Republican Party has claimed to be the party of small government. How odd, then, that though the Republicans have more or less been in power for several decades now, there are only more personal restrictions on the books.

The most amazing thing to me is the sales pitch. Sadly, I think this has been one of the most destructive forces to getting things done in America. Thomas Frank had a best-seller with “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” a book that examines how the heart of blue-collar America votes for a party that continuously votes against its interests. His latest book, “The Wrecking Crew,” examines how the conservative movement has corrupted the government and made it the legislation-for-sale body it is today.

Frank’s ideas are hardly new. In Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko,” sociologists discuss the cynical environment created by conservatives. Though the Republicans are in power, and are in position to help, they belittle the government and make it out to be a bad thing. Next thing you know, America has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the democratic world because people have no faith in their government or the power to change it.

In April, longtime Republican senator Arlen Spector (Penn.), announced that he was switching parties. The major media covered the event as if Spector truly had a change of heart. By Spector’s own admission, he switched parties because he did not think he could win the Republican nomination. He did not switch on principle or to help anyone but himself. He did so merely as a reelection ploy. Somehow, only Jon Stewart on Comedy Central reported it this way.

More recently, a host of Republican congressmen came out against President Obama’s nationalized healthcare plan. One congressman said Obama is trying to destroy the greatest medical system ever known. Another equated nationalized healthcare to going to the DMV and standing in line.

The World Health Organization rates this “greatest system” as the 37th best in the world. My own experiences, and those of people I know, lean more towards the 37 than the one. And what kind of example is the DMV? What about the military? Emergency services? The Postal Service? All nationalized systems that seem to work pretty well. Are we really going to buy this argument?

I might not care as much what the conservatives say if they stayed out of everyone’s business. I am a civil libertarian. I say if it doesn’t hurt anybody, let it be. That’s different than libertarianism, because I have more faith in the individual than the corporation. The conservatives claim to be for small government, but the movement is more about less regulation in the business world, forgetting about individual rights, because there is no profit in protecting the individual.

The conservative reach into our private lives really is profound. Gays cannot get married and are denied the same rights as other Americans. Certain organizations want to tell me what is appropriate to read and watch. Many conservatives want to interject their religion into the government, despite the Establishment Clause that clearly says this is a no-no. The abortion issue comes to mind.

The difference was never clearer than on an episode of “30 Days,” from director Morgan Spurlock, who also made “Supersize Me.” An atheist goes to live with a conservative Christian family for 30 days. While this woman shows an everyday tolerance because she is surrounded by a religious majority and has no problem accepting their beliefs, the conservatives could not even conceive of something as hypothetical as removing “In God We Trust” from our money. They had evidently never even thought about the other side.

This is the irony of the conservative movement. As little as they claim to like government, they love laws that promote their interests, even if those interests are not shared by all, and the laws in question may limit the harmless lifestyles of others. The taste, then, is not one of small government, but of intolerance.

The hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed either. In the 2004 vice presidential debates, John Edwards, who has since revealed his true, slimy character, asked Dick Cheney about gay marriage. The question was not so much about gay marriage as it was about the personality of a father who cannot even support his own daughter. Edwards was vilified for asking the question, but here is Cheney in 2009 now supporting gay marriage.

In the 80s, the Reagans wanted nothing to do with stem-cell research. Only after President Reagan became sick did they change their minds. And what of all those people who missed out on research because Reagan had good health in the 80s and 90s? Again, just another show of nothing more than self-interest and lack of empathy.

The truth is, government can make a positive impact in our lives. It does so on a daily basis. Their brand of smaller government is killing the individual and letting the corporations run rampant. Maybe, just maybe, that has something to do with where we are today.