With 9/11 Bill, Jon Stewart Steps Off the Sidelines

Christopher Beam: Now the question is, will he stay there?
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 21, 2010 1:27 PM CST

Jon Stewart has always maintained he's a comedian, not a politician or an activist. But his stalwart advocacy of the 9/11 first responders bill—he may have single-handedly saved it—looks different. Stewart labeled the non-passage of the bill “an outrageous abdication of our responsibility” to the 9/11 responders. He hammered the media for keeping quiet on the bill. He interviewed first responders, and jokes were secondary. Soon after, more media started covering the story, and the bill now seems set for passage.

"Presumably Stewart saw the 9/11 health-benefits bill as a test," writes Beam. "He could either keep standing on the sidelines, tossing empty beer cans. Or he could suit up. He chose to suit up. The question now is whether he'll pretend it was a clown suit all along." (More Jon Stewart stories.)

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