Oh the irony, the brutal irony: Stewart and Colbert by stoking cynicism about politicians undermine leftism

David Brooks makes a rather obvious point missed by all of those chock full 'o brains leaders of ours:

By the way, I’m totally confused about what the political impact of Stewart-stock and Colbert-palooza will be. On the one hand, watching their shows I get the impression they are generally mainstream liberals. On the other hand I do think their shows are unintentionally conservative. Just as the show “60 Minutes” sends the collective message that political institutions are corrupt, so the Comedy Central shows send the message that politicians are buffoons. Both messages undermine faith in political action and public sector endeavor and so cut right against the intentions of their founders. 

Sweet.