Stewart, an instinctive ironist, is way too savvy to pose as a “truth-teller” or anything else. He deals in the coin of irony. Nor would anyone ever mistake him for an angry white man, except when he’s getting angry at other white men, which doesn’t count: That’s called being a sensible white man. He cried on-air after 9/11, and if something like that ever happens again, he’ll probably turn in a repeat performance.

But in the meantime he’ll carry on making fun of Tom Ridge and Bush and WMD and so forth not just because they’re easy satirical targets but because comedically that’s the safe thing to do.

When satirizing the media, The Daily Show is brilliant, but when it comes to Osama bin Laden et al., Stewart just can’t wrap his head around the idea of an enemy, particularly a Third World one. Simply thinking about it makes him queasy, uncomfortable, and challenges his most deeply held belief, which is that it’s unseemly to get ticked off at anyone who isn’t rich, Caucasian and, hopefully, Republican. The municipal authorities of his own city may be working around the clock to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear attack, but Stewart can’t find it in his heart to resent the people who make those preparations necessary. Deep down, he’d prefer to think it’s all Dick Cheney’s fault: If we hadn’t invaded Iraq, 9/11 would never have happened.

...Miller begins each episode of his program with “The Daily Rorschach,” a segment in which he sits at a desk and delivers wordy — some would say laborious — riffs on the news, much as he once did on Saturday Night Live and Dennis Miller Live on HBO. (Sample jokes: “A new poll shows that Senator Kerry’s support in the South is strongest among blacks. Kerry’s appeal to Southern blacks is obvious: He’s a white man who lives far, far away. Kerry’s campaign is also gaining support among women. However, Kucinich is still tops among post-op trannies.”) This part of the program, at least, could benefit mightily from a live audience, because without some laughter to feed off, Miller the comedian can seem a little lost, even with crew members providing some consolation chuckles offscreen.

But could he even attract a studio audience four days a week, particularly one that would laugh at his jokes? Studio audiences in L.A. and New York will howl at any anti-Bush joke, and cheer any anti-Bush remark, no matter how lame. How would they react to the jokes of an openly Republican comedian, even one who’s laid-back on the cultural issues and is down with gay marriage?