Jon Stewart's Guide to Spotting a Hypocrite, Plus: My campaign to ban the word "maverick"

Hi boys and girls! It's time to play "Spot the Hypocrite." Today's lesson is brought to you by the research team over at "The Daily Show." The subject of today's game, Playing the Gender Card. Are you ready to play?

Just hit the play button (that right-pointing triangle in the middle of the box) to begin -- and see if you can spot all the hypocrites.

Good luck!



Did you spot all the hypocrites?

Good job!

Now, please join me in my drive to ban the word maverick from on air and print usage. Why? Well, if you have to ask, you a) have not followed any of the news coverage around this presidential election; b) do not own a TV; c) do not read newspapers or news magazines; d) just got back from two years on the International Space Station; or e) all of the above.

Just Google "John McCain maverick" to see the 3,410,000 results (as of 9:30 a.m. today -- up from 3,270,000 just a couple days ago when I sat down to write this post) -- and that's not including the hundreds of thousands of on-air mentions. Heck, you can't be on TV these days and mention the name John McCain -- and now Sarah Palin -- without reflexively adding "maverick" either before or after. It's like some involuntary Tourette's tic.

For those of you unfamiliar with the origin and definition of the word maverick, here's what The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online version) has to say:

mav·er·ick
Pronunciation: \ˈmav-rik, ˈma-və-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Samuel A. Maverick, died 1870. American pioneer who did not brand his calves.
Date: 1867
1: an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf
2: an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

So, on behalf of unbranded range animals and motherless calves everywhere, I am asking -- make that begging -- all of you to help me send a message to the mainstream media by leaving a comment on this blog saying, "Yes, I want to join the drive to ban on-air personalities and pundits, as well as the mainstream press, from ever using the word maverick again (or at least in regard to all candidates running for any elected office)! Enough is enough!"

Thank you.

This just in: While MSNBC/NBC has censured Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, removing them from their anchoring duties on MSNBC (and replacing them with David Gregory), due to their left-leaning bias, pressure from the GOP/McCain campaign, and low ratings, ABC News has scored something of a coup with Charlie "Journalistic Integrity Is for Wimps" Gibson nabbing the first media interview with GOP VP pick Sarah Palin. Look for hard-hitting questions like, "If you were a tree, what kind would you be?"