as if you needed further proof that our society is officially gone haywire

Now we can blame the Daily Show for making youth even more apathetic voters

Snip:

Then they measured the students' attitudes toward politics, President Bush and the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.).

The results showed that the participants rated both candidates more negatively after watching Stewart's program. Participants also expressed less trust in the electoral system and more cynical views of the news media, according to the researchers' article, in the latest issue of American Politics Research.

Translation: Why can't you fall back in line, you whiny children? Here we go giving you the right to vote (and die, and buy porn) at 18, and you waste it away so selfishly? This system was created fool and failproof, so shape up and vote for our mediocre candidates!

Seriously, what is wrong here? When did America stop trying to find out what might actually be the reasons for (voter apathy/homelessness/teenage pregnancy/air pollution/terrorist attacks, etc) and start mindlessly blaming whatever straw man we could find? Can we please have a return to common sense and intelligent discourse? Instead of blaming the one place on the airwaves where this kind of thing actually does take place?

(Jon Stewart was in my dream last night- me, lost in NYC, inexplicably armed with my copy of America: the Book, ran into him and he helped me. He also autographed my book. This is NYC dream #3: what does it all mean?)