An irate Jon Stewart tells the news media what they can do with their polls

Between rapid-fire montages of talking heads gyrating through their latest predictions, Stewart, while admitting that the adrenaline rush appeals to viewers like “rats in a maze,” did slam on the brakes by focusing on the hurried, side effects-style disclaimers broadcasts slip into the corner of the frame. You know, the ones that cite up to an 11 percent margin of error, or, in The New York Times‘ case, a small print admission that their polling could be either “dead-on” or might underestimate Republicans, or might underestimate Democrats. Stealing a bit from the late great Stephen Stucker in Airplane!, Stewart did his own prop work with his print copy, exclaiming, “Even The New York Times is saying, ‘It’s a poll! Or maybe it’s a hat! Or a brooch! Or maybe it’s a pterodactyl!'”

At several points, the frustrated Stewart, confronted with all this hype and gamesmanship, attempted to walk off the Daily Show set (or in one case, leap over the desk to strangle CNN data analyst and manic prop comic Harry Enten), only to steel himself for his closer. Another montage of election nights through the ages showed anchor after anchor bemoaning the fact that their breathless poll-watching turned out to be wrong, culminating back in a 1969 newscast where Stewart exploded, “You were wrong since you could still smoke on the news!”

As to his final wish that the news media might start “soothing our nerves with information and context” rather than “amplifying them with speculation you admit has little value,” Stewart could only explode once more at clips of pundits now citing for-profit betting sites’ results as well. Stewart’s “You son of a bitch!,” might not be the sober sendoff voters want when deciding the future of American democracy, but it might be the one they need.