Jon Stewart's jovial yelling and trademark expressions (the Dr. Evil finger-to-mouth is particularly dated) are becoming increasingly tiresome. But Comedy Central's Daily Show does occasionally still perform a useful civic function. Last night, for instance, Stewart skewered Fox News and other cable networks for their delightedly reluctant airing of internet rumors about Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee. The Daily Show's writers came up with an amusingly silly definition of Baracknophobia: "The sickness manifests itself as rumor, most often in the form of the only email your grandmother has ever successfully been able to forward." But look out for an admirable dissection of Michelle Malkin's moronic claim that Obama plagiarized an old speech by Mario Cuomo. After the jump, last night's broadcast. Watch from about minute 5:00.

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