Dear Mr. Leibowitz
Jon Stewart pokes fun at politicians who don't tell it like it is and fudge the truth almost every night. Now it looks like the tables have turned. Slate's Ron Rosenbaum has penned an open letter to Stewart. And he's asking the comedian to stop living a lie:
You probably don't recall, but I was one of your earliest, most enthusiastic media admirers. I wrote a column nearly a decade ago, shortly after you took over The Daily Show, when you were still struggling for recognition of your genius, before the massive media love-in that took a while to develop...
So please know I'm writing as an admirer, someone who thinks you have the courage as well as comedic smarts to take the simple but radical step I'm going to suggest.
I want you to change your name. Back to Leibowitz. Stewart is just so 20th-century, a relic of that dark age when Jews in show biz changed their names because they feared "real Americans" wouldn't accept the originals.
