Right after Election Day, my expectation was that an Obama presidency would be bad for Stewart and Colbert — that they’d have trouble finding their footing without the Republicans in power. With Stewart, I think that’s basically been the case. I still really enjoy his show, but way too much of it consists of video clips of conservatives saying stupid stuff and then cuts to Stewart, mugging with incredulity.

Colbert, though, if anything has gotten even stronger. Partly I think it’s because his show is younger, and clearly hitting its stride in terms of the breadth of the segments and the confidence of the host and writers. But more than that, it’s because the thing he’s parodying, the Fox News message machine, has become more and more absurd — more like his character, really, which in turn allows his character to grow even sharper and weirder. This segment from last night should not be missed, not just because of Colbert but because of the mindblowing Hannity segment he’s commenting on.