Why Stewart's Fight with Cramer Matters

Up until Thursday night, I found the whole "battle" between John Stewart and CNBC's Jim Cramer a little silly. After all, both Cramer and Stewart both have similar points of view on the geo-political landscape. And the fight had elicited some supporters that Cramer felt notably uncomfortable with--Rush Limbaugh being the most vocal.

I also felt bad for Jim. After all, I like him because I can relate to his positions. He is critical of the President and the Treasury Secretary because he wants them to succeed, not because he disagrees with their ideology. He isn't like Larry Kudlow, who wants the President to change his positions to match a purely capitalist philosophy. Cramer is a pragmatist, with real ideas to get the economy moving again.

But Cramer is also a stock analyst, and pundit. And stock analysts are graded on a curve. 55% success for Cramer translates into millions of dollars in profits. But he's going to be wrong almost as much as he's right, and any sophisticated investor (and most of the rest of us) understands that.

Which is why up until Thursday night, I was on Cramer's side, against Stewart. I felt John Stewart was taking advantage of some of Cramer's calls on investments, and using him as the poster child for irresponsible behavior. It seemed a little disingenouous to me.

Cramer took it that way too. And he was a little miffed. After all, we have all seen his rants in front of Erin Burnett from earlier last year, where he exclaims "they know NOTHING", as he basically calls the market crash. That took guts, and in that, most important call, Cramer got it right. From his perspective, why is HE being singled out, when he's been righter, and more honest than many other investment pundits?

So I watched the Daily Show on Thursday, looking to see Stewart backpedal some. After all, he's not an investment analyst. I thought he'd have Cramer on, and they would joke around for 5 minutes. Instead, I saw the most honest dialogue on the investments topic that I have witnessed since the crash last fall. And it was truly cathartic.

What we saw was an honest questioning of Wall Street by Stewart, and how their behavior sunk the fortunes of millions of Americans, and perhaps billions around the world. While Cramer couldn't speak for all of Wall Street, it was the most informative question and answer from representatives of Wall Street and Main Street talking about what happened, and what could be done to prevent a repeat of this behavior from happening again.

Stewart showed an understanding of what had tripped up Wall Street, and called out CNBC for acting as the enabler, or marketing wing of these investment banks, over the years. Cramer talked about the fact that the CNBC reporters had been very much lied to and duped over the years, and that they had NOT spent enough time searching for the truth. It was easier to take the CEO's word for it.

In the end, the Cramer/Stewart feud was hardly a battle royale between two bitter enemies. Rather it the first honest dialogue between the titans of Wall Street, and the common man, as to why we were in this mess. It certainly made me feel a little better, to watch the Wall Street guy come clean, and admit that he had to do better next time.

If the markets continue to swing up, and the economy recovers over the next year or two, I will point to this moment as the beginning of the reckoning in this country, where greed and hubris were finally confronted. I am hopeful that this could mark a turning point, from which this country can start to rebound from the free fall of the past 6 months. That is something I think we can all hope for.