"An ombudsman is an official, usually appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens....
There is no single federal ombudsman agency in the United States, where the function of handling complaints against public authorities has traditionally rested with members of Congress."
Wikipedia
Most democracies in the world have the institution of an "Ombudsman." This office is outside of politics for the special reason that its function is to look into malfeasance and failures committed by the government. As such, the office needs to be removed from the political system to guarantee that a fair and honest assessment, rather than a politically motivated and biased one will be given in judging the performance of the government in representing the people.
The US has no such office. Some of the responsibilities handled by Ombudsmans are the province of the General Accounting Office (GAO). But these are limited to the issue of wasteful or useless government spending. The GAO does a good job, in general, and is one of the few government reports published that have some credibility with the public.
Jon Stewart has over the years risen to fill the roll of Ombudsman, not only for our government but for American society as a whole. There's a reason why poll after poll have rated him the most trusted newsman on air... Even though he's a comedian, not a newsman. A recent poll rated him as the most powerful man in the country.
Yes, he's funny and entertaining. So is Jay Leno. It's not his humor but his honesty that has given him the position that he now holds in the hearts and minds of so many Americans. We're an honest people, represented for the most part by lying manipulators of media who fund their insanely expensive campaigns by donations from fat cats, euphemistically called "Special Interests" by the main stream media.
Jon would call a fat cat a fat cat. His official designation as a "comedian" gives him license to tell the truth without worrying about the consequences to his political or his journalistic career. There's a funny thing about truth. It's almost always instantly recognizable. So is phony spin and mealy mouthed journalistic stories presenting "both sides" of a story with equal credibility while in fact one side is utterly unjustified and based on falsehoods
From his sad pleading to "stop hurting the country" which ended up destroying Crossfire to his current Rally to Restore Sanity, Stewart has done more good for this country than anyone else I can think of in recent memory. His gentle, self deprecating manner only strengthens the power of the truths he dispenses.
Speaking for myself, he's the only public figure I know of that makes me feel that there may still be hope for America. I don't know how a powerless comedian can make the difference in a system that both the politicians and the journalists agree is hopelessly "broken." I just know that as long as Ombudsman Jon Stewart continues to tell the truth there's at least some hope that others will eventually follow his example and actually work for the betterment of the country rather than for their own selfish interests and careers.
Remember Mahatma Gandhi? Who the hell was he?