Time 100: Stephen Colbert over Jon Stewart

Time magazine has released its annual list of 100 Top Most Important People in the World.

Yes, yes, there is the ode to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu written by U.S. House Majority leader Eric Cantor. But the big story from where we sit… Stephen Colbert in, Jon Stewart out.

There’s one comedian on the list, and it’s the Catholic funny man who got his break on the Jewish guy’s show? This is like the Russians beating the U.S. in basketball or the U.S. beating Canada in hockey.

Talk about shandas!

Here’s a snippet from Garry Trudeau’s entry on Colbert:

I’d like to add here that Stephen and I are old friends, but I can’t. I barely know the man. But like millions of others, I revere him as the class clown I never knew — the one without a trace of mean. How he can be so devastating and endearing at the same time I cannot say, but it sure wears well. Look for him to hold down this spot on TIME’s list for years to come.

Hey, Stewart, ya’ hear that. Years to come!

My two cents: From my humble perspective as a viewer, it seems that what Colbert is doing — building and maintaining an entirely fake, but serviceable persona throughout interviews in addition to monologues — has a higher degree of difficulty. But is he more important than Stewart? Maybe if he had won in South Carolina. Otherwise, day in and day out, Stewart is more often the one driving conversation, influencing the discourse. And in the grand scheme of things, Colbert’s impact is also a testament to Stewart’s influence.

We’ll be discussing over on our at the JTA Facebook page, so click here to weigh in.