This is going from sad to downright pathetic.

Andrew Breitbart's defenders in the right-wing media are desperate to find something -- anything -- to prove that he's not the lying, race-baiting weasel that the Shirley Sherrod fiasco showed him to be, and they're claiming that Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, of all people, is on Breitbart's side.

Here's the headline Breitbart.tv attached to a clip of Stewart's take on the Sherrod story from the July 26 Daily Show: “Jon Stewart: 'Andrew Breitbart may be the most honest person in this entire story.' ”

Conservative bloggers followed suit, quoting Stewart's alleged adjudication of Breitbart's honesty. Jim Hoft pronounced it “weird” that “far left media hack Jon Stewart” would defend Breitbart, NewsBuster Noel Sheppard called Stewart's comment “surprising,” and Breitbart's BigGovernment.com took it as proof that “the fallout over the NAACP's and Obama Administration's [sic] handling of the Shirley Sherrod affair” is really “bad.”

Unfortunately for them, Stewart did not defend Breitbart at all, and the quote they're seizing upon was -- all too fittingly -- ripped wildly out of context.

Here's the video of Stewart's segment on Shirley Sherrod, during which he mocks the NAACP for saying they were “snookered” by Breitbart and Fox News, with the relevant transcript below. As it makes clear, Stewart was actually pointing out that Breitbart makes no bones about his commitment to destructive dishonesty:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Lost in Race www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

STEWART: You were snookered? What are you? An old lady in a Groucho Marx movie that got her pearls swiped on an ocean liner? “Oh, he told me he was a millionaire then he stole my necklace. I've been snookered!” First of all, Fox News is too busy with their Black Panther hard-on to bother much with this, and Andrew Breitbart, the guy who leaked the edited tape, may be the most honest person in this entire story. This is what he said five months ago.

BREITBART: I want to be in the history books -- of saying, I want -- I took down the institutional left.

STEWART: See, he didn't say “I want to be in the history books as a paragon of honesty.” He didn't say “I'd like to be in the Museum of Broadcasting and be known by children around the world as Arnold B. Truthington of Accuracy Lane.” No. He said, out loud, I want to bring down the institutional left. So, if you are on the institutional left, and you receive a package from him, watch the whole [bleeped] tape! How is that snookering?

Looks like Arnold B. Truthington's going to have to find someone else to call a friend.