Journalist and humorist Jay Rath is a longtime contributor to all Madison newspapers. He's a former Onion staffer, and has written comedy for MTV and National Public Radio. The Rath of Madison originally appeared in the short-lived coreweekly alternative newspaper. It excited praise from editors at competing papers, including Isthmus' Marc Eisen, who called it "the hottest column in town." It also cost coreweekly two angry advertisers and one distribution outlet. Rath afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted from his vantage point within sight of the capitol, if you go up to the third floor and sort of lean over to the left.