Aurora: Jon Stewart weighs in


IT TAKES a very, very deft rhetorical hand to plunge into a national tragedy and sensitively, effectively mine that tragedy for its comedic potential — and to do it less than 50 years after it happens. Lucky for us, we got Jon Stewart.

On Monday night, the host of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” did just that, calling the question on those who’d go so far as to keep the topic of gun control off-limits before the election. The objectors protesteth entirely too much, probably because they know they’re vulnerable given the cheek-to-cheek that the Republican Party and the National Rifle Association have been dancing for years.

Stewart, though, made with his singular brand of outrage:

“Look, ten years after 9/11, I can’t still fly with a full container of fucking shampoo! … You're telling me that it's still too soon to have a conversation about it? You're telling me that to discuss the epidemic of gun violence in this country, for that there is a waiting period. Yeah, I guess you'd hate to go into a conversation about guns all hot-headed and say something impulsively you'll never be able to take back.

“Look, this is the time to talk about all of it. Everything should be on the table. Anything that could possibly help mitigate these terrible events. I'm not even saying gun control would do it, I'm just saying it's got to be part of the conversation.”


Image credit: Jon Stewart: The Daily Show/Comedy Central.

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