Last night, Jon Stewart led off with the Aurora shooting, and asked when we're allowed to have a gun debate.
I'm just sayin' that if these terrible... not un-gun related stories create like sinus pressure in your head, and you would like to get yourself some Sudafed to ease that sinus pain, that's really hard to do to get Sudafed. To get that good Sudafed, you need ID, and there's a background check, and you gotta sign shit. 'Cause Sudafed, I think we can all agree, is some dangerous shit. But, so while we also talk about societal factors and moral factors, you know, we should also talk about how more and more powerful destructive weaponry....
7/22/2012:
JON SCOTT: Too early to be talking about more gun control laws?
MARK STEYN: Absolutely!
Look, ten years after 9/11, I can't still fly with a full container of fucking shampoo!
(wild audience applause and cheering)
....
So you're telling me it's too soon to even 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 gun all hotheaded, 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 gotta be part of the conversation.
Video and full transcript below the fold.
First, obviously, everybody is still stunned after the terrible shootings on Friday. Are we ever going to get a handle on how to prevent these types of tragedies? It's a very complex issue, obviously, an intersection of the mental health system, and cultural influences, the balance between individual freedoms and public safety, the availability of guns....
PATRICIA MURPHY (7/20/2012): I think now is not really the time to have a big national conversation about guns.
(Jon freezes)
Bu... but... it is a factor, I mean, you know... I mean, it's a factor, along with other factors. Obviously, it's a complex ecosystem. Owning a gun is a right protected under the Constitution, and that's... you know, I agree with that. I mean, I don't have to agree with that, I mean, it's right... but we can't have tanks. So we, you know, if we draw lines on weaponry, obviously the question is, have we drawn them right?
MIKE HUCKABEE (7/21/2012): This is not the time to have the discussion. And it's frankly, I think, insulting to the American public right now to try to politicize something as horrific as this.
(Jon freezes again)
Well, it is certainly not my intention to insult the American public. Which I believe is one of the top publics in this country. Am I right?? (wild audience applause and cheering) The American public! I don't want to insult them! They're the American public! They're one of the top three publics in America!
I'm just sayin' that if these terrible... not un-gun related stories create like sinus pressure in your head, and you would like to get yourself some Sudafed to ease that sinus pain, that's really hard to do to get Sudafed. To get that good Sudafed, you need ID, and there's a background check, and you gotta sign shit. 'Cause Sudafed, I think we can all agree, is some dangerous shit. But, so while we also talk about societal factors and moral factors, you know, we should also talk about how more and more powerful destructive weaponry....
7/22/2012:
JON SCOTT: Too early to be talking about more gun control laws?
MARK STEYN: Absolutely!
Look, ten years after 9/11, I can't still fly with a full container of fucking shampoo!
(wild audience applause and cheering)
I don't know what to tell ya! That's right, I use the same shampoo as my dressage horses. (makes horse noises)
So you're telling me it's too soon to even 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 gun all hotheaded, 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 gotta be part of the conversation. I mean, is there anything we can talk about that shows this country's problem-solving mechanism is not irrevocably damaged?
JON SCOTT (7/22/2012): Should costumes be banned from movie theaters?
(shocked audience laughter)
All right. Didn't realize, all right. I stand corrected, problem solved.
Jon then ripped into
ABC's Brian Ross for blowing it on their coverage of the shooting.
He then looked at how the
Boy Scouts and Chick-Fil-A are still maintaining their anti-gay stances.
Meanwhile, Stephen also
covered the media fail in trying to report on the shooter's identity.
He also looked at the
zany stuff Fox News's Shepard Smith has said, after calling Mike Tyson a pussy for
cancelling his appearance on Stephen show at the last minute, forcing him to bump up Wednesday's guest, filmmaker
Vikram Gandhi, to last night.
Jon spoke with CNN's
Fareed Zakaria about Syria and Egypt, which went long. Here's the whole interview in two unedited parts.
Part 1
Part 2