Last night, Jon Stewart covered the recent gun safety legislation, and how completely batshit insane some Senate Republicans are when it comes to whacked-out conspiracy theories about guns and the UN.
Now, before we get too caught up in the rare sighting of two bipartisan men making sweet, sweet law with each other, let's just remember one thing.
SEN. JOE MANCHIN, D-WV (4/10/2013): Today is just the start of a healthy debate that must end with the Senate and House hopefully passing these common sense measures, and the President signing it into law.
That's right, the huge breakthrough announced no the news is a proposal by these two guys, that in and of itself, falls far short of the sweeping and systemic gun control anti-violence measures envisioned post-Newtown, Aurora, Arizona, Chicago, we shoot a lot of people. You get the idea.
And this proposal must now get through the House and the Senate. And we all know when this proposal leaves the House, it will have been slightly transformed.
(audience laughter and applause)
You know why the House is going to transform it? I'll tell you why they're going to change it. Cuz the House be fucking patriots.
But I'm not sure what happens to it in the Senate, either. Let me tell you why. Last week, the United Nations — aka, the East Side's most fashionable anthrax vial showroom — adopted a global arms treaty with a fairly noncontroversial goal.
HARI SREENIVASAN (4/2/2013): It will require nations that ratify the pact to regulate the transfer of conventional arms from light weapons to combat aircraft. They'll also have to ensure those weapons won't be used to commit acts of terror or organized crime.
Hm! A deal to prevent countries from supplying arms to terrorists or organized criminals, aka, the Bond Villain Prevention Treaty. See if you can guess what happened next.
ERIC SHAWN (3/26/2013): This past weekend, the Senate passed an amendment specifically prohibiting the U.S. from signing on to the treaty.
OF COURSE THEY DID!!! If we don't preserve our right to sell guns to terrorists, what are they going to fight us with? Ideas? Come on!
Actually, the reason we cannot support a treaty to stop the terrorist and drug lords' arm trade? Freedom.
RACHEL MADDOW (4/4/2013): Tea Party freshman Senator Ted Cruz tweeting, "UN Arms Treaty should be rejected outright. ... It is international gun regulation, plain and simple & it must never be ratified".
TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL GREG ABBOTT, R (4/7/2013): The treaty is laden with both loopholes and loose language that you can literally drive a tank through, that threatens Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
(shocked audience laughter)
How did this become about Second Amendment rights?? The treaty reaffirms:
... the sovereign right of any State to regulate and control conventional arms exclusively within its territory, pursuant to its own legal or constitutional system ...
So, somehow you can link that to a threat on your gun ownership? There's some bizarro Six Degrees of Charlton Heston game?
SEN. JAMES INHOFE, R-OK (3/22/2013): The trade treaty is a treaty that cedes our authority to have trades... trade agreements with our allies in terms of trading arms.
The treaty that cedes our authority to the United Nations. First of all, it's really a symbolic thing, the treaty. It's like signing that giant "Get Well" card for Carol. Doesn't cost you anything, and you certainly have not ceded your authority to secretly wish her ill. But, if you don't sign, you look like an asshole.
And number two, since when does anyone respect the United Nations' authority? Last December, the United Nations passed 9 resolutions against Israel in one day. Iran is on their resolution-a-month club. Remember when the United Nations rejected our Iraq War resolution, thus preventing us from making what might have turned into a huge decade-long, trillion dollar, thousands of casualties quagmire? (wild audience applause)
I mean, we were going to do it! I remember that specifically. We were like, "We should invade Iraq." And the UN said, "No!" And we were like, "OK."
But look, the Senate rejected it. They rejected that treaty. And I'm sure that in no way puts the United States Senate in terrible, terrible company.
HARI SREENIVASAN (4/2/2013): It was overwhelmingly approved, 154-3, with Iran, North Korea, and Syria voting against it.
There you have it! (audience cheering)
Thank you, United States Senate, we have literally become one of our own worst enemies. We'll be right back.
Video below the fold.
Jon then
noted how his piece last week on North Korea got 2.8 million views online... in
China.
(BTW, they put that entire clip up along with a
Chinese translation for any Chinese people that may want to watch that one as well.)
Meanwhile, after previewing the Navy's new laser technology, Stephen also looked at how the Senate GOP blocked the UN arms treaty.
He then covered the story of
Anthony Weiner's possible comeback.
Jon talked with documentary filmmaker
Ken Burns, and Stephen talked with VICE co-founder
Shane Smith.