Last night, Jon Stewart absolutely blistered Peggy Noonan for her disgraceful appearance on Meet the Press when she complained that the IRS scandal was the worst she'd ever seen.
The Obama administration spent the last couple weeks standing crotch-deep in the scandal swamp, as my grandpappy used to say. That's my grandpappy.
And while we've had our fun, I've noticed a few folks at the party, who I'm not sure should have been invited, which brings us to our recurring segment, Hey Let's All Pile on the President... Not So Fast, You.
One critic of the President in particular has been deeply pained by the administration's misdeeds.
PEGGY NOONAN (5/19/2013): All three of these scandals makes a cluster that implies some very bad things. ... This is so broad. ... This IRS thing is something I've never seen in my lifetime.
Hello... Noonan! (audience laughter)
Look at Peggy Noonan! Peggy Noonan, she's more upset than your mom when she caught you jerking off with one hand and smoking a joint with the other hand! "Your masturbating is just so...
disappointing."
Now think hard, Peggy Noonan. Never in your lifetime have you seen a scandal this bad? What if a President secretly sold weapons to Iran, in return for American hostages, and then used the proceeds to illegally fund a bunch of coked-up right-wing jungle rapists in Nicaragua? Ring a bell? Here's a hint: you worked in his White House as a high-profile speechwriter.
(audience busts up laughing at graphic)
I mean, what was the Iran-Contra scandal, if not a scandal?
PEGGY NOONAN (12/1/2001): Well heck, Ronald Reagan wanted to help those hostages ... but it spun out of control, and Reagan by the end was surprised at some of the things that had happened. ... He had bad luck in Iran-Contra. ... Iran-Contra was unlucky.
It was bad luck! Reagan was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Specifically, the White House during his own administration. (audience laughter and applause)
This Iran-Contra wasn't a, um... it wasn't a scandal.
PEGGY NOONAN (3/3/2002): It was a mistake. It was not a disaster. But it was a mistake.
Mistake! It was like writing the wrong date on a check. Or writing the wrong address on a box marked "Weapons".
So how about Obama? Is he off the hook then for his mistake?
PEGGY NOONAN (5/19/2013): Ultimately, these are executive agencies which are proving so deeply problematic. ... Is he President or not?
Ah! So it doesn't matter whether Obama knew about the wrongdoing, or if it was just the people around him. He's the President. The buck stops with him.
What about the people around Reagan? Well, as Noonan wrote in her Reagan fan-fiction book When Character Was King, the people around him simply "failed" and hurt their President. The only thing he was guilty of was trusting too much! And selling embargoed arms to Iran for the release of hostages, and funneling the money to coked-out jungle rapists in Nicaragua.
So why is it so different for Reagan? What makes him so special?
PEGGY NOONAN AUDIO, WHAT I SAW AT THE REVOLUTION: Imagine a man nobody hates.
A man nobody hates.
(wild audience cheering and applause)
Gosling.... Oh, you meant... you meant Reagan. You sure?
PEGGY NOONAN AUDIO, WHAT I SAW AT THE REVOLUTION: Reagan, whom I adored.... He was to popular politics what Henry James was to American literature: He was the master. ... He was probably the sweetest, most innocent man ever to serve in the Oval Office. ... He was never dark, never mean.... This sunny man touched so many Americans. ... Ego ties us all in knots, but not him. ... "No great men are good men," said Lord Acton, who was right, until Reagan.
(shocked audience laughter)
Tell us how he smelled!! That is so hot!
But here's the deal. You can't really get so upset about Obama if you've written the book 50 Shades of Greygan.
We'll be right back.
Video below the fold.
Jon also looked at the lack of answers given in the
IRS scandal, and how Senators
kept praising Apple during a hearing on how they avoided paying taxes.
On Tuesday night, Jon
talked about how Toronto mayor Rob Ford was caught smoking crack with some drug dealers with
Jason Jones and Sam Bee.
Al Madrigal then looked at what
Dylan Ratigan has been up to since he left MSNBC.
Meanwhile, Stephen looked at the
media reaction to the latest in the IRS scandal and Lois Lerner's invoking the Fifth Amendment, before having another
Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger segment.
He then looked at how David Koch may have
killed a PBS documentary that portrayed him in a negative light.
And on Tuesday night, Stephen talked about how scientists have now found the pathogen that
caused the Irish potato famine, and then had another
Cheating Death segment about the sun's rays.
He then looked at how Rep.
Jeff Duncan (R-SC) wants to eliminate most of the information the Census Bureau collects, because he's a complete nutcase.
Stephen talked with Harvard professor
Noah Feldman on Tuesday night, and then talked with
Matt Berninger of the indie rock band The National last night, who then performed "
Graceless" and "
Sea of Love" exclusively online.
Jon talked with Phil Jackson on Tuesday night, and with Bill O'Reilly last night, which of course went long. Here's the unedited interview in two parts.
Part 1
Part 2