Jon Stewart climbs 'Bullshit Mountain' with Attorney General David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Thursday July 26, 2007





Print This Email This Jon Stewart reported on Wednesday's Daily Show that "the House Judiciary Committee has cited White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers with contempt of Congress" for their "refusal to testify under oath regarding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's alleged improper firing of nine United States Attorneys." Stewart then introduced a mountain-climbing metaphor to illuminate Gonzales's most recent appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I've said before that Alberto Gonzales's logic is, well, mind-numbing, but during yesterday's testimony, he became the K2 of obfuscation," Stewart said. Stewart first showed Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asking Gonzales if he will permit the execution of the contempt citations and Gonzales replying, "I am recused ... I'm not going to answer that question." "Right about 10,000 feet right now, air's getting thinner," said Stewart. "Let's see if we can find anything this prick'll answer." After offering a clip of Gonzales claiming that some US Attorneys had been asked to leave "because there was legitimate cause," Stewart commented, "It would appear to many observers that the Attorney General just admitted that some of the lawyers were fired for not-legitimate cause. Ah, but watch. Watch Baryshnikov dance." He then showed Gonzales explaining what he meant by "legitimate cause" by offering examples of specific forms of misconduct that he admitted were not involved in any of the attorney firings. "Air getting thin," gasped Stewart again. "If I can get this straight, and I'm sure I can't," Stewart concluded, "Alberto Gonzales is saying basically there are problems, of which he cannot speak, for which he is responsible yet not to blame. And that he is the only one who can clean up the mess that he can neither confirm or deny exists. ... Oh, we're on the summit. Take a look around boys." "How did the senators respond to being dragged up Bullshit Mountain?" Stewart asked, before showing clips of the committee members accusing Gonzales of lying. "This has become surreal," he told Senior White House Correspondent Ron Riggle. "It's almost as though Attorney General Gonzales and the administration are laughing at the very idea of Congressional oversight." Riggle, however, defended the members of Congress, saying, "They're not taking this lying down. ... Many have enrolled in art therapy classes. ... Schumer, he's back on the black tar heroin. Says it keeps his ears from leaking sadness." The following video is from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, broadcast on July 25.





