WATCH: Jon Stewart rips Fox News, GOP on Benghazi obsession

(Image credit: Daily Show/Comedy Central)

last updated 8 January 2015

The big political story on Wednesday was the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearings on the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya. The Week's Keith Wagstaff outlined the seven biggest revelations from the testimony from three "whistle-blowers," Harold Maass rounds up speculation on the political motivations of the heavily promoted hearings, and editor-at-large Marc Ambinder adds his own thoughts.

At The Daily Show, Jon Stewart points out that this was in fact the ninth congressional hearing on the Benghazi attacks, in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three American security personnel were killed. He shows how Fox News has eagerly covered each hearing with over-the-top anticipation — and like the previous eight, Wednesday's testimony provided no smoking gun suggesting an Obama administration conspiracy. (Watch Part 1 above, and Part 2 below.)

If the various Fox News guests and GOP lawmakers are right that the Obama administration let the four Americans die to protect his political aspirations, then the Fox News refrain of "Where's the outrage?" is fully justified, and Americans will break out the pitchforks and torches, Stewart says. But there's a really big "if" in there. "You can't understand why everyone else isn't as outraged as you, when it is because the rest of us aren't sure if what you're saying is true," he tells Fox. "And to be quite frank, you do have somewhat of a history of hysteria.... You may be right, but the denizens of Bullshit Mountain have cried wolf before, and after eight months of intensive investigations you should be able to better state your case," Stewart adds.

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As a sort of rebuttal, watch Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), one of the lawmakers Stewart excoriates, make an emotional plea for more hearings on the Benghazi debacle.

Part 2:

Chaffetz's statement (via Mediaite):

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.