Jon Stewart accuses the GOP of only trying to save Americans from foreign threats

(Image credit: Daily Show)

When it comes to defeating ISIS and even Ebola, Republicans are on board to do whatever it takes to save American lives, Jon Stewart said on Thursday night's Daily Show. He has the video clips to prove it. But when it comes to preventing things that are actually killing thousands and thousands of Americans, like heart disease and gun violence? Not so much, Stewart said. He wielded the phrase "The government has a sacred obligation to save American lives — but..." like a cudgel, like Mark Antony's "Brutus is an honorable man" refrain in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

What do these preventable threats have in common? First, Stewart's solutions are all opposed by Republicans. And also, "for some reason, in this country we're only afraid of bad things entering our country, crossing our sacred borders," he said, while most of what's killing us is right here at home. "It's like people are saying, 'When I die, I want to know my preventable death has label on it that says Made in America.'" For some inexplicable reasons, that last line was delivered in a Southern accent. --Peter Weber

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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.