Jon Stewart playfully savages the GOP's admittedly science-free stands on science

Jon Stewart playfully savages the GOP&#039;s admittedly science-free stands on science — (Image credit: Daily Show)

Republicans are more sure than ever about certain subjects, said Jon Stewart on Wednesday night's Daily Show: Cutting taxes creates jobs, cutting carbon emissions kills jobs, and money is speech, for example. But especially when it comes to questions of science, the GOP politicians' strong stands are often accompanied by admissions that they have no particular knowledge or expertise on the subject they're taking a stand on, like climate change. Stewart rolled some clips to prove his point.

So far, classic Daily Show. That's all largely a setup, though, for a certain Republican who is an expert on the subject he's forcefully weighing in on. The problem, Stewart said, is that Lt. Col. Oliver North's expertise on hostage negotiations only undercuts his arguments regarding the prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Stewart had a field day with North's objections to the deal — there's a solid hipster joke — and his big fault with President Obama's handling of the situation. --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.