If you're wondering how, in three short days, the rescue of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the last known American P.O.W., went from "a magnificent, wonderful story" to a "complicated, clouded, controversial" political football, Jon Stewart doesn't have any pat answers. But on Tuesday night's Daily Show, he had an idea. First, Stewart walked through the story, starting with the surprise swap of Bergdahl for five senior Taliban members, then adding on the onion-layers of criticism.
He didn't exactly apportion blame for the story's descent into controversy, but he did throw some sharp elbows at Fox News and the White House. So how did this "clear-cut story of American heroism in a war get complicated?" Stewart asked, finally. "Oh, right, it's a war." As far as explanations go, that'll have to do. --Peter Weber
The Week
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