The Daily Show takes the Islamist attacks blame game to its absurdist conclusion

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

A Muslim, a Jew, an African-American, and a... um, former Canadian discuss who's to blame for various world problems? It's a tricky premise, but The Daily Show pulled it off on Monday's show, roping in staff "senior condemnologists" Hasan Minhaj, Jessica Williams, and Jason Jones for a panel discussion with Jon Stewart on where to assign blame for last week's terrorist attacks in France.

Plenty of people — not just Rupert Murdoch and Bill Maher — have suggested that moderate Muslims are to blame for not squelching their more extremist co-religionists, and Williams and Jones started out complaining that Minhaj's condemnation of the Paris attacks wasn't "condemny" enough. But it turns out that if you hold people responsible for the worst excesses of their tribes, nobody gets off scot-free. If you "double condemn" your own crazies, however.... --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.