Koppel Jokes: Bush Joined Guard to Stay Out of Vietnam, Now Going to Stay Out of DC

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As the guest on Wednesday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, Ted Koppel ribbed host Jon Stewart for not ridiculing President George W. Bush over his trip to Vietnam and then Koppel offered his own sharp-edged joke about it. Koppel scolded Stewart, "I'll tell you what I have been thinking: I can't believe you haven't done anything on George Bush in Vietnam." Koppel then delivered his wisecrack: “Thirty-five years ago, he joined the Texas Air National Guard to stay out of Vietnam. And now, he's going to Vietnam to stay out of Washington.” That generated loud applause and laughter from the audience in the Manhattan studio, as well as hearty laughter from Stewart, and Koppel chuckled at his own one-liner.

Seconds earlier, Koppel delivered another politically-loaded quip: "Remember the joke before -- it wasn't that much of a joke -- before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, we used to say in Washington, 'we know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, we still have the receipts.'" That prompted Stewart to express bafflement with why Koppel's news agenda isn't shared more widely: "This is the thing that always befuddles me and you and I have this conversation all the time: Why isn't that joke the lead of every news story about Iraq? You know, the context that we sold them all those weapons, why isn't that more prominent in all this?" (Partial transcript follows)

Video clip (1:55): Real (3.2 MB) or Windows Media (3.7 MB), plus MP3 audio (670 KB)

Koppel, the long-time anchor of ABC's Nightline, made the appearance to promote his two-hour Sunday night special on the Discovery Channel, Koppel on Discovery: Iran -- The Most Dangerous Nation, scheduled to air at 9pm EST/PST and again late Sunday night/Monday morning at 1am EST/PST

A transcript of the relevant portion (matching the video clip) of the November 15 Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which will air again Thursday at 1am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm EST/PST:

Ted Koppel: “Remember the joke before -- it wasn't that much of a joke -- before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, we used to say in Washington, 'we know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, we still have the receipts.'” (audience laughter)

Jon Stewart: “And this is the thing that always befuddles me and you and I have this conversation all the time: Why isn't that joke the lead of every news story about Iraq? You know, the context that we sold them all those weapons, why isn't that more prominent in all this?”

Koppel: “Well, because a long time ago, and I think the nature -- especially of 24/7 cable news today -- is, you know, a focus on what's most recent, not necessarily on what's most important. You know, that was years ago. That was back in the 1980s. When you think about it, the chemical weapons that were used by the Iraqis against the Iranians came from components that were sold to them by the British, the French, the Germans and [pause] the United States. The weapons that were used, the chemical weapons that we used against the Kurds in Halabajah, in 1988, again, the components were sold to them by western Europeans and U.S. companies.”

Stewart: “You're a real downer.”

Koppel: “All right, I'll tell you what I have been thinking: I can't believe you haven't done anything on George Bush in Vietnam.”

Stewart: “We were going to do, he's getting there on Friday. It's his first visit.”

Koppel: “Just think about it. Just think about it.”

Stewart: “He tried to get a deferment. He couldn't get one this time.” (Audience laughter)

Koppel: “Thirty-five years ago, it's a sign of the times: 35 years ago, he joined the Texas Air National Guard to stay out of Vietnam. And now, he's going to Vietnam to stay out of Washington. Right? (audience applause and laughter, Koppel laughed at his own joke)

Stewart: “Very funny, my friend. You know, I had heard that he had asked his father to try and get him out of this trip. But his father has no pull over there anymore, so it's a difficult situation.”