At the end of every episode of Comedy Central’s The Weekly Show podcast, host Jon Stewart answers listener-submitted questions about various news topics. This Thursday, Stewart responded to a question about who is to blame for the government shutdown by answering “the Founders” and, more profanely, “fuck James Madison.”
Stewart’s answer also made no sense, “Who is responsible for the government shutdown? I'm gonna go with the Founders, who came up with this fucking fakakta, overly complex bureaucratic web of nonsense that it takes to get anything done, and I think it's very difficult when one political party that represents 75 million voters has zero say, authority, heft, and in a functioning political environment that isn't a zero-sum game, there would have been conversations up until now that took some consideration. Some, I'm not saying a lot.”
Stewart wants Democrats to have a say in policy, but it is that “overly complex bureaucratic web of nonsense” he just finished ranting about that is allowing them to shut down the government to try to force health care concessions out of Republicans despite their own minority status. A less “complex” system would mean Democrats have no power at all.
As it was, Stewart continued, “I'm not saying, like, they don't still get the shitty little offices and don't get to use the, you know, the Senate steam room, except when Schumer's in there towelless. But some consideration that those 75 million people should have a scintilla of representation in the federal budget. So, that—”
After Gillian Spear chimed in to add that “seems reasonable,” Stewart rolled on, “Thank you, Gillian. Thank you. So yeah, once again, fuck you, James Madison. Boom!”
That led to more crosstalk between Stewart and the show’s producers. Lauren Walker added, “You're always saying that.” Stewart added, “Every episode should end with that,” while Brittany Mehmedovic claimed that is “our new slogan.”
Repeating himself, Stewart exclaimed, “Thanks so much for watching. Thanks so much for listening. Fuck you, James Madison. Boom!”
That was not the end of the show, but it was the end of that question. Meanwhile, as Stewart curses the Founders, it is hard to think of another system where the minority party has as much power as the one they created. That is what Stewart said he wanted. Whether he will hold that position in the future when Washington’s balance of power changes remains to be seen.
