Whatever one thinks of some Republicans suggesting aid to California after the devastating wildfires come with strings attached, it is hard to claim the state’s wildfire prevention strategy has been a success. Still, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart took to the air on Comedy Central on Monday to mock GOP criticism by reducing forest management to raking leaves.
Stewart was not happy at the idea of conditions being applied to aid as he introduced a clip of GOP Rep. Warren Davidson on Fox, “Because red states are always the tragic victims of circumstance outside of their control, and Democrats always vote for their aid. Whereas blue state disasters are a function of their flawed morality and policy, and if we help blue state survivors, well, what message will that send? What lesson will they learn? But fine, if strings must be attached, what be the strings?”
In the clip, Davidson declared, “The problem with California is forestry management.”
Stewart followed by ridiculing the idea with an allusion to Keebler cookies, “Oh, yeah, sure, the management of the forests. You have to rake the leaves and shut down the illegal elf-tree-cookie factories. I understand. And what a great, utterly anodyne suggestion. I mean, what forest couldn't be managed better? Have you been to a forest lately? Chaos! It's chaos! In the dirt and leaves all over the place! And what is that, bear shit, I’m sure. I want to see the manager! Okay, so we get the money if we have better forest management. Everybody then gets food and clothes. What else?
Stewart’s dismissal of brush clearance and how the lack of controlled burns has impacted California in recent times allowed him to get a cheap laugh at the expense of a serious discussion as he rolled right along with a clip of another GOP congressman, Byron Donalds, declaring, “They've not done the necessary work to make sure there's fresh water flowing into key areas.”
That is also true, but Stewart made it seem like Donalds was making the painfully obvious point that California should use water to put out the fires, “Oh, water. Yeah, no question. No question. Water for the fire! I'm going to get that message to the firefighters tout suite. Water is so important. Water is a terrific fire R—I don't even want to say the R-word. But I always say, ‘What ya got, mister, a fire? Nothing like water!’ Water works on all kinds of fire, except for one kind of fire.”
Stewart recapped by proclaiming, “But forest management, and get some water up here, and your children may have blankets! These are all great pointers on how to mitigate fires that I'm sure California has absolutely been trying. Water and forest management. Maybe not good enough, but they have it. There's one thing you might not be considering, as you criticize them, and that's this: I don't know what kind of system you could develop that completely mitigates the risk of fire plus drought conditions plus 60-80 mile-per-hour winds plus delicious wood.”
Have winds exacerbated the current fires? Yes, but if the wind absolves California Democrats of all the blame, it also debunks The Daily Show’s own argument that the fires were caused by climate change.
Here is a transcript of the January 13 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
1/13/2025
11:06 PM ET
JON STEWART: Because red states are always the tragic victims of circumstance outside of their control, and Democrats always vote for their aid. Whereas blue state disasters are a function of their flawed morality and policy, and if we help blue state survivors, well, what message will that send? What lesson will they learn? But fine, if strings must be attached, what be the strings?
WARREN DAVIDSON: The problem with California is forestry management.
STEWART: Oh, yeah, sure, the management of the forests. You have to rake the leaves and shut down the illegal elf-tree-cookie factories. I understand. And what a great, utterly anodyne suggestion. I mean, what forest couldn't be managed better? Have you been to a forest lately? Chaos! It's chaos! In the dirt and leaves all over the place! And what is that, bear shit, I’m sure. I want to see the manager! Okay, so we get the money if we have better forest management. Everybody then gets food and clothes. What else?
BYRON DONALDS: They've not done the necessary work to make sure there's fresh water flowing into key areas.
STEWART: Oh, water. Yeah, no question. No question. Water for the fire! I'm going to get that message to the firefighters tout suite. Water is so important. Water is a terrific fire R — I don't even want to say the R-word. But I always say, "What ya got, mister, a fire? Nothing like water!" Water works on all kinds of fire, except for one kind of fire.
But I don't know which one that is. But odds are with you. But point taken! But forest management, and get some water up here, and your children may have blankets! These are all great pointers on how to mitigate fires that I'm sure California has absolutely been trying. Water and forest management. Maybe not good enough, but they have it. There's one thing you might not be considering, as you criticize them, and that's this: I don't know what kind of system you could develop that completely mitigates the risk of fire plus drought conditions plus 60-80 mile-per-hour winds plus delicious wood.
