Liberal comedian Jon Stewart is more than a little annoyed with President Obama’s inability to control the narrative surrounding the release of Army Sgt. and likely deserter Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban custody, summing up his displeasure succinctly: “Oh shit.”
Stewart charted the strange progression of the Bowe Bergdahl saga during the opening segment of “The Daily Show” Tuesday night — from the story’s initial declaration as “A Magnificent, Wonderful Story” to its quick advancement to “An Absolutely Terrible, Disastrous Catastrophe That Is The Single Worst Thing We As A Country Have Ever Done, And Yes, That Includes When We Gave Syphilis To Prisoners.”
Stewart exposed the hilarious “cliche-off” between the administration’s “leave no man behind” rhetoric and their opposition’s “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” mantra.
And of course, he pulled no punches against the right-wing, singling out Fox News’ anger over Bowe Bergdahl’s father and his bushy Taliban-style beard (though he made no mention of the man’s Pashtun prayer to Allah in the Rose Garden on Saturday).
But Stewart seemed particularly perplexed by President Obama’s delusion that the American people would welcome Bergdahl back with open arms.
“You know what, fine,” he said. “It’s a difficult story, it’s complex, we don’t need to make a big deal out of this. It’s not like the administration is gonna make a big Rose Garden announcement, bring out the guy’s parents with one of them ‘I killed bin Laden again!’ moments.”
“You know that’s not gonna –” he continued, before halting and putting a hand to his earpiece. “Really? They f****** did that? Ok,” he said, burying his head in his hands.
The show cut to a clip from Obama’s Saturday Rose Garden press conference with the Bergdahls. “Bob, Jannie,” Obama said at the time. “Today, families across America share in the joy that I know you feel.”
“Oh shit,” Stewart lamented.
