Jon Stewart had an exceptional performance at the Patrick Gymnasium this past Saturday, he waded into a number of sensitive and emotionally charged issues with his usual sense of wit and irreverance
From The Burlington Free Press
Jon Stewart, the iconic media critic and political satirist from television’s "The Daily Show," had a sold-out crowd howling Saturday night at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium — and mined Vermont’s marriage-rights debate for material.
True to form, he waded into an emotionally charged issue (and one sharply debated in the Legislature) with healthy doses of absurdist logic.
"I can understand being against gay marriage — if they decided to make it mandatory," he said. "This isn’t a cultural divide: They’re wrong."
Other highlights from the show include:
The so-called "gay agenda" that social conservatives allege subverts family values got this treatment:
"Here’s the gay agenda," he said. "They’d like to get married ... and fight in the military and march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade."
Those who quote biblical proscriptions against homosexuality in the Book of Leviticus, he continued, should reasonably be expected to adhere to the book’s taboo on eating shellfish.
"Why aren’t we shutting down the Red Lobsters?" he asked.
Which was a very clever viewpoint I'd never heard expressed before. There are a lot of crazy 'thou shalt nots' in the bible that most people just forget over time. Stewart also laid into the governor's recent proclaimation that he will veto the gay marriage proposal in Vermont if it reaches his desk:
Stewart made a disparaging, off-color remark about the governor.
Then he paused.
"Is he here tonight?" he asked.