september 11

Jon Stewart’s Takedown of GOP Opposition to the Zadroga Bill Is Practically Operatic

So guess what, Republicans? Here’s the deal: Your ‘We’re the only party who understands 9/11 and its repercussions’ monopoly ends now!” Jon Stewart declared last night, after Republicans failed to vote down a filibuster of the Zadroga Bill, which provides aid to 9/11 first responders suffering from related health problems. “So no more co-opting 9/11 imagery to get yourselves elected,” he added. “No more using 9/11 as the date when magically all your policies became right. No more using 9/11 to micromanage Manhattan zoning decisions. No using 9/11 as an excuse for why your Bush tax cuts never stimulated the economy in the first place.” It goes on and on. But the pièce de résistance was a video montage “honoring” the Republican senators who have issued thanks to the first responders from the Senate floor — followed by clips of each and every one of them voting against debate over the Zadroga Bill. The overlay of the swelling tones of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” will nearly give you goose bumps.

Jon Stewart’s Takedown of GOP Opposition to the Zadroga Bill Is Practically Operatic