The April 1, 2013 episode of the Daily Show focuses on President Obama’s efforts to close Guantanamo Bay, Senator Ted Cruise, and former Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s new book.
The episode opens with Jon Stewart discussing President Barak Obama’s, then Senator Obama, campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay. Stewart, acting like the promise were a marriage engagement, says that if Obama had been serious he would set a date. In 2009, he did set a date of a year later. After that year passed, Obama’s message changed in two slight changes. The first, it went from “I” will do it, to “we”. Second, he added “make no mistake”, which is a phrase, Stewart says, which is almost exclusively used by super villains who have just been severely beaten. He then introduces the Limbo Update, but instead of a purgatory image it is the game limbo at a luau. Stewart then explains Obama’s excuse as to why the prison is still open which is that Congress gets in the way. Congress did prevent many things, but it gave the administration the ability to give waivers to prisoners when certain security measures were met. About half of the detainees meet these qualifications, but the administration has never used one of those waivers.
In the second segment, Stewart discusses Senator Ted Cruise (R – Texas) and describes why is currently called the most hated man in Congress. Cruise has managed to anger both the Republicans and the Democrats. One Democrat senator called him condescending and Senator John McCain called him a whacko bird. Cruise is known for promoting theories about how the government, specifically Obama’s administration, wants to take over everything. One of his most resent statements is that background checks on gun purchases are going to lead to a national database of gun owners. Stewart asks what is the next logical thing for Cruise to do, since he is so disliked. Run for president, of course! The one possible problem with that run is that Cruise was born in Canada. When asked if that would prevent him from running, Cruise said that is for others to determine. Stewart suggests Donald Trump, since he did such a great job investigating Obama’s eligibility.
The guest for this episode was former senator Kay Baily Hutchinson(R- Texas) promoting her new book, Unflinching Courage: Pioneering Women Who Shaped Texas. Stewart and Hutchinson discuss a range of topics. They start by talking about the women in the book and one particular story of a woman who chose to stay on an island alone with her baby while she waited for her husband to return. They also discuss the reasons why Texans seem to view themselves as separate from the rest of the state and Hutchinson relates that to Texas’ history of being separate or separating itself from the governing bodies around it. Finally, they talk about Cruise, Hutchinson’s replacement in Congress, and Congress’ inability to work together. Hutchinson says she does not miss a minute of her time in office and right now is the hardest time to be in Congress.