Stewart Fact-Checks Obama's 'Tyranny'

The GOP is in a tizzy over President Obama's gun-control plan, with some on the right accusing him of tyranny. Well, that's going a little far, said Jon Stewart on last night's Daily Show: "When tyrants want something done, they generally don't ask their legislative bodies if that would be OK. They tend to proceed ... tyrannically." Of course, folks like Sean Hannity would oppose any executive "overreach," right? Cue clip of Hannity backing President Bush on warrantless wiretapping.

"Looks like a tyrant is anyone sworn to protect the constitution that you didn't vote for," Stewart said. As for people who are comparing Obama to dictators throughout history—and say, for example, that if Jews had had guns, the Holocaust might have been averted: "I wish armed Jews in the ghetto could stop Hitler. But my feeling was, France couldn't, and I'm pretty sure they had guns. Russia had kind of a lot of guns, but they couldn't stop Hitler—until you factored in the wind chill." Seems people are confusing "tyranny with the unpleasant burning sensation of losing democratic elections." (More Jon Stewart stories.)