Overview
On a recent research trip Down Under, The Daily Show reporter and comedian John Oliver interviewed ex-Prime Minister John Howard regarding the gun reform laws he successfully instated during his leadership term in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. In a discussion that followed with right-wing American gun lobbyist Philip van Cleave, Oliver pointed to the success of Howard’s policy as a rebuttal to Cleave’s infuriating, repeated insistence that "gun control laws just don't work".
With that old American worldliness, Cleave answers by likening Australia to a mythical "Planet X", with an operating system that cannot be seen as indicative of America's "real world" with "human beings". Much like the ninny at a dinner party who chastises vegetarians for wearing leather shoes, Cleave goes on to argue that where Australia might not have mass shootings, it still suffers from murders, rapes and robberies. Touché.
In short, he makes Howard look like the second coming, which is no easy feat. Although life isn't always peachy on Planet X, we're grateful for the small things, like not living in America. Whoop-de-doo!
