As the world prepares for a long, dark state of mourning ahead of Jon Stewart's final Daily Show on August 6, President Barack Obama is readying a much more proactive approach to Stewart's impending (semi?) retirement. "I can’t believe that you’re leaving before me,” Obama told Stewart during his final Daily Show appearance on Tuesday. “I’m going to issue an executive order: Jon Stewart cannot leave the show."
Well-played jokes notwithstanding, Stewart's line of questioning nicely walked the line between graciousness and genuine concern for the issues facing subsequent administrations. Chief among those issues, of course, is the undeniable severity of climate change's continued stronghold on the future of our planet. "We doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars, increased solar power by 20 times, and now we've got a Paris conference on climate change coming up later this year," Obama told Stewart's audience. "If we can get China and India [and] some of the other big countries to take a look at what we've already done, and finally get something global, [that] would start addressing [the issue of global warming]."
Obama also spoke candidly on the future's role for Millennials, firmly rebuking the unfortunate notion that young people are "too cynical or ironic" as universally false. "We have to give them pathways to get them involved," Obama said, briefly trading ideas with Stewart regarding the possible need for an effort aimed at increasing the country's sense of "shared sacrifice."
Elsewhere, Obama expressed sly joy at the current state of Republican affairs — a perplexing sideshow currently fighting off the stench of its own ringleader, Donald "The Troll" Trump. For the full interview, including a lengthy online exclusive, head here.
