{"id":2531262,"date":"2026-01-07T21:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-jon-stewart-just-nailed-mark-kelly-twice-in-60-seconds-on-illegal-orders-video\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:42:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:42:52","slug":"watch-jon-stewart-just-nailed-mark-kelly-twice-in-60-seconds-on-illegal-orders-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-jon-stewart-just-nailed-mark-kelly-twice-in-60-seconds-on-illegal-orders-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: Jon Stewart Just Nailed Mark Kelly Twice in 60 Seconds on &#8216;Illegal Orders&#8217; Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-jon-stewart-just-nailed-mark-kelly-twice-in-60-seconds-on-illegal-orders-video%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2531262&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece mourns the decline of classical liberals who applied consistent moral and legal standards nonetheless of party, and contrasts them with what the author calls modern leftists.It highlights jon Stewart (and Bill Maher) as rare contemporary examples of that older liberal tradition, recounting Stewart&#8217;s interview with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in which Stewart pressed Kelly on the legality of recent U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cooperative-interstate-effort-prepares-three-young-manatees-for-a-second-chance-in-the-wild\/\" title=\"Interstate cooperation readies 3 manatees for wild release.\">boat strikes<\/a> and reminded him of Obama-era extrajudicial drone killings. Kelly&#8217;s halting response is presented as evidence that many Democrats now focus on criticizing partisan outcomes rather than defending enduring principles. The author&#8217;s central point is that the left has largely forgotten how to argue in good faith and that honest, principled liberals are missed as they would at least answer uncomfortable questions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>As odd as it is to write this out, I miss honest-to-goodness liberals.<\/p>\n<p>Before you close this story in disgust, bear with me. True, actual liberals are the ones who used to champion, &ldquo;I disagree with what you have to say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>There used to be a level of conviction and intellectual honesty among liberals, where, even when you disagreed with them, you could at least have an intelligible conversation with them.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the vile leftists that eventually spawned from classical liberalism? I could do without them seven days a week, and twice on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p>Comedian-turned-faux-news-host Jon Stewart, for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/lib-host-jon-stewart-overvalued-home-829-saying-trump-civil-case-not-victimless\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">all of his warts<\/a>, is about as close to classical liberalism as you&rsquo;ll find in the mainstream these days.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>(He and Bill Maher may be the last of a dying breed.)<\/p>\n<p>Case in point: Whether he meant to or not, Stewart caught leftist Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly rather flat-footed with a pair of barbed points that the Democratic senator simply did not know how to answer during Monday&rsquo;s appearance on &ldquo;The Daily Show.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Check it out for yourself below:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>WARNING: The following clip features content that viewers may find offensive<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fsI9ml9oF_s?si=YNT04Y4wmJnhczas&amp;start=613\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As is often the case on &ldquo;The Daily Show,&rdquo; the show ended with a one-on-one interview with Stewart, and Kelly came on to thump his chest about a variety of topics &mdash; most of which were hyper-critical of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly wanted to make the point that the military <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mark-kelly-gives-cnn-rambling-response-asked-troops-captured-maduro-disobeyed-orders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">should defy<\/a> the commander in chief when they felt that orders were illegal, a point often repeated by fellow Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, Trump&rsquo;s ongoing war with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/late-breaking-video-trump-takes-big-batch-narco-terrorists-highly-effective-3-boat-strike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">narcotics-transporting boats<\/a> was broached as part of that conversation, and Stewart pressed Kelly with a rather simple question.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So are the boat strikes illegal?&rdquo; Stewart asked Kelly.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, so, I&rsquo;ve been asking this question for a long time,&rdquo; Kelly hemmed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m on the Armed Services and the Intelligence Committee. They have some <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >complicated legal rationale &#038;mdash<\/a>; 40 pages &mdash; of why these are legal.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s questionable, at best.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s a lot of words to say, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; Mr. Senator.<\/p>\n<p>But if that wasn&rsquo;t embarrassing enough, Stewart tripped up Kelly even worse when he brought up the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nobel-peace-prize-the-most-controversial-winners\/\" title=\"Nobel Peace Prize: The Most Controversial Winners\">extrajudicial killings<\/a>&rdquo; of Americans under the regime of former President Barack Obama between 2011 and 2015 just a minute later.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Under the Obama administration, they did <a href=\"https:\/\/mwi.westpoint.edu\/ten-years-after-the-al-awlaki-killing-a-reckoning-for-the-united-states-drones-wars-awaits\/#:~:text=On%20September%2030%2C%202011%2C%20a,prospects%20of%20its%20drone%20wars.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">extrajudicial killings<\/a> of American citizens through drone strikes &mdash; like, we criticized that &mdash; but that&rsquo;s, my point is, there&rsquo;s enough gray area in some of these actions,&rdquo; Stewart said.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, Kelly went dead still, and Stewart just rambled on for another minute.<\/p>\n<p>And that response &mdash; or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevada-gop-condemns-deplorable-43-foot-nude-trump-statue-hanging-by-highway-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Nevada GOP condemns \u2018deplorable\u2019 43-foot nude Trump statue hanging by highway - Washington Examiner\">lack thereof &#038;mdash<\/a>; is the point.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart wasn&rsquo;t grandstanding or protecting Trump; he was doing what liberals used to do instinctively: applying the same moral and legal standards, regardless of whose team was in power.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly didn&rsquo;t freeze because the question was unfair. He froze because modern Democratic politics has trained its leaders to criticize outcomes, not principles &mdash; and often only when the outcomes involve Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s why figures like Stewart and Maher stand out now &mdash; not because they&rsquo;re perfect, but because they still remember how to argue in good faith.<\/p>\n<p>They remember that &ldquo;gray areas&rdquo; don&rsquo;t magically appear or disappear based on party labels.<\/p>\n<p>If Democrats can&rsquo;t even acknowledge the uncomfortable parallels between Trump&rsquo;s actions and Obama&rsquo;s without short-circuiting, then the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-finally-admit-biden-poses-grave-danger-to-country\/\" title=\"Media Finally Admit Biden Poses Grave Danger To Country\">problem isn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t conservatism. The far grander problem is that the left has forgotten how to think without a script.<\/p>\n<p>And that&rsquo;s why, strange as it sounds, honest liberals are missed: not because they always got it right, but because they were at least willing to answer the question.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I miss principled liberals who defend free speech<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2531263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Kelly-vs-Stewart.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[67483,33245,35898,33930],"class_list":["post-2531262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-illegal-orders","tag-jon-stewart","tag-mark-kelly","tag-political-satire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Kelly-vs-Stewart.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2531266,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531262\/revisions\/2531266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2531263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2531262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2531262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}