Last night the late-night talk shows all addressed this weekend’s Orlando shooting, with solemn, sincere and thoughtful ruminations on the latest in a terrifying series of tragedies. Conan, Colbert, Fallon and the rest were all very tasteful and respectful and said words that needed to be said. Samantha Bee also said words that need to be said on last night’s Full Frontal, but with a much different tone: full of justified anger, she ran down the idiocy of America’s gun laws and the power the NRA has over Congress with the kind of articulate, hilarious, righteous indignation that this depressing situation deserves.
It’s absurd that the shooter in Orlando was able to legally buy those guns despite having been on a terrorist watch list and despite being interviewed by the FBI on two different occasions. (It’s absurd that guns like the AR-15 are legally purchasable by anybody.) It’s depressing that the reaction of so many politicians who stand in the way of gun control or who demonize the gay population was to offer “thoughts and prayers” and focus solely on the shooter’s identification with terrorism, while refusing to even acknowledge other causes that might have influenced and enabled his acts. It’s criminal that our elected officials can’t even begin to have a serious debate about this due to either payouts from the NRA or fear of being publicly savaged by various pro-gun lobbyist groups and in-the-bag right-wing media outlets.
Bee’s not a politician. She’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind, and she’s now angry enough to not hold back. Watch her sad, funny and powerful segment above, and then get ready to watch it again the next time this happens, and again after that.