Colbert examines Rupert Murdoch's deposition, DeSantis's book, and Sedition Panda's arrest

I haven't embedded a Stephen Colbert monologue since Colbert on the pandemic, George Santos, Stormy Daniels, and missing monkeys a full month ago, so it's time I did. Watch Stephen as he opens with his own take on the Fox News-Dominion lawsuit in Murdoch Admits Fox Lied For Money | Factchecking DeSantis’ Dull Book | FBI Nabs Sedition Panda.

Fox News chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted under oath that election lies were knowingly endorsed by hosts including Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo. Elsewhere, Florida’s governor released an exceptionally stupid book, and the feds finally caught up with a costumed Jan 6 insurrectionist.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling what I first wrote in 2011, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­. My experience has convinced me that the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent." I'm also recycling what I wrote yesterday: "Telling the Fox News audience a truth they didn't want to hear messed with their entertainment, they reacted to get it back, and Fox gave it back to them." That turned out to be "good business" in the short term, but the lawsuit shows that might not have been such a smart decision in the longer term.

Stephen gave Ron DeSantis's book exactly the respect it deserved — none. I think his response to DeSantis calling Florida a "beachhead of sanity" "where woke ideology goes to die" is right on: "Florida is a madhouse of doubtful sanity where everyone goes to die." Well, everyone except those who retire to Arizona. As I wrote last year, "Colbert calling Arizona 'America's backup Florida' isn't far off. There are lots of snowbirds and retirees there, just like Florida."

What I most looked forward to about this segment was Stephen commenting on DeSantis signing the replacement for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government. I hope Santis pukes in the tea cups the next time he visits The Magic Kingdom.

Speaking of people from Florida walking around in costume, I have two reactions to the arrest of "Sedition Panda" in meme form.



Yes, it's been too long since I shared a Colbert video here, although I embedded a "Tooning Out the News" video in Closer looks at the State of the Union Address from Seth Meyers, Tooning Out the News, and FiveThirtyEight, so I didn't ignore his show's content completely during the past four weeks, but that's not the same. I missed him and my page views did, too.