Yahoo! News asks 'How does the 25th Amendment work?' A Veep Day special

Happy National Veep Day! Last year, I celebrated with A History of the US Vice Presidency for Veep Day. This year, I'm looking forward to something that hasn't happened, but definitely could, the Vice President invoking the 25th Amendment. Watch Yahoo! News ask and answer How does the 25th Amendment work?

In the wake of the violent raid on Congress by pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday, there's speculation that Vice President Pence, along with heads of executive departments, will invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to temporarily remove the president from power. Harold Hongju Koh, professor of international law at Yale Law School and co-author of a reader's guide to the 25th Amendment, explains how this unprecedented action might play out.

Inside Edition added another detail when it asked What Is the 25th Amendment?

Demands mounted Thursday from lawmakers, business leaders and former government officials for the immediate removal of President Trump after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack that left four people dead. Many have called for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. So what is the 25th Amendment? Here's a synopsis of the constitutional provision that allows for the president's removal under certain circumstances.

I found Margaret Brennan saying "a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate would have to be on board with doing so" ambiguous — two-thirds to sustain the President's objection or two-thirds to keep him out of office? Here's the text of Section 4 from the National Constitution Center.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

It would be two-thirds to keep him out. That's a high hurdle for this to succeed. I don't think Congress can jump that high right now. I don't even think Vice President Vance can get eight members of the current Cabinet on board. A President Vance could get more competent Cabinet secretaries than Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump was able to, at least during his second term. Also, should an attempt fail, Hoover Cleveland would replace anyone who voted for him to be removed. It's bad for their careers either way.

Besides, Vance invoking the 25th Amendment might result in a cure worse than the disease, as Katie Phang pointed out in Trump, Vance and the 25th Amendment.

78-year-old Donald Trump, who has survived two alleged assassination attempts in the past three months, would end his second term as the oldest person ever to serve as President of the United States. Katie Phang explains the reality of what could happen in the event of an emergency where Trump becomes incapacitated or dies and JD Vance could become president of the United States.

True, Vance would be less erratic (mercurial would be a polite way of saying it) and not driven by Hoover Cleveland's obsessions with tariffs, grifts, and revenge, but he'd be more likely to implement the parts of Project 2025 that Hoover Cleveland hasn't yet. He'd also be more under the influence of Palantir founder Peter Thiel, his pet bad philosopher Curtis Yarvin, and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. They're the sources of what I called "cyberpunk villain ideas straight out of Snow Crash..." Vance can certainly learn new tricks, but I worry about the ones Thiel, Yarvin, and Karp could teach him. They might be worse.

Enough DOOM. Stay tuned for the winners of the Super Awards as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Speaker Mike Johnson pays President Joe Biden a Halloween visit in SNL's cold open

I was already looking forward to tonight's episode of Saturday Night Live in 'SNL' satirizes Jim Jordan's losing bid for Speaker.

SNL will return on October 28th for a Halloween episode with Nate Bargatze hosting. I'm looking forward to it, as last year's Halloween episode spawned two posts. I should be so lucky this year.

Biden Halloween Cold Open certainly lived up to my expectations.

President Joe Biden (Mikey Day) delivers a Halloween message with the help of House speaker Mike Johnson (Michael Longfellow) and the spirit of Halloween (Christopher Walken).

All Christopher Walken needed was more cowbell. Also, Mike who? It's too bad we're going to find out, as his election provided part of the headline for Weekend Update: Mike Johnson Elected as House Speaker, Trump Testifies in Civil Fraud Trial.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Michael Cohen testifying against Trump in his civil fraud trial.

I was rooting for Elise Stefanik because she already had a label, so I'm a bit disappointed that didn't happen. Now that Johnson is Speaker, I'm repurposing the Liar for Jesus label, which I created for my former Representative Tim Walberg and last used in 2015, for Johnson. I expect him to live down to the epithet and I probably won't be disappointed.

I was a bit disappointed, but not terribly surprised, to learn that Mike Pence had dropped out. I was hoping to have more laughs at his expense before he figured out that he wasn't going to beat the former guy. Now he isn't going to beat Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley, either. Darn.

Speaking of TFG, I thought the depiction of him and Michael Cohen in conflict as rats fighting to be funny and fitting, if a bit unfair to rats and maybe Cohen. Weekend Updated missed TFG's reaction to Ivanka being called to testify, which the New York Daily News via Yahoo! Finance reported as Trump attacks 'unhinged judge' for requiring Ivanka to testify in New York fraud trial. This was after Judge Arthur Engoron fined TFG twice for violating the gag order. How much will the next fine be?

I've been refraining from mentioning Mitch McConnell's health problems, but I sincerely hope he's right that he's recovered. That written, I could see the Weekend at Bernie joke coming a mile away.

Enough politics. Follow over the jump for the clips that qualify today's entry as the Sunday entertainment feature.

MSNBC and FiveThirtyEight react to the second Republican debate

"I'm just not feeling that last one this cycle, so I might skip it." That's what I wrote twice about Wednesday night's Republican debate. I changed my mind yesterday, so I'm covering it for the last post of September*. I begin with MSNBC's Political analysts say GOP debate was ‘an absolute crap show,’ with ‘no joy’ and ‘negative populism’.

In the second GOP primary debate, Republican Presidential hopefuls fought for second place behind frontrunner former President Donald Trump, who stole the show even though he did not attend. Andrea Mitchell is joined by John Kasich, Robert Gibbs and Michael Steele to discuss main takeaways from the debate. “Last night was an absolute crap show. It was nonsense. There was nothing redeeming about it,” Steele says. “There just seemed to be no joy last night,” Kasich adds. “What Donald Trump has brought on the Republican Party is this negative populism.”

Note that Steele and Kasich, whose disparaging remarks MSNBC quoted in the video description, are Republicans. They are neither liberals nor Democrats throwing rotten tomatoes at the candidates on the debate stage or their party.

Speaking of throwing rotten tomatoes at people on the debate stage, my reaction to Nikki Haley telling Vivek Ramaswamy "Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber from what you say" was "Hey, that's my line!" It's what I think every time I hear Jim "Coach Gym" Jordan; he makes me feel stupider just listening to him. I'm not sure I'd say the same thing about Ramaswamy, but he does annoy me.

Haley's barb became a topic of discussion in It's Now Or Never For The GOP Candidates | FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.

The crew reacts to the second Republican presidential primary debate in this late night podcast.

Galen Druke, Geoffrey Skelly, and Leah Askarinam, who I don't recall seeing before, all thought this was a spontaneous outburst of aggravation, not a prepared line. I think it turned out to be the line of the night. They also seemed to agree that the former guy won while not debating, while Skelly thought Ron DeSantis remained in the lead among those on stage. Galen thought Haley had a good night. The poll FiveThirtyEight took says both did well. The share of respondents saying they'd would consider voting for DeSantis went up slightly and kept him in second behind TFG. The number of participants responding that they would consider voting for Haley went up even more, keeping her solidly in third. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy remained in fourth, but he lost support after the debate. Looks like Haley's punch landed.

I'm continuing with FiveThirtyEight for the final video of the month, Voters React To The 2nd GOP Debate | FiveThirtyEight.

Galen Druke explored what voters think about Republican presidential candidates after the second GOP debate in Simi Valley, California.

The voters liked Haley, but when push comes to shove, they'll vote for Trump. Sigh.

That's it for September's blogging. Stay tuned for a celebration of Wester as the first post of October.

*What I'm not feeling is making graphics for the candidates' VoteView and On The Issues ideological scores, finding a drinking game, and selecting drinks for the candidates. I'm sure I'll get around to the first by the next debate. I already have an idea for the first post in that series, graphics for DeSantis and Mike Pence from Voteview; I already have one for Pence and promised to make one for DeSantis, so it's half-written.

Colbert's studio audience gave a standing ovation when told about Trump's indictment; Kimmel's was just as loud

Happy Flashback Friday! Before I begin today's retrospective, I'm sharing Stephen Colbert's monologue about yesterday's big political news, T**** Indicted! | Disney Strips Power From DeSantis’ Oversight Board | Boebert Gets Weird.

A New York grand jury voted to indict the former president, while his Florida rival is traveling the country hunting for campaign cash, and Rep. Lauren Boebert appears fixated on public urination.

The chyron to the Colbert video I featured in Colbert and Meyers return from a week off to take closer looks at the rally in Waco and waiting for an indictment read "Arrest is yet to come." That's even more true now than it was at the beginning of the week, although it really will be a negotiated surrender, not an actual arrest; as much as my readers and I would like to see The Former Guy take a perp walk, it's not going to happen unless he changes his mind and refuses to surrender. Even that might not be enough, as Ron DeSantis has said he would not assist in any extradition. Speaking of DeSantis, Stephen's impression of Goofy's reaction to Disney subverting DeSantis's replacement for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government was exactly the same as mine: "You got played!" Yes, he did.

Seth Meyers had more to say about the last topic of Colbert's monologue in Boebert Humiliated Over "Public Urination" Fixation; Trump Wants to Bomb Mexico: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Republican congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene's latest bizarre fixations and Donald Trump asking aides to draw up "battle plans" to attack Mexico if he's re-elected president.

Tonight's episode was taped prior to the news that Donald Trump was indicted by a New York Grand Jury.

"And I do mean moron" was exactly the right transition for this sketch. Returning to Stephen's joke about Einstein, not only the definition of insanity misattributed to him, "doing the same thing and expecting a different result," but also another questionable quote attributed to him, "Two things are infinite, as far as we know – the universe and human stupidity." The universe is immense, but it's not really infinite. On the other hand, Boebert is displaying an extension of human stupidity. She didn't do her research because she had committed to the narrative and didn't want to be confused by the facts. Also, this whole affair serves as another good argument for D.C. statehood.

Returning to the original topic, Jimmy Kimmel's monologue last night opened with Donald Trump INDICTED by Manhattan Grand Jury.

The day that many of us thought would never come has finally arrived as Donald Trump was indicted by the Manhattan Grand Jury for his role in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Trump “truthed” a statement lashing out, now that he has been indicted he has no choice but to turn himself in for processing, Donald Trump Jr. jumped in with a special edition of his podcast to lament and fight back against the long arm of the law, Ivanka has vowed to stay out of all of this, when the news came in Fox was busy whining about Trans athletes in college sports, we got more insight into what went down at Fox News after the election, George Santos answered a bunch of questions on Fox News and he also has a great new product available.

Colbert's audience gave the announcement a standing ovation. Kimmel's gave their standing ovation at the beginning of the monologue, but were just as loud and enthusiastic at Kimmel announcing the news while remaining seated. Two hours plus being composed of Angelenos instead of New Yorkers might have made the difference.

That's as close to a perp walk as we're going to see. Also, "jail to the chief" is a great line, but it's going to be a while. I expect he'll be sentenced to house arrest in Trump Tower with the Secret Service as his guards, at least for this set of crimes. He might get a more severe punishment if he's indicted and convicted for crimes in Georgia and Washington, D.C. As for the other Republican politician being lampooned, I'm repeating what I wrote most recently in Randy Rainbow sings 'Life's a (bleep)ing Fantasy for Santos' on Flashback Friday: "My prediction that, as long as George Santos remains in the news, he will be an inspiration for comedy continues to come true."

No post of mine about TFG's criminal behavior would be complete without a mention of January 6th, so I'm returning to Stephen's monologue related to that, Pence Ordered to Testify | School Bans Dolly Parton’s “Rainbowland” | Gwyneth’s Rectal Ozone Therapy.

Forcing former VP Pence to testify about the Jan 6th insurrection is good for the country, unlike banning kids from singing Dolly Parton songs or copying Gwyneth Paltrow by getting ozone gas blown up where the sun doesn't shine.

I'll wait to see what effect Vice President Pence's testimony has on the investigation. In the meantime, follow over the jump for the top posts about the January 6th insurrection and the investigation into it.

'SNL' searches for comedy in classified documents

Happy Sunday! "Saturday Night Live" opened their show last night by making fun of the problem with classified documents, among other things, in Classified Press Conference Cold Open.

Attorney General Merrick Garland (Mikey Day) and FBI agents (Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang) give a press briefing on their search for more classified documents.

Believe it or not, this is only the second time I've mentioned Attorney General Merrick Garland on this blog, the first time being Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Biden documents, gas stoves, Trump investigations, and George Santos two weeks ago. The man's been in the news on and off since 2016, when then-President Obama nominated him to replace Antonin Scalia, only to have "Grim Reaper" Mitch McConnell refuse to hold hearings to confirm him. I guess I was too confident in Hillary Clinton winning in 2016 so he could be confirmed. Instead, The Former Guy won, so he nominated and the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch instead. Sigh. At least SNL found a way to make Garland funny so he receives the attention he deserves.

The episode continued examining classified documents in Weekend Update: Trump's Facebook Reinstated, George Santos Admits to Dressing in Drag.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Mike Pence saying he is "ready and willing to fully cooperate" with any questions about the classified documents found in his home.

Not only did both the cold open and this first segment of Weekend Update focus on the search for classified documents, both made fun of former Vice President Mike Pence. He should take that as a compliment of sorts, as Pence is relatively boring otherwise. I've only been blogging about him lately when he gets sucked into someone else's scandals. As Rick Wilson wrote, "Everything Trump touches dies."

Speaking of whom, TFG returning to Facebook and Twitter is a reversal of his 2021 bans. Just like Jost, I think it will work out as well as reopening Jurassic Park, a spectacular and entertaining disaster.

While Bowen Yang didn't return to play George Santos, Weekend Update did mention him, proving my prediction that he will be a great inspiration for comedy as long as he stays in the news.

Both the Ticketmaster hearings and the closing of Splash Mountain at Disney World qualify this entry as the Sunday entertainment feature. Both news items tie into 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." Both Ticketmaster and Disney messed with (some) Americans' entertainment, although I'm more sympathetic with the Swifties than those complaining about Splash Mountain. The former are reacting to a monopoly, while the latter strike me as a bit selfish and insensitive. Besides, I think it's about time that "The Princess and the Frog" gets its own attraction, while "Song of the South" was dated even when the ride opened in 1989.*

Follow over the jump for two more clips from last night's show.

CNN takes 'A look at the aftermath of the Jan 6 insurrection two years later'

I'm not done with the second anniversary of 2021's attempted self-coup.* Watch A look at the aftermath of the Jan 6 insurrection two years later from CNN.

CNN’s Randi Kaye gives a look at the events after the January 6th attack, and the most critical moments from the investigation in the two years since.

This retrospective deals as much with the progress and findings of the January 6th Committee hearings as the insurrection itself. I will be writing about those in the spring, as the four posts I linked to are currently among the most read during the twelfth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News. In the meantime, I hope we learn from them and do something about the circumstances that led to the insurrection, although given Kevin "Pickled Tongue" McCarthy finally winning the Speakership after fifteen ballots, I doubt it will be because of federal legislation during the next two years. Sigh.

*I know I wrote "I'm going to take a break from this drama for an entertainment update on Saturday" at the end of Meyers and Colbert take closer looks at McCarthy's continuing 'Groundhog Day' of losing votes for Speaker, but I decided it would take more time than I wanted to spend today. Instead, I'm postponing that for Norther on Sunday. Stay tuned.

'SNL' opens by spoofing the last January 6th Committee hearing

I'm not done with comedians on this week's January 6th Committee hearing. Last night's "Saturday Night Live" began with Jan 6th Final Hearing Cold Open - SNL.

The January 6th committee (Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Andrew Dismukes, Michael Longfellow) gives their closing statements for the investigation of the attack on the Capitol.

"Big Dick Cheney energy" — on the one hand, LOL. On the other, I wrote "In Liz Cheney's case, she'd like her pre-2015 Republican Party back. I doubt she'll get it any time soon, so she'll settle for damaging TFG instead. I wish her luck." She'll need it.

Weekend Update followed up by opening with Weekend Update: Trump's 14-Page Response to Jan. 6 Subpoena, Kanye West's Anti-Semitic Tweets - SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a newly released video of a phone call between Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence during the January 6 insurrection.

That's a surprisingly more dignified take on Trump's response than CNN's John Avlon, who called it "vomit." As for Herschel Walker's stunt with what looks like a fake police badge, that looked like an "SNL" skit, so the show couldn't top it by re-enacting it.

The segment continued with Weekend Update: Congressional Candidate Stars in Own Sex Tape, Meth-Filled Pumpkins - SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a doctor removing nearly two dozen contact lenses from a patient's eyes.

I had to look up Mikhail Itkis to find out that he is an actual candidate and this is a real story. I think Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic incumbent, has nothing to fear from Itkis.

I close with Squirrel Awareness Month - October from National Day Calendar for Wester, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Autumnal Equinox, which has a squirrel for a mascot.

Squirrel Awareness Month is an annual designation observed in October. Yes, you read that right. A whole month dedicated to giving those furry, quirky little creatures a little appreciation. It’s a time to look around at a local park, or even right outside your window, and giggle at the silly mannerisms of squirrels.

They may come off as a little mischievous and troublesome when they get into the bird feeders or even your attic, but you may not realize why they do what they do. Squirrels spend most of the warmer months gearing up for winter. Here’s the craziest part: experts estimate that squirrels find and bury three years of food during the warm months! They don’t hibernate during the winter, but they do like to stay cozy in their dens so they can sleep and snack until it warms up again.

Happy Squirrel Awareness Month and Happy Wester! May the Wester Squirrel not steal anything from you and hide it!

Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel on the third day of the January 6th Committee hearings

I told my readers "The third day of the January 6th Committee hearings are on as I write this. Stay tuned for reactions to that tomorrow" at the end of PBS Terra's 'Weathered' asks 'Do You Need a Gun to Survive the Next Disaster?' I begin with Stephen Colbert's monologue Mike Pence Was 40 Feet From The Jan. 6 Mob | T****'s Lawyers Knew Overturning Election Was A Crime.

John Eastman and the rest of the lawyers advising the former president knew that his plan to overturn the election was a crime, and today's Jan. 6th Committee hearing revealed that the insurrectionist mob got alarmingly close to getting their hands on VP Mike Pence that day.

Hearing and seeing all this actually makes me feel sorry for former Vice President Mike Pence and not feel sorry about feeling sorry. That's quite an achievement on the part of the committee.

Seth Meyers took a deeper dive into the hearing in Jan. 6 Hearing Reveals Trump and John Eastman Knew Their Plan Was Illegal: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the January 6 committee releasing new evidence that Trump and his lawyer John Eastman knew their plan to overturn the 2020 election would violate the law.

In addition to Seth and his writers, including his poor video editor Emily, finding a different selection of clips to feature than Colbert, that a surprising amount of material in yesterday's hearing already came out in "Peril" by Woodward and Costa. The same is true of Ginni Thomas's' texts. A lot of what the committee is presenting is not new, but organizing the facts into a coherent story is.

I close with Jimmy Kimmel's monologue Jan 6th Hearings Get Crazier, Trump Screams About Equal Time & Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Dumb Take.

We had another unbelievable day in Washington as the January 6th hearings are getting so crazy it’s hard to believe they aren’t scripted, we’ve been hearing a lot about the lawyer who was pushing Trump and Pence to short-circuit the certification of the votes, we are learning more about the heated phone call between Trump and Pence on the morning of the 6th, Donny was on Truth Social screaming about “equal time,” Georgia Representative Barry Loudermilk is under scrutiny for giving Trump Supporters a tour of the Capitol right before the insurrection, Garbagy Taylor Greene was outside during the hearings complaining that the criminals who broke into the Capitol are being treated like criminals, Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker is having a difficult week after being caught in a number of lies, Beyoncé is releasing a new album, and Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo is lending his voice to a new project with the folks at Disney+.

I thought using the Emmy-winning music from "Succession" for the "previously on 'Insurrection'" montage was inspired. I hope Jimmy Kimmel's writers do that again.

Finally, "Dikembe Mutombo is lending his voice to a new project with the folks at Disney+" reminds me of what I repeated in The history of 'May the Fourth be with you' for Star Wars Day.

As I wrote about CNN defending Big Bird after Ted Cruz called one of the character's tweets "Propaganda," "my readers should keep that relationship in mind when watching the clip above. It's not just news value that's driving it."

I'll have more about the hearings next week. In the meantime, stay tuned for a string of holiday posts, with Father's Day, Juneteenth, American Eagle Day, National Seashell Day, the Summer Solstice, World Giraffe Day, World Rainforest Day, and National Detroit-Style Pizza Day all on the agenda. As I've told my readers many times over the years, "I can't be all DOOM all the time!"

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others likely to be charged for roles in Flint Water Crisis

Two years ago, I observed that "The wheels of justice are grinding slowly in this case, but I expect they will indeed grind exceedingly fine" regarding the Flint Water Crisis. When Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud, and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy dismissed the criminal cases without prejudice, which means they could be refiled and the revised cases would be stronger, I added "If anything, they're grinding even slower than I expected, but also much finer." When prosecutors explained their action to residents of Flint in a town hall, I worried that "they can only grind so slowly because of the statute of limitations, which imposes a deadline nine months from now." That deadline passed almost a year ago, but either I was mistaken about the time limit or the statute of limitations didn't apply to all possible charges, because WNEM TV5 in Flint reported yesterday AP: Charges against Gov. Snyder, others likely.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder and other former state officials are likely to be charged in the Flint water probe, according to the Associated Press.

WNEM was vague about the likely defendants beyond former Governor Rick Snyder and former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, but WXYZ's Former Governor Snyder to face criminal charges in connection to Flint water crisis was not, naming names and showing faces.

Former Governor Rick Snyder and several other state officials will be facing criminal charges in connection with the Flint water crisis.

In addition to Snyder and Lyon, the reported defendants include Eden Wells, former chief medical executive at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Darnell Earley, former Emergency Manager for the City of Flint and Detroit Public Schools, and Gerald Ambrose, also a former Emergency Manager for the City of Flint. All of them were previously charged in the previous round of prosecutions brought by former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, about whose motives I expressed cynicism.

Schuette is a Republican, but he doesn't owe Snyder much in the way of favors. He's going to thread (sic — "tread" fits the metaphor better, but it's a common mixing of metaphors) a narrow path. On the one hand, he's going to use this to make enough of a show that he'll help himself look "independent" for a general election. He might even harm Snyder as long as it also hurts the current Lieutenant Governor, Brian Calley, helping himself in the primary. On the other hand, he doesn't want to hurt Snyder so badly that it makes him look disloyal to the GOP. He especially does not want to force Snyder from office. The last thing he wants is Calley as an incumbent Governor to run against in a primary. That will be quite a balancing act!

I think Schuette did exactly what I described in this case, which was to look tough and independent while not going directly after Snyder. It worked for him, as he became the Republican nominee, not Calley.

While the residents of Flint were worried that the likely defendants would never be brought to justice when the previous charges were dismissed, it looks like they have not escaped being "ground exceedingly fine," not yet.

The person who caught my attention most was Jarrod Agen, Snyder's former Chief of Staff, Vice President Mike Pence's former communications director, acting chief of staff, and deputy chief of staff, and current Vice President of Communications for Lockheed Martin. This scandal follows him to go beyond the state lines of Michigan to the highest levels of government and industry. When I write about the revolving door between industry and government, it's not just about Monsanto and regulation of the food supply.* It happens all throughout government, including defense and aerospace, as Agen's example demonstrates.

Follow over the jump for reactions to this news from activists and local politicians.

Meyers, Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, and Corden take closer looks at Trump facing impeachment — again — and being banned from social media

When I wrote Leslie Stahl interviews Nancy Pelosi on '60 Minutes' after the siege of the Capitol, I had a good idea of what I'd be writing today, telling my readers "I'm sure I'll have the late night talk show hosts take on this interview tomorrow." It turned out only one of them did, Late Night with Seth Meyers, where Seth included a clip in House Democrats Move to Impeach Trump for Insurrection: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the Republicans who incited the violent insurrection at the Capitol telling everyone it's "time to move on" after House Democrats unveiled a text of impeachment calling for the removal of President Trump through the 25th Amendment.

I'm going to paraphrase what I wrote about Stephen Colbert in Colbert, Kimmel, and Corden react to Trump's speech last night with derision and outrage plus a bonus Closer Look and recycled in Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers, Corden, and Fallon express outrage and offer comfort in response to yesterday's attempted self-coup; wow, Seth tell us how you really feel. Seriously, I've never seen him so pissed! I guess as more comes out about Wednesday's attempted self-coup, Seth and his writers have become more incensed than they were when he, Colbert, and Kimmel on called for Trump to resign or be removed by 25th Amendment or impeachment. Congress is doing its best to make that happen, although I suspect the best won't be good enough to get Trump out of office before next Wednesday the 20th at Noon.

Colbert himself remarked about his anger last Wednesday in The Terrorists Who Attacked Congress At The President's Direction Came Prepared To Kill.

Stephen didn't get a lot of sleep last weekend, as horrific scenes from last week's violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol played over and again in his head. It now appears clear that the armed mob, who were organized and cheered on by the president and his GOP backers in the House and Senate, came to the nation's capital prepared to commit acts of violence against members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence.

If Colbert had included a clip of the "60 Minutes" interview and mentioned impeachment in the description, I would have placed this video first; it's that great a take-down of not just soon to be ex-President Donald Trump but also his enablers, including Mike Pence, Republicans in Congress, and the rioters.

Jimmy Kimmel was just as outraged in Trump Booted from Twitter & Maybe the Presidency.

Trump is set to make history as the first U.S. President to get impeached twice, his relationship with VP Mike Pence is said to be on the rocks, Melania was reportedly doing a photoshoot during the attacks at the Capitol, we look back at Hillary Clinton’s warning during the 2016 election, the FBI made a statement that MAGA rioters may try to storm capitols in all 50 states, Trump got the boot from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Snapchat, the PGA has chosen not to hold their championship at his golf course in New Jersey, and after a Harvard research assistant noticed a correlation between angry reviews on the Yankee Candle website and COVID, Jimmy got in touch with their Vice President of Fragrance (Andy Daly) to see what’s been going on.

Once again, Kimmel has the most comprehensive video descriptions; every subject of his monologue merited a mention. In particular, I'm glad to see he gave Melania Trump's statement the attention it deserved and reminded his viewers that there is still a pandemic going on.

Follow over the jump for Fallon's and Corden's monologues, which handled the situation with a lighter touch, including more about Trump losing his Twitter account.

Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel on calls for Trump to resign or be removed by 25th Amendment or impeachment

I'm not done writing about Wednesday's attempted self-coup and neither are the late night talk show hosts. All of them made calls for Donald Trump to be removed early from office, whether by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, central subjects of their monologues.

I begin, as I did yesterday, with Stephen Colbert's monologue A Terrified President Throws His Riot Mob Under A Bus To Save His Neck (And Get Back On Twitter).

Facing threats of impeachment, and with calls for his resignation coming from even the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board, the president on Thursday released a video in which he unconvincingly condemned the insurrection he incited, and begrudgingly admitted that a new administration would take office following an orderly transition of power on January 20th.

I'm glad Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram locked Trump out of his accounts and Snapchat followed suit, so that's a total of four suspensions from social media.* That reduces his ability to inflame his supporters. It also means I don't have to see the people I follow on Twitter quote his tweets. I don't follow him and I don't want to read his tweets!

Seth Meyers had his own take in Calls For Trump’s Removal Grow After Violent Insurrection at Capitol: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at a majority of Republicans in the House and a handful of GOP senators tried to throw out the results of the presidential election even after a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol attempted to overthrow American democracy.

Seth's right, it is scary to hear the BBC report on Wednesday's violence. The accent alone makes the events sound even more serious and they were serious enough. On the other hand, hearing Rudy Guiliani leave a message on the wrong Senator's voicemail is so on-brand. The man is notorious for butt-dialing journalists when he's having a conversation that wasn't meant to be overheard.

Jimmy Kimmel Live asked Wait – Donald Trump is Unfit to Serve!?

Jimmy talks about yesterday’s horrible events at the U.S. Capitol, the end of Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump’s romance, an angry VP Mike Pence, resignations piling up within the administration, the possibility of the 25th amendment being invoked, people just now realizing that Trump is not fit to serve, Republicans floating the idea that ANTIFA infiltrated the attack mob, some of the people responsible for this, Trump finally releasing a statement agreeing to an “orderly transition,” and a whole new meaning to “The Snake” lyrics Trump read many times on the campaign trail as a metaphor to warn people about immigrants.

Kimmel had the best take-down of the conspiracy theory that Antifa infiltrated the protest. All the rioters pictured are definitely Trump supporters, not anti-Trump operatives. They're also entitled fools who didn't think anything would happen to them. The past two days are showing them wrong and I'm sure more consequences are coming their way. Finally, Trump had no idea how much he was telling on himself when he told that snake story.

I conclude by saying that, as much as I would like Trump removed through the 25th Amendment, Mike Pence's lack of action shows that likely won't happen. I guess impeachment it will be, that is if Congress comes back into session next week. Currently, they're not scheduled to return until the Inauguration. It will be a long two weeks.

*If he loses a fifth social media account, he'll be eligible for the Kenny McCormick Memorial Medal. If so, I'll be happy to give it to him.

'SNL' opens with Pence getting vaccinated then looks back at Trump's presidency

For the last time this year, I'm sharing clips from Saturday Night Live on a Sunday, beginning with Pence Gets the Vaccine Cold Open. Hi, Cornholio!

Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) and his wife Karen (Lauren Holt) receive the COVID-19 vaccine live on national television.

Oh, look, this sketch is like a "Christmas Carol" with three Vice Presidents, past, present, and future, onstage at once. Let's not forget the cameos by Rudy Giuliani and Ben Carson. No, Doctor Pyramid, no one will believe you were once a brain surgeon after the past five years. At least you were too boring to write about for the past four. Maybe if you had been handling the COVID-19 pandemic instead of Pence, things might have worked out better and people would accept that you still have "gifted hands." Nah, because Donald Trump would still have been a bad example and worse leader on the pandemic.

Speaking of the soon-to-be-ex-President, Weekend Update opened with A Look Back at Trump’s Presidency.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Barring a reverse Christmas miracle" — like a self-coup — "this is the last Weekend Update with Trump still in office." The cheer at the end of that line reminded me of the old Tonight Show skit where Ed McMahon would tell Johnny Carson as Karnak the Magnificent "I hold in my hand the last envelope," to which the audience would erupt in applause and Carson as Karnak would respond with a colorful insult in the form of a curse. I doubt Trump will be able to come up with anything as creative or funny in a retort, although he can always be more vicious.

Before I move on, I have this to say about the op-ed suggesting that Jill Biden not use Dr. Biden because she doesn't have an M.D. — go to Hell. As someone with a Ph.D. who worked hard to be called "Doctor," I fully support the future First Lady's right to be called Dr. Biden, even though she has an Ed.D., not a Ph.D. In fact, because of this controversy, I plan on making a Dr. Biden label for her.

Weekend Update had more to say about vaccines in Michael Che's Neighbor Willie on the COVID-19 Vaccine.

Michael Che's neighbor Willie stops by Weekend Update to discuss the coronavirus vaccine.

Micheal Che is right, none of that makes me feel better about the vaccines except that laughing at anything makes me feel better.

Weekend Update concluded with Weekend Update: Christmas Joke Swap 2020.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news and make each other read jokes they've never seen before live on air to close out 2020.

In case my readers don't get the joke about Scarlett Johansson, she's married to Colin Jost (lucky man!) and she's known for taking roles that people think should go to actors more representative of the role, so Che was making him tell an unflattering joke about his own wife. Now we know that he didn't look at that joke first!

That's it for "SNL" for the year and blogging for today. Off to correct more exams!

'SNL' satirizes the vice-presidential debate and puts the news in the context of Mental Health Awareness Week

I was planning on continuing my coverage of the Emmy Awards today, but I'm just not feeling it.* Instead, I'm being a good environmentalist and recycling the idea behind last week's 'SNL' lampoons the debate, Trump's COVID diagnosis, and Supreme Court nomination in season premiere after winning six Emmy Awards to use comedy to critique the vice-presidential Debate and the rest of last week's headlines. I begin with VP Fly Debate Cold Open.

Susan Page (Kate McKinnon) moderates a debate between Senator Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) and Vice President Mike Pence (Beck Bennett).

On the one hand, no Jeff Goldblum as "The Fly." On the other, I'm just as glad 'SNL' found a way to re-use Jim Carrey as Joe Biden for an impression of Goldblum and his characters. Also, I knew that Maya Rudolph would demonstrate why she deserved her Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy. Finally, the conclusion of this skit gave me an opportunity to say farewell to Herman Cain. It's been such a busy year that I just didn't see an opening to do so until now. May he rest in peace except when invoked in comedy like this.

Follow over the jump for clips about the rest of last week's news, including President Trump recovering from COVID-19 framed as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Jokes 'fly' as Colbert, Kimmel, and FiveThirtyEight critique the Vice-Presidential Debate

the Vice-Presidential debate was last night, it's time to do for it what I did for the Presidential Debate, have late-night comedians react to it. I begin with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert asking Like Flies On What? Stephen Colbert Goes LIVE After The Pence-Harris VP Debate.

Stephen Colbert goes LIVE with reactions to the high-stakes Vice Presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and VP Mike Pence, where both candidates dodged questions and a tiny uninvited guest ran away with the show.

Yes, fly jokes were the theme of last night's commentary. I couldn't resist making fly jokes myself, leaving the following comment on the video: "666 dislikes? Did I ever watch this video at an opportune moment when it comes to 'The Lord of the Flies!' Also, 'a younger country with bigger Alps' [than Germany] — Slovenia qualifies!"

Colbert continued commenting on the debate with his first guest, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who said of Pence, "He's Pretty Comfortable Telling A Total Lie" - Mayor Pete Buttigieg On Pence's Debate Performance.

After helping Sen. Kamala Harris prepare for the VP debate by playing Mike Pence, Mayor Pete Buttigieg offers insight about what it took to get into the mind of the vice president. Check out Mayor Pete's new book, "Trust: America's Best Chance."

I don't feel bad about making a fly joke after hearing Mayor Pete make one, too. He and Colbert got a lot more serious about both the debate and President Trump having COVID-19 and the disease spreading in the White House in the rest of the first half of the interview. The second half was not about the debate, so I'm moving on to Jimmy Kimmel's reaction to the debate in his monologue Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down Pence Harris VP Debate.

Jimmy breaks down the first and only Vice Presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and VP Mike Pence, Donald Trump Jr.’s revealing comments about his dad, Trump releasing a new video that’s basically a drug commercial, and Jimmy speaks to Trump’s new Director of African American Outreach Marquis Jackson (Andy Daly).

Kimmel couldn't resist making fly jokes, either, nor could the person who put the chyron on the video clip. "That fly tho." LOL. On the other hand, Kimmel hit the right note when he told his audience to "enjoy your nightmare" until the vaccine arrives, which Trump has promised will be "very soon" for months now. I know better and so should my readers. My favorite checker at the grocery store asked me in March, "when do I think things will return to normal?" My response was "spring of next year, when a vaccine becomes available." I still think that's the timeline.

Kimmel also asked his first guest about the debate in Billy Crystal on VP Debate, Meeting Presidents & 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Billy talks about the Vice Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, his Alexa acting up, the amazing way he celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary, meeting several presidents over the years, and joining with lifelong Republican Bill Kristol to get seniors out to vote in Florida.

Billy Crystal thought Pence was boring. Join the club. He had a better reaction to his namesake, Bill Kristol, and to George W. Bush. I appreciate Crystal's story about Bush Senior catching an error in a film about baseball. Bush was (and his son is) a left-hander, so he would notice. As the son and father of left-handers, I'm quite aware of this sensitivity. As for Kristol, I'm always a bit leery of being on the same side of an issue with him. He has a reputation of always being wrong. I hope he isn't this time.

FiveThirtyEight's liveblog panel couldn't resist making fly remarks in their mock headlines that concluded What Went Down During The Vice Presidential Debate.

• Geoffrey: The Most Notable Debate Moment Was A Fly On Pence’s Head
• Nathaniel: Harris Prosecutes The Case Against Trump While Pence Sticks To His Message
• Julia: Pence Distances Himself And President Trump From The KKK, But Not From Questions About A Peaceful Transfer Of Power
• Maggie: Americans Relieved To Hear People Evade Giving Honest Answers In Calm Voices
• Galen: The VP Candidates Evade Tough Questions In Debate That Won’t Matter
• Amelia: Harris and Pence Dodge Questions In A Quieter — And Kind of Forgettable — Debate
• Kaleigh: An Unremarkable VP Debate, Which, Honestly I’m Here For
• Julia: VP Candidates Avoid The Questions While Bored Americans Stare At A Fly
• Chris: Harris And The Fly Most Discussed On Twitter
• Meena: Did You See The Fly? Yes, There Are Still Many Days Left In 2020.

They mentioned the fly in four headlines, the dullness of the debate in three including one that also referenced the fly, dodging questions in two, and not committing to a peaceful transfer of power in one. I think they have the significance of the topics reversed.

I close with this merchandising from the Biden-Harris campaign.


They couldn't resist making a fly joke, either. Looks like I'm in good company. Oh, and the fly swatter sold out almost immediately. LOL.

Drinking game, drinks, and memes for the 2020 Vice-Presidential debate

"Stay tuned for a drinking game, memes, and drinks for this year's Vice Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence," I repeated in 'Why We Hate,' 'Cosmos,' 'Seven Worlds, One Planet' and 'Life Below Zero' — science and nature winners at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, so it's time to follow through.

I begin by recycling the version of the drinking game I posted on Coffee Party USA's blog as Coffee Party USA celebrates National Coffee Day with a drinking game for the 2020 Presidential Debates.

As an entertainment service to my readers, I'm sharing This Bipartisan Drinking Game Will Help You Survive Tonight's Presidential Debate from Delish.

Enter: our entirely bipartisan drinking game. It includes items that happen again and again in debates and are often super cringey. Yes, the candidates are all fighting to talk, but do they have to bicker like that? And must they recount so many long, open-ended, irrelevant stories from their youths!? You get it.

Again, we kept this game extremely bipartisan, but if you'd like to add some items for things that really grate you—like Senator X's habit of gesticulating wildly or Congresswoman Y's tendency to bring the discussion back to the old days—that's your prerogative. It's your living room! Drink up!

Drink when a candidate:

Gets cut off
Raises their hand
Invokes a folksy phrase
Insults the opposite party
Speaks over someone
Rolls their eyes
Loses their train of thought
Says “when I’m President”

Finish your drink when a candidate:

Laughs at someone else onstage
Goes deep on taxes
Is grilled by a moderator
Mentions their opponent’s past

Take a shot when a candidate:

Speaks another language
References their childhood

This should be generic enough for anyone reading who is watching the debate. In fact, it's generic enough that it can be used for any political debate this season, regardless of office, from President down to county commission or even city council if it has partisan candidates. I'm an environmentalist, so I like to reuse and recycle. I also like to reduce, so I'm not proposing another drinking game, at least not today.

Now that we have the drinking game, it's time for the drinks. Follow over the jump for drink suggestions for the candidates.

Colbert didn't watch the convention last night, but FiveThirtyEight did so you wouldn't have to

 After two days of Stephen Colbert and FiveThirtyEight recapping the Republican National Convention, my readers are still with me, so I'm continuing my alternating silly and serious coverage of the event. I begin, as I have the past two days, with Stephen Colbert: I Didn't Watch The RNC Tonight, And I Feel Great About It.

At a time when the NBA is showing more leadership than the RNC, our host found it pointless to watch Republicans spend Night 3 of their convention talking about everything but what's really going on in America, where 180,000 people have been lost to a pandemic and heavily-armed Rambo wannabes murder people in the streets.

Colbert noted the irrelevance of last night's proceedings in the face of the climate-fueled weather disaster of Hurricane Laura making landfall near the Texas-Louisiana state line, COVID-19 pandemic, and renewed protests of police violence, so he focused on those instead. FiveThirtyEight noted the disconnect as well in RNC Night 3: Pence Makes A Law And Order Appeal. They did watch the convention so you and I wouldn't have to.

The crew reacts to the third night of the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Other than Pence's speech, very little of the convention last night had anything to say about current events. Many of the contributors to FiveThirtyEight's live blog, What Went Down On Night 3 Of The RNC, highlighted that as well.

• Meena: A Virtual Political Convention With Little Awareness Of The Unrests Of 2020
• Emily: Third Night Of The RNC Held In A Different Kind Of Bubble
• Nathaniel: Protests Turn Deadly In Kenosha As NBA Stops Play In Protest And Hurricane Barrels Toward Gulf Coast // Oh, and there was some convention?
• Seth: A Variety Of Republican Messages But Few Mentions Of Hurricanes, Shootings, Riots
• Kaleigh: RNC Suspends Its Disbelief To Focus On Traditional GOP Issues
• Dan: Republican’s Standard Convention Night Sounds Dissonant Notes At Troubled Time
• Meredith: Pence Pitches to “Make America Great Again, Again.”
• Galen: The Pence 2024 Presidential Campaign (Unofficially) Kicks Off
• Geoffrey: Republicans Make The Case To Women That They Should Vote For Trump
• Amelia: Republicans Make a Pro-Woman Pitch On An Otherwise Snoozy Third Night Of The RNC

One of the few events that FiveThirtyEight's live-bloggers mentioned besides the storm and protests was Mike Pence's speech. That was the focus of Tooning Out The News in RNC Night 3: Pence's stirring defense of magic miracle cure.

The Tooning Out Election 2020 panel welcomes actor and conservative commentator Dean Cain to discuss RNC night three speeches by Mike Pence, Lara Trump, and Kellyanne Conway.

At least someone associated with Colbert's show was watching the convention last night, again so my readers and I wouldn't have to.

Stay tuned for one more night of convention coverage, that is, if people still want to watch and read it. That's up to you.

Mike Pence at Voteview and On The Issues for National Veep Day

I concluded last night's Sandy Hook Promise's 'Back-To-School Essentials' and P&G's 'The Look' among Emmy nominees for Outstanding Commercial with my hope and dread for today.

[S]tay tuned for a celebration of National Veep Day. With luck, Joe Biden announces his running mate. Otherwise, I am stuck writing about Mike Pence. I hope not.

It's almost noon on Sunday and Joe Biden still has not announced his pick. If he were going to do so today, he'd likely have done it by now to make the Sunday Morning talk shows. So, Mike Pence it is.

To observe today's national day, I'm going to do for Pence what I did for the Democratic Vice Presidential contenders, examine his ideology through Voteview and On The Issues. First, Pence at Voteview.



Pence served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013, when he became the Governor of Indiana. By the end of his final term in Congress, he had a DW-Nominate first-dimension (ideological) score of 0.655, which made him more conservative than 89% of Republicans in the U.S. House as well as 94% of all House members when he left in 2013. Even among Republicans, Pence was quite far to the right.

That's also what On The Issues shows for him.



On The Issues rates Pence as having an economic score of 95 and a social score of 10, a Hard-Core Conservative, which makes him the most conservative politician I have made infographics for so far. Even Donald Trump, who has an economic score of 83 and a social score of 20, is closer to the center!

That's it for today's ideological examination of the sitting Vice President. I plan on recycling these graphics, along with those for the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, for this year's Vice Presidential Debate. I already have the drinks for Pence. I'm just waiting for Biden to choose to select the beverages for his running mate.

That's it for Veep Day. Tomorrow, I plan on continuing my coverage of the Emmy Awards with nominations of shows about animals and nature for World Lion Day. The irony is that the number one show nominated in this category is "Tiger King." Oh, well, I missed World Tiger Day on July 29th again, so tomorrow I'll make up for it. Stay tuned.

John Oliver on coronavirus

Once again, I failed in my promise to "post something more serious about the outbreak the next time I write about it here" that I made to close Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert look at official responses to the coronavirus outbreak and repeated to open Closer looks at the coronavirus outbreak from Meyers, Noah, and Colbert.  That's because the featured segment of this Sunday's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was Coronavirus.  Take it away, John!

As coronavirus spreads to the US, John Oliver discusses what’s being done to fight the illness, what’s gone wrong, and how to stay safe.

That Vietnamese song and the dance made for it are really catchy.  I hope they're catchier than the virus!

Oliver followed up on the segment when he was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers in John Oliver Fought the Urge to Panic About Coronavirus Appearing in New York City.

John Oliver talks about coronavirus and his stint on an obscure British TV show.

Oliver's writers did a good job on the segment, considering they did it on such short notice.

I will still try to share something more serious the next time I write about the outbreak.  In the meantime, stay tuned for another installment of The Hungry for Power Games, as Elizabeth Warren just dropped out.  Sigh.

Closer looks at the coronavirus outbreak from Meyers, Noah, and Colbert

I'm going to admit that when I wrote "I'll try to post something more serious about the outbreak the next time I write about it here" at the end of Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert look at official responses to the coronavirus outbreak, I failed.  That's because the next good video I saw about the outbreak and its response was Trump’s Flailing Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak: A Closer Look from Late Night with Seth Meyers.  I couldn't resist.

Seth takes a closer look at President Trump appointing Mike Pence to take charge of the response to the coronavirus outbreak and reassuring absolutely nobody.

I always appreciate  Meyers and his writers taking in-depth looks at an issue, even if it is ostensibly for entertainment.  He does manage to get the information across, too.

The panic on Wall Street shows up in the next video, Is This How We Die? - Coronavirus, Continued by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, which also looks at the state of the outbreak around the world.

As coronavirus continues to spread, the stock market tanks, the public panics and runs out of protective masks, and the CDC recommends shaving facial hair to wear a face mask.

This is where I appreciate Noah for being from outside of North America and Europe.  He's likely to take a global look at an issue.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert placed the panic in the financial markets front and center in Wall Street Panics After Trump Unveils Lackluster Coronavirus Response Plan.

While President Trump prefers to blame Democrats for the stock market's nose dive, the country he leads is concerned about his administration's disorganized response to the Coronavirus crisis.

First, Trump is making cause and effect go backwards.  Second, I should not be surprised that Trump is blaming the wrong NBC Universal cable channel for coronavirus coverage. When I look at my YouTube subscription page, I see video after video about coronavirus from CNBC. In contrast, MSNBC and CNN hardly had any videos on the subject at all until after the stock market crashed. Then again, CNBC is Larry Kudlow's old channel and Trump never let the facts get in the way of a good attack.

Speaking of CNBC, the latest video on the CNBC Television YouTube channel is showing the Dow down more than 900 points so far today to below 25,000, more than 4,000 points this past week with no end in sight.  This stock market crash is the one reason I am not revising the recession call I made in CNBC explains how the yield curve predicted every recession for the past 50 years.  Without the coronavirus outbreak, I might have to.  With it, I still think it's likely.

I close with A Coronavirus PSA From Vice President Mike Pence.

From the Office of the Vice President comes this important message about keeping yourself safe from the Coronavirus.

Gallows humor at its finest.