Stewart, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at Freedom 250 concert falling apart and other news

I concluded John Oliver examines Trump's pardons on 'Last Week Tonight' by asking my readers, "Stay tuned for another topical post tomorrow. Talk show hosts, minus the recently canceled Stephen Colbert, anyone?" Not reading a no, that's what I'm doing, beginning with Trump Can’t Negotiate for S**t, and the Iran Peace Talks Prove It | The Daily Show.

Trump claims a peace deal with Iran is coming any second, but he's been saying that for months. Jon Stewart takes a look at Trump's unimpressive track record as a negotiator, despite being the self-proclaimed best negotiator in the world, and pulls back the curtain on the president's "Art of the Deal" as merely the art of trolling. Plus, the Freedom 250 concert is falling apart as more and more headliners pull out, and TDS News Team alum Olivia Munn stops by to offer Jon Stewart a heartfelt tribute that was definitely not meant for Stephen Colbert.

The first of Kimmel's video descriptions in said "they’re also lining up entertainment for the “Great American State Fair” and the lineup is shaping up to be a real dud," but it's even more of a dud now that acts are pulling out. I'm surprised by Bret Michaels pulling out, as he was a winner on Celebrity Apprentice. Nope, that wasn't enough. On the other hand, Vanilla Ice staying is on brand. I'm not sure what to make of Freedom Williams other than he just wants to perform and doesn't care who for. Oh, and the agent being Jeff Epstein, but not that Jeffrey Epstein — HA! You can't make this stuff up!

Speaking of making stuff up, Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump repeatedly asserting that the U.S. and Iran are close to making a deal is an example of, among other things, his belief in the power of positive thinking, which I wrote about in CBS canceling 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is enough to drive one to drink on National Daiquiri Day and repeated in 'SNL' examines Tom Homan replacing Greg Bovino in its cold open and Weekend Update.

The problem is that Hoover Cleveland was a follower of Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. Politico expanded on this.

Donald Trump is a self-help apostle. He always has tried to create his own reality by saying what he wants to be true. Where many see failure, Trump sees only success, and expresses it out loud, again and again.

His wish might just come true. This works on the social environment, but not the physical and biological environment; it failed to work on the virus during the pandemic. He couldn't bully a virus.

He's also finding out that he can't bully the Iranians and he doesn't know what to do about it except keep hoping for a good outcome.

Colbert being cancelled is not a good outcome, but at least The Daily Show's audience was treated to the funniest thing I've seen Olivia Munn do in response to it (no, I never watched her when she was a correspondent, and her SAG nominations announcement comes close). I guess her new husband Jon Mulaney is rubbing off on her, pun intended.

It wouldn't be a closer look without Seth Meyers, so here is Trump’s Online Meltdown After Jan. 6 Slush Fund Blocked, Artists Bail on Freedom 250: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump lashing out with social media posts including attacks on judges, political rivals and the pope.

Yes, it's bad when the surviving member of Milli Vanilli quits. I guess Pervert Hoover didn't know or care that they were fakes. After all, his pardons make him look like he's O.K. with (some) fraudsters.

As for the January 6th "Anti-weaponization" fund being blocked, yay! That's good news right up there with Kennedy Center will remain open and have Trump's name removed.

I close with Jimmy Kimmel's monologue, Trump's Concert Turns Into Total Disaster, He Brags About Health Exam & Spencer Pratt's Mayoral Ads.

Today is the first day of June and our nation's newscasters can’t believe it, almost every artist who was announced for Trump’s Great American State Fair has dropped out or said they never agreed to be part of it, a federal judge ruled that Trump’s name had to be removed from The Kennedy Center, Trump granted his daughter-in-law Lara an interview that included a tour of the construction site/UFC arena he’s living in right now, he is still very proud of the word “Dumocrat” that he made up, he took some time to brag about his “extremely good” health report, the primary elections here in California are tomorrow and while Spencer Pratt is a ridiculous choice for Mayor of LA, you have to admit - he makes some pretty good ads!

I don't recall hearing people saying "June" that much on The Handmaid's Tale and it's the lead character's name!

As for Pervert Hoover bragging about acing a cognitive test, again, it isn't the flex he thinks it is. Both Seth and Jimmy pointed out that it's a sign that his behavior is concerning his doctors. It's also not an IQ test, even if Pervert Hoover thinks it is.

Today's primary election in California looks interesting. If this blog hadn't passed its page view goals for June early this morning, I would have covered them for a topical post tomorrow. Instead, I'll wait until I start writing about the general election, which won't be until August.

On the topic of topical posts, the next time I write one of a summary of monologues should be Tuesday, June 30th, so I can share it in July. I have a couple of social media shares of posts featuring late-night talk show hosts I haven't included in a retrospective, so follow over the jump for those.

Laugh at the news from the last week of May 2026 with Jimmy Kimmel for Flashback Friday

Yesterday, I asked "Jimmy Kimmel, anyone?" Not reading anyone respond "no," that's what I'm doing. I'm working backwards through his monologues this week, beginning with last night's Trump’s Approval Rating Hits New Low, America’s 250th Party is a Mess & Iran War May Be Over Soon?

We are now officially 159 days from the midterm elections, Trump’s approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low even though he has “done more” than any President ever, the DOJ is now going after one of Trump’s victims E. Jean Carroll who accused him of sexually assaulting her, in honor of our country’s 250th anniversary the Treasury Department is looking to print special Trump $250 bills, they’re also lining up entertainment for the “Great American State Fair” and the lineup is shaping up to be a real dud, there will be a mass pardoning ceremony as part of the semi-quincentennial celebration, the US and Iran have reportedly reached another tentative deal to potential[ly] end the war he says we won three months ago, the State Department posted a very upbeat message for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, RFK Jr can’t stop picking up snakes, and another edition of This Week in Florida.

That's a good poll result for participation in this November's midterm elections and a bad one for Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump, whose approval rating is about what I think he deserved all along. Speaking of approval, I don't think a proposed law to allow his face on a new $250 bill would get past the Senate and given how narrow the Republican margin is in the House, it would be a close call there, especially now that Thomas Massie has lost re-nomination. As for "This Week in Florida," "Florida Man" stories usually involve someone doing something criminal, stupid, and outrageous. Not this week — no criminal activity at all and the Florida Man doing something stupid was the cop. Good thing for the woman he pulled over that his body cam was working!

That's the national news. Jimmy K went local the night before at the end of Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down Spencer Pratt's Run for LA Mayor & Trump Assembles His Cabinet of Clowns.

Trump met with his cabinet amid his war in Iran being a mess and his approval rating being in the toilet, Hegseth got an angry phone call from Trump after he cancelled the deployment of 4,000 troops who were about to leave to be stationed in Poland, Jimmy had a brief back and forth with RFK Jr. online that caught the attention of Fox Business, Senator John Cornyn of Texas lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, he will now face off against Democrat James Talarico, and Spencer Pratt is running for the Mayor of LA.

I've only mentioned Pervert Hoover's narcissism twice, but Jimmy mentioning that one out of every six sentences in his Cabinet meetings is either praise or an attack on his enemies reminds me of one of the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, need for admiration. He displays that and all the other criteria in abundance!

As for Jillian Michaels and Fox Business calling Kimmel not funny, then why does this video have 2,721,170 views, the one above have 1,936,029 and counting, and the one below 3,086,200? Conservatives hate-watching them? Yeah, right.

The one time I mentioned Ken Paxton here, I looked at his name being floated for Attorney General despite his legal troubles and snarked "Jailbirds of a feather flock together." I'm sure I'll have more to say about the Ken Paxton-James Talerico contest for Senate in Texas between now and November, but I only have until Tuesday to comment on the primary elections for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayor. The former has made Drink, because Tom Steyer is running on National Mojito Day 2019 popular again, although that's probably short-lived; Xavier Becerra is now in first with 23%, quite a jump from 2% a year ago, while Steyer is now in third with 15%, with Steve Hilton second at 20%. The top three in the Los Angeles Mayoral Primary is a lot closer.

The latest UC Berkeley-L.A. Times poll of likely voters has the three candidates at the top almost within the margin of error so anything could happen leading up to Election Day. The top two candidates will move on in the race.

In the poll, Mayor Bass is at 26%. Right behind her is Nithya Raman at 25%. Then Spencer Pratt at 22%.

The margin of error for this poll is 3% so this race is wide open with a clear top three.

After hearing Jimmy describe Pratt's reaction to the fake Mayan Apocalypse of 2012, I hope he comes in third so I won't have to mention him again except in defeat.

This week began with Trump Skips Don Jr’s Wedding, Attacks DUMOCRATS on Memorial Day & Claims His Physical Went PERFECTLY.

The Knicks completed a second consecutive sweep to earn a spot in the NBA Finals, Don Jr and his new bride Bettina were married on Saturday on an island in the Bahamas and Trump did not make it, they have begun construction on the arena for the big UFC fight scheduled for Trump’s 80th birthday next month, we are now on week thirteen of Trump’s “little excursion” in Iran, he posted a message to social media for Memorial Day, he gave himself a glowing report about his health after his physical, RFK Jr. decided to pick up snakes at Dr. Oz’s house, and after months of delays the Trump Mobile phone is finally shipping to customers.

Dumentia — hah! I'm keeping it.

Follow over the jump for top shares of posts about Kimmel on social media during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

'SNL' opens with a Hegseth-Patel press briefing about Iran war and FBI

I told my readers to stay tuned for highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live as today's Sunday entertainment feature. As I wrote in March, "SNL has lots of news to laugh at so we and they don't cry..." I begin, like the show, with Hegseth and Patel Iran Press Briefing Cold Open.

Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) answer reporters' questions about the war in Iran.

Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth bullying the press reminds me of Biff Tannen. Coincidentally, older alternative universe Tannen from Back to the Future Part II is based on Donald Trump. No wonder the two of them get along! Also, Aziz Ansari's performance made me glad I already had a Kash Patel label. If I didn't, I'd have had to create it!

Weekend Update: White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting, Hegseth Says Iran War Costs Reach $25B picked up where the cold open left off.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like King Charles meeting New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.

I now have Spirit Airlines going bankrupt, again, and shutting down operations on my to-do list. On the other hand, I've already covered the royal visit. I just wish people would stop picking on Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who was born only a few miles from where I grew up and is my favorite royal. On the other hand, keep picking on the Andrew formerly known as Prince. He deserves it.

Mentioning the opening weekend box office for Michael already earned this entry its status as the Sunday entertainment feature. Good thing, too, as Weekend Update: Sex Offender Named "Cookie Monster" Arrested, Coors Releases Non-Alcoholic Beer had more technology and crime than entertainment.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a woman damaging a statue in Italy while trying to touch its genitals.

On the other hand, Weekend Update: Kam Patterson on Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson's Breakup used a juicy gossip story involving both entertainment and sports as a MacGuffin.

Kam Patterson stops by Weekend Update to discuss Megan Thee Stallion breaking up with Klay Thompson.

*SNORK!*

Olivia Rodrigo did double duty as host and musical guest, so I'm closing the portion above the fold with her monologue.

First-time host Olivia Rodrigo talks about getting her start as a child actor before performing a new song about a big event in her adult life.

That's quite the comment on Real ID, which makes me glad I didn't have that much trouble getting mine.

Follow over the jump for the top posts about SNL during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Stewart and Colbert examine No Kings and Iran War

I return to more topical and timely posting today by sharing two monologues, beginning with Jon Stewart's No Kings Rallies Can’t Stop CPAC's Trump Glazing & Iran War Hits One Month | The Daily Show.

Happy one-monthiversary of the Iran war! With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, Jon Stewart examines how global shortages are hitting everything from grain to helium to pickleballs. Meanwhile, Americans flood the streets for the No Kings protests while CPAC throws Trump his own Yassss Kings rally. Plus, the U.S. finally has a detailed explanation of the president's objectives and exit strategy... for the White House ballroom.

As much as the war coverage's angle annoys Stewart, I understand why the U.S. news media is framing the economic disruption of the war through loss of luxuries. As I repeated most recently in Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center, "the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent. As I first wrote in 2011, 'America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­.'" While Stewart and Colbert are turning the war into comedy, disruptions to supply chains will deprive many of their treats. They won't like that but it will get Americans' attention.

Trump switching from the Iran War to the East Wing ballroom reminds me of what I wrote in Closer looks at Iran from Stewart, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel.

"I don't get bored." Oh, then why is he talking about ballrooms and drapes? Because he's been doing that since Surviving at the Top, the sequel to The Art of the Deal.

In a Yahoo News essay, Leerhsen describes the Trump he worked with from 1988 to 1990 as mostly "bored out of his mind," a "failing real estate developer who had little idea of what he was doing and less interest in doing it once he'd held the all-important press conference."

Trump was making huge, outrageously leveraged, financially ruinous deals, but day-to-day, he spent "surprisingly large" amounts of time "looking at fabric swatches," Leerhsen writes. "Indeed, flipping through fabric swatches seemed at times to be his main occupation," and "some days he would do it for hours," probably because fabric swatches "were within his comfort zone — whereas, for example, the management of hotels and airlines clearly wasn't."

Leerhsen elaborated Thursday evening on CNN. "At this time, like, things were really going to hell in his business," but "in the center of that was this quiet office where he was going through fabric swatches most of the day, and in the middle of all this Sturm und Drang, he was oblivious to it," he told Erin Burnett.

Nearly 40 years later, he hasn't changed, except to get older and more set in his ways

.Now we know he's like that with pens.

Stephen Colbert made light of the same subjects last night in Millions March Against Trump’s War & Deportations | Trump's Improv War | Global Helium Crisis.

Over eight million people marched in the third "No Kings" protest, President Trump appears to be making up his Iran war strategy on-the-fly, and the war is causing global economic pain and shortages of resources like helium.

I attended the local No Kings and I'm glad to have been part of the largest protest since the first Earth Day — eight million people! Here's to the next one having ten million.

The contradictory announcements for the war remind me of something else I wrote early this month.

Twenty-five years ago, one of my reactions to 9-11 was to look at Bush the Younger's administration and be reassured that at least these people, particularly Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell, knew how to fight a war, no matter what my other opinions were of them. It took me two years, after it became obvious they were botching the occupation of Iraq, to figure out that they didn't really have a plan for an occupied Iraq beyond shock doctrine. I have no such illusions about Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump and Pete Hegseth; it's obvious from the get-go that they don't have a plan at all beyond being so intimidating that Iran just backs down. That's not happening. Once again, the voices Trump listens to, both inside and outside his head, are not reliable sources.

What about the ballroom? That's right here in Trump Reveals New Ballroom Photos.

President Trump reacted quickly after The New York Times criticized the architectural plans for his White House ballroom.

HA! I wish it would have those features!

That's a wrap for today's post and March's blogging. Stay tuned for April Fools Day!

Silly and serious closer looks on gas prices, a driving update

I closed Stats for the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News on Flashback Friday by telling my readers, "Stay tuned for another retrospective, which will also be a driving update, just like last year." Today's topic is the rising price of gas because of the war with Iran. I begin the silly in "silly and serious" by sharing Trump’s Gas Prices Cold Open - SNL.

President Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) address the rising cost of gas in the United States.

Still works, two weeks later. So does Trump Voter Rips Him Over Soaring Gas Prices, MAGA Says High Prices Are a “Sacrifice”: A Closer Look from Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Seth takes a closer look at oil and gas prices continuing to soar amid the war in Iran, while Donald Trump and MAGA now insist that paying higher prices is a patriotic duty.

I'm glad one of Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump's voters has figured out what he is. It only took ten years.

Now for a serious update from NewsNation, Market tumbles as gas prices continue to climb | Morning in America, uploaded just this morning.

Wall Street is reacting to the war in the Middle East after stocks tumbled Friday to close at their lowest level in over seven months. The Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq have all seen continued declines since the start of "Operation Epic Fury" one month ago. NewsNation’s Alicia Nieves shows “Morning in America with Hena Doba” how the market shifts are driving sticker shock at the gas pump.

Welcome to energy prices as examples of "Everything is connected to everything else" and "There is no free lunch."

That's the big picture. I begin my personal update by sharing that my wife suggested I fill up Pearl the Prius the morning after the initial attack and I did; I've seen this movie before and I knew what was coming. I was only surprised that people weren't panic buying and that prices hadn't risen - yet. I was able to drive on that tank for the past four weeks. I was not looking forward to filling up, but did so anyway after attending the nearest No Kings demonstration today and felt lucky to pay just less than 4.00/gallon. How are gas prices where you are?

Follow over the jump for the rest of my personal driving update and the three most read driving update posts during the 2025-2026 blogging year.

Happy Nowruz and happy 15th birthday to Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Nowruz Mubarak! Happy International Day of Nowruz AKA Persian New Year and happy 15th birthday of this blog! This year's celebration feels different because of the war with Iran. Fox 5 Morning News in San Diego anchor Shally Zomorodi felt it, too, in Happy Nowruz!

Fox 5 Morning News celebrates Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

I'm with you, Shally.

I'm moving on to the blog's 15th birthday, because lingering more on Nowruz would make me even sadder. On that note, I'm sharing a childhood memory in video form, Put Another Candle on My Birthday Cake - Sheriff John Birthday Song sung by Bruce Kaplan (Claudia and Bruce).

Claudia Russell and Bruce Kaplan perform their version of the Sheriff John Birthday Song aka the Birthday Polka. If you're from Los Angeles and grew up in the 1950s and early 60s, you very likely know this song.

Unless you grew up in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s, you probably don't know who Sheriff John is, so I'll let Wikipedia explain.

Sheriff John was an American children's television host who appeared on KTTV in Los Angeles from July 18, 1952, to July 10, 1970, on two separate series, Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade and Sheriff John's Cartoon Time. He was played by John Rovick[1] who served as a radio operator-gunner in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, surviving 50 combat missions in the European Theater of Operations. After the war he became a radio announcer, moving to television in its early days. He developed the program's concept himself.

As Sheriff John he began each program entering his office, singing "Laugh and be happy, and the world will laugh with you." He then said the Pledge of Allegiance and read a safety bulletin. He showed cartoons including Q.T. Hush, Underdog, Crusader Rabbit, and Porky Pig; he was often visited by farm animals.[2] An artist, Sketchbook Suzie, drew pictures requested by viewers; he would complete squiggles sent by the children and make a squiggle for them to complete. He also gave them lessons on safety and good health habits.

The show's highlight was the birthday celebration. Sheriff John read as many as 100 names, then brought out a cake and sang the Birthday Party Polka ("Put Another Candle on my Birthday Cake").

I used to watch this show every day after school and have fond memories of it, so when I saw YouTube recommend this video, I knew immediately that it would be today's song. I especially couldn't resist because Claudia and I dated in 1987 when we both worked at the Tar Pits.* It's good to see her again.

That's a wrap for today's double (triple if one counts today as Twitter/X's 20th birthday) celebration. Stay tuned for Marche du Nain Rouge as the Sunday entertainment feature.

*Yes, Claudia is an ex-girlfriend, but she's not the ex-girlfriend I usually mention. As I've written many times, the latter lived in Canada while we were dating, while Claudia and I were both living in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, both have since moved to the San Francisco Bay area. I would find it ironically funny if they have encountered each other while not knowing they both know me.

Marsh Family sings 'Grief and Destruction'

Today's "something brief I can share in April, no fooling" is "Grief and Destruction" - Marsh Family parody of Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" on war in Iran.

There are obviously lots of angles to this story, and it’s dangerous to wade into things without knowing how they will play out. So we waited to see if anything positive might emerge after the initial assassination of the despicable Khamenei (whose name was in an early draft of a chorus), and what the Trump administration/regime’s purported rationale was … and over subsequent days as we watched the grotesque media performances by Hegseth, the missiles killing children not just tyrants, and the escalation of damage and casualties without any sign of a coherent policy or endgame, we made the song about how it’s dangerous to wade into things without knowing how they’re going to play out.

If we’d known undead Tony Blair was going to remerge from the media crypt with some pearls of wisdom on Sunday, we would have probably made space to take the piss out of that ... but it would have been counterproductive to just parachute in (a bit like in 2003).

The original track “Eve of Destruction” was only reluctantly laid down at the end of a recording session by a gravelly-voiced Barry McGuire, and the demo leaked to a radio station where it was an instant hit in a country torn apart and increasingly divided over foreign wars and domestic protests in late 1965. Phil Sloan wrote the song months earlier, after the Gulf of Tonkin incident that was central to LBJ’s justification for US escalation in Vietnam. We had it on our radar for a future conflict, but want to give a shoutout to Kevin Ellis for urging us to use it to address this conflict.

If you want to hear a properly mixed folk-pop song of ours about the heroic protest movement in Iran, then you can find “Zan Zendegi Azadi” on our forthcoming album.

With luck, this might not be worth sharing in April, because by then the conflict might be over. High oil prices are bad for the economy and worse for Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump and the Republicans running for Congress. He might just declare victory and quit bombing. All of us should be so lucky.

Tomorrow is the sixth anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic and the fifteenth anniversary of the Fukushima triple disaster. Stay tuned to see which one I write about. In the meantime, Happy MAR1O Day!

Closer looks at Iran from Stewart, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel

It's the first Tuesday of the month, so it's time for closer looks at the weekend's news, beginning with Jon Stewart of the The Daily Show reporting Trump Launches War with Iran and Refuses to Explain... Anything.

Jon Stewart dives into America and Israel’s impromptu attack on Iran, Trump’s laid-back war announcement from the Mar-a-Lago basement, and MAGA’s refusal to sell the American people on the plan, purpose, and duration of the war. Plus, Jordan Klepper reveals America’s calculated war strategy: winging it.

Twenty-five years ago, one of my reactions to 9-11 was to look at Bush the Younger's administration and be reassured that at least these people, particularly Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell, knew how to fight a war, no matter what my other opinions were of them. It took me two years, after it became obvious they were botching the occupation of Iraq, to figure out that they didn't really have a plan for an occupied Iraq beyond shock doctrine. I have no such illusions about Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump and Pete Hegseth; it's obvious from the get-go that they don't have a plan at all beyond being so intimidating that Iran just backs down. That's not happening. Once again, the voices Trump listens to, both inside and outside his head, are not reliable sources. Speaking of unreliable sources, watching all these people, particularly Tulsi Gabbard, praise Hoover Harding Cleveland for being the "peace candidate" has aged really poorly.

Next, Stephen Colbert's monologue, America At Whaaa? | Seeking Regime Change | Hegseth: No "Stupid" Rules Of Engagement.

President Trump still hasn't told the American people why he's bombing Iran, the U.S. and Israel have sent mixed messages about whether the goal is regime change, and Secretary Hegseth boasted that the military will disregard customary rules of engagement during this campaign.

Stephen is right; Bush the Younger did sell the Iraq War to the American people and the world and got an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) the year before we invaded. Hoover Harding Cleveland didn't bother. Democracy? Representative government? Rule of law? Who cares? Not Hoover Harding Cleveland!

Not only does Hoover Harding Cleveland have neither a plan (maybe Benjamin Netanyahu does) nor respect for process, he can't even decide on a pretext. I suspect all of his excuses are equally valid or invalid to him. He'd be more honest if he said "I felt like it." That's an emotion, not a reason, but at least he and I would believe it.

It wouldn't be a closer look without Seth Meyers, so I'm sharing Trump’s Iran War Plan and Timeline Keep Changing, Trump Gets Distracted by Drapes: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at the Trump administration launching a war with Iran without any clear strategy for how it would end, how long it would last or who would take over.

"I don't get bored." Oh, then why is he talking about ballrooms and drapes? Because he's been doing that since Surviving at the Top, the sequel to The Art of the Deal.

In a Yahoo News essay, Leerhsen describes the Trump he worked with from 1988 to 1990 as mostly "bored out of his mind," a "failing real estate developer who had little idea of what he was doing and less interest in doing it once he'd held the all-important press conference."

Trump was making huge, outrageously leveraged, financially ruinous deals, but day-to-day, he spent "surprisingly large" amounts of time "looking at fabric swatches," Leerhsen writes. "Indeed, flipping through fabric swatches seemed at times to be his main occupation," and "some days he would do it for hours," probably because fabric swatches "were within his comfort zone — whereas, for example, the management of hotels and airlines clearly wasn't."

Leerhsen elaborated Thursday evening on CNN. "At this time, like, things were really going to hell in his business," but "in the center of that was this quiet office where he was going through fabric swatches most of the day, and in the middle of all this Sturm und Drang, he was oblivious to it," he told Erin Burnett.

Nearly 40 years later, he hasn't changed, except to get older and more set in his ways.

Jimmy Kimmel had time for more stories than just Iran in Trump Goes to War with Iran, Bill Clinton Testifies About Epstein & Boebert Explains Inflation.

Early Saturday morning just after midnight the Pentagon launched “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran, Trump monitored the attack from his bunker at Mar-a-Lago, he claims that the operation in Iran could last four to five weeks or longer, six Americans were killed in the counter-attacks, even Ted Cruz said that he saw “no indication” that Iran was close to getting nuclear weapons, we all thought he was supposed to be the President of Peace, Trump is all of a sudden about toppling regimes even though he thought not being able to make a deal was seen as a negative, he rambled about drapes during a Medal of Honor ceremony, Melania was in New York to preside over a meeting of the UN Security Council, former President Bill Clinton testified for more than six hours about Jeffrey Epstein, and Lauren Boebert explains inflation.

In addition to not having a serious plan, Hoover Harding Cleveland and his maladministration have terrible opsec. That's nothing new.

I made enough fun of the First Lady in Randy Rainbow sings 'The Fate of Melania' and other parodies, so I'll move on to Lauren Boebert. She caused trouble with the Clinton depositions and couldn't define inflation. As Jimmy K pointed out, she never graduated high school and doesn't follow the rules. She should be happy there are worse Republican politicians, otherwise, I'd make a label for her. Maybe I should anyway.

I close with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's cold open from last night, Book Your Next Event At Mar-a-Lago.

Whether you're launching Benjamin into manhood or missiles into the Middle East, Mar-a-Lago has all the amenities!

Marjorie Merriweather Post, who build Mar-A-Lago, wanted it to be the Winter White House. That eventually happened, but I wonder if Post would be happy about how that came true and what Hoover Harding Cleveland uses it for. Maybe not, but I'm not holding a seance to find out.

That's a wrap for this post, but not for today. Stay tuned for two more holidays, Marching Music Day, which I remembered, and World Wildlife Day, which YouTube reminded me earlier today. Another bonus post!

'SNL' addresses attack on Iran in cold open and Weekend Update

I told my readers to stay tuned for highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live as today's Sunday entertainment feature to commence March's blogging. I wrote "SNL has lots of news to laugh at so we and they don't cry" and they didn't disappoint, beginning with Trump Iran War Address Cold Open.

President Trump (James Austin Johnson) and Sec. Hegseth (Colin Jost) speak after the United States launched a series of military strikes against Iran.

I was hoping for a mocking of the State of the Union, but, no, Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump had to top himself just four days later. The result was this cold open with whatever the writers could come up with in one day. They weren't happy about it, either.

Colin and the attack returned in Weekend Update: U.S. Launches Attack on Iran; Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Killed.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like Hillary Clinton's Jeffery Epstein testimony.

At least the State of the Union got covered here. So did the Epstein Files, which became the subject line of Picture of Stephen Hawking in Epstein Files Goes Viral.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like American Girl Doll collectors complaining about alleged changes to the dolls.

Looks like Netflix buys Warner Brothers turned out to be wrong while NBC and CNBC report on likely Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger turned out to be right. I'm not happy about that, but not as unhappy as John Oliver will be. I'm looking forward to see what he says tonight. If it's about this deal, I'll post it tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I wish I were surprised at Hawking being in the Epstein files. If I have learned nothing else from this scandal, it's that Epstein was relentless in cozying up to rich, powerful, and influential men and a lot of those men not only didn't resist his efforts, but seemed to enjoy them. Hawking was one of them. Surprised, no. Disappointed, yes.

Follow over the jump for Weekend Update's interviews and the monologue.

'The Perfect Neighbor' leads Gold Derby odds for Documentary Feature at the Oscars

I made two predictions about two winners in 'The Perfect Neighbor' wins five Critics Choice Documentary Awards including Best Documentary that won't come true.

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) unveiled the winners of the Tenth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards at a gala event in New York City. The Perfect Neighbor won the top award of the evening, Best Documentary Feature. The film also took home awards in four other categories including Best Director for Geeta Gandbhir, Best Editing for Viridiana Lieberman, Best Archival Documentary, and Best True Crime Documentary.

The only category I clearly called for The Perfect Neighbor was Best True Crime Documentary. I thought it was a co-favorite with Riefenstahl and Orwell: 2+2=5 for Best Director, so no clear call, picked Orwell: 2+2=5 to win Best Documentary and Best Archival Documentary, and made no call for Best Editing, although I'm not surprised; editing is what makes a good archival documentary. Just the same, congratulations and good luck at next year's Emmy Awards, either as Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards or Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special/Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards...

The trophy for Best Political Documentary was awarded to The Alabama Solution.

While I thought The Alabama Solution could win, I also thought Orwell: 2+2=5 would win. Nope. Just the same, congratulations and good luck at the relevant Emmy Awards next year.

Neither The Perfect Neighbor nor The Alabama Solution will be nominated at either Emmy Awards because both earned nominations at the Academy Awards, disqualifying them for Emmy consideration. I'm not the least bit upset; this is exactly the kind of wrong I'd like to be. Also, congratulations to the producers and directors of both movies. I'm thrilled for them!

Now that the nominees have been announced, what are their Gold Derby odds? The Perfect Neighbor leads with every expert, 33.3% of editors, and 90.4% of users picking it to win. The Alabama Solution sits in second because it has the support of 5.4% of users and 16.7% of editors. Mr. Nobody Against Putin is actually the other top choice of editors at 33.3%, but only 2.3% of users, placing it third in the odds. Come See Me in the Good Light is currently in fourth as the selection of the remaining 16.7% of editors and 1.0% of users. Cutting Through Rocks has the remaining 0.9% of users. I have the feeling that the editors will consolidate around one or two nominees once the PGA Awards, DGA Awards, and BAFTA Awards have been presented. The Perfect Neighbor is the only Oscar-nominated documentary nominated or longlisted at all of them.

I embedded the trailer for The Perfect Neighbor in 'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' lead nominees for Best Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and am sharing again here.

One woman. Dozens of 911 calls. And a close-knit neighborhood caught in a nightmare. What begins as one woman’s relentless harassment of children spirals into a shocking act of violence. Captured through gripping police bodycam footage, The Perfect Neighbor - Winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Directing Award - delivers a hauntingly powerful experience that keeps you on edge from start to finish.

Yikes! This looks like a real-life version of multi-Razzie nominee Karen. That movie was about racism and harassment, and it's even uglier when it's fact instead of fiction.

Follow over the jump for the trailers of the other four nominees.

Nowruz Pirooz and Happy 14th Birthday to this blog!

Nowruz Mubarak! Happy International Day of Nowruz AKA Persian New Year and happy 14th birthday of this blog! After emphasizing the blog's birthday last year, I'm giving Nowruz pride of place today, beginning with FOX 5 San Diego's Celebrating the Persian New Year at Balboa Park.



FOX 5's Heather Lake reports.
This video earned the featured position because it had the best combination of preview image, location reporting, and studio shenanigans. The next video, CBS 8 San Diego reporting Millions around the world prepare to celebrate Persian New Year as spring begins had an even clearer explanation with less silly studio interactions.

Families celebrate Nowruz by gathering around a Haftseen table to mark the start of Spring and the Persian New Year.

The presenter should look familiar; she's Neda Iranpour, who I featured in 2022 and 2023. Welcome back to the blog!

At the risk of being redundant, I'm sharing the most viewed of the videos about the holiday today, KCAL's Celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Bita Milanian, Iranian American community organizer, joins KCAL News anchors to share some ways to celebrate Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year. Milanian explains how the new year is a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings.

That was worth sharing just for the closing comment about the Women of Iran, Time's Heroes of the Year for 2022.

I conclude by wishing Happy Birthday from the Swedish Chef to this blog.

To help celebrate your birthday, the Swedish Chef is here to whip up some party snacks!

HAHAHAHA!

Stay tuned for World Water Day.

Creators of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and other Nobel Prize winners for an early Nobel Prize Day

A happy early celebration of Nobel Prize Day! I begin the observance with NBC News reporting Two scientists receive Nobel Prize in medicine for work on Covid-19 mRNA vaccine this past October.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman received the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work on the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine. The two found a way to create a vaccine that would get past the body’s defenses but still prompt the immune system to make antibodies to fight the disease. NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell shares more.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize just days after How to Survive a Pandemic about the development of the COVID-19 vaccine won Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary. That's two expert recognitions of COVID-19 vaccines, which came from HIV research and can still result in an HIV vaccine — a technology going full-circle! It's also an early fulfillment of a prediction I made three years ago — "work on coronavirus is likely to win Nobel Prizes, whether in Chemistry or Medicine, about a decade from now. May we all live long enough to see it." It only took three years!

Follow over the jump for the rest of this year's Nobel Prize winners.

Two Emmy-nominated documentaries about Watergate for Veep Day

Happy National Veep Day! Today is the anniversary of the day when Vice President Gerald Ford became President of the United States upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974, the culmination of the Watergate scandal. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, so it's no surprise that news organizations produced documentaries about it. It's also no surprise that two of these documentaries, Watergate: High Crimes In The White House and Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, earned nominations at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards and are the subject of today's post.

I begin with "Watergate: High Crimes in the White House" | Preview from CBS News.

The gripping documentary, "Watergate: High Crimes in the White House," premieres 50 years to the day of the infamous break-in at the Democratic headquarters located within the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. What seemed at first a mere burglary grew into an extraordinary story of crime and scandal that took down President Richard Nixon.

I found the comparisons to the January 6th insurrection right down to the missing White House phone records and Ginni Thomas's texts eerie.

I could not find an official trailer for Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, so I'm embedding CNN Sets June 5 Debut For Watergate Documentary Series ‘Blueprint For A Scandal’ in its place.

CNN will debut Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal, with John Dean offering his first-hand account of the break in that brought down Richard Nixon’s presidency, on June 5. Dean, former White House counsel for Nixon, serves as an executive producer on the project, with the debut tied to the 50th anniversary of the break in.

As John Dean is quoted as saying, "The criminal conduct of Richard Nixon and his top aides...became the blueprint for what no President of the United States should do." Unfortunately, it became the blueprint for what the former guy actually did, resulting in two impeachments and several indictments, beyond what happened to Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached and was pardoned before he could be indicted.

Follow over the jump for the categories in which Watergate: High Crimes In The White House and Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal earned nominations at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

Happy International Day of Nowruz 1402 (2023) and happy 12th birthday to Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Nowruz Mubarak! Happy International Day of Nowruz AKA Persian New Year and happy 12th birthday of the blog! As I have the past two years, I'm sharing a video from KFMB Channel 8 to begin the celebration, CBS 8 explains the traditions of Nowruz, Persian New Year. One of those traditions on my blog entails embedding CBS 8 San Diego's videos!

CBS 8's Neda Iranpour explains how Persians celebrate Nowruz also known as the New Year. The celebration involves gathering around a table known as a Haftseen an elaborate sight, prepared several days in advance with "Haft" or seven items that start with "Seen" or the letter "S."

Foozool Khan left a comment reminding the station and its viewers that other people outside of Iran celebrate Nowruz.

I am an Iranian-American, thanks for celebrating Norooz and educating your audience. However, please be mindful that Norooz is not just celebrated by Iranians. Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and all around the world, people of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and many more, all are celebrating Norooz. Let's not exclude them from these great traditions.

Thanks for the reminder! Also, the Wikipedia entry for Nowruz lists even more countries that celebrate today.

By the way, not only is today Nowruz, it's also the start of the astrological year.* 8SA covered that in Astrology Day (March 21), Activities and How to Celebrate Astrology Day.

Astrology is a system of beliefs and practices that seeks to interpret and influence the positions and movements of celestial bodies in relation to human affairs and natural phenomena. It is based on the idea that the positions of the planets, the sun, and the moon at the time of a person's birth can have a significant influence on their personality, character traits, and life events.

Astrology has been practiced for thousands of years in many different cultures around the world. It is often used as a tool for understanding oneself, relationships, and the world around us. Astrology can be used to gain insight into various aspects of life, such as career, love and relationships, finances, health, and spirituality.

There are many different types of astrology, each with its own unique traditions, techniques, and beliefs. Some of the most commonly practiced forms of astrology include Western astrology, Vedic astrology, Chinese astrology, and Mayan astrology.

The narrator shows less respect for astrology in the video, calling it a pseudoscience. That fits with my official positions on astrology, "astrology is bunk, but it's fun bunk" and "harmless but fun nonsense that I'm presenting for entertainment purposes only."

Finally, it's the twelfth anniversary of my posting First post: Why this blog? I have a new birthday song to celebrate, Happy Birthday from Stevie Wonder.


I'm surprised it took me this long to find and use this. It's been up for almost five years. I might also re-use this for MLK Day next year.

I'll continue my celebration of completing another year of blogging and starting another with statistics followed by retrospectives on (Wayback) Wednesdays, (Throwback) Thursdays, (Flashback) Fridays and selected Sundays through the rest of this month and probably all of April. Those will start after I observe World Water Day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

*This is not a coincidence. From the Wikipedia entry for the Solar Hijri calendar: "Each of the twelve months corresponds with a zodiac sign; their names are the same as ancient Zoroastrian names from the Zoroastrian calendar – in Afghanistan on the other hand, the names of the zodiacal signs are used instead."

The Women of Iran are Time's Heroes of the Year for 2022

After recognizing Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Time's Person of the Year for 2022 yesterday, it's time, pun intended, to acknowledge the Women of Iran: TIME Heroes of the Year 2022.

Younger women are now in the streets. The movement they’re leading is educated, liberal, secular, raised on higher expectations, and desperate for normality: college and foreign travel, decent jobs, rule of law, access to the Apple Store, a meaningful role in politics, the freedom to say and wear whatever. They are quite unlike those who came before them; sometimes they feel more like transnational Gen Z than Iranians: they are vegans, they de-Islamicize their names, they don’t want children. I’ve often wondered what has made them so rebellious, because their ferocious character was evident well before 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini, arrested at a metro station by the morality police who enforce the dress code, died after being held in their custody on Sept. 16, setting off the most sustained uprising in the 43-year history of the Islamic Republic. The average age of arrested protesters is notably low—Iranian officials estimate as young as 15. I can only conclude that when a generation’s aspirations for freedom appear tantalizingly within reach, the more humiliating the remaining restrictions seem, and the less daunting the final stretch of resistance feels.

Just like Vaccine scientists being named Time Magazine's Heroes of the Year, the women of Iran were being considered for Persons of the Year, but earned this recognition instead. I think it makes for an apt and fitting consolation prize.

Time Magazine uploaded a second video about this honor, Angelina Jolie Interviews Activist Roya Piraei.

TIME Contributing Editor Angelina Jolie interviews activist Roya Piraei, whose mother, Minoo Majidi, was was killed in Iran in September. Thousands continue to protest the repressive regime there. The protests began in September, when 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini died in police custody, after being arrested for not wearing her hijab properly.

The Women of Iran are TIME's 2022 Heroes of the Year.

I found that moving and personalized the movement well. Also, I didn't know that Angelina Jolie is a contributing editor for Time. It's always a good day when I learn something new.

I plan to return tomorrow with the Innovator of the Year for Nobel Prize Day tomorrow and Entertainers of the Year as the Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here is the Time Magazine cover image for Heroes of the Year.

Happy International Day of Nowruz 1401 (2022) and happy 11th birthday to Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Nowruz Mubarak! Happy International Day of Nowruz AKA Persian New Year and happy 11th birthday of the blog! Like last year, I'm celebrating Nowruz first with CBS 8 San Diego's The New Year | Persians celebrate Nowruz on the first day of spring.

On the first day of spring Persians celebrate Nowruz, also known as the New Year. On Sunday at 8:33 a.m. it will be celebration time among thousands of families across San Diego and millions across the world.

Before the New Year, Neda wanted to share some of the rich traditions and meanings behind them. So as a Persian herself, she says “khosh omadeen” which means thanks for being here. We hope you enjoy a little taste of Iran.

“Har Roozetan Nowruz, Nowruzetan Pirooz.” That’s the wish for a happy new year from the Persian Cultural Center of San Diego. The Persian Cultural Center of San Diego (PCC) is dedicated to sharing the rich history and culture of Iran with San Diegans.

Shahla Salah, President of the Persian Cultural Center says, “Persian culture is such an ancient culture and it has really influenced culture around the world.”

I've watched a lot of explanations of the holiday over the years and I can say that I really enjoyed this one. Good work, Neda Iranpour!

I'm continuing the Persian theme by embedding Tavalodet Mobarak (Happy Birthday) by Jalal Hemati.


It's about time I featured a Farsi happy birthday song for my blog's birthday.

I'm not through celebrating the eleventh anniversary of my posting First post: Why this blog? I'll continue with statistics followed by retrospectives on (Throwback) Thursdays and (Flashback) Fridays all the way through April. Those will start after I observe World Water Day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Happy International Day of Nowruz and happy 10th birthday of the blog!

Nowruz Mubarak! Happy International Day of Nowruz AKA Persian New Year and happy 10th birthday of the blog!* Since I have concentrated on celebrating this blog's birthday the past three years while downplaying Persian New Year, something I foreshadowed in 2017 when I wrote "I'm going to miss celebrations of Nowruz at The White House," I'm going to reverse my emphasis by sharing material about the holiday first, beginning with BBC News' Nowruz: How 300m people celebrate Persian New Year from 2019.

About 300 million people across the world will celebrate Persian New Year - or Nowruz - on Thursday.

The 3,000-year-old festival begins on the first day of the year in the Iranian calendar, and is also a celebration of Spring.

People in countries including Iran, Tajikistan, Turkey and Iraq will be welcoming the start of the year 1398, explains the BBC's Samar Salekipour.

Since 2019 in the common era calendar was 1398 on the Persian Calendar, that means that that today (or actually yesterday, because the actual celebration is on the Vernal Equinox, not today) is now 1400, the end of one century and the beginning of another. That alone justifies the attention to the holiday that I've neglected to give it the past three years.


The BBC News video did a good job of portraying how Nowruz is celebrated during normal times. These are not normal times. France 24 English shows how people are celebrating Nowruz in Persian New Year Nowruz festivities go online because of the pandemic.


I didn't see a message from The White House, but I did see Prime Minister Trudeau's message on Nowruz, so I'm sharing that.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wishes everyone celebrating a happy and healthy Nowruz.

Nowruz Mubarak to you, too, Mr. Prime Minister.


Ten years ago today, I posted First post: Why this blog? Since then, I've written 4,673 entries including this one. That's worthy of a bigger celebration than I'm giving it today. Don't worry. I will give the anniversary the attention I always do, with statistics on Tuesday, followed by retrospectives on (Throwback) Thursdays and (Flashback) Fridays all the way through April. That will begin after I celebrate World Water Day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

*Today is also the 15th birthday of Twitter, sort of. I'll celebrate that event when I write about the blog's year on Twitter next month.

'This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet' says The New York Times 'Stressed Election'

I told my readers to "Stay tuned" to conclude The New York Times 'Stressed Election' visits Michigan to ask 'What's the Problem With Vote-by-Mail?' That's because "This video is part of a four-part series. Two other parts about voting rights and election security are already out with one more installment about disinformation still to come. I plan on posting about all of them." Last night's news that Iran and Russia obtained U.S. voter registration data in effort to influence the election itself influenced me to share something reassuring about the vote count, This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet. Here’s Why.

With early voting underway, states are working to reassure voters that their ballots will be counted as cast. Our video shows how states’ responses to Russian hacking and the coronavirus crisis have helped make the election more secure than ever.

One of the producer-narrators left a comment that elaborated on the video.

Hello - I am Kassie Bracken. My colleague Alex Eaton and I produced this video looking at the recent history of our voting systems, and why some experts think this could be the most secure election yet when it comes to technology. It's also a journey showing how paper has come full circle in the past 20 years. Remember the chads in 2000 (if not, you'll learn more about them here)? Well, they set off a chain of events that still resonate in our security today. Voting technology is one important aspect of how we vote — please watch the other episodes in our series "Stressed Election" where we cover the impact of voting laws, voting by mail and the effect of disinformation on our elections.

The good news is that the vote count itself is probably more secure from foreign interference and other hacks. The bad news is that what Iran did was not hacking the vote count or election software. It was a disinformation campaign.

“This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy.”

Specifically, Ratcliffe said, Iran has been sending “spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President” Donald Trump, who is facing former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, in the election.

“Additionally Iran is distributing other content to include a video that implies that individuals could cast fraudulent ballots even from overseas,” he said.

“This video and any claims about such allegedly fraudulent ballots are not true,” Ratcliffe said.

He added that “these actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries. Even if the adversaries pursue further attempts to intimidate or attempt to undermine voter confidence, know that our election systems are resilient and you can be confident that your votes are secure.”

That's exactly the message I want to reinforce tonight.

I have only two installments of "Stressed Election" left to post, one on voting rights, which came out at the end of last month, and the final one on disinformation, which I expect will be uploaded next week. I plan on getting to both. In the meantime, stay tuned for National TV Talk Show Day the day after tonight's presidential debate. Drink up!