Colbert on Ron DeSantis possibly replacing Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary nominee

Yesterday, I covered Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow reacting to the Hunter Biden pardon. Today, it's Stephen Colbert's monologue, Trump Considers DeSantis Over Hegseth | Zuckerberg Dines At Mar-A-Lago | South Korea’s Six Hour Coup.

President-elect Trump's support for his Defense Secretary nominee may be teetering as Pete Hegseth's colleagues at Fox News say he frequently showed up drunk at work, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is working to gain influence in Trump's incoming administration, and Stephen looks into the wild details of an attempted coup by South Korea's president.

I think that Ron DeSantis becoming Secretary of Defense, like the nominations of Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., to be a case of failing upwards. To be fair, it would also be like Pam Bondi replacing Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, an improvement, someone terrible but at least competent replacing someone terrible who also has no qualifications beyond loyalty. I'm sure I'll have more to say about all of them in the future.

In the meantime, I want to riff off of Stephen's final topic, which didn't make either the title or description, airline travel. I know what Delta One is like, as the final flight I took before the pandemic was first class flying Delta to the final in-person board meeting of the Coffee Party. That happened because I waited too long to book a flight, during which time the cost of a coach ticket rose to within $100 of a first-class seat. For $100 more, I flew first class. I have to admit, it spoiled me, although I got a blood clot in my leg, which wasn't diagnosed until I was hospitalized for diabetes, but that's a story for another day. ETA: I got confused yesterday because of having to rush out the door; the blood clot happened two years earlier. Flying first class was part of the solution to that problem.

Speaking of fanciful airline safety videos, I'm surprised Stephen, who is a Lord of the Rings fan, didn't mention Air New Zealand's. Watch The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made #AirNZSafetyVideo to see what I mean.

As the official airline of Middle-earth, Air New Zealand has gone all out to celebrate the third and final film in The Hobbit Trilogy - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Starring Elijah Wood and Sir Peter Jackson; we're thrilled to unveil The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made. #airnzhobbit

Special cameos by Sylvester McCoy, Dean O’Gorman and Weta Workshop co-founder Sir Richard Taylor. Directed by Taika Waititi.

Check out the Air New Zealand Facebook page to see behind the scenes pics from ‘The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made’ and see firsthand Hollywood stars on the set of Middle-earth including Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Dean O’Gorman, John Rhys-Davies (as Gimli) and New Zealand’s own Sir Peter Jackson.

As Sir Peter said, "That's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it."

The BBC World Service examines 'How the US election could change our climate' plus MSNBC on Project 2025 and climate

Change of plans — instead of "returning to the Emmy Awards with the diversity in Emmy winners posts I've been promising," I'm returning to the intersection of the election and climate change thanks to BBC World Service examining How the US election could change our climate - The Global Story podcast.

In the second of our pre-election series we look at America and... climate change. How could Kamala Harris or Donald Trump shape the global response to the climate crisis?
...
As one of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels and carbon emissions, the US plays a pivotal role in addressing climate change. The environmental policies of the next president could reshape American industry and the economy, while influencing the global fight against climate change.

Sumi Somaskanda speaks to the BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt and Carl Nasman, who covers US climate issues for the BBC.

Yes, the United States does face a stark choice on a number of issues next month (this month for people who are filling their ballots early and mailing them in, as my wife and I are planning on doing) as I described most recently in CityNerd examines Agenda 47 and cities in 'And You Thought Project 2025 Was Bad', not least of which are climate and energy, which I promised to cover months ago in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 4. Then, I had two videos from MSNBC to share. Now, I have five, beginning with the most recent, Project 2025 calls for break up of nation's top weather and climate service. That makes this part 8 of MSNBC examines Project 2025.

Project 2025 is calling for the breaking up of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). Monica Medina, former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, joins Morning Joe to discuss as Hurricane Milton is set to hit Florida.

FEMA having to debunk rumors on its webpage reminds me of what I wrote in Kamala Harris visits 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'.

As for Trump's lies about FEMA's response to Hurricane Helene, I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling what I last wrote in 'SNL' returns with Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris after winning six Emmy Awards; "the voices he's listening to aren't reliable sources. This includes JD Vance.' It also includes the voices in his head." Who are he and his supporters going to believe, their narrative or their own eyes and ears? So far, it's their narrative.

That's damage that's already been done and needs to be repaired. I'd rather not imagine the impact of breaking up NOAA, which paid my salary twice. That would make the consequences of extreme weather and other natural disasters worse.

Monica Medina appeared previously in ‘He will weaponize’ and politicize the weather: Trump and Project 2025’s wrecking ball climate plan, one of the videos I have been saving.

This year’s presidential election will determine the fate of our democracy and, with it, hard-won environmental and climate gains. Project 2025, the conservative playbook for another Trump term, promises to completely eviscerate climate policy and empower Big Oil. Activist and author Bill McKibben and Monica Medina, a former top climate official at the State Department, DoD, and NOAA, join Ali Velshi to discuss what’s at stake this November. 'Biden has done more to support clean energy by far than any president before,' says McKibben. Trump “won’t just politicize the weather – he will weaponize it,” warns Medina.

Not only did McKibben imagine what a U.S. without NOAA would be like, he compared it to convicted criminal Donald Trump's response to the pandemic, "if we don't know, then we don't have to talk about it." He also brought up Ron DeSantis forbidding mention of climate change in Florida's official documents, all while the Sunshine State was already facing one of the worst hurricane seasons forecast. So far, that dire prediction is coming true. Speaking of which, Trump weaponizing the weather against his enemies isn't a prediction; it already happened during his time as President.

I have three more MSNBC videos about Project 2025 and climate policy to share, but I have papers to correct and dinner to grill, so I'm saving them for part 9. In the meantime, stay tuned for a highlights post of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature. Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks!

Colbert, Meyers, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Trump's Twitter interview

I'm back from the hospital and feeling well enough to post some comedy about what happened while I was being treated.* I begin with Stephen Colbert Musk & Trump’s Livestream Fail | Trump Flies Around On Epstein’s Plane | Obama’s Brat Summer.

Donald Trump slurred his words throughout his disastrous X Spaces livestream with Elon Musk, and his team is in panic mode after it was revealed that the former president has been renting a plane that once belonged to Jeffrey Epstein. Elsewhere, Barack Obama’s annual summer playlist dropped and it’s as spicy as ever.

Lisping convicted criminal Hoover Cleveland not only sounds like Sylvester the Cat, but also Daffy Duck. What do you expect? They were both voiced by Mel Blanc.

Not only did I miss blogging, I missed Stephen. I also missed Seth Meyers, so here he is with Rattled Trump Blames Technology for Disastrous X Livestream with Elon Musk: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump lashing out against cell phone technology for making him sound insane during a disastrous livestream with Elon Musk.

Seth making a Ron DeSantis joke reminds me that his campaign announcement on Twitter was also a technological disaster. Hah!

By the way, I have that screaming goat/sheep video embedded here. Enjoy!

I close with The Daily Show's mock report Twitter Glitches Out for Elon’s Interview and So Does Trump.

Desi Lydic tackles Donald Trump’s glitchy interview with Elon Musk on X, in which a slurring Trump announced plans to close the Department of Education, played '90s pop culture trivia with Vladimir Putin, and revealed his new celebrity crush.

"Trump announced plans to close the Department of Education" — and Hoover Cleveland says he has nothing to do with Project 2025. Yeah, right.

*It's great to be back! I'll describe my hospitalization another time. Stay tuned.

MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 6

I closed Entertainment and true crime the themes of Emmy nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series by wondering if I'd be up for more Emmys coverage today. I'm not. Writing yesterday's entry wore me out and frustrated me, as I didn't get to the other nominations for documentary and nonfiction series. Maybe tomorrow. Instead, I'm returning to CityNerd explaining 'What Project 2025 Means for Our Cities' can drive one to drink, which reminded me that I've promised a part 6 of MSNBC examining Project 2025. Time to work the eye again!

I'm sharing the four most recent videos from MSNBC on the subject, beginning with The 'evil genius' of Project 2025 and its attack on American freedom.

The most disturbing policy proposals for a second Trump presidency are all found in Project 2025, including a plot to destroy civil rights protections and deny the existence of racism in America. Michael Harriot and Jonathan Capehart discuss how the creators of the 900-page document plan to upend many American lives.

I have the same reaction to ceasing collection of data on race that I had to prohibiting funding of gun violence research at the CDC and NIH; it's an act of scientific censorship and I oppose it. One of these decades, it might no longer be necessary, but the U.S. is not there yet.

Next, 'Terrible policy and politics': Rattner breaks down Project 2025.

MSNBC Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Rattner dives into the potential financial consequences of Project 2025, the 920 page policy manifesto by the conservative group the Heritage Foundation: higher taxes for lower-income Americans, increased student loan payments, and major cuts to Medicaid.

Those are all bad things and the "higher taxes for lower-income Americans" is something baked into the 2017 tax "reform," which I examined in The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond, when I wrote "The tax cuts will expire exactly in the middle of that span in 2027." That's very bad timing and the tax plan in Project 2025 would make it permanent.

Stephanie Ruhle returned to the proposed tax rates and their effects in last night's Trump's Project 2025 tax plan is ‘coming for the people already struggling’.

VP Harris called out Project 2025 at her first campaign rally in Milwaukee today. Stephanie Ruhle breaks down exactly how the proposed tax plan will impact everyday Americans with Juanita Tolliver and Stuart Stevens.

As Steve Rattner pointed out and Stuart Stevens repeated, Project 2025's tax proposal is not popular. That's worth reiterating. Work that eye!

I close with a clip that isn't directly about Project 2025, but which the interviewee tied to it, saying her situation is ‘A preview to Project 2025’ in FL: The undermining of elected state prosecutors.

Monique Worrell was suspended from her position as the elected State Attorney in Orlando after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made baseless accusations against her, claiming without any reason that her policies led to an increase in violent crime. Last month, the mostly DeSantis-appointed Florida Supreme Court refused to reinstate her. “What we’re seeing here in Florida is a preview to Project 2025,” says Worrell. Her removal, she argues, effectively disenfranchises everyone who voted for her and reverses years of progress.

Ugh, Ron DeSantis. His "anti-woke" actions are still causing trouble long after he dropped out after finishing second in Iowa. They also serve as proof of concept for Project 2025's proposals to reshape government. That makes him a bad example.

The third video mentioned Kamala Harris ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket. That reminds me of Democratic Vice-Presidential contenders from left to center according to Voteview and On The Issues' take on Democratic Vice-Presidential contenders from left to center. That's something else I can do now that the Democrats will nominate a new VP candidate. Stay tuned for that and a part 7 of this series.

'SNL' tackles E. Jean Carroll judgment, DeSantis endorsement, Nikki Haley, and more

As I promised twice, it's time for the highlights of last night's Saturday Night Live. This time, I begin with Weekend Update, which opened with Trump Ordered to Pay $83 Million, DeSantis Endorses Trump.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Nikki Haley demanding Trump take a mental competency test.

My, what a busy week on the campaign trail, from Ron DeSantis dropping out and endorsing Trump through Nikki Haley coming in second in New Hampshire then ramping up her attacks on Trump, to the second E. Jean Carroll trial. It's all Trump, so I made sure not to include his name in the subject line. SNL and I gave him enough oxygen, so I want to deny him what little I can.  It's bad enough that his picture is in the preview image.

Mentioning the Oscars, including Lily Gladstone's nomination, Gozilla Minus One, which I expect to see on the next Saturn Awards ballot, and Oppenheimer, qualifies this as the Sunday entertainment feature. Weekend Update will have more to say about the Oscars after British Museums Return Ghana Artifacts, Disney Maternity Ward Rumor, which continues with the arts and entertainment content.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a man threatening people with a knife at a Planet Fitness.

I watch a lot of theme park channels and none of them mentioned this rumor, so that's about the status I accord to it, rumor — that, or an urban legend, like Walt's frozen head, which isn't true because the man was cremated.

Follow over the jump for Weekend Update's interview segments, the host monologue, and the cold open, which wasn't about politics for once.

Ron DeSantis drops out after finishing second in Iowa

I concluded 'Trump' brags about his cognitive abilities as 'SNL' returns after winning 2 Emmy Awards by telling my readers to stay tuned for either more Emmy coverage so long as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver broadcasts a new episode tonight. If not, I would come up with something. There was no new episode of Last Week Tonight last night, so something else it is. Fortunately for me, Ron DeSantis dropped out just after I uploaded yesterday's post, so he's now the subject of today's entry. See Ron DeSantis end his 2024 run from MSNBC.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he is dropping out of the race and suspending his 2024 presidential campaign in a video he posted on X formerly known as Twitter.

It's no secret that I dislike DeSantis, but I dislike Donald Trump more, so I couldn't resist Susan Del Percio pushing back on Alex Witt asking if it would be smart for Trump to pick Nikki Haley for his running mate to unify the party by saying "I never look to Trump and say 'Will he make the smart decision?' What I do is what is the decision that best fits his ego, and Nikki Haley doesn't match that." I agree, which is why Elise Stefanik has been appealing to his ego, yet I think Kristi Noem would be more likely to be picked. Del Percio's prediction of Katie Britt hadn't occurred to me, but now that she's mentioned it, I can see it.

On a related subject, I just haven't felt enthused enough about the primaries to do what I did in 2016 and 2020, make images of the candidates' ideologies and find drinks for them. It would have been relatively easy for DeSantis, as he served in Congress and has a Voteview page to go along with his On The Issues page, but I never felt it. Now I'm glad I didn't; it saved me work I didn't have to do.

Follow over the jump for videos about what went wrong and what it means for Haley in tomorrow's New Hampshire Primary.

'Trump' brags about his cognitive abilities as 'SNL' returns after winning 2 Emmy Awards

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for highlights of Saturday Night Live's first show of the new year, when I plan on covering its Emmy Awards as well as the one Emmy won by A Black Lady Sketch Show." Without any further ado, I present Trump Courthouse Cold Open.

Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) speaks to the media after appearing in court for his E. Jean Carroll defamation trial.

I was wondering when I'd encounter someone else calling Ambassador Haley "Darling Nikki." It took SNL's writers to do it; the real Trump would rather call her "Birdbrain" — coming from him, that's rich, although projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism and Trump projects, so it should be expected — or Nimrada, a mangling of her real first name, Nimarata, which doubles as an allusion to Nimrod and a xenophobic/racist dog whistle, one of which we'll see and hear during Weekend Update. Speaking of insulting nicknames, Ron DeStupid for Ron DeSantis works for me, but again that was SNL's writers, not Trump. He needs better writers, not that he would follow their lead or even understand what he's reading until after he hears himself say it.

Trump's cognitive issues were among the subjects of Weekend Update: Trump Sports Mysterious Hand Rash, CNN Cancels Republican Debate.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Trump eyeing Rep. Elise Stefanik as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election.

The likely rematch between Biden and Trump reminds me of what I first wrote last February.

A fellow guest at a party I attended in the summer of 2016 asked me how we got TFG and Hillary Clinton as nominees. I told him that the parties got the nominees they deserved. The Republicans got TFG because the party was too weak and the Democrats got Hillary Clinton because the party was too strong. He laughed ruefully and asked if the American people deserved the nominees. I told him that was another matter entirely.

I elaborated on that last month, writing "That's still true and is why we're almost certainly going to get a rematch between TFG and Joe Biden next year" — now this year.

Speaking of strong parties, I'm recycling what I included in Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel return from the Emmys to take closer looks at the Iowa Caucus about Elise Stefanik calling for everyone else but Trump to drop out and endorse the former President. I saw that and reacted on Twitter/X.

1. She's continuing her audition to be TFG's VP.
2. Pelosi wished for a strong Republican Party. This is what it looks like. She should be careful what she wishes for.
3. https://t.co/wDAB2W3m0e https://t.co/GkjUGDo7lQ

— Crazy Eddie's Motie News (@pinkusensei) January 17, 2024

The video description mentioned Stefanik, but I didn't recall hearing her mentioned (did you?) so I'm making up for the apparent omission.

Follow over the jump for the rest of Weekend Update, an ad parody, and SNL's and A Black Lady Sketch Show's Emmy Awards.

Meyers, Kimmel, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Santos being expelled

I closed 'Bankrupt - Ruby Tuesday' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse by telling my readers "Stay tuned for comedy tomorrow, when I expect 'Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and especially Jimmy Kimmel will run a victory lap as they dunk on his departure while mourning the loss of a great subject for comedy.'" I got two-thirds of my wish, as both Meyers and Kimmel featured George Santos in their sketches and monologues, while Colbert is at home recovering from a ruptured appendix. Get well soon, Stephen! Your fans miss you!

Seth Meyers kicks off the farewells with Trump Says He'll "Redo" 2020 Election, George Santos Flees Capitol in Shame: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at GOP front-runner and four-time indictee Donald Trump claiming in an unhinged and incoherent rant that he will somehow "redo" the 2020 election and would win in a landslide if Jesus was the scorekeeper.

That made for an interesting comparison and contrast between Trump and Santos. Based on indictments, The Former Guy is the bigger criminal, but Santos is the one whose peers punished him. Even so, I have confidence that "the wheels of justice are grinding slowly in this case, but I expect they will indeed grind exceedingly fine" regarding TFG.

It took longer for Kimmel to say his good-bye to Santos in George Santos Kicked Out of Congress, Trump Ate “Too Much” After Jan 6th & a Very MAGA Christmas, saving his farewell until the finale of his monologue.

We are four nights into The Elf on the Shelf and we are providing a service to all the Moms and Dads out there who are doing it, Taylor Swift was in Green Bay for Sunday Night Football between Green Bay and Kansas City, Donald Trump was up late last night typing out a rebuttal to a story in Liz Cheney’s new book, he was in Cedar Rapids on Saturday floating out what might be his most nonsensical election notion yet, he has a lot of stuff for sale on his website in anticipation of Christmas, and George Santos was officially expelled from Congress.

That was a fitting send-off for Santos. Good riddance!

I close with The Daily Show's Congress Votes Santos Out & DeSantis & Newsom Throw Down in place of Colbert.

Charlamagne Tha God tackles Congress voting George Santos out and Felicity Huffman discussing her college admissions scandal. Plus, Ronny Chieng, Desi Lydic, and Michael Kosta weigh in on Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis's fiery debate.

I think that Charlamagne Tha God is onto something when he said that Santos's sexual orientation played an unspoken role in his expulsion, at least among Republicans. The Democrats didn't care about that; being a scandalous accused crook was enough.

Finally, I'm glad someone paid attention to the Fox News debate between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom. Newsom attacked DeSantis’ awful record on COVID, which I reinforced in a Twitter thread.

Florida had most of its COVID-19 deaths after vaccines became available.2https://t.co/jExI2Qkwdb pic.twitter.com/J1jkJlTblD

— Crazy Eddie's Motie News (@pinkusensei) December 1, 2023

That first tweet is my most viewed and liked so far this month. Here's to hoping it convinced some people.

'Trump' crashes the Republican debate on 'SNL'

I wrote "looking forward to the show already" about last night's Saturday Night Live. The opening lived up to my expectations. Watch Republican Debate Cold Open - SNL.

Lester Holt (Kenan Thompson) moderates the Republican candidates (Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Molly Kearney, Devon Walker, John Higgins) during a debate before Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) interrupts.

This sketch recycles the same gimmick as James Austin Johnson's 'Trump' hijacks the Last Supper on 'SNL' for Easter, but it worked then and it worked again, so this environmentalist approves. In fact, I think it was more effective this time, because Trump's absence from the stage really was the elephant in the room, so having him crash the debate was an appropriate comic choice. It gave James Austin Johnson the opportunity to tell a lot of uncomfortable truths about Trump and his supporters through comedy. One of them was something Seth Meyers, Sarah Silverman, and I missed; The Former Guy already has an insulting nickname for Nikki Haley, "Birdbrain." I'm not using it, as I already have one for her. Besides, TFG has a lot of nerve calling someone stupid, which is something I wouldn't call Haley. As I first wrote eleven years ago, "Projection is the Right's favorite defense mechanism. Trump projects, so he fits right in."

Weekend Update continued lampooning last week's debate in Ramaswamy Calls GOP Party of Losers, Ivanka Testifies in Fraud Trial.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Vivek Ramaswamy calling the GOP a "party of losers" and Ohio becoming the 24th state to legalize marijuana.

After Tuesday's election results, Vivek Ramaswamy might be right. Welcome to a stuck clock being right twice a day, even if it's for the wrong reasons. Speaking of which, I guess SNL's writers couldn't figure out a way to include Haley calling Ramaswamy "scum" in their jokes. Darn.

Follow over the jump for more of the highlights from last night's episode, plus a bonus flashback to Timothée Chalamet's first appearance on SNL.

Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at Don Jr. testifying and DeSantis allegedly wearing lifts

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for non-holiday programming" yesterday, so I'm returning to some of my favorite sources today, beginning with Stephen Colbert asking Why is Ron DeSantis Wearing Lifts? | Donald Trump v. The People | Biden’s Chilling AI Warning.

Stephen tries out Gov. DeSantis’s cowboy boots trick, the former president’s five court cases are chasing him down the campaign trail, and the current president issued an executive order to protect us from the dangers of artificial intelligence.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling my commentary from 'SNL' satirizes Jim Jordan's losing bid for Speaker: "I haven't mentioned Ron DeSantis this month, so good for SNL bringing him up. He deserves this kind of attention." I think he probably needs the boost, based on these passages from The Daily Dot.

Many politicians’ heights are listed on their Wikipedia page. Not DeSantis. His Wikipedia contains no mention of his height. One site noted that estimates of his height vary from 5’9" to 6’2". Others say he’s closer to 5’7".

Height obviously has no bearing on a person’s ability to govern. It’s also true that taller candidates are more likely to win the U.S. presidency. DeSantis has faced an uphill climb in the polls ever since he announced his candidacy, as voters appear to prefer Trump.

But is it because of his height?

To answer the question, probably not, but it's fun to ask.

My comment on President Biden's AI executive order is that it wouldn't be the first time watching a movie prompted a U.S. President to act on an apocalyptic scenario. Ronald Reagan reacted to watching The Day After, acknowledging how terrible nuclear war would be, saying that nuclear weapons were there as deterrents, but eventually reaching an agreement with the USSR to reduce nuclear arsenals. Behold the power of entertainment!

I have nothing to say about Don Jr. testifying and his father's reaction that Seth Meyers said better in Trump Freaks Out as His Son Don Jr. Takes the Stand in New York Fraud Trial: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump's son Don Jr. testifying in the Manhattan civil fraud trial that could cost the Trump family their entire business empire.

Pass the popcorn.

Jimmy Kimmel covered the same ground Colbert did and more in Don Jr. Gets Grilled in Court, Trump Plays Victim & Rober and Kimmel Teach Candy Thieves a Lesson.

Today marks the first day of November, Jimmy took his kids trick-or-treating last night, a kid from Arizona dressed up like Guillermo, Heidi Klum was a peacock for her annual Halloween party, Mitt and Anne Romney went as Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift, Donald and Melania partied it up at the Mar-A-Lago Halloween party, Donald Jr was being grilled today as part of the $250 million fraud case, Daddy Donny spent some time lashing out on Truth Social at the judge and he’s very busy trying to paint himself as the victim of a conspiracy masterminded by Joe Biden, the Biden Administration is cracking down on A.I. thanks in part to the Mission Impossible franchise, people continue to submit videos pretending to eat their kids’ Halloween candy despite us not asking for them, and evil genius Mark Rober stops by to teach criminal trick-or-treaters a lesson they’ll never forget.

I've written that I should embed Mark Rober's videos here. Consider this a down payment on that promise. Here's to hoping I remember next October, both for Wester and Halloween.

I might return with more Colbert tomorrow, as Adam Kinzinger was one of his guests last night. Stay tuned.

'SNL' satirizes Jim Jordan's losing bid for Speaker

Saturday Night Live began last night by satirizing Jim Jordan's 'Groundhog Day' of losing votes in Jim Jordan Cold Open - SNL.

Jim Jordan (Mikey Day) hears from George Santos (Bowen Yang), Lauren Boebert (Chloe Fineman) and Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) after losing the House Speaker vote again.

Yay, a good political skit. That's what I've been waiting for since April 8th, when James Austin Johnson's 'Trump' hijacked the Last Supper on 'SNL' for Easter. Pete Davidson's cold open last week was moving and the right thing to do, but it wasn't it.

Jordan's woes continued to be the topic in the opening segment of Weekend Update: Jim Jordan Dropped as Speaker Nominee, Trump Gag Order - SNL.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Netflix planning to open brick and mortar stores and Ron DeSantis spending $1.5 million on private jets.

As I wrote last week, "Weekend Update...opened with jokes about the reactions to the crisis, not the conflict itself. Those are worth ridiculing." This includes President Biden telling Israel's adveraries "don't." I just hope it's more effective than telling his dogs not to bite Secret Service agents.

Colin Jost and Michael Che also examined Trump's gag order. I admit to being pleased that the former guy found it frustrating. As far as I'm concerned, that's the point.

I haven't mentioned Ron DeSantis this month, so good for SNL bringing him up. He deserves this kind of attention. As for Netflix planning on opening brick-and-mortar stores, I found that a surprising combination of the Retail Apocalypse and entertainment, to say nothing of it being a questionable business decision. That reminds me that I've embedded videos mentioning Blockbuster Video in Ten of the companies that went out of business this decade and 9,300+ stores closed this year, two tales of the Retail Apocalypse and WatchMojo's 'Top 20 Stores That Don't Exist Anymore' for Throwback Thursday, tales of the Retail Apocalypse, I've never written a post highlighting the company's rise and fall by itself. I'll keep that in mind.

Follow over the jump for the rest of last night's highlights.

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.

Examinations of Disney v. DeSantis from CNBC, Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Finance

I told my readers to "stay tuned" yesterday, "as I plan on updating the Disney-DeSantis feud as tomorrow's Sunday entertainment feature." It's tomorrow, so I'm following through on my program note with the financial channels' examination of the conflict, beginning with CNBC's Disney V. DeSantis: Why Florida’s Governor Took On America’s Media Giant.

The political feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney has been heating up for the last few months. In April 2023, Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DeSantis, accusing the governor of waging a ‘targeted campaign of government retaliation.” DeSantis, who’s preparing for a 2024 presidential campaign on the GOP ticket, says he isn’t backing down. So how did this all begin? And who will come out on top, once it’s all done?

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from last week.

[DeSantis is] "making himself look even worse while getting liberals to side with a big corporation. Nice trick, but not the one he's trying to pull."

Another trick he's pulling is continuing the trend that I saw developing more than a decade ago and summarized in DeSantis to sign replacement for Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government.

Aren't Republicans supposed to be the business-friendly party? Well, they were, but this split has been building for a decade since I wrote about how Newt Gingrich threw big business under the bus while campaigning against Mitt Romney. Ten years later, the rift between Republicans and big business has opened up wide enough for everyone to see. Who knows? Maybe the Republican Party or at least DeSantis will fall into it. Break out the popcorn.

At the time, I thought DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party hadn't fallen into the rift between them and big business. Now, I think they haven't just fallen, but jumped into the widening and deepening chasm. That calls for more popcorn.
...
[The] observation that Republican primary voters are more interested in cultural issues than economic issues fits the shift in “the Republican Party’s base moving from country club to country” as CNN quoted Tom Davis, a former Republican representative from northern Virginia, in 2017. That's what I've been seeing since 2012.

[M]ajor U.S. political parties don't have consistent ideologies. They do, however, have consistent core interest groups and Gingrich is throwing one of them, the northeastern business interests, which have been with the GOP since it formed out of the remains of the Whigs in the 1850s, under the bus. That ended up being smart in the short run, given that he was angling for the votes of Southern populists, who don't care much for the northeastern business interests and haven't since before the founding of the republic.

DeSantis is hoping that will work in his favor.

Based on the polling data CNBC showed and the interviews with DeSantis supporters in Florida, it has so far. It remains to be seen how well it will continue to work now that Ron DeSantis is officially running for President against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, and, should he actually get the nomination, in the general election.

Follow over the jump for videos by The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! Finance on the subject.

Mehdi Hasan takes a deep dive into 'The truth about DeSantis’ awful record on covid', a pandemic and primary election update

Now that Ron DeSantis is officially running for President, his record is receiving the kind of scrutiny a candidate for the highest office in the land should get. In this case, Mehdi Hasan took a deep dive into The truth about DeSantis’ awful record on covid.

Ron DeSantis is officially in the 2024 race, leaning on his partisan and polarizing approach to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, Mehdi says, his actual Covid record is nothing to brag about, and we shouldn’t let DeSantis rewrite the history of the pandemic in the Sunshine State.

Mehdi has learned from Republicans, just as much as the radical right has learned from the radical left. In this case, he's following Karl Rove's strategy to attack your opponent's strengths. Good. He's subjecting Ron DeSantis's claims of success during the pandemic by asking "oh, really?" and "at what cost?" Let's look at the numbers. First, here are the top five states with most COVID-19 deaths according to the CDC.


Next, the top twelve U.S. States by population 2020 and 2022 from Wikipedia.


The top five states by official COVID-19 deaths and population are the same. The only difference is that Florida and New York switch places between third and fourth. But there are more important statistics, as Mehdi Hasan pointed out in his tweets promoting this video.

Don't let DeSantis gaslight you on Covid.

Florida has a higher per capita death rate than CA; has had a majority of its deaths since vaccines unlike CA & NYC; & a higher per capita death rate than other states with elderly populations.
I brought receipts:https://t.co/XAAyiNi1S6

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 27, 2023

Follow over the jump for his receipts.

DeSantis DeClares he's running for President on Twitter

As expected, Ron DeSantis finally declared that he is running for the Republican nomination for President last night on Twitter. That didn't go so well, as Chris Hayes on MSNBC reported ‘Epic disaster’: DeSantis 2024 launch with Elon Musk on Twitter flops.

Remember that time Elon Musk unveiled the new Cybertruck, and when he went to demonstrate the vehicle's supposedly "bulletproof glass," two of the windows smashed? The Twitter rollout of the Ron DeSantis campaign went kinda like that.

LOL. The glitchy opening of the DeSantis-Musk Twitter space stole the show and made for an inauspicious opening to DeSantis's campaign.

PBS NewsHour put together a more serious segment explaining How DeSantis' campaign shapes the GOP presidential race.

The presidential race has a new big-name candidate as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially announced his run Wednesday. The Republican is a headline machine, shaping national fights over COVID policies, education and immigration. But he faces an uphill climb against former ally Donald Trump. Lisa Desjardins discussed the race with former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who served in Congress with DeSantis.

That's a good summary and former Representative Carlos Curbelo at least made a good effort at answering "why Twitter?" PBS NewHour ignored the technical glitches. It was trying to be sober and impartial, which MSNBC certainly wasn't.

PBS NewsHour mentioned DeSantis's fight with Disney, so I turn to FiveThirtyEight, a now smaller part of ABC News, itself owned by Disney, which asked Does Ron DeSantis Have A Shot At Beating Trump?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. What are his chances of winning the race?

The answer is still yes, better than any other candidate, but not a good one. Just the same, it's now officially a two-person race.

I'm sure I'll have lots more to write about the GOP primary in the coming year or so. Stay tuned and break out the popcorn.

Disney cancels billion-dollar project and keeps 2,000 jobs in California just before DeSantis declares he's running for Republican presidential nomination

An unknown reader (literally — Blogger identifies them as "Unknown") left a comment to Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans repeal the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government that made a couple of interesting suggestions.

Always love your prose. Pass the popcorn indeed. Always a bad policy to penalize a company since they "cannot" move. My guess is Disney will setup shop in a location that is more amenable to their business I threats and move the facility over time. Opportunity for GA or LA to get some jobs.

I gave a more practical action in my response.

Thank you. I hope I have enough popcorn. As for Disney moving the theme parks, they won't, although they might reconsider relocating Imagineering and Consumer Products from California to Florida. That's more than 1,000 jobs that the Orlando Metro Area won't get.

I wrote that in April 2022, more than a year ago. This past Friday, Disney made that exact decision. Watch and listen as CNN reports Disney cancels billion-dollar Florida campus, DeSantis says he’s ‘not surprised’.

Disney upped the ante in its battle with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and it cost his state 2,000 white-collar jobs. Disney is scrapping plans to build a $1 billion office complex in Florida, citing “changing business conditions,” according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson.

Occasionally, I write that I wish I wasn't right. This isn't one of those times. I'm glad I saw this coming, I'm glad for the Disney employees who no longer have to move from California to Florida, and I'm glad Disney stuck it to Ron DeSantis the Friday before he declares he's running for Republican presidential nomination! As I last wrote in Disney sues DeSantis, "he's making himself look even worse while getting liberals to side with a big corporation. Nice trick, but not the one he's trying to pull."

Another trick he's pulling is continuing the trend that I saw developing more than a decade ago and summarized in DeSantis to sign replacement for Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government.

Aren't Republicans supposed to be the business-friendly party? Well, they were, but this split has been building for a decade since I wrote about how Newt Gingrich threw big business under the bus while campaigning against Mitt Romney. Ten years later, the rift between Republicans and big business has opened up wide enough for everyone to see. Who knows? Maybe the Republican Party or at least DeSantis will fall into it. Break out the popcorn.

At the time, I thought DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party hadn't fallen into the rift between them and big business. Now, I think they haven't just fallen, but jumped into the widening and deepening chasm. That calls for more popcorn.

Follow over the jump for more reactions from myself and others as I continue today's Sunday entertainment feature.

Randy Rainbow sings 'Welcome to DeSantis!'

While the writers strike has canceled the late-night talk shows, it hasn't canceled Randy Rainbow, as he uploaded Welcome to DeSantis! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody yesterday. Take it away, Randy!

Parody of "Welcome to the 60s" from Hairspray (music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman)

Go Randy! Tell your audience what you really think about Ron DeSantis! Speaking of which, I'm sharing GAY! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody as an encore.

The Randy Rainbow Show: "GAY!"
...
(Based on "Shy" by Mary Rodgers from Once Upon a Mattress)

I really was in the mood for musical comedy today. How about you?

Stephen Colbert returns to examine Fox News firing Tucker Carlson plus Seth Meyers takes one more closer look before the writers strike

There was a notable absence from both Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News and Seth Meyers takes more closer looks at Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News, Stephen Colbert. He returned Monday night and caught up on last week's news in Why Tucker Got Fired | Angry Fox Viewers Turn to Newsmax | Brits: DeSantis Is No Star.

Stephen unlocks clues to the mystery of Tucker Carlson’s firing and the ratings fallout that ensued, and looks at reactions to the Florida governor’s trip overseas.

Colbert's audience cheered nearly as loud for Carlson's firing as when he told them about Trump's indictment. LOL, show the viewers what you really think. Speaking of which, hearing that "Russian state media," specifically Russia Today, publicly offered Carlson a job shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. I didn't think they would be that brazen, but they were. As I wrote more than a decade ago, "Russia Today loves to broadcast dissenting American voices" and Carlson qualifies. The only problem is that Russia Today is blocked in the U.S., so Carlson won't be reaching his target (pun intended) audience. Ah, too bad.

Colbert couldn't resist making a joke about Joe Biden's age when bringing up Biden declaring he's running for re-election. That's O.K. Biden can take a joke.

My reaction to Colbert calling Ron DeSantis, "a broken robot in the hall of never-gonna-be presidents" was I see what you did there.


I couldn't resist a meme/gif from a Disney movie.

I'm returning to Colbert after Fox Hosts Scared They Could Be Fired After Tucker, Paranoid About "Snitches": A Closer Look from "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

Seth takes a closer look at Fox News reportedly being gripped by paranoia and fear as on-air personalities worry they could be next to go after last week's surprise ouster of Tucker Carlson.

I used to enjoy watching Maria Bartiromo on CNBC during the early 2000s, so it pains me to see what's she's become now. I miss that version of her. On the other hand, I prefer watching comedians do impressions of Jeanine Pirro. If she goes off the air, I won't miss her, just laughing at her.

Meyers is right about the contrast between Biden and the Republicans; he has to re-use a couple of clips while the Republicans create new material all the time. Speaking of which, he had fun with DeSantis's bobblehead and deer-in-the-headlights reaction to falling behind Donald Trump in the polls, although he resisted the obvious Disney reference. Maybe he should have made one for Universal Studios, who is his employer.

He closed with a mention about the WGA strike. Colbert had an entire segment about it, Future News Jokes Now…Just In Case.

Stephen shares some thoughts on what could be ahead for The Late Show and peeks into the future for news stories that might come across his desk in the coming weeks.

We'll see if those predictions come true, but it will be a while before we hear jokes about them from Colbert, Meyers, or any of the rest of the late-night talk-show hosts, because the writers are now on strike. That means no more comedy posts about the news (unless the hosts are guests on news shows) and no more "Saturday Night Live" highlights on Sunday until the strike is resolved. Darn. I'll figure out something else for the Sunday entertainment feature. In the meantime, stay tuned for Star Wars Day, Cinco De Mayo, and Revenge of the Sixth. I love holidays!

Disney sues DeSantis

It's time to follow through on a footnote.

I need to follow up on DeSantis's reaction to Disney subverting DeSantis's replacement for the Reedy Creek Improvement District, Disney World's own government; he's making himself look even worse while getting liberals to side with a big corporation. Nice trick, but not the one he's trying to pull.

The situation developed into a legal case yesterday, as 10 Tampa Bay reported Disney sues Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis yesterday.

The legal filing is the latest salvo in a more than year-old feud between Disney and DeSantis that has engulfed the governor in criticism as he prepares to launch an expected presidential bid in the coming months.

DeSantis, who has framed himself as a Republican firebrand able to deftly implement his conservative agenda without drama, has dived headlong into the fray with the beloved company and major tourism driver, as business leaders and White House rivals bash his stance as a rejection of the small-government tenets of conservatism.

“We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state,” said DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”

10 Tampa Bay followed up this morning in Disney vs DeSantis: The latest with the lawsuit.

The suit was filed minutes after a Disney World oversight board appointed by DeSantis voted to void a deal that placed theme park decisions in the company's hands.

10 Tampa Bay reported on Disney's claims as well as DeSantis's response. Yahoo Finance emphasized the relief that Disney asked for in Disney files lawsuit against Florida Governor DeSantis.

Yahoo Finance legal reporter Alexis Keenan joins Yahoo Finance Live anchors to discuss the ongoing feud between Disney and Governor DeSantis, with the latest details surrounding Disney's lawsuit filing.

I hope that Disney gets its relief, but be patient, because the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.

Follow over the jump for reactions that put the conflict in context.

Amendment introduced to 'clarify' Florida's 'resign to run' law

While all indications are that Ron DeSantis will run against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for President, he hasn't announced yet. In the meantime, candidates like Nikki Haley and Perry Johnson have already declared their candidacies. What's holding him up? Most likely a Florida law stating that holders of state office in Florida have to resign when they run for federal office. That looks like it will change, as CBS Miami reported Florida Senate to "clarify" state's resign to run law this morning.

The amendment would add language basically saying Florida’s "resign to run" law doesn't apply to those campaigning for President or Vice President.

WFLA had more on the proposed legislation as well as how the current law would apply in Florida lawmakers file amendment so DeSantis doesn't have to resign to run in 2024.

8 On Your Side Investigator Mahsa Saeidi has the latest.

Biden announcing he's running for re-election provides the context for the timing of this bill.* DeSantis is danger of being left behind, even though he's the clear Republican alternative to Trump. Speaking of whom, Chris Hayes performed a stand-up routine of sorts, While DeSantis wages a war on woke, Trump wages a war on him.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not having a good week. While he continues his publicity tour to 'end the woke' movement, Donald Trump is waging a war on him. Trump isn't just picking fights with DeSantis online, but he's beating him in the polls.

At this rate, while I still expect DeSantis to DeClare his candidacy as soon as he signs the amendment to Florida's "resign to run" law that allows him to remain Governor while he runs for President, I would not be surprised if he ends up not running. Stay tuned.

*I was originally going to blog about Biden's announcement, but I found the late night talk show host's segments on him underwhelming and didn't feel like posting MSNBC's cheerleading, so I looked for another story and found this, which I found more inspiring.