A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Showing posts with label Stephen Colbert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Colbert. Show all posts
This song treats the Trump shenanigans in recent days as he has escalated a trade war with Canada and – when faced with defiance and the threat of counter tariffs – indulged in petty statements and pathetic acts such as sanctimoniously renaming Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’. We have been inundated with requests from Canadian followers for something on this topic (including plenty of suggested lyrics and songs) – but we’ve stuck to our own model and selection, which we nearly always do. We wanted to use an iconic Canadian musician for the parody, and opted for the cutting tongue and clean spiky sound of Alanis Morissette – whose show Danielle loved seeing live in London recently. "Jagged Little Pill" was one of our favourite albums - coming out in 1995 when we first met at uni - and "Ironic" (co-written and produced by Glen Ballard) topped the Canadian chart for six weeks when released, thanks in part to a memorable music video that showcased different characters/versions of her.
After President Trump took offense to an advertisement featuring Ronald Reagan, he threatened Canada with major tariffs. Here now is Canada’s official response.
Michael J. Fox – Shrinking: "The Field" as Gerry (Apple TV)
Brett Goldstein – Shrinking: "Happiness Mission" as Louis Winston (Apple TV)
Hamish Linklater – Widow's Bay: "Seasickness" as Richard Warren (Apple TV)
Christopher McDonald – Hacks: "No New Tricks" as Marty Ghilain (HBO Max)
Rob Reiner – The Bear: "Tonnato" as Albert Schnur (FX)
Connor Storrie – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Connor Storrie" as host (NBC)
Connor Storrie is the only SNL performer nominated at these Emmy Awards and the youngest SNL guest host ever nominated, but that doesn't seem to count for much at Gold Derby, where none of the professionals have picked him to win. Their leader is Michael J. Fox, who has the support of
53.8% of experts and 42.9% of editors along with 60.7% of users. Fox is followed by the late Rob Reiner, the choice of 23.1% of experts, 28.6% of editors, and 22.0% of users and Hamish Linklater, picked by 23.1% of experts, 14.3% of editors, and 7.0% of users. Professional and fan opinion diverge for fourth and fifth, as 14.3% of editors but only 2.3% of users consider Christopher McDonald to be a potential winner while no professionals but 7.5% of users selected Storrie. At least everyone generally agrees that Brett Goldstein has the worst chance with only 0.5% of users.
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!
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.
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.
Happy Throwback Thursday! Before I look back at last year's top posts, I'm returning to current events, namely the royal visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Take it away, Seth!
Seth takes a closer look at Trump getting roasted by King Charles III over his $400 million golden ballroom, which Republicans are now insisting should be funded by taxpayers.
King Charles visits Congress for open mic night, and Trump tries to out-tyrant His Majesty with another indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, this time for the "crime" of posting a photo of seashells spelling out "8647." Josh Johnson breaks down MAGA world's feverish accusations against Comey, and Grace Kuhlenschmidt decodes other treasonous hidden messages at the beach.
I'm old enough to retire and in all my years I don't think I've ever written that the King is funny, but he is, and not unintentionally like Joseph II, the Austrian Emperor in Amadeus. Oh, we're getting a remake of that, too.
On the other hand, the second indictment of Comey is both serious and ridiculous. The Daily Show managed to get the right level of comedy out of this personal vendetta disguised as an official act.
King Charles and Queen Camilla spent the day in New York, last night they were honored with a lavish dinner at the White House, Charles is here trying to mend the fractured relationship between the U.S. and everyone else, he gave Trump a big shiny golden bell, his MAGA-sty offered some remarks about the royal mess he’s made in Iran, he posted a truly unhinged picture of himself this morning holding an assault rifle, the State Department is planning a limited edition passport with Trump’s face on it, Donald welcomed the astronaunts from Artemis II to the White House, he has an absolutely pigeon-brained vendetta against former FBI Director Jim Comey, and with everything going on it’s very clear that Trump isn’t well, but help is a TrumpRX prescription away!
I need a new passport, but I'm definitely not going to Washington D.C. to get one with Hoover Harding Cleveland's face on it. Yuck!
King Charles arrived just a few hours ago on a diplomatic mission that has been ludicrously overegged, given the track record of the man he is visiting. So here's our adaptation of a classic British Army marching song (that developed in the seventeenth century and became a staple in the eighteenth - including in the colonies and the Revolutionary War that saw the USA declare its independence). The British Grenadiers is a rousing tune - for many still a regimental quick march - and often a feature of the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Before people wring their hands at adapting it, it's been a recurring theme throughout its history - including notoriously by Joseph Warren (his was called "Free America") in 1774, just before the War of Independence began. We kept to some archaic language to give it the right feel, and had a stab at our own arrangement for who had instruments at home - though a hasty one, on a school night. There are references in there to scrofula, a recent UK ambassador and we removed powwow but kept kowtow after checking about usage and implications - but apologies if any offence caused. We're thinking about recording a few like this in the run-up to the 250th anniversary, so this is a kind of test case :)
Hah! Make more like this!
Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts featuring late-night talk-show hosts during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'snothingnew.
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.
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.
Conservatives amp up their mission to MAGA-fy America by overshadowing Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance with Turning Point USA’s own D-list halftime show, and Michael Kosta connects the dots between Trump’s call for Republicans to "nationalize" voting and the president's never-ending claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Plus, Troy Iwata explains why Trump’s pitch to cancel the midterms is peak comedy.
I've called "the president's never-ending claim that the 2020 election was stolen" the Big Lie.
Personally, I'd rather call it Trump's dangerous delusion, his fixed belief that the election was stolen from him despite allevidence, which I see as related to his vulnerabilitytoconspiracy theories, but "the Big Lie" is the established phrase used by CNBC and others, so I'm calling it that instead. It's a lie, too.
Mayer's reporting shows that Trump's delusion is not just dangerous but contagious. It's bad enough that there is one pandemic running around; we don't need another.
The delusion has continued to spread, infecting a lot of candidates in today's elections. Ugh.
And now he has an Administration dedicated to it.
I'm glad Michael Kosta and Troy Iwata can find the humor in it. I can't; I'm too scared to laugh.
Kid Rock is set to headline an unofficial Super Bowl halftime show for conservatives who don't like Bad Bunny, the mascots for the 2026 Winter Olympics have been revealed, and Chicago residents can visit http://Chicagoshovels.org to vote to name their new snow plow after Stephen Colbert.
My geology students do an exercise where they shade in the United States. I always instruct them to include Puerto Rico just to drive home the point that it's part of the U.S. If the NFL didn't disable embedding, I'd share Bad Bunny's halftime show on FlagDay. Instead, I'm looking forward to seeing how many Emmy nominations it earns this July. Bad Bunny has already earned two GRAMMYs this week. Follow over the jump for his acceptance speeches. Yes, this is now an awards show post.
Democrats express their outrage over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, with Chuck Schumer calling Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller "f**king liars" and Hakeem Jeffries on accidental mute. Plus, Desi Lydic plunges into the world of Melania ahead of her documentary debut, which was produced by Jeff Bezos, directed by disgraced filmmaker Brett Ratner, and created by a crew too ashamed to have their names in the credits.
As for the Melania documentary itself, it's pretty transparently an attempt by Jeff Bezos and Amazon to curry favor with Hoover Harding Cleveland and a cash grab plus PR opportunity for the Trump family, as Michael Kosta and Ronny Chieng point out. Just for that, I hope it fails as PR/propaganda as well as at the box office, and earns a Razzie nomination or two next year.
Seth addresses Melania Trump's documentary Melania opening worldwide and more in his monologue for Thursday, January 29, before taking a closer look at Trump spreading lies after Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar was attacked at a town hall event.
Hoover Harding Cleveland telling self-serving lies and insane takes on the news? What a surprise — not! Time to remind my readers that the voices in his head are not reliable sources. This includes Pam Bondi deceiving herself about all "the creative and correctly spelled signs" being a sign of outside influence. No, she's just dealing with a well-educated population in Minnesota, along with Democrats writing better than Republicans.
We are once again staring at another government shutdown, Trump has a new celebrity friend in Nicki Minaj, she is now in possession of a Trump Gold Card which she claims she got for free, Trump had another cabinet meeting today where he ranted about windmills and extolled the virtues of coal, Trump’s FBI has been raiding the elections office in Fulton County, Georgia as part of an investigation into “voter fraud” in the 2020 election, Tulsi Gabbard showed up to watch which isn’t suspicious at all, Border Czar Tom Homan is in Minneapolis doing his best to right the ship, a smattering of Republicans have stepped forward to criticize the damaged brains behind this operation, tonight was the much hyped premiere of Melania’s documentary, she has been doing rounds of press to promote it, and we ask folks passing by a movie theater what they think of it even though they haven’t seen it yet.
Jimmy K is right; gold card visas are actually issued by the government, not Hoover Harding Cleveland himself. The man has the worst case of "L'État, c'est moi" I've ever seen. As far as he's concerned, he is the country! At least when he says "boom," he doesn't sound like Crazy Frog.
In addition to blogging about the First Lady for the first time in a while, I'm mentioning Tulsi Gabbard for the first time in months. Despite what Jimmy K said, she does have some domestic jurisdiction, overseeing the FBI Intelligence Branch (IB), Coast Guard Intelligence, Office of National Security Intelligence (Part of the Drug Enforcement Agency), and the Offices of Intelligence and Analysis for both the Department of Homeland Security and Department of the Treasury. Those authorities make her presence even more ominous.
As for the men and women on the street interviews about Melania the documentary, those were hiliarious, even though a lot of them were reading cue cards instead of giving candid reactions.
The Boss dropped a fiery anti-ICE protest song, the people of Milan don't want Trump's DHS thugs to provide security at the Winter Olympics, the president's latest MAGA fundraising email is bizarrely threatening, and no one wants to see the First Lady's movie.
It's hard to protest Amazon by buying stuff on Amazon. Sigh.
Directed by Thom Zimny
Edited by Thom Zimny and Samuel Shapiro
Production Footage: Pam Springsteen and Thom Zimny
That's a wrap for today. I'm returning to awards show coverage tomorrow, because the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films released the Saturn Awards nominations. Stay tuned.
The Trump administration released new dietary guidelines that will shape everything from school lunches to medical advice. The guidance puts a bigger emphasis on eating more protein and dairy, something Health Secretary Kennedy has long sought. William Brangham discussed the recommendations with Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition epidemiologist and co-director of the Global Food Research Program.
16. What in ultraprocessed foods drives appetites/overeating?
...
19. How much of U.S. calorie intake comes from ultraprocessed food? France? Brazil? Italy?
I haven't shown Food, Inc. 2 either enough times or that recently to have the answers to both questions memorized in detail, but generally the response to the first involves additives to make ultraprocessed food more appetizing while that for the second is that Americans get the majority of our calories from ultrprocessed food while citizens of the other countries eat much less, generally around a quarter. Americans should eat less ultraprocessed food and more whole foods. Yes, I'm agreeing with RFK Jr. on this issue. File that under a stuck clock being right twice a day, and RFK Jr. is definitely a stuck clock.
That's the good news about the food guidelines. The bad news is the recommendation to eat more meat and dairy. That's not good for either health or the environment. Here are the questions I ask my students about the effects of meat and dairy on the environment.
9. Why are dairy farms moving from Wisconsin to California and Arizona and what are the environmental costs, especially on water? Answer both parts of the question.
...
24. Which food contributes most to climate change?
Dairy production requires a lot of water, which is in short supply in California and Arizona, where dairy farmers are moving to because those states have lower non-water costs. As Smith Taillie mentioned, beef has very high environmental costs, including being the food that contributes most to climate change.
The Secretary of State says America's goal is not to invade Greenland but to purchase it from Denmark, President Trump said he will sell 50 million barrels of Venezuela's oil and that he will determine where the profits go, and the FDA removed its own guidance on how much alcohol is safe to drink on a daily basis.
Ultraprocessed food, meat, and dairy may be more important, but booze is funnier. Why do my readers think I post so many cocktail recipes? Because they're fun; I actually drink very little, as I lost interest in alcohol once I developed diabetes. Priorities.
Speaking of priorities, I have to do some maintainence then go to work to prepare for the new semester. See you all tomorrow!
It's been five years since Donald Trump's failed coup at the U.S. Capitol, the assault on Venezuela might be just the beginning of the president's territorial aggression, and Stephen Colbert's audience size was three times bigger than Trump's when hosting The Kennedy Center Honors.
Yesterday was Eric Trump's birthday? Now I can't forget it! Thanks, Stephen — not!
Returning to Venezuela, I wrote the following yesterday.
Is he that petty? Yes. Witness what he and the people around him are saying about the Nobel Peace Prize winner; she'd be invited to run the country if she had declined it and given it to Hoover Cleveland.
As Stephen pointed out, sharing probably wouldn't be enough for Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump. Besides, even if MarÃa Corina Machado gave the medal to Hoover Cleveland and split the money, the Nobel Prize committee would never recognize it; Machado would be the official winner and Hoover Cleveland would not.
Even before Hoover Cleveland's maladministration has digested Venezuela, they are moving on to Greenland. I'm glad Stephen Colbert schooled Stephen Miller on the basis of Denmark's claim to Greenland. This is a profoundly stupid idea, and not just for the reasons I outlined five year's ago.
What TFG is alleged to have proposed would not have been possible in Pax Brittanica and would have been a stupid deal even if it were. First, Denmark was not one of the minor powers in the game (Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were) and Greenland was not one of the available territories, so there would be nothing to swap for. Even if it had, I expect Greenland would have had an economic value of 1 or 2, while Puerto Rico, which is in the game, has a value of 5. This would have been a bad economic deal. Then again, if he actually did want to do this, it would have been for irrational reasons. That doesn't surprise me.
Today is the fifth anniversary of the events of January 6th when Donald Trump tried to overthrow the government in a pathetic and illegal attempt to stay in power, Speaker Mike Johnson refused to hang the official plaque to honor the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol, Trump took the time to post his TikTok stats instead of wishing his son Eric a happy birthday, he spent 84 minutes delivering a pep talk to Republicans in the House which we whittled down for tonight’s edition of "Real Moments in Presidementia," Congress is back in session and looking to avoid another government shutdown, Trump continues to make it up as he goes along when it comes to Venezuela, sources close to the White House say that the reason Trump doesn’t support Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado is because she didn’t give him her Nobel Peace Price, his Legion of Dumb is gunning for Greenland again, Trump continues to claim he is in perfect health, the CDC is reducing the number of vaccines recommended for kids thanks to RFK Jr, and Trump has a brand new set of products right in time for the fifth anniversary of the Insurrection.
Jimmy K. mentioned the flu epidemic, which is happening while RFK Jr. and his CDC is recommending fewer childhood vaccinations. Covering that is now on my to-do list. In the meantime, I'm closing with Critics Choice's Jimmy Kimmel WINS Best Talk Show for "Jimmy Kimmel Live".
Congratulations to Jimmy, Guillermo, and the writers and crew of Jimmy Kimmel Live! This is now an awards show post, so here is the linkspam to the rest of the previous posts about the 2025 Critics Choice Awards.
Jon Stewart dives into the Trump administration’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump's collusion with oil companies to exploit Venezuela’s resources, and the emergence of the “Donroe Doctrine" as Trump threatens more international takeovers.
Calling Hegseth "Homelander" is an insult to the role that won Antony Starr both Best Actor in a Superhero Series and Best Villain in a Series. Homelander is more competent. As for calling the justification for the raid on Venezuela "the Donroe Doctrine," that was mockery that Hoover Cleveland thought was catchy, which reminds me of a post of mine on Bluesky.
It also reads like how the U.S. Right appropriated American Exceptionalism because it sounded cool while completely misunderstanding it.
This looks like a stupid version of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia from "1984." Yet another example of Republicans learning the wrong lessons fom Orwell.
President Trump may have decided to snatch Venezuela's leader after being enraged by Nicholás Maduro's defiant public dancing, Maduro's VP is currently running the country, and there's no question that the U.S. is seeking to control Venezuela's oil riches.
Like Stephen, I'm old enough to remember the previous times events like these happened. I agree with his sentiment: "Now, invading a country with a mustachioed dictator and saying, 'Don't worry, their oil will pay for this war,' is kind of where I got on this train 20 plus years ago. It didn't work then, and I doubt it's going to work now. And I hope the American people don't fall for this a second time." Same here.
Seth takes a closer look at Trump making history by becoming the first-ever winner of the FIFA Peace Prize to bomb another country and kidnap its leader.
Yeah, Maduro's singing and dancing is bad and ridiculous, but he has better moves than Hoover Cleveland. Is he that petty? Yes. Witness what he and the people around him are saying about the Nobel Peace Prize winner; she'd be invited to run the country if she had declined it and given it to Hoover Cleveland. He's also that transparent, although not in the way usually meant by transparency. Speaking of which, he's not even bothering to hide that it's about oil. Principles? Hah! What are those to Hoover Cleveland?
Donald Trump did so much crazy stuff over the last two weeks that it would take a nine part Ken Burns documentary series to cover it, he hosted the lowest rated Kennedy Center Honors telecast ever, he finally broke his silence about the First Lady’s underpants, he posted on Truth social 556 times, he spoke to kids calling into the Santa Tracker Hotline on Christmas, he enlisted Vanilla Ice to perform at his Mar-A-Lago New Years Eve party, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured by Delta Force at their home in Caracas and brought to New York, Trump has his eyes set on Greenland, and Jimmy takes a cognitive test that is just like the tests that Trump says he “aced.”
Hoover Cleveland was ridiculously busy over the holidays. At least last year he had the excuse that he was putting together his second administration, but even then his designs on Greenland and Canada made news. He hasn't given up on them.
As for his posting 556 times to Truth Social, including more than 200 on Christmas Eve, I had the following to say on Bluesky:
I used to give out awards for stupid net tricks like this. Google "Wollmann Rubber Turkey."
When Donald Trump cancels Christmas, sends ICE to the North Pole, and bulldozes Santa's workshop to build his new Trumpmas Ballroom, Santa and friends must escape Alligator Elfcatraz and bring joy back to the world. Can they stop Trump before he overstuffs Santa's sack with his big bribin' ball? Will we ever learn the naughty names on the top secret Elfstein List? Does the special have a Celebrity Christmas Narrator? Yes! It's Jolly Ol' Nick Offerman, in COLBERT'S CANCELED CHRISTMAS: THE LAST NOEL!
Sadly, this is the last Christmas for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but at least he, his writers, and crew of animators left this present for his viewers. I couldn't resist sharing it with my readers.
By the way, Stephen's cameo where he mentions the rumor — and it's only a rumor — that he and Rachel Maddow will be hosting a show on Netflix reminds me that I promised to follow through on Sesame Street's eventual distributor once its deal with HBO ends. It's Netflix.
The iconic and beloved children’s series moves to Netflix for its 56th season. Unlike the show’s previous arrangement with HBO, new episodes of Sesame Street will be available on Netflix and PBS Kids the same day.
On September 15, Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show opening monologue included comments about the shooting of right-wing media figure Charlie Kirk, and how the "Maga gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Soon after, Brendan Carr, the chair of the FCC and an appointee of President Donald Trump, appeared on a conservative podcast and threatened to act against ABC and its parent company, Disney, for Kimmel’s remarks. On September 17, ABC and Disney suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Kimmel’s suspension launched a national debate and protest around freedom of speech and satire. From celebrities like Wanda Sykes to Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz, people from across the spectrum weighed in on the decision. The show returned days later on September 23, but the FCC’s actions left many questioning whether Kimmel’s First Amendment rights were violated.
This incident is just one of many instances of the gray areas of free speech making its way into the news cycle. In this video, we take a look at the origins of the “inalienable right” to free speech, how the Supreme Court has determined the boundaries of speech (including hate speech), and where free speech might be headed next with a six-justice majority of Republican appointees. As this issue continues to evolve, social media is one of the latest modes of communication adding new layers of complexity to this age-old debate.
So, Americans weren't just protesting government messing with their entertainment, they were protecting free speech. For once, I'm happy with our priorities.
We couldn't find any lobster costumes, and a whirling freestyle in the middle of a school week was not gonna happen. So - with some extra input from a few media sources to cover instrumental sections - this is our parody rendition of "Under the Sea", one of our old Disney favourites for its sheer joy and energy. It was composed by Alan Menken (with cracking lyrics by Howard Ashman) for the 1989 animated "The Little Mermaid" and won an Oscar. Of course, the calypso lobster's forlorn plea for an alternative path falls on deaf ears. Which brings us to free speech.
It's been a scary time in lots of ways in the US, with the temperature cranked up again by shocking murders and reckless responses, and sadly now the First Amendment (for decades a place of some bipartisan accord) seems to be creaking. As we were working on the arrangement, we learned that Jimmy Kimmel's show had been reinstated by Disney - which is great news, having loved meeting him in 2020 albeit under bizarre pandemic circumstances - though we gather that much is still unclear about how the matter is going to play out. Here's hoping that enough uproar is generated that Trump and co. think again about making their predictable/alarming move on limiting freedom of expression.
We're assuming folk will have enough pointers not to need links, but will keep an eye on comments and can fill in any details!
P.S. Please note: for anyone whose kids watch, Ben forget to put special characters in the swear word at the death of the song, so heads-up on that.
No Randy Rainbow? No problem. We have the Marsh Family!
Jordan Klepper dives into the big wins for Democrats across the country last night, including in the hotly contested mayoral race in New York City, which ended in a historic victory for Zohran Mamdani that sparked threats of a mass exodus of Cuomo supporters from the city. Plus, nobody is more eager to get out of the city than Eric Adams, the guy who's still in charge at City Hall, so The Daily Show takes a final look back at the legacy the outgoing mayor is leaving behind.
Don't let any of us stop you, Mayor Adams. Your leaving may not be the best news of this election, but it certainly won't be the worst.
Democrats swept the first major elections of Trump's second term, including the New York City mayoral race where Zohran Mamdani triumphed over his billionaire-backed opponents, and Virginia and New Jersey, which will each be led by a female Democratic governor for the next four years.
It wasn't just the audience who craved good news. Stephen did, too. That the results were bad news for billionaires came as a bonus. It helps to have the right enemies.
Election Day was big for Democrats across the country, Zohran Mamdani was elected Mayor of New York, it was not a good night for Trump as everything he touched lost, he was up late throwing a tantrum about Mamdani’s victory, Republicans are screaming and yelling about election fraud, JD Vance’s half-brother lost by more than 56 points in his race for Mayor of Cincinnati, the Government shutdown is now on day 36, Mike Johnson is doing everything he can to try and convince people that Republicans care, Flavor Flav stopped by our Big, Beautiful Food Bank in support of St. Joseph Center and the LA Food Bank, Tom Brady announced that his current dog is a clone of the now-deceased dog he had with his ex-wife, Gavin Newsom has been going at it with Donald Trump, and even had Mike Lindell on his podcast.
Once again, Jimmy K has the most comprehensive video description.
That's a wrap for today's post. Stay tuned for an examination of ABCsuspendingJimmy Kimmel tomorrow.
President Trump, who hosted a lavish Halloween party while refusing to fund SNAP benefits for needy American families, told Norah O'Donnell on "60 Minutes" that he pardoned a man he knows nothing about. In tech news, a robot named NEO might be the next big thing in house cleaning.
If one of my readers had asked me if theshutdown would still be going on by now, I'd have said no. I was wrong. Neither side is ready to fold.
As for NEO the robot, I doubt I will ever pay $20,000 for a hi-tech puppet, not even a robot, operated by someone who thinks a walnut is an egg. Just the same, NEO is proof that we live in science fiction times, or, as my friend Nebris says, SciFi is now.
Between Trump throwing a lavish "Great Gatsby"-themed party on the night that SNAP benefits ran out for millions of Americans, dragging his feet to open court-ordered emergency funding for food stamps while throwing billions of bailout dollars at Argentina, and the GOP's general racism-tinged disdain for SNAP recipients, Jon Stewart seriously doubts that the president's "big heart" goes out to anyone but himself and the toadies on his VIP list.
Good news! The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled, but at least we get another season of The Daily Show. That will keep us entertained and informed as we deal with the Satan Sandwich of the BigBrutal Bill. I think people would rather have food and healthcare. I'm not looking forward to seeing the prices of my health insurance options when I get to my office this afternoon. I'm fortunate my wife and I are old enough that I qualify for Medicare; we have another choice.
The Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend to become back-to-back World Series champions, Los Angeles went crazy after Game 7 ended, Trump took to Truth Social to congratulate them, he spent the weekend posting photos of the awesome new toilet renovation at the White House, according to a new poll from CNN Trump's approval rating is at its lowest point since he re-took office, hours before millions of low-income Americans were set to lose their SNAP benefits Trump decided to throw a Great Gatsby themed Halloween party, today we learned that the Trump administration is only going to fund about half the monthly food benefits families on SNAP usually get, Donald sat down with "60 Minutes" where he was desperate to try to blame his shutdown on Democrats, Jimmy invites Trump once again to participate in a televised IQ contest against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and our faith in humanity was restored thanks to a young man trick-or-treating on Halloween.
I grew up as a Dodgers fan, so I'm thrilled that they won the World Series again. Yay! I'm also glad Colbert and Kimmel clipped two of the most ridiculous and appalling parts of Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's 60 Minutes interview. I wonder if that will earn an Emmy nomination. I hope not.
Seth takes a closer look at the Trump administration trying to cut off funding for food assistance for struggling families while he renovates a bathroom in the White House.
No party, but lots of aircraft carrier catapults and toilets, both of which are Hoover Cleveland's obsessions, not Seth's.
