Farewell to The Colbert Report

Here are the two final clips from Stephen Colbert’s final episode. I thought it was a good ending, somewhat sentimental but avoiding the trap of being sappy. And you can amuse yourself by seeing how many people you can identify. The list unfortunately includes some of the dregs of politics and journalism and at least one war criminal. You can see a comprehensive list here.
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Is Dick Cheney deranged?

I am not a psychiatrist but I am not being facetious when I pose this question. It is quite incredible to watch Dick Cheney defend the torture that he and George W. Bush authorized and encouraged and to see someone who is dead wrong and yet be dead certain that he is dead right. His defenses of the indefensible are so bizarre that I honestly think that he shows signs of being detached from reality because the things he says seem to go well beyond mere attempts at self-justification and well into delusional territory. There is a deranged quality to the way he calmly and matter-of-factly says the most appalling things.
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Pinkwashing

Samantha Bee looks at the efforts by corporations to use a breast campaign awareness campaign to ‘pink wash’ their actions and distract people from the fact that their business actions may actually be increasing the risk of cancer. The charity Susan G. Komen that promoted using the pink color has already been accused of exploiting the campaign for its own benefit and that of its executives and this is not going to help them either
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The tricky task of winning hearts and minds

The Daily Show took aim at the Freedom From Religion Foundation that had sent a letter threatening legal action to the owner of a small restaurant Mary’s Gourmet Diner that offered a 15% discount to patrons who prayed before meals. As a result of that letter, the owner of the diner dropped the promotion. The show interviewed Dan Barker, co-president of the FFRF, about why he did this and although he was articulate and clear, he did not come off well.
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We are always awesome, whatever evil we do

Another The Daily Show newcomer Hasan Minhaj, making just his second appearance on the show, spoke about how despite its history of wreaking death and destruction all over the world, and despite the depravities revealed most recently in the torture report, the US is still, and always will be, the greatest, noblest, most humane and moral country in the world, facts be damned.
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