Jon Stewart discovers what it is like when you try to talk about Israel and Palestine.
(This clip aired on July 21, 2014. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post. If the videos autoplay, please see here for a diagnosis and possible solutions.)
Stephen Colbert has some fun with an expensive new electric gadget.
[Read more…]
The arrival of young children from Central America seeking refuge in the US has caused a problem for the xenophobes in the US. On the one hand they hate the idea of more non-white people coming to the US. But the members of the elite media and political classes also do not want to appear as heartless as their allies, the people gathering in groups on the border yelling angrily at the children. So they play a double game that Stephen Colbert parodies perfectly.
[Read more…]
The rising anti-government sentiment in the US is spiraling out of control The Republican party is whipping it up in order to stymie any of president Obama’s initiatives but they run the real risk of these sentiments resulting in a lawless nation in which people feel entitled to break the law because they think that powerful segments of the government approve of such actions and that they will protect them from repercussions. I have written before about how such things can easily lead to mob violence.
[Read more…]
The Daily Show commented on the Hobby Lobby case and had as their guest Dahlia Lithwick to discuss the implications of that case and also the inconsistent way that the US Supreme Court views free speech rights and buffer zones.
[Read more…]
God finally reveals the identity of his Earthly incarnation in a pasta pot. Can you guess who it is? (Hint: Think of the pasta as blue.)
[Read more…]
It should be no secret to regular readers of the blog that I am a big fan of all things Pythonia. The five surviving members of the six-person troupe are currently having a reunion stage show and this made me recall the controversy over the release of Monty Python’s Life of Brian back in 1979, one of the funniest films of all time. It amazes me that there was so much opposition to the film from Christians and Jews at the time of its release. Most of the opposition seemed to be from religious authorities and the heads of lay groups of prudes whose job it is to be offended, because they have taken it upon themselves to be the protectors of the delicate sensibilities of the general public.
[Read more…]
Legendary journalist I. F. Stone said, “Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.” But it used to be the case that if they were caught in a flat out lie, they paid at least some price, at a minimum in some form of public shaming and the lie usually was not repeated. But that no longer seems to be the case and we now have zombie lies that never die and zombie liars who don’t stop repeating them.
[Read more…]
For those suffering from World Cup withdrawal, here is the classic match between German and Greek philosophers, courtesy of Monty Python.
He delivers a righteous rant on the absurd way that most Americans have this incredibly unrealistic sense of optimism about their future economic prospects and thus actually support the things that keep them poor, breed income inequality, and feed the greed of the rich. He notes how American politicians, including president Obama shy away from the idea that they are promoting class warfare. I personally am in favor of it and promote it every chance I get.
[Read more…]