John Oliver on the evil of SLAPP lawsuits

It is a terrific show with a rousing finale. You should really check it out.

As I have said many times before when Jon Stewart was host of The Daily Show, while you may be able to win a public spat against ordinary people, it is a big mistake to get into one with a professional comedian who has his own show with a stable of writers and a network that has deep pockets and backs them up. You will always end up looking ridiculous.

But as Oliver says, SLAPP lawsuits can have a chilling effect on pretty much everyone else which is why we need all fifty states, not just the current thirty, to pass anti-SLAPP legislation.

Samantha Bee on Trump’s enablers

While Bee is correct that the Donald Trump’s framing of why Joe Biden tried to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired is wrong, the fact does remain that the hiring of Biden’s son Hunter to the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma and paying him $50,000 a month when he had no qualifications or experience in the gas business was definitely an attempt at using the Biden name to gain influence. It is part of the entire sleazy business of family members of major political figures cashing in on their connections. It is not necessary for the company to use Hunter Biden to get his father to do illegal things that are favorable for the company. They know that just having him on the board and on their letterhead gets them access to high levels in the US government. They can also use the name to get favorable treatment from other entities by showing that they have friends in high places.

The Bidens are not alone in this kind of sleazy practice. The Trump children have done this and are still doing it, as has Chelsea Clinton, Abby Huntsman, Meghan McCain, Liz Cheney, and Rand Paul, all of whom are the children of famous politicians.

Trevor Noah explains to Kanye West the realities of black voting patterns

For some reason, rapper Kanye West, who once famously said that George W. Bush does not like black people, has become a supporter of Donald Trump and the Republican party. But he does not stop there. He has gone on to suggest that black people have been brainwashed to vote Democratic and that he is one of the few who has seen the light.

Trevor Noah talks to his studio audience between taping parts of his show. In this clip, he carefully explains to West why black people vote the way they do, because for them voting is not something to be taken lightly as it is for rich people like West for whom it does not really matter who is in office. It matters deeply in so many ways.

Following Joe Biden’s money

The role that money plays in US elections is obscene. As a result, the strength of a campaign is not only measured in terms of poll numbers but also in terms of how much money is raised and spent by each candidate, which in turn influences the polls.

The Biden campaign is currently in a little bit of financial trouble in that the amount of money it has in hand is far less than that of his main rivals Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, even though the contributors to the Biden campaign are big money contributors. As a consequence, despite his vow not to take money from lobbyists and Super PACs, his wealthy supporters and lobbyists are forming a Super PAC to fund his campaign, as Lee Fang reports, funded by wealthy people who are concerned about people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren winning the nomination and (Oh, the horror!) even the presidency.
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