He looks over the list of candidates that are seeking the Republican nomination and finds them all so depressing until suddenly someone appears on the scene who really lifts his spirits.
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Two days ago, president Obama gave his state of the union speech that I, as is my usual practice, did not watch. I really hate meaningless political rituals. Apparently he listed several progressive proposals and was not at all conciliatory towards the Republicans or their agenda, even making pointed digs and laughing and winking at them, which has infuriated them.
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The second episode of Larry Wilmore’s new show was entirely about the rape allegations against Bill Cosby, with Wilmore saying right off the top that he thinks Cosby did behave in a manner largely consistent with what his accusers claim. Wilmore is definitely not going to play it safe and this might be the distinctive feature of his show, where people can go to hear frank discussions of major topics, leavened with humor, and by people who are not the usual suspects one sees on such shows. [Read more…]
There was a time back in 2008 when I started becoming aware of Mike Huckabee that I thought that he seemed like a compassionate conservative, someone who was religious but also cared about helping the poor. He would go on shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and act all affable and avuncular and talk a good game, as if he was a reasonable person.
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Yesterday was the first episode of the new Larry Wilmore show that fills the time slot vacated by Stephen Colbert. It was promising, though a little rough in parts, but so were the The Daily Show and The Colbert Report at the beginning and it takes some time for shows like these to find their rhythm and figure out what works best for them.
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In 2003, comedian Dave Chappelle began a sketch comedy show on Comedy Central that was highly acclaimed because it took head-on all the major hot button issues of the day. But after just two seasons he abruptly quit, saying he was fed up with show business and fame. Here is one of the best known sketches from the show, the story of a KKK leader named Clayton Bigsby, told in the style of a Frontline documentary. (Language advisory)
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This clip from The Daily Show ran back in February 2011. I don’t watch CNN so I don’t know if they are still doing these absurd things to try and attract a greater audience or if they have sunk even lower, if that is even possible.
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A French satirical news show Le Petit Journal had fun with Fox News and a claim by one of their ‘experts’ that parts of Paris are no-go zones that look like Iraq or Afghanistan and are so dominated by violent and intolerant Muslims and that outsiders cannot enter those neighborhoods without fear or protection.
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While I have my criticisms of some aspects of Jimmy Carter’s record while he was president, there is no question that he was one of the better ones in recent times and has been doing some good work since returning to private life. The former president spoke with Jon Stewart about the efforts, in which his own center has participated, that have led to the almost complete eradication of the awful disease caused by the guinea worm.
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Writing a daily comic strip has to be one of the hardest things to do in the creative arts. Having to come up with a good and original joke every single day is something I cannot imagine doing, assuming that I can come up with any jokes at all, which I can’t. Cartoonists often fall back on familiar tropes such as people stuck on a desert island or the Garden of Eden or the fortune teller with a crystal ball and the repetition of such tropes is seen as fair game as long as the joke is slightly different. Some cartoonists have their own particular tropes that they fall back upon.
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