Is there such a thing as an inoffensive atheist billboard?

As we all know, billboards with atheist messages seem to arouse indignant responses because of their purported offensiveness. Richard Wade wonders if it is the message itself or simply the fact that the word ‘atheist’ appears in the billboard sponsor’s name that drives believers up the wall.

To test his hypothesis, he suggests a number of billboards. Pretty funny.

(Thanks to reader Fu Dayi.)

Maurice Sendak

I was tempted to not watch Stephen Colbert interview children’s book author Maurice Sendak, thinking it would not be interesting. I was wrong. Sendak turns out to be a funny and feisty guy, one of the few who can match wits with Colbert.

(To get hints on how to view clips on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post.)

Part 1 was shown on January 24, 2012.

Part 2 was shown on January 25, 2012.

Romney’s bold new strategy

Andy Borowitz reveals that in an effort to duplicate New Gingrich’s success in the primaries, Mitt Romney has decided to have an affair.

“Republican voters have sent the message that they want to vote for an adulterous scumbag and I have heard them loud and clear,” he said. “I promise that I will engage in a world-class extramarital affair that will make all of us proud again.”

According to one senior advisor, the Romney campaign was already holding focus groups and conducting special polling to determine the best person with whom Mr. Romney should conduct his extracurricular dalliance.

Will this new strategy reverse Romney’s fortunes? Stay tuned!

Stephen Colbert says that he is the true religious conservative

Stephen Colbert says that evangelical leaders who met recently to decide on one conservative candidate to endorse made a mistake in picking Rick Santorum as their standard bearer. They should have endorsed him instead because, among other things, he is much more homophobic than Santorum.

Still not coordinating!

I think that what Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are doing is one of the most brilliant pieces of political satire, directly exposing the sham that is the current campaign financing restrictions and the highly porous wall between campaigns and Super PACs.

Here is the latest Colbert ad running in South Carolina.

The Republican debate crowds run amuck again

In an earlier post, I noted that in the first three of the interminable series of Republican debates, the main story was the response by the crowds, cheering wildly at the most extreme policies while booing anything that seemed tempered and reasonable and humane. One suspected that the crowds in subsequent debates were told to tone it down to prevent the impression being given that Republican voters were nuts.

But in Monday’s Republican debate, the crowds seem to have slipped their leash and were back in full baying frenzy. The Daily Show captured the moments.

Stephen Colbert asks people to vote for Herman Cain

Since the South Carolina primary ballot was locked some months ago, Stephen Colbert cannot get on it and Herman Cain can’t get off it, although the latter has dropped out of the race. So Colbert is urging everyone in the state to vote for Cain as a proxy to show their support for his own candidacy.

And here is the ad that is being run in South Carolina right now by the The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC, also known as the America for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Super PAC.

Cain has actually agreed to join Colbert for a rally on Friday in South Carolina.

Is this the future for American workers?

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show looks at the working conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese mega-factory which manufactures so many of the electronic products that we use. The working conditions are so appalling that the company has to take suicide-prevention measures, all so that we can save about 25% on the prices of these gadgets.

There is no doubt that the US oligarchy would love to see American workers in the same situation, as can be seen by their union-busting efforts. Some of us may ridicule Newt Gingrich’s suggestion that we should replace each union janitorial job with 30 child laborers, but bear in mind that this is how the oligarchy thinks, that their goal is to maximize profits and their ideal of ‘efficiency’ is to drive wages down as low as they can go.