News Satire Roundup: January 3rd-January 5th

Tuesday, January 3 – Trevor opened on his holiday break, with stories about using Trump to inspire his fellow climbers at Machu Picchu and his misadventures at Times Square on New Year’s Eve.  Good story on the House Republicans’ secret meeting to gut their ethics office.  I liked Trevor’s musings on their anti-New Year’s resolutions (“This year, I’m going to be less ethical, I’m going to gain five pounds…”) and I appreciated the point that this wasn’t the first attempt.  I enjoyed the piece on the back-and-forth between Obama and Putin over the Russian hack during the election, and of course, Trump demonstrating his “knowledge” of hacking – the line about Trump “Seacresting” America on issues of national security was my favorite of the night.  I was a little so-so on guest Michael Che, promoting his new standup special.  I couldn’t tell the extent to which he meant what he was saying vs. being deliberately provocative.

Wednesday, January 4 – Trevor shared some choice post-ethics-office-debacle spin from GOP House members (my favorite was the guy who tried to claim they’d done something great by cleaning up the mess they’d made) and debuted a new game show, in which congressmen failed to explain “Why Are Americans Mad?”  A piece on the swearing-in of the new Congress – featuring Paul Ryan’s flummoxed reaction to a congressman’s son dabbing in the photo op – segued into a montage of Biden getting handsy with the new representatives’ female family members.  Michelle’s response didn’t work for me; I agree that Biden doesn’t radiate the blatant sleaze that Trump does, but these women are clearly uncomfortable, and it’s not okay.  Omar Saif Ghobash, diplomat from the UAE to Russia, was the guest.  Trevor nailed it when he called Ghobash “a very good diplomat.”  From hacking to Trump, his remarks felt “safe” and placating.

Thursday, January 5 – Couple quick jokes about the new McDonald’s at the Vatican (the Hamburglar in confession!), then back to Congress.  First up was the GOP crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act, featuring Paul Ryan stammering his way through insisting that they totally have a plan to replace it, as we’ll see in the “coming weeks and months.”  Next was the looming possibility of another Supreme Court nomination clash, and while the Republican/Democrat situations aren’t the same, the larger point about congressional gridlock was valid.  Jordan and Desi both reported “from the future” to show how bad things had gotten with a government that won’t govern; cheesy, but I liked their argument that no one takes these warnings seriously in the present.  Crown jewel of the night, though, was the premiere of Key & Peele doing a One Last Time as Obama and his anger translator Luther.  It was basically everything.