"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Friday, February 9, 2018

News Satire Roundup: February 5th-February 8th

Monday, February 5 – I loved Trevor’s confusion at Philadelphia fans throwing a riot because their team won the Super Bowl, though I could’ve done without the multiple shots of the guy eating horse poop (yecch!)  Next was Trump lightly suggesting that the Democrats were “treasonous” for not clapping at the State of the Union(!), followed by a segue into the Nunes memo.  I liked the point that one of the guys who was instrumental in writing it says it doesn’t actually disprove collusion, especially when Trevor compared dismissing his words to someone trying to tell J.K. Rowling that Dumbledore isn’t gay.  Roy and Michael had a sports piece on the Cleveland Indians getting rid of their logo (not until 2019, as Roy repeatedly pointed out) and the Washington Redskins not backing down.  (Former correspondent!) Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson were the guests, talking about their podcast-turned-HBO-special 2 Dope Queens.

Tuesday, February 6 – Some quick stories to start:  Gronkowski’s house getting broken into during the Super Bowl, the latest Space X rocket launch (with aliens noting how much Elon Musk is overcompensating by putting a sportscar inside a rocket,) and South Korea’s marines training to provide security at the Olympics a.k.a. playing in the snow.  We went back to Trump’s “treason” comment, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders inevitably brushing it off as a joke.  The show returned to a theme it’s visited before, the Trump comedy club to show how Trump’s riffing comes across in a different venue.  Hasan had a new investment piece looking at the recent market fluctuations, featuring him sussing out blame and “getting in on the action” of photos of stockbrokers freaking out.  This led nicely into the guest, Wall Street commentator Liz Claman, who broke down a few things about the stock market for us clueless millennials.

Wednesday, February 7 – Fun opening bit on Justin Trudeau out-woking a woman praising him for his wokeness.  Then, it was onto Trump’s desire for a military parade.  Trevor pointed out the inevitable autocratic images that a military parade conjures, and the show gave us a glimpse of the “Oppressy” awards for autocrats, in which Trump was a hopeful first-time nominee in several categories.  There was a fun new segment called Noah’s Ark-eology, on ancient civilizations.  I loved Trevor arguing he would’ve put X-ray lasers to better use than scanning the rain forest for Mayan structures… instead using them to see through his parents’ lies (ha!)  And I adored his glee that the ancient Briton “Cheddar Man” was recently discovered to have been Black.  The guests were Anthony Sandler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone, who’ve just starred in a movie of their own lives in The 15:17 to Paris.

Thursday, February 8 – There was a packed Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That, on a Nazi running for Congress, the Senate passing a budget deal (featuring the GOP’s changing attitudes toward deficit spending depending on who’s doing it,) Rex Tillerson’s evident non-concerns about probable Russian hacking in the next election (I loved Trevor’s bit about such a badass voice saying something so wimpy,) and former Trump aide Rob Porter being accused of domestic abuse.  Roy had another Black History Month retrospective, this time on more unsung Black politicians, from Herman Cain to Marion Barry – I liked the bit about Barry escaping future scandals as mayor of DC because getting arrested for smoking crack set the bar so low.  The guest, musician Steve Aoki, talked about touring around the world and doing a DJ gig in zero gravity, which Trevor rightly assessed the world needs more of.

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