Sunday, May 22 – Amid protests and a severe economic
crisis in Venezuela, President Maduro would be hard-pressed to be less helpful. In
contrast, PM Trudeau in Canada has apparently spent the week apologizing for “Elbowgate,"”
in which he elbowed a government representative while trying to help another
squeeze through; this might be one of the most stereotypically Canadian things
ever. The main story was on the absolute free-for-all that is the US primary/caucus system. I knew it was messed up, inconsistent, and not
very democratic, but as usual, John handily demonstrated just how far the
insanity goes. I particularly liked his point that many Americans think they have a basic understanding of
how the system works but they really don't, and why that's an obvious problem.
Finally, there was a story about Chechnyan leader Kadyrov, who took to
social media to deputize the people to find his missing cat – wow.
Monday, May 23 – Opening bit on the leader of the Taliban being killed in a drone strike; I liked the joke that ISIS has been
a decoy all this time to make the Taliban think the US forgot about them.
The story on Trump’s appearance at a fundraiser for paying off Chris Christie's campaign debt was amusing. I loved the bit about children in
Africa deciding Christie needs the money more, and Trump shrugging off the
threat of a trade war with China is insane but, sadly, not unexpected.
The story on TSA shortages was a bit fluff but fine. I enjoyed
Trevor's horror at adding clowns to a stressful situation, and he had a great
riff on a reporter’s “humble bragging” about his reward membership. The
interview with Rose Byrne was a little ho-hum. I was surprised to realize
she was Australian (I’d always assumed British,) and Trevor’s revelation that
the Australian soap Neighbours is
apparently huge in South Africa made
me smile.
Tuesday, May 24 – I liked having single thematic
through line for the episode, doing a whole show on the NRA and gun safety
regulation. We started with the new union between Trump and the NRA,
which seemed uneasy despite the similar MOs of furthering their aims by
exploiting people’s fears; I loved Trevor’s crack about “the smell of demagoguery
in the morning.” The show also looked at the history of the NRA, which originally
prioritized gun safety. Desi had an interesting field piece reporting
outside an NRA convention. The angle, that the Constitution-obsessed
group wouldn’t let her exercise her 1st-Amendment right to freedom of the
press, was great, and I liked the observation that most NRA are opposed to the
words “gun control” but not actual common-sense safety laws. The guest,
Katie Couric, talked about her new documentary Under the Gun. It
was an informative interview that flowed nicely from what came before.
Wednesday, May 25 – The first story looked at
Brazil’s assorted crises as the Olympics approach, from political
upheaval to horrific pollution to the Zika virus. I loved the comment
that the US wouldn’t skip the Olympics because Americans love winning and going
on vacation so much, and Trevor’s gobsmacked reaction to Congress wanting to
use Ebola money for Zika was cathartic. Next came Trump’s latest conspiracy theory (latching onto an old outlandish theory about the Clintons murdering a
guy) and revisited others he’s touted – Obama’s birth certificate, connecting
Ted Cruz’s dad to Lee Harvey Oswald, vaccines causing autism – with the general
thesis of, “And this guy should be trusted with the US military?”
The guest was Cory Pegues, a reformed gang member who became a police
officer. He discussed systemic problems in policing and the importance of
not deciding someone’s entire future based on their past.
Thursday, May 26 – Some good jokes on Obama’s visit to Vietnam. I liked the passive-aggressive technique of only selling
weapons to Vietnam when China is watching, and Trevor had an amusing tangent about
what Obama does/doesn’t need to carry on him. The latest on Clinton’s emails was depressing, especially her approval rating dipping below Trump’s for
the first time. Trevor’s right – how on earth did we get here?
Michelle had some advice on how Clinton can get back on top, suggesting
that America needs a boss more than a buddy. Another tale from the Trump
archives, this time a chauvinist “women in the kitchen” quote, once again
demonstrating why his approval with women is so low. Reporter Mike Allen
was the guest, talking about – what else? – the insane election. He
discussed the GOP’s resignation to Trump, Clinton’s poll numbers, and pointless
but highly entertaining idea of a Trump-Sanders debate.
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