News Satire Roundup: June 12th-16th

Sunday, June 12 – After John’s opening remarks on Orlando, which were heartfelt, angry, and mournful, he apologized for the jarringly-upbeat “stupid show” that was to follow.  The first story looked at a recent Twitter war between Clinton and Trump, wherein John bemoaned Clinton trying to beat Trump (the personification of Twitter’s id, per John) on his home turf.  The overview of Clinton’s past social media mishaps didn’t instill confidence, and the whole thing makes me dread the forthcoming campaign.  The main story was on retirement plans and the various ways financial planning companies can nickel-and-dime your savings away.  Cheery subject, I know, but as usual, I learned a lot.  John does such a great job of taking complicated topics and breaking them down in a way that makes me feel like I actually get them, and when it comes to money, you definitely don’t want to mess around.

Monday, June 13 – Naturally, the show opened with the Orlando shooting.  Trevor’s initial expressions of grief and horror gave way to a larger story about gun violence in America.  He vented his frustration at America’s seeming refusal to see a correlation between underregulated gun access and gun violence, challenging those who try to making it about any other issue.  A serious but wonderful insightful piece – I was really impressed by it.  Next was a field piece from Jordan on the insane levels of rancor over selecting the Virgin Islands' GOP delegates.  The insult “carpetbagger” was thrown around unironically, and one of the men involved admitted that he’d “been told” he concealed and carried.  The guest was Democratic strategist James Carville, who seems more sanguine about Trump than he should be.  Finally, the Moment of Zen was an excerpt from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s beautiful Tony speech in tribute to the Orlando victims.

Tuesday, June 14 – A group of anti-Muslim nationalists in India celebrated Trump’s birthday – let’s add this to the “white supremacist endorsement”/“quoting famous facists” pile.  The rest of the show was on Orlando, with the next story looking at speeches from Clinton (compassionate, policy-focused, opposed to Islamaphobia and scapegoating) and Trump (fearmongering, filled with lies, creepily opportunistic.)  In other news, Trump, in his “I’m not saying anything!” way, implied that Obama is an ISIS agent – that happened.  The first of two guests was Michelangelo Signorile, Huffington Post’s Queer Voices editor.  He talked about how the battles are far from over, as the shooting reminds us.  Eddie Huang was the second guest (like Trevor, I still think of him as the actor who plays young Eddie on Fresh Off the Boat.)  I hadn’t thought of the Orlando connection, but Huang discussed his experiences growing up and seeing the gun culture there.

Wednesday, June 15 – Jordan and Desi opened the show to discuss the much-talked-of importance of white voters in the upcoming election (the best takeaway?  Trump’s approval rating with Black voters is in the single digits.  Warms my heart, that does.)  There were plenty of jokes about white people “finally having a voice” that mostly landed, and Trevor breaking up the report at the end was fun.  Next up was a trio of scandals featuring all three branches of Alabama’s state government, including their governor’s incredibly creepy sex scandal.  I especially liked Trevor’s comments about the governor’s retort that he “loves all [his] employees,” loving “some more than others.”  (Gross.)  Independence Day director Roland Emmerich was the guest, talking about the imminent sequel.  I’ll admit to being a little shocked at how low-rent the CGI looked in the clip they showed.

Thursday, June 16 – Opening blurb on soccer fan brawls, complete with a Russian fan “filming his rampage” with a head-cam.  Good piece on the Democrats’ filibuster in the Senate to get a vote on a pair of gun legislation bills.  Trevor had a great riff on the poor stenographer for the 15-hour talking session, and I loved his response to one senator’s statement that no one should need an AR-15 to shoot a deer.  Next up was a segment on Australian animals who’ve become threatened, endangered, or extinct through human action in recent years.  Some is unintentional (a rodent that’s the first mammal to go extinct from climate change,) some less so (there’s a plan to introduce herpes into the invasive carp population – wow.)  Deshauna Barber, the first active-duty service member to be crowned Miss USA, was the guest, talking about her experience in the pageant and her hope to use her platform to bring awareness to PTSD.