New Satire Roundup: July 24th-July 29th

Sunday, July 24 – John opened on Tim Kaine, Clinton’s lackluster VP choice with “all the excitement of a rice cooker.”  Next was the UK’s new foreign secretary, Brexiter Boris Johson; John decided Johnson’s habit of barreling into other countries, insulting their culture, and refusing to apologize is actually the perfect symbol of Britain’s colonial history.  The main story, predictably, was the RNC.  More than any individual lie or scare tactic, John focused on the prevailing attitude that feelings are more important than facts.  If, for example, Americans don’t feel safer, then lower crime rates don’t matter – it’s very “We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.”  Last was a piece on politicians coopting licensed songs.  The closing video was great, but I especially liked Trump’s ironic song choices, ending the RNC with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and opening a rally with “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”

Monday, July 25 – Another clip show, for the Democratic campaigns leading up to the convention this time.  Since I’d figured it was coming, I didn’t mind it quite as much as last week, although I still don’t think it’s all that necessary.  Especially since we’ll be getting an extra episode on Friday, it’s not like we’ll be short for the week.  This time around, the gimmick in the linking intro bits was that Clinton was going to “appear” on the show, but whenever there was a break in the clips, Trevor would inform us that we’d “just missed her,” because she’d stepped out for some reason or another.  Like the stuff with Trevor in the “Trump mansion” last week, kind of cheesy.  Some of the clips were fun to see again, especially Trevor’s jokes about the non-Clinton and Sanders “also-rans” and how long they remained in the race with the media barely acknowledging their existence.

Tuesday, July 26 – With the historic moment of the first woman being the official nominee of a major party, it seemed fitting that Trevor focused on Michelle Obama’s speech, with her remarks on history, change, and her daughters coming of age in a new America.  The DNC email scandal got lots of play.  Hasan and Jordan tried to save Democrats from themselves by “destroying” their phones, and Jordan, Roy, and Michelle looked at the bad, good, and ugly sides of the issue (some good lines there – I liked Roy celebrating because none of the leaked emails contained the N-word and Jordan being angry with Russia because interfering with foreign elections is our thing.)  The show also covered the “Bernie or Bust” set even boo Sanders himself when the subject of voting for Clinton comes up.  John Podesta, who heads Clinton’s campaign, was the guest.  So-so interview – to me, he seemed a little too beholden to his talking points.

Wednesday, July 27 – Amazing show; every segment was on fire.  They opened on Clinton’s official nomination, with Desi reporting from the convention floor about the important milestone and how long it took the U.S. to get to this point.  Trevor compared Clinton and Trump with the overall thesis of, “Seriously, people, it’s no comparison!”  The description of Trump as America’s prospective “racist landlord” is weirdly apt.  More Trump with his treasonous remarks to Russia, with Trevor’s anger and dumbfoundedness coming in equal parts.  I appreciate that the show keeps drawing the (frighteningly easy) lines between Trump and prominent dictators, because it’s long since become scary and I don’t understand how we got here.  New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand was the guest, talking about how Clinton helped bring her to politics and the importance of bipartisan cooperation on passing family leave legislation.

Thursday, July 28 – Another live show, to cover Clinton’s speech.  Like the Trump speech stuff last week, it felt a bit hurried but had some good lines.  I liked the quick recap of Wednesday’s speakers, featuring Obama’s edge-of-sanity nervous laughter at the idea of a Trump presidency, Tim Kaine being a Black person’s impression of a white person, and Michael Bloomberg’s billionaire roast of Trump.  Next was a parody of Clinton’s bio video, set up like an iPhone ad.  I found some of it uncomfortable, framing Clinton as a preferable alternative to Trump but not really acknowledging her qualities.  The best part was the bit about her have a port instead of a cable and the shots of phones, tablets, and computers with their ports blurred out.  Mark Leibovich from the New York Times was the guest.  I liked his comments about the wild-card aspect of having a less partisan election, with both candidates polarizing in their own way.

Friday, July 29 – There’s something lovely about the idea of “balloon strikes” on enemy targets.  Thanks for that image, Trevor!  We recapped Michael Bloomberg’s Trump roast so we could see Trump’s thin-skinned response, proving once again that he shouldn’t have nuclear codes.  What the Actual Fact was a bit weak, I thought, mostly going for light targets; my favorite part was Desi arguing that Chelsea Clinton’s baby is not the cutest on earth.  Jordan, Hasan, and Adam gave a convention breakdown, deciding which Rocky movie best matches Clinton’s journey (yep, totally Rocky IV.)  A couple quick field pieces, one from Roy on last call being extended in Philly for delegates, and one from Ronny trying out water ice (the audience loved this piece.)  Senator Cory Booker was the show’s first repeat guest.  He talked about the convention and had some moving remarks on the importance of criminal justice reform.