News Satire Roundup: February 12th-February 16th

Sunday, February 12 – Last Week Tonight is back, and not a moment too soon.  After briefly looking at the overall mess of the new administration and sharing a montage of Trump’s bizarre powerplay handshakes, John settled into the main story:  Trump’s highly-estranged relationship with the truth.  Though not a new idea, John covered it well, touching on the complacency that allowed such a blatant liar to reach the White House, the fake news outlets that both embolden him to make such fallacious claims and make his supporters see him as a fair-minded straight shooter, and what can be done about the whole thing.  I loved John’s point that holding up a Breitbart article as “evidence” is as sound as taking a “call” from a “source” via a phone made from a banana, and his plan to sneak Trump important facts in a format he’d more readily accept – cheaply-made, non-threatening commercials during cable news shows – was amazing.

Monday, February 13 – Great opening bit on the Grammys, with Trevor marveling at Beyonce’s goddess-like performance and speculating that non-Beyonce statue winners all have Kanye-related PTSD – “I’mma let me finish, but…”  Trump’s visit with Japan’s prime minister, from Trump not wearing the translator earpiece to turning a dining table at Mar-a-Lago into a situation room (in full view of civilians,) was absolute insanity.  Honestly – I have no words at all for that.  It’s crazy.  Senior adviser Stephen Miller was profiled, and the show highlighted his talent for evading questions with all the subtlety of a bulldozer while asserting that the president’s authority cannot be questioned; standup guy all around.  The guests, Phillip Picardi and Elaine Welteroth of Teen Vogue, talked about the magazine’s shift into covering politics.  I loved what they had to say about validating girls’ opinions about the world.

Tuesday, February 14 – Some good burns on the photo of Ivanka Trump sitting at the Oval Office desk, especially “#JustWokeUpLikeThisWithARichDad.”  Michael Flynn’s dismissal got lots of air time, from the general havoc (being “blindsided” when now-fired Sally Yates warned of this nearly a month ago, Trump only “draining the swamp” of people he brought on board) to GOP congressmen trying to avoid talking about it (Trevor highlighted a New York congressman’s dismissive “so what, now what” worldview, but I loved the news anchor in that clip imploring the congressmen to speak “for the love of truth.”)  Laverne Cox was an awesome guest, no surprise.  In her segment, she declared Trevor her valentine, shone light on a Supreme Court case on trans rights, succinctly pinpointed the “bathroom bill” movement’s attempts to refute trans people’s right to “exist in public spaces,” and talked up her new show Doubt.  Phew!

Wednesday, February 15 – After a blurb on the killing of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Trevor treated us to a montage of Wolf Blitzer making (often tactless) “un” puns.  Next was Trump’s contradictory reaction to Michael Flynn’s departure – I loved Trevor’s reminder that he, not the media, fired Flynn.  The story led into a speculative piece postulating that, more than anything, the issues with Trump arise from his old age.  Some good jokes here, especially the comments about what an amusing sitcom a “President Grandpa” premise would make if we didn’t have to deal with living in the reality of it.  Really good story on Netanyahu’s visit and Trump’s strange, 100% clueless remarks on the one-state vs. two-state issue – I loved the freeze-frame of Netanyahu’s facial reactions.  The New York Times’s Mark Mazzetti was the guest, there to talk about the unfolding coverage about Flynn and the Trump administration’s possible ties to Russia.

Thursday, February 16 – As Trevor explained, everything went out the window to cover Trump’s press conference.  This story was obviously coming, and there wasn’t much more it had to do than show the insanity the way it unfolded.  Favorite jokes included the remarks on the fact that April Ryan did know some members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Trevor demonstrating that the question about anti-Semitism was incredibly easy to answer.  After all that, the piece on a New Jersey street name being changed (to “Dick St.”) felt pretty lightweight.  Jordan had a few amusing man-on-the-street bits, and I did admittedly love Trevor’s fascination with the falconer who was featured on the local news.  Ezra Edelman, who directed O.J.:  Made in America, was the guest.  While I know about the documentary and its big award buzz, I didn’t know much about the angle the film takes with the story, and it now has me more interested in it.