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

Friday, November 3, 2017

News Satire Roundup: October 29th-November 2nd

Sunday, October 29 – Great takedown of Trump’s “not really” help on the opioid crisis, opening access to funds that would divvy up to approximately $.02 per addict.  John touched on hateful remarks in multiple countries, looking at Roy Moore’s Senate race and the old “homosexuality ---> bestiality” chestnut, as well as the gross statements made by those opposed to Australia potentially legalizing same-sex marriage.  The main story was on floods.  Rather than spend time on whether or not climate change contributes to larger and more destructive storms (taking that as a given,) John focused on the systems that keep people in the path of flood damage.  It was fascinating to me that, back in the day, a big push for flood insurance was intended to make people realize how dangerous it was and move, when the people instead stayed put and depended on the insurance claims to rebuild their houses when they inevitably flooded.


Monday, October 30 – Trevor looked briefly at Trump terribly interacting with children in Halloween costumes before getting to the main event:  the indictments of Paul Manafort and George Papadopoulos.  Trevor revisiting Manafort’s horrendous poker face is always funny, and I liked him imagining Trump popping the champagne that the Manafort charges weren’t connected with Russian collusion right when the Papadopoulos indictment went public.  Next was an Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That, covering the accusations against Kevin Spacey (wish there’d been more time for this,) how a Montana company got the opportunity to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electricity through Linked In, and an inventive protest at a white supremacist rally.  I always appreciate guest Ta-Nehisi Coates, who pondered how we got where we are (in going from Obama to Trump) and where we might go from here.

Tuesday, October 31 – Too early to get into the New York attack, so Trevor instead looked at GOP responses to the Manafort and Papadopoulos indictments.  Sean Hannity’s “but Hillary!” non-sequitur was ridiculous, and I loved Trevor’s jokes about the clip of Chuck Grassley slipping behind a flag to escape the press.  Good story on John Kelly’s “many sides” comments about the Civil War.  Especially on the “compromise” insanity – Trevor came with receipts, showing how America’s early history is littered with compromises on slavery.  Desi had an amusing horror-movie-esque bit about being haunted by Trump tweets no matter how she tried to avoid them.  Interesting interview with Gretchen Carlson; you could tell the atmosphere in the studio was awkward, but Trevor, repeating his belief that sexual harassment should be an apolitical issue, kept the discussion on what went down with Carlson at Fox News and what’s needed for change.

Wednesday, November 1 – The major story, understandably, was the terror attack in New York.  After showing some New Yorkers refusing to let terror dictate their lives, it was on to the fearmongering and opportunism.  You had Trump calling for an end to the diversity visa lottery (while failing to correctly say “diversity,”) featuring Trevor’s reminder that “immigrant” doesn’t just mean “brown people,” and a montage comparing Fox News’s insistence on “not politicizing a tragedy” after the Las Vegas shooting with their agitating for blood and legislation after the New York attack.  The rest of the show was devoted to the guest, none other than Hillary Clinton.  I really enjoyed the interview; Trevor gave her a lot of space to talk, and she covered Trump’s less-than-presidential reactions to tragedy, the “Clinton dossier,” aspects of the campaign, and her experiences with misogyny.  A bright spot in the darkest timeline.

Thursday, November 2 – I loved Trevor’s excitement for the Lion King remake and his disappointment that he’s not in it.  Next was more on Russian hacking, with the heads of big tech companies (Facebook, Google, etc.) speaking before Congress about their failure to root out the Russian troll content that worked to influence the election; I think we were all Al Franken in that moment.  A new segment, “In Other News,” sort of a less depressing “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That.”  It included knitting tutorials found on Osama bin Laden’s computer, Obama getting called up for jury duty, and and a police department claiming a suspect was denied counsel because he asked for a “lawyer dog” (as opposed to “lawyer, dawg.”)  Guest Gabrielle Union was great.  She joined the string of recent female guests to address sexual harassment/assault, and she also discussed the intersectionality of not having the luxury “just” to be an actor.

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