News Satire Roundup: December 11th-December 14th

Monday, December 11 – I liked Trevor’s coverage of the attempted NYC bombing, about how “you can’t even make it as a terrorist in New York.”  Good story on Trump’s latest campaign rally (why?).  I liked Trevor’s impression of Trump lamely mocking anyone who doesn’t like him, and the piece segued well into the repeated allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Trump.  Ronny had a great new technology report, featuring Dubai’s flying police vehicles (it’s a flying lawnmower!), China’s Minority Report-style predictive crime-fighting, a police department using a robot dog to connect with kids (loved Ronny’s point that they’d be better off just using a real dog,) and the LAPD incorporating drones into their policing.  Former White House photographer/awesome guy Pete Souza was the guest, sharing some classic Obama photos and discussing how he uses Instagram to troll the current administration.

 

Tuesday, December 12 – More on the tax plan.  I liked the angle the show took here, with Steve Mnuchin’s blatant lies about who the bill benefits (the obscenely wealthy) leading to Roy’s assertion that the bill doesn’t need to be changed, just rebranded to sell it as it actually is.  His “remix” of the bill, featuring the GOP leadership flaunting their wealth like rappers, was great.  Next was a story on the viral video of a boy breaking down over bullying, which quickly spun into a story about his mom’s social media photos in front of Confederate flags.  I really liked Trevor’s remarks about how quickly things get out of control online, to the point that, within a day or two, we can barely remember that this started as a story about bullying.  Fun interview with Bob Odenkirk, who admitted he still can’t quite believe he was in a Spielberg movie (The Post) with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Wednesday, December 13 – After a quick bit on Omarosa getting fired from the administration, it was onto Doug Jones’s victory in Alabama.  I understood Trevor’s point that, for progressives, the election was more against Roy Moore than for Jones, but still – dude prosecuted two of the 1963 Birmingham church bombers.  He’s more than just “not Roy Moore.”  But the contrasting footage of the very different vibes at the two campaign headquarters was funny, and Roy coming out to strut his Alabama pride was nice.  And I really liked the second piece, focusing on the crucial Black vote that helped Jones win, particularly from Black women – despite not having voted in Alabama, Dulce came out to deliver a “you’re welcome” on behalf of Black women everywhere.  The guest was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, speaking about how immigration policy affects the tech industry and the importance of corporations having “souls.”

Thursday, December 14 – First up was the vote on net neutrality, with Trevor giving us a possible glimpse into the new future of the Internet.  Next was more Omarosa, in which she teased her side of the story and earned herself an awesome “bye Felicia” from a Black female journalist.  I liked the story on GOP members urging for everything from a new special counsel in the Russia investigation, to an end to the investigation, to an end to the FBI, over texts between agents showing bias; I laughed hard at Trevor’s plan for counterintelligence agents to encode potentially-damning messages through emojis.  Ronny had an amusing field piece trying to figure out what the hell Bitcoin is, channeling Margot Robbie in The Big Short in the process.  Guest Niecy Nash discussed both Downsizing and her show Claws, relating the latter to the experiences of women of color in the industry.