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The Two Faces of Sean Hannity and Fox News

Democratic Underground

The video is far worse. Hannity actively promoting NSA surveillance then, over and over again, versus decrying it as unconstitutional now:

What a two-faced tool.

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Late Night Political Humor

“Another scandal hit the White House today. A report found that the government has been secretly collecting the phone records of Verizon customers. I knew something was up when I said, ‘You hang up first’. Then my wife said, ‘No, YOU hang up first!’ Then Obama said, ‘Uh, how about you just hang up at the same time?'” – Jimmy Fallon

“It’s come out that the government has been secretly collecting telephone records of millions of Verizon customers. Yeah, or as Verizon is calling it, ‘The friends and family and Obama plan’.” – Conan O’Brien

“The National Security Agency has been collecting the phone records of Verizon customers since April. That explains Verizon’s new ad campaign: ‘They can hear you now’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“When I was growing up, we were afraid of Big Brother watching us. Now with Obama, we actually HAVE a brother watching us.” – Jay Leno

“The government has been secretly gathering data from your mobile phone. It’s a huge scandal and it comes on the heels of President Obama’s IRS scandal and Benghazi scandal. Even the crackhead mayor of Toronto is saying, ‘rough week, huh?'” – Craig Ferguson

“A new report shows that the Obama administration has been collecting the telephone records of millions of customers of Verizon under a top-secret court order. Here’s the sad part. It turns out that 90 percent of the phone calls Americans make are to order a pizza.” – Jay Leno

“Attorney General Eric Holder said that despite all the controversies, he has no intention of stepping down. Hey Eric, I didn’t either. Sometimes it just happens.” – Jay Leno

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Conservative Hero

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is a conservative hero. He famously cut government, took away worker protections, and cemented his conservative bonafides by supporting government-mandated ultrasounds before abortions. He is big business’ BFF.

There’s just one problem. His policies have all but wrecked the economy of his state. In a federal ranking of economic outlook, Wisconsin is now 49th, and is one of only 5 states to show negative growth. Since he took office, the state has gone from 11th to 44th in job creation. Wages in the state are declining at twice the national rate.

But Walker just doubles down. His new budget offers a tax cut that mainly benefits the rich, and proposes closing more public schools and instead using the money for school vouchers. He’s also reducing the number of people with health insurance, kicking 87,000 people off the state’s Badgercare program, and rejecting the expansion of Medicaid. In other words, his solution is more austerity.

Which worked so well in Greece. Walker promised his policies would create 250,000 jobs. But that just ain’t happening.

Ironically, his failures aren’t preventing him from being considered a frontrunner for the GOP nomination for the presidency in 2016.

I think a better use of him would be as a poster child for what happens when (neo-) conservatives get their way.

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I Told You So!

derf© derf

Derf reminds us that anyone who has been paying attention at all saw this coming.

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Late Night Political Humor

“The mystery is over. After a month of waiting, it turns out that an 84-year-old woman in Florida has won the $590 million Powerball lottery. As for how much tax she’s going to have to pay, the IRS said it’s too early to tell because they don’t know whether she’s a Republican or Democrat.” – Jay Leno

“The IRS spent $4 million on a conference in Anaheim that included luxury hotel suites, passes to theme parks, and tickets to sporting events. They say they’re not sure of the exact amount they spent because they didn’t keep any receipts. I think Wesley Snipes is saying, ‘Hey, what about me? I didn’t have my receipts’.” – Jay Leno

“President Obama has called on Congress to pass a media shield law that would allow reporters to do their job without fear of government prosecution. Don’t we already have that? It’s called the First Amendment.” – Jay Leno

“Last night at a fundraiser in Washington, First Lady Michele Obama got into a heated face-to face confrontation with a heckler who turned out to be a lesbian. After hearing this, Bill Clinton said this story just keeps on getting hotter and hotter.” – Conan O’Brien

“According to CNN, former Sen. John Edwards is planning to open up a new law firm. John Edwards going back to work as an attorney. I guess he figured he was lying so much anyway, he might as well start getting paid for it.” – Jay Leno

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Good Grief!

Tom Tomorrow
© Tom Tomorrow

Five stages? If they are stages, then why do we seem to be going through all of them at the same time?

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Late Night Political Humor

“More problems for the IRS. Isn’t that the feel-good story of the year? They wasted $50 million over a two-year period on conferences and retreats for employees. They even spent $11,000 on a happiness expert. I have an idea how to make them happier. How about stopping making everybody else’s life miserable? Start with that!” – Jay Leno

“We put up with the IRS. They weasel you and take your hard-earned money. They’ve been taking their tax dollars and throwing themselves lavish parties. I was thinking, ‘Yeah, well, what good is it being a bunch of power-hungry, jack-booted goons if you can’t enjoy yourselves, if you can’t every now and then pat yourself on the back?'” – David Letterman

“IRS executive Lois Lerner has refused to quit and will collect her full pay and benefits while on administrative leave. They asked her to resign. She refused to go. Where in the real world does that ever happen? You get fired and you tell your boss, ‘I’m going to stay, and I want my money.’ And you wonder why we’re $16 trillion in debt.” – Jay Leno

“A new report says if Republicans want to win over young voters they need to get up to date with technology. Well, the GOP is listening because today they told young people everywhere to ‘be prepared to receive a very exciting fax from us’.” – Conan O’Brien

“Mayor Bloomberg now says he’s outlawing sugary drinks. Look at this way: crime, meth labs, collapsing buildings – all not a problem. Sugary drinks? you are going to prison. You’re going to do hard time.” – David Letterman

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We want our cake, and want to eat it too.

I’ve of two minds about the current “scandal” about the government keeping track of phone numbers called by Verizon customers.

On one hand, I am extremely alarmed that we are rather quickly becoming a surveillance state, with pretty much our every move monitored and examined.

On the other hand, why are we so surprised? After 9/11, politicians on both sides — not to mention the American people — demanded that the government take every step to fight a war on terrorism. We passed the Patriot act with only one Congressman voting against it. Every traveler puts up with invasive, dehumanizing (and largely ineffective) searches every time they want to travel in an airplane. A large segment of the American population applauded the use of torture to gain information. And on and on. So why are we acting shocked?

David Simon has an excellent article on this. You should read it, and here is a short quote to encourage you to do so:

But those planes really did hit those buildings. And that bomb did indeed blow up at the finish line of the Boston marathon. And we really are in a continuing, low-intensity, high-risk conflict with a diffuse, committed and ideologically-motivated enemy. And for a moment, just imagine how much bloviating would be wafting across our political spectrum if, in the wake of an incident of domestic terrorism, an American president and his administration had failed to take full advantage of the existing telephonic data to do what is possible to find those needles in the haystacks. After all, we as a people, through our elected representatives, drafted and passed FISA and the Patriot Act and what has been done here, with Verizon and assuredly with other carriers, is possible under that legislation. Indeed, one Republican author of the law, who was quoted as saying he didn’t think the Patriot Act would be so used, has, in this frantic little moment of national overstatement, revealed himself to be either a political coward or an incompetent legislator. He asked for this. We asked for this. We did so because we measured the reach and possible overreach of law enforcement against the risks of terrorism and made a conscious choice.

Frankly, I’m a bit amazed that the NSA and FBI have their shit together enough to be consistently doing what they should be doing with the vast big-data stream of electronic communication. For us, now — years into this war-footing and this legal dynamic — to loudly proclaim our indignation at the maintenance of an essential and comprehensive investigative database while at the same time insisting on a proactive response to the inevitable attempts at terrorism is as childish as it is obtuse. We want cake, we want to eat it, and we want to stay skinny and never puke up a thing. Of course we do.

Lastly, who would have thought that Michael Moore and Glenn Beck would ever agree on anything? In simultaneous tweets, they both praised the leaker of this confidential information, with Moore calling him “hero of the year” and Beck calling him “the NSA patriot leaker”.

Now, the main question is whether we will actually do anything about the wholesale trampling on our privacy in the name of security. Or after the next terrorist attack, will we fall back in line demanding that the government do everything and anything to try to prevent it from happening again, the constitution be damned.

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Late Night Political Humor

“Many Republicans want President Obama to fire Attorney General Eric Holder after he seemed to contradict himself under oath. When asked if he’s worried, Holder said, ‘Yes. I mean, no’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“President Obama says he is renewing his efforts to close Guantanamo Bay. How about closing the IRS? Why don’t we do that? How about shipping the IRS to Guantanamo Bay?” – Jay Leno

“This week President Obama is going to be engaged in high-level talks with the president of China. Yes, President Obama’s message to China is going to be, ‘I swear we’ll have the money for you by Tuesday’.” – Conan O’Brien

“Actor Steven Seagal is now in Russia. He is meeting with Vladimir Putin. Is this what American foreign policy has come down to? Dennis Rodman is in North Korea. Steven Seagal is in Russia. What’s next? Are we air dropping Gary Busey into Syria? Maybe Snooki goes to Iraq?” – Jay Leno

“During his trip to Brazil on Friday, Joe Biden said he was having such a good time that he didn’t want to go home. And that was just while he was riding on the baggage carousel at the airport.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A new report says that Donald Trump has spent one million dollars trying to figure out if he should run for president in 2016. Experts are already calling it the World Most Expensive ‘No’.” – Conan O’Brien

“A new study just came out. It found that KFC sells 25 pieces of fried chicken a second. Yes. It was 50 pieces a second, but then Chris Christie had his stomach stapled.” – Conan O’Brien

“This latest California wildfire is getting pretty scary. But Governor Jerry Brown has it under control. He said he is going to tax and regulate the fire until it gets fed up and moves to another state.” – Jay Leno

“In Pakistan, the Taliban’s No. 2 man has been killed by an American drone. In a related story, today the Taliban’s No. 3 man said he’s stepping down to spend more time with his family.” – Jay Leno

“The Supreme Court ruled that police have the right to take DNA samples. Every time there’s new technology in law enforcement, people get uneasy. I’m sure people were against fingerprinting when it started in the late 1800s. I’ll have to ask Larry King. He was probably around then.” – Craig Ferguson

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You’re A Troll

Wow. This is the first musical rant I think I’ve ever seen!

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Turnabout is Fair Play

AccordingToDevin
© AccordingToDevin

This was sent to me by a friend. I can’t decide if it is funny or what.

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Late Night Political Humor

“The lights are a little dimmer in Crazytown tonight. In the struggle between reality and Michele Bachmann, reality has won. Flags are being flown at half mast at the Laugh Factory. Michele Bachmann is out. Still no word on her husband Marcus.” – Bill Maher

“Bachmann said it was a very tough decision, but after a lengthy discussion with her husband, her staff, her constituents, and with the little ballerina that twirls around on the top of her jewelry box, she wanted to spend more time as Carrie’s mom. And also, she has a new job lined up. She’s the before-picture in a tranquilizer ad.” – Bill Maher

“Someone again sent the deadly poison Ricin to President Obama through the mail. These dumbasses, do they really think Obama opens his own mail? He doesn’t even know what the IRS and the Justice Departments are doing.” – Bill Maher

“I hate to keep saying that Americans are stupid and lazy. But is there any lamer assassination attempt than sending wannabe poison through the mail? What was Plan B, hoping Chris Christie falls on him?” – Bill Maher

“A simple pot conviction can foreclose on opportunities to vote, get a job, go to college, or qualify for housing. How can our first black President, and our first pothead President, be aware of that, and just look the other way? If anyone can say smoking pot won’t ruin your life, it’s the guy who smoked bales of it, and then became leader of the free world.” – Bill Maher

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Child Welfare

Jen Sorensen
© Jen Sorensen

As Paul Krugman points out, Republicans are again trying to do something that will hurt the economy while punishing the poor for, well, being poor. They are trying to shrink (and ultimately kill) the food stamp program, which is one of the most successful programs ever for making sure people don’t starve, while actually stimulating the economy (each dollar spent on the food stamp program generates $1.70 in economic activity, effectively paying for itself). We have millions to bail out banks who are “too big to fail” but apparently nothing to help workers who have lost their jobs in a down economy (and nothing to stimulate that economy so they can get new jobs).

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Late Night Political Humor

“Anthony Weiner is running for mayor of New York City and he had to change his campaign website yesterday because it accidentally showed a picture of the Pittsburgh skyline instead of Manhattan. Or as Weiner calls it, ‘an embarrassing photo I can live with’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Anthony Weiner accidentally used a picture of the Pittsburgh skyline on his website instead of Manhattan. And that’s not all, it doesn’t stop there. Remember those pictures he tweeted of his penis? It wasn’t his. It was Brett Favre’s.” – Jay Leno

“A seven-year-old boy from Milwaukee, a kid buy the name of Miles Nelson, wrote a letter to the vice president. He has an interesting solution to our problem with gun violence. Miles wrote, ‘I think guns should shoot out chocolate bullets.’ Believe it or not, the vice president actually wrote Miles back. He wrote, ‘I really like your idea. If we had guns that shot chocolate, not only would our country be safer, it would be happier. Happier people love chocolate.’ Do you really want a politician to get behind guns with chocolate bullets? The guy you should be writing to is Chris Christie. He will get this done.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“According to the Boston Globe, First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters will stay on Martha’s Vineyard for the summer. You can tell President Obama is getting a little defensive. When a reporter asked him about the trip, he said he had no prior knowledge of the vacation, he just learned about it from the media.” – Jay Leno

“Casual Friday today in the Obama White House. Which means they’re casually going through everyone’s phone records.” – Jay Leno

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Late Night Political Humor

“Time magazine published President Obama’s prom photos. He’s with friends and their dates. Those girls in Kenya are very good looking.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Time magazine found a picture of President Obama at his high school prom back in 1979. Let me tell you how long ago that was. Back then, Obama had to ask a girl for her phone number. He couldn’t illegally obtain it through the Justice Department.” – Jay Leno

“Time magazine just released a picture of a 17-year-old President Obama with his prom date. They would’ve published a picture of Joe Biden with his prom date, but his mom didn’t want to be photographed.” – Jimmy Fallon

“It’s coming out that in high school, President Obama signed a girl’s yearbook by calling her sweet and foxy. Of course, now he calls her Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.” – Conan O’Brien

“The latest scandal in Washington, of course, is raising questions about the IRS. You know, I have a question. Why is it called the Internal Revenue Service? How is having your money confiscated a service?” – Jay Leno

“A Democratic congressman said that he worries that the IRS scandal might have a chilling effect on the IRS and that they might be afraid to audit people. So finally some good is coming out of all of this.” – Jay Leno

“It is not looking good for President Obama. Today, his teleprompter took the fifth. In fact, the White House has changed their slogan from, ‘Yes, we can’ to ‘No, I can’t remember.'” – Jay Leno

“As you may have heard, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently had lap band surgery. And some sad news: today the lap band snapped and killed five bystanders.” – Jay Leno

“A woman in New Jersey just found her missing dog after she grilled pork in her backyard and he came home because of the smell. Unfortunately, he was immediately shoved out of the way by Governor Chris Christie.” – Jimmy Fallon

“During congressional hearings, Senator John McCain asked Apple CEO Tim Cook why the apps always need to be updated. McCain also wanted to know how often he should feed Siri.” – Conan O’Brien

“Pope Francis said that atheists are still eligible to go to heaven. To return the favor, atheists said Popes are still eligible to go into a void of nothingness.” – Conan O’Brien

“Pope Francis made an extremely controversial statement. He says he believes anyone can go to heaven if you do good deeds, even atheists. Some Catholics were upset by his comments because it means we wasted a lot of Sundays going to church.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“It would be fun to let atheists into heaven if for no other reason than to see the look on their faces when they get there.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia the head of the religious police said he believes that Saudi citizens who use Twitter will go to hell. Let me get this straight. Tweeting leads to damnation. But filling a palace with kidnapped beauty contestants – that’s OK?” – Jimmy Kimmel

“A new international poll finds the least popular country in the world is Iran. After hearing this, North Korea said, ‘What do we have to do?'” – Conan O’Brien

Jimmy Fallon impersonating Anthony Weiner: “Hello, I’m Anthony Weiner, and I’m running for mayor of New York City. This is the greatest city on earth. But for the middle class, things just keep getting harder and harder and harder and harder. Look, we’re in a pickle. A big pickle. Crime is up. Unemployment is rising. Schools are failing, and that’s just the tip. I know I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I’ve grown since then. I’ve grown a lot. If you don’t believe me, look at my latest poll. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not crooked. Trust me. Listen, New York, do you really want to roll the dice on this city’s future? I sure don’t. What I’m trying to say is, I know this race will be long and hard, but all you other candidates better watch out. I may be behind you, but I’m coming. That’s why I’m asking you to pull my lever on erection day. I’m Anthony Weiner, and I paid for this massage.”

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