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The Orwell Party


© Andy Singer

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Late Night Political Humor

“This year marks the first Thanksgiving in which travelers will get molested before they get to their uncle’s house.” – Seth Meyers

“At the airport if you refuse to be patted down, they arrest you. And what’s the first thing they do when they arrest you? They pat you down.” – Jay Leno

“‘Has anyone handled your bags?’ ‘Yes. You. Right now.'” – Seth Meyers

“You know, if I wanted somebody halfheartedly patting my groin without eye contact, I’d get married.” – Seth Meyers

“One of those airport naked scan images ended up on the internet. And you know who it was? Brett Favre. What are the odds?” – Jay Leno

“Vice President Joe Biden turned 68 years old. President Obama was so excited. He asked Biden to attend the party for him.” – David Letterman

“Happy birthday to Vice President Joe Biden. President Obama got him a gag gift. Not a funny gift, an actual gag.” – Jay Leno

“At the dedication of his Presidential Library, George W. Bush said it’s long been his dream to build a building for teenagers to drink behind.” – Seth Meyers

“President Obama has a tough decision to make this week. Which turkey does he pardon — the thanksgiving one or Charlie Rangel?” – Jay Leno

“The Capitol Hill Christmas tree is on its way, and once it gets to Washington it’ll die in committee.” – David Letterman

“President Obama said GM’s comeback would be the success story of this recession. GM said it wanted to thank those who made its recovery possible: Toyota’s brakes, Toyota’s steering and Toyota’s accelerator.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A group of economists unveiled a new plan to reduce the deficit by $6 trillion in the next 10 years. The first step of the plan is to look at all our spending over the past five years, determine what’s unnecessary … and then ask China for $6 trillion.” – Jimmy Fallon

“On this day in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Following the address, the rebuttal was given by John McCain. Lincoln’s speech was so successful that right after it, TBS offered him the 10 p.m. slot.” – David Letterman

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Peanut Butter Terrorism


© Ruben Bolling

UPDATE: Roger Ebert weighs in on the TSA.

UPDATE 2: For people who wonder what airport security in the US should look like.

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Diplomatic Time Bomb

The CBC is reporting that the US government has notified the Canadian government that WikiLeaks is about to release US diplomatic files that are so sensitive that they could “damage US relations with allies around the world” and could even “result in the expulsion of US diplomats from foreign postings.”

If this is true, it would explain the extreme efforts that the US has gone to in trying to neutralize WikiLeaks and its main spokesperson, Julian Assange.

Last Sunday, WikiLeaks announced “Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs. … The coming months will see a new world, where global history is redefined.”

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Late Night Political Humor

“Sarah Palin says she’s going to run for President in 2012. 2012. Donald Trump said he’s going to run for President in 2012 against Sarah Palin. Nice to know there will somebody equally unqualified.” – David Letterman

“Now that would be some presidential race. You’ve got Donald Trump and Sarah Palin and the debates. Get there early and get some seats down front for those debates. ‘You’re fired, you becha.'” – David Letterman

“There’s going to be problems when Donald Trump runs. They had a lot of problems with Obama, you wait until Donald Trump runs because the rumor is that thing on his head was not born in this country.” – David Letterman

“Donald Trump wants to see if people think he should run for President. So a website has been launched called ‘Shouldtrumprun.com.’ Yeah, don’t worry the American public has responded with their own website ‘No.com.'” – Conan O’Brien

“In an upcoming interview with Barbara Walters, Sarah Palin says she believes she can beat Obama in 2012. The way things are going right now, Bristol Palin could beat Obama in 2012.” – Jay Leno

“I’ll tell you how confident Sarah Palin is. She’s already started writing her inaugural address on her hand.” – Jay Leno

They broke ground at the George W. Bush Presidential Library out there in Dallas. I know you’re snickering already. The guy never read a book in his life but he’s got a library. How does that happen?” – David Letterman

“At the opening of the Bush Presidential Center in Texas, Dick Cheney joked that the center is the only shovel-ready project in America. What about that Dick Cheney taking a buddy hunting? That could be another shovel-ready project.” – Jay Leno

“Bush opening a library, that’s like Kirstie Alley opening a can of diet coke.” – David Letterman

“In a ranking of 35 cities, by ‘Travel and Leisure’ magazine — Los Angeles finished second to last in intelligence. All I can say, thank god for Washington, D.C. Thank god for Washington, D.C.” – Jay Leno

“TSA Chief John Pistole says he and his boss Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have each personally received the more invasive TSA patdown. They both had it. Ya, it’s been called the world’s least sexy threesome.” – Conan O’Brien

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The Tao of Terrorism

The US airport security chief pleaded with Thanksgiving travelers to not boycott full-body scans this Wednesday, warning that would only “tie up people who want to go home and see their loved ones.”

“Just one or two recalcitrant passengers at an airport is all it takes to cause huge delays. It doesn’t take much to mess things up anyway.”

… We interrupt this blog post for an important NEWS FLASH:

The nation’s air transportation system has been brought to its knees today, causing a cascade of delays at all major airports and leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded. Taking credit for this insidious act of terrorism was the Islamic Recalcitrant Army (IRA), who in turn credited the TSA itself for giving them the original idea.

According to an unnamed IRA source:

We had no idea how fragile the US air transportation system really was. We have been foolishly using suicide bombers for missions, but now we know that it only takes one or two IRA members to completely shut down any airport, and maybe a few hundred to cripple the entire system and cause millions of dollars of damage to the great Satan’s economy. And recruiting people to be recalcitrant is so much easier than for suicide missions — we’ve had to turn jihadists away who aren’t even Islamic!

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Enslaved


© Tom Tomorrow

Letter from Congressman Rush Holt to the TSA Administrator.

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Naked Image


© Nate Beeler

Obama defended the use of the new full-body scanners, while public opinion is starting to turn against the use of the new machines. And security expert Bruce Schneier claims that the new machines won’t catch anybody. In fact, even the manufacturers of the machines say that they would not have caught the underwear bomber, even though that incident is the reason being given for the new machines.

UPDATE: Here’s an interesting protest. A company is selling t-shirts and underwear, with the the 4th amendment to the US constitution printed in metallic ink so they will show up when you get scanned in an airport:

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Late Night Political Humor

“The Situation from ‘Jersey Shore’ just shot a PSA with Bristol Palin about safe sex and abstinence. Wait, they wanted to do a PSA about not having sex and getting pregnant and they chose The Situation and Bristol Palin? Who’s doing their anti-drug campaign, Lindsay Lohan?” – Jimmy Fallon

“By the way, if he gets her pregnant, it’s officially designated The Situation womb.” – Jon Stewart

“A guy was so upset with Bristol Palin on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ that he shot his TV set with a shotgun. You would think a guy with a shotgun tucked between his couch cushions would be a Palin supporter.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“He became upset when Brandy was eliminated and not only shot his TV, but threatened to shoot himself. He either really hates Bristol Palin or really loves the show ‘Moesha.'” – Jimmy Kimmel

“A senior citizen was arrested after shooting his TV when Bristol Palin wasn’t kicked off of ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ Come on, John McCain, it’s been two years. Get over it. ” – Craig Ferguson

“Authorities say a 67-year-old man in Wisconsin was so enraged over Bristol Palin’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ routine, he blasted his television with a shotgun. All I can say is I’m glad this guy doesn’t have TBS.” – Conan O’Brien

“Sunday night was the debut of the reality show, ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska.’ It got huge ratings. Even people over in Russia were watching and they didn’t need TVs. They could see it from their porch. ” –Jay Leno

“Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that she doesn’t think Sarah Palin enjoyed being governor. Palin was like, ‘That’s absurd. If I didn’t enjoy being governor, I would have just quit in the middle of my — nevermind.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“The new Oxford dictionary has declared Sarah Palin’s made-up word ‘refudiate’ the 2010 word of the year. When asked for her reaction to the dubious honor, Palin said she would not ‘dignitate’ it with a response.” – Jay Leno

“Down in Texas, ground breaking ceremonies for the George W. Bush center in Dallas. Ladies and gentlemen, thank god the comedy recession is over. Actually, the official name of the place is George W. Bush Presidential Center and Go-Kart Track. And water park. The George W. Bush Presidential Center is part of a $250 million complex. And by the way, I believe this is the first time the words ‘Bush’ and ‘complex’ have been used in same sentence.” – David Letterman

“George W. Bush’s famous ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner may be put in his Presidential Library. They plan to hang it up as soon as they start construction.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Former President George W. Bush’s new memoir has already sold 800,000 copies. In other news, the new Bush presidential library just purchased its first 800,000 books.” – Conan O’Brien

“Nancy Pelosi has now been elected the new House minority leader. She was smiling from ear to ear, which is pretty impressive considering how far her ears have been pulled back.” – Jay Leno

“Happy birthday to Rep. John Boehner from Ohio. If you want to get him a present, you can’t go wrong with bronzer. Or you can get him a giant bed so the banking, oil, and defense industries can get in it with him.” – David Letterman

“If Rep. Charles Rangel is found guilty by the ethics committee, they said they could expel him, but experts say that is not likely. See, that would set a bad precedent in Washington, punishing the guilty.” – Jay Leno

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New TSA Bumper Stickers


[via FamousDC.com]

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A Message from the TSA

[From Saturday Night Live]

Two economists have come to an interesting conclusion about the new body scans and aggressive pat-downs. If people forego travel by air because they don’t want to be seen naked or groped, and instead drive during the upcoming holiday seasons, then more Americans will die because driving is mile-for-mile much more dangerous than flying, especially during the winter. So the new TSA procedures will (again) make us less safe, not more, and will kill Americans.

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Late Night Political Humor

“The New Oxford Dictionary has declared Sarah Palin’s word ‘refudiate’ to be the 2010 Word of the Year. Palin was honored and said she would do her best to ‘dismangle’ the English language.” – Conan O’Brien

“Over 5 million people tuned in to watch the premiere of Sarah Palin’s new show on TLC. It was such a success, TLC now stands for ‘The Learnifying Channel.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Sunday Night was the debut of the reality show ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska.’ It got huge ratings. Even John McCain watched it. In fact, halfway through the program McCain turned to his wife Cindy and said, ‘Who is that woman? She looks familiar.'” – Jay Leno

“Sarah Palin’s new show is a huge hit and producers are saying that no endangered species were harmed — except for the Democrats.” – David Letterman

“Palin says they do a lot of huntin’, a lot of hikin’, and a lot of fishin’. I won’t be watchin’.” –David Letterman

“Bristol Palin again got the lowest score in “Dancing with the Stars” and again she wasn’t eliminated. She’s invincible. She cannot be destroyed. She’s like a no-fun version of Charlie Sheen. Imagine how many votes she would get if she could actually dance.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“They just had the groundbreaking ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. It’s easy to get into the building, but then you spend 10 years trying to find an exit strategy.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Dick Cheney attended the ceremony. It’s fitting for Cheney to be at the library. He spent eight years telling Bush to be quiet.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Actually, when speaking about Bush, Dick Cheney said that Americans can tell a decent, good-hearted guy when they see him. Then he was like, ‘Let me know if you do. I need that heart.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“People are concerned that the new airport security scanners could lead to pictures of their genitals ending up on the Internet. Apparently no one has told them that without pictures of genitals, there would be no Internet.” – Conan O’Brien

“You can opt out of the full-body scan and choose the alternative, letting the TSA touch your T&A. It’s just like an 8th grade basement make-out party, except instead of your mother interrupting, she’s getting stroked in the next line.” – Stephen Colbert

“The TSA has changed airport security guidelines. Now you can have an extensive body pat-down or a naked scan. I think I speak for everybody when I say, “Hey, why can’t we have both?” – David Letterman

“It was bad enough when the TSA agents would go through your underwear in your luggage. Now they’re going through your underwear while you’re wearing it.” – Jay Leno

“Now, to make it worse, the airlines are charging a $15 molestation fee.” – Jay Leno

“The day before Thanksgiving is National Opt-Out Day, where people are being asked to boycott the TSA’s full-body scanners. Sponsors of the event say people shouldn’t be made to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable while traveling. That’s what Thanksgiving with your family is for.” – Jimmy Fallon

“President Obama is doing an interview with Barbara Walters that will air the day after Thanksgiving. Walters will ask Obama how he plans to stop the fighting in the Middle East, while he’ll ask her how she plans to stop the fighting on ‘The View.'” –Jimmy Fallon

“President Obama has a children’s book. It’s called, ‘How the Grinch Stole the Midterm Elections.'” – David Letterman

“President Obama has just released a new children’s book. It just came out. Have you seen this? It’s called — right here. ‘Of Thee I Sing’ and of course, the Republicans, you know, they couldn’t wait to release their version of the book, ‘The End I See.'” – Jay Leno

“President Obama is back from his 10-day Asian tour, and I haven’t seen a trip reviewed this badly since the Griswalds went to Vegas.” – Jon Stewart

“The House Ethics Committee has found Rep. Charles Rangel guilty of financial misconduct. It wasn’t easy. They had to go way outside Washington to find anyone that knew anything about ethics.” – Jay Leno

“I don’t think Rangel gets it. Like, today, he said to pay his fine he’s going to have to accept bribes now.” – Jay Leno

“While in Thailand, former President Bill Clinton shot a cameo for the movie ‘The Hangover 2.’ Yeah, that’s true. When asked what he was doing in Thailand, Bill Clinton got very quiet.” – Conan O’Brien

“‘The Unemployed American’ is in the running for ‘Time’ magazine’s ‘Man of the Year.’ That must be discouraging, to be on the cover of ‘Time’ and still no one will hire you.” – Jimmy Fallon

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Stripping


© Glenn McCoy

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Ben Franklin.

UPDATE: Here’s a case where the TSA arrested someone for taking off too many clothes.

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Taking a Stand for Real Airport Safety

[by Geechee Girl, reprinted from Smoke Rings, Coffee Stains, with permission. Thanks Leslie.]

I’ve been pretty vocal about the new TSA “security” procedures lately and how against them I am. I’m sure the next time I fly will be be “interesting” because of it. Heck, I was vocal about it when it first started changing, right after 9/11. Ineffective smokescreens and placebos won’t keep us safe, and the more rights we give up for an illusion, the more rights we can’t get back.

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen these links already, but I thought I’d put them here as well for those that don’t. I think it is so important to be educated.

• If you do nothing else with this post, Download This Opt Out Brochure and learn the risks of the body scanners and how to opt out of them. If it comes down to being repeatedly irradiated or being groped, I’ll reluctantly choose being groped. Or drive. Or take a train.

• Participate in National Opt Out Day on November 24th, 2010. Yes, it is on the biggest travel day so it makes the biggest impact. Yes, it will cause inconvenience, just like these security measures already do. For more: National Opt-Out Day Called Against Invasive Body Scanners | Threat Level | Wired.com

• Read what the University of California, San Francisco and other educated scientists and health professionals have to say about the safety (or lack thereof) and lack of testing done on these scanners

• This is an excellent and well thought-out article on how our ostrich style reaction as a nation and lack of fighting these machines and new pseudo security measures is contributing to the problem in a big way. Written by Schneier for Contemporary Engineering.

• Here is FlyerTalk’s excellent list of airports that have the scanners and new screening procedures in place, continuously updated. Hopefully the TSA won’t make them take this down. Just in case, I’ve printed it out, along with the brochure above (same reason)

• Israel’s airport has the highest risk in the world, and best safety record, with the least invasive safety procedures. Why our airport security needs to model theirs can be found in this fantastic article. They’ve been better at this for 50 years, and are appalled at how we approach the problem. My favorite part of the article was the reaction to our tendency to evacuate an entire airport at a threat instead of taking simpler containment measures.

• Some links illustrating recent fumbles by the TSA using these new screening methods against 3 year olds, rape victims, regular travelers (who opt out in the face of mal informed security details and now face huge lawsuits for no reason other than someone else’s incompetence), scanner image leaks, and sexual harassment abuses. The FlyerTalk forums linked above has many, many more stories, as does Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the web.

• A humorous shirt or two you can wear on National Opt Out Day next week can be found here.

TSA Terrifies, Too

Ron Paul weighs in on the TSA and makes total sense.

• Oh good. Now these things are in private hands as well in the form of vans. Perfect. NOT.

Well thought out post on why and how to resist the scope and instead choose the grope until we get this defeated.

• “She’s already had breast cancer and been advised not to undergo needless Xrays.”

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Rock-Paper-Scissors


© Clay Bennett

Unfortunately, the same thing applies to Medicare and the defense budget.

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