The Politicians of Comedy Tour

I have to give John McCain credit. Comically he comes across better than Hillary Clinton. That's not saying much. For all the actual time spent on issues in these campaigns we could crap can the entire election process and send them on a national comedy tour. Funniest candidate wins.

Or we could go the reality show route, the Political World — Washington DC. Find out what happens when people stop being real,

and start acting political. There's Big Brother, no wait, the Bush administration's already has that one. We could do Dancing with the Pols. Barack may have a slight advantage there. Very slight. There's American Political Idol. And finally there's Bowling for Leader of the Free World!

Hillary at the Improv

I hate to admit it, but I find Hillary Clinton so much more human and engaging when she's joking about how big a liar she is. I find it so disarming. Who is advising this campaign, John Lovitz? "Senator, we can neutralize this whole sniper fire controversy very easily. You'll go on Leno and first thing you'll make a joke about it."

It's Hillary Clinton at the Improv. "You know a funny thing happened to me on the way to the Democratic Convention. I lost all my integrity. Isn't that funny?" It's to the point where I'm starting to feel sorry for Clinton supporters. They must spend a lot of time and energy in daily rationalization. It must be exhausting bridging the cognitive dissonance every single day. I'm posting this before I've even watched all of it. I'm finding it hard to even look at her and listen to her.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

But it's easier than explaining the green collar economy when your interviewer is Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report. Van Jones tries to tell America how green collar jobs can save both the economy and the environment while Colbert points out that he's got a dome that's a solar cell for a love machine.

Black Men Can't Bowl - White Men Can't Dance

Jon Stewart reinforces some of America's most ingrained stereotypes in this episode of The Daily Show with help from presidential candidate Barack Obama and current president George W. Bush. And it's all because your president can't dance but your candidate Barack and rolls. Ok, I'm sorry for that. Only people my age or older will get that anyway. A testament to the strength of stereotypes that even in someone so far from stereotypical, Barack Obama, we will strive to find at least one or two. Can play basketball, can't bowl.

But people, it's my job to shatter those stereotypes. I give you the example of my uncle Lorenzo, who is an excellent bowler. When I was a kid he had literally a hundred plus bowling trophies. I can't prove that. I don't have any video, but I'm sure there's a photo. Somewhere. But it's true. He lives in Chicago and he could give Barack a lesson or two. That was really sad.

When I Am King of the Fantasy Blogosphere

First there was fantasy football, and now there's, fantasy investing. The site Updown.com launched in September last year. It gives anyone who wants to join one million dollars in fantasy cash and allows them to play the stock market online, measuring their success against the S&P 500. Anyone out performing the S&P can earn real cash. The idea puts me in mind of what Jerry Seinfeld said when he heard Kramer was attending a fantasy camp. Remarking that Kramer's whole life is a fantasy camp, he said, "People should plunk down two thousand dollars to live like him for a week: Do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors, and have sex without dating! That's a fantasy camp!"

The stock market is in essence business gaming. Gaming is what we used to call gambling. The term gaming can also refer to computer gaming, which means playing actual computer games. And now you can play the real stock market online with fake money and win real money. Which in essence is computer gaming. Hope that wasn't too convoluted. The genius of the site is that it will make real money by harnessing the power of potentially millions of minds to create unbeatable investment advice. Glenn Reynold's Army of Davids applied to the financial world. The theory is, a million heads are better than any one expert's. They share part of the money they make as incentive for people to participate.

In sports progress has taken us from actually physically playing games, to watching other people playing games from the stands, to watching other people watch people playing games on our TV screens, to group fantasizing about playing games on computers. Makes you wonder if one day in the future will we'll evolve into disembodied brains in glass enclosures as depicted in futuristic science fiction movies.

If the trend continues, and it no doubt will, I can't wait for the day I won't actually have to write this blog, because I can make money creating a fantasy blog.

I'll create a massively viral concept like Virtual People Love Us, or Stuff Imaginary People Like, and I'll rise to the top rank in a fantasy Technorati.com. I'll get a virtual book deal and I'll retire rich. Yes, one day all my dreams will come true. In a fantasy world.

Oh No He Did'N!

Did Lou almost call a black woman, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice no less, a cotton picker? Lou Dobbs is trying to put the Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, and Colbert Report out of business by becoming his own satire of himself. Rendering them redundant. In the middle of bloviating about being afraid of addressing the issue of race because you may be accused of saying something insensitive, he almost said something insensitive.

And I used to think Olbermann was only half serious when he called people like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk comedians. And whether they write this stuff themselves, or it's improv, if they are doing this for laughs then it is absolute comic genius. Found this posted on Daily Kos. And one of he comedians there, Deoliver47 posted the video below in the comments. Interesting mash up if you play them both at the same time.

Bill Maher: Hillary Clinton, Get Elected or Lie Trying

Gotta love Bill. And HBO for having him on and not firing him for what he says the way ABC did. The Hillary comments are just plan harsh, but really funny and true.

The Colbert Report: The Word - The Gospel of John

Colbert skillfully draws parallels between the recent Obama religious controversy and John McCain's ties to right-wing religious nut cases Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Obama's Wright Response

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Financial News

Advice: Don't get financial advice from Jim Cramer.

Colbert Inteviews My Hero

Stephen Colbert interviews my hero, Samantha Power on the Colbert Report.

Tracy Morgan on SNL: Barack Gets Equal Time, Finally

Lorne Michaels has been denying allegations that Saturday Night Live has a pro-Clinton bias. Whether or not it was intentional, there seemed to be one. This response to Tina Fey by Tracy Morgan starts to even the score. Right on Tracy!

-Fight the powers.

Real Time With Bill Maher - Full Episode from March 7, 2008

In this clip above MSNBC's Morning Joe describes the pressure that MSM journalists are under to go easy on the presidential candidates. The language he uses is telling, that someone from the network will "take them in the back" and say you can't go after Hillary too much. He's revealing more than he realizes.

You can see a completely legal and HBO authorized full episode of this program on HBO's channel on YouTube. Unlike this unauthorized version above from a thieving bastard on Youtube who goes by the name vericool88. And who'd probably also steal a woman's handbag.

Who Loves Liberty More: Colbert v. A Legend

Stephen Colbert and singer/songwriter John Legend throw down over who loves lady liberty the most. More importantly they examine the question, can you get away with telling your lady love what's wrong with her? Does real patriotism mean you love American as she is? Or can you tell her the truth and try to make her better?

Yet Another Red Phone Campaign Ad Parody

One of the best "red phone" campaign ad parodies I've seen to date on Youtube. And there are a lot of them. A lot funnier and more original than mine.

Clinton's Other Face: the Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Here's the other side of Hillary Clinton as she vacillated between dirty campaign tactics, praising the Republican candidate, and showing her warm and human side on comedy shows just prior to today's primary elections in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island. Honestly here I don't think she comes across very well. With that smile frozen on her face, she looks like she doesn't know what to expect from Stewart. I think the does slip a couple concealed jabs in there. Using her words when the talks about how candidates come into Ohio and call them "salt of the earth" and forget about them once elected. There was a barely detectable wince when he said that.

George Carlin: "It's Bad For Ya"

Warning, the clip below is George Carlin. If you're sensitive to the f-bomb you may want to mouse away from the play button.

This is clip is Carlin's unique, Ok, every Carlin take on everything is unique; this one's on how he feels about voting. I may not agree with him here, but his perspective is priceless. It's raw and it's real. He peels away the bullshit until all that's left is truth. There is a great interview with George on HuffPo by Rachel Sklar. He may be our wisest living American essayist and social critic. He is so much more than just a comedian. In fact, some of our more serious social critics are better characterized as comedians. Carlin just happens to be funny as he makes us see ourselves for what we are.

I sincerely regret that when I had a couple chances to see him live in a small venue in Hermosa Beach that I didn't. George has a special on HBO called "It's Bad For Ya". It's on HBO tonight at 10 p.m., tomorrow night at midnight and then throughout March on HBO2.

Hillary Clinton to Appear on Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Hillary Clinton to appear on Monday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart. From the Daily Show web site:

Hillary Clinton -- the first viable presidential candidate with a working uterus -- will be a guest on the Daily Show this upcoming Monday night -- the eve of the March 4th primaries in Texas, Ohio and several other less sexy states -- to presumably talk about politics, patriotism and pant suits.

These clips are from an appearance in October of 2003. Notice how on The Daily Show that is popular, as they tell me, with the young folk, she slips in that during the blackout she happened to be sitting around a conference table with young people. How media savvy she was even then. I wonder Jon will soft ball her or will he ask some tough questions. It's sad when a good deal of our hopes for real journalism rest on a comedian with a fake talk show. Maybe she'll tear up again and win all four primary states in a landslide.

The Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert on William F. Buckley

Colbert makes the comparison between the father of modern intellectual conservatism, William F. Buckley and what we have today, e.g., Billo. His guest is Richard Brookhiser, a direct descendant of Mr. Buckley.

The Daily Show: Jon Stewart

In the middle of this Daily Show clip, there's footage of the Decider giving advice to Turkey about their invasion of Iraq without a single shred of irony. But then, that's what we've got Jon Stewart for.