satire

"Obama Quest: The Legend Begins": I guess the political comedy world has decided that the go-to digs on Barack Obama will be about the pressures of his golden boy image. Unfortunately, I can't say my middle school days were spent quite the same way, dealing with people making fun of how awesome I am. There are definitely worse ways to be mocked, is what I'm saying. Anyway, Mr. Obama has made his way to the Middle East for the first time, providing the Daily Show graphics department with the opportunity to make the most freakin' epic clip to accompany the report. Awesome. This trip also gave the media a chance to eagerly await a major cross-cultural faux pas. As it turns out, Obama has fangirls and fanboys all over the world.

First up, congratulations to The Daily Show for their multiple Emmy nominations! Hey, Jon Stewart even grabbed a nomination for hosting the Oscars. Well done, well done. Awards night will definitely be interesting, as The Colbert Report also got lots of Emmy attention, but in the very same categories as Jon and his team. I'm so torn between the two that I may have to avoid the issue all together and just blindly root for some other show.

Secondly, if you saw The Colbert Report last night and felt a little embarrassed for Stephen Colbert for interrupting Rush's performance of "Tom Sawyer"... It was a planned joke about the length of the band's songs. I cannot believe the number of people who went online to rip on Colbert for being clueless enough to do that. Come on, as if Colbert would screw up Rush's first American TV appearance in 33 years with something like that. I feel silly for even having to clear this up.

"It's the Stupid Economy" (or, the slightly more hip "Mos Deficit"): Everyone has their own opinion about the state of America's economy. President Bush recently delivered a speech at the oddly specific time of 10:20 a.m., seemingly to overshadow the Chairman of the Federal Reserve's own speech that was being delivered at the same time. The difference between the two men's words was pretty remarkable. President Bush seemed to think that we're doing all right, which I guess is sort of true, because when you don't have a car or a home, you do get more air and exercise. If you had listened to Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech, on the other hand, you probably had a much darker view, "Wow! One is like a glass half-full kind of guy and the other is an expert on the economy."

"George W. Bush: Still President": Despite President Bush's initial refusal to negotiate with baddies, he has decided to take back what he said about North Korea. That's a flip-flop, sir! So, no more Axis of Evil? Just Gaggle of Douchebags? It's more childish phrasing from Bush, just like the magic wand he likes to talk about when facing high oil prices. Oh, and Barack Obama likes to... use... that... too... Great.

"Indecision 2008": In an incredibly awkward blunder, one of John McCain's top advisers, Charlie Black, told Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack on America would be "a big advantage" to McCain. Also, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto apparently saved McCain's struggling campaign back in December. Dude. There is no way to fix the sense that your campaign thrives on death and destruction, apart from some panicked back-pedaling and angry refusal by the candidate himself. Jon Stewart broke down the situation in simple mathematic terms and -- Ahh, nevermind.

"Indecision 2008": The Daily Show hasn't really mocked Barack Obama quite as heavily as the likes of John McCain or Hillary Clinton. In fact, they have made fun of the media's wild, paranoid speculation about Obama more than Obama himself. It was good to see them pick on him a bit for his rather presumptuous faux-Presidential seal, which was quickly pulled and called a "one-time" thing. I loved how most of the audience was too nervous to mock their man. "You know... You're allowed to laugh at him." Also, Barack Obama seems to have made a bit of a flip-flop recently, turning his back on public finance and calling it corrupt, despite showing his support earlier in the race. I hope he flip-flops more if it means seeing John Oliver as Matthew Lesko again.

"White Stuff on Mars": New discoveries on Mars make room for coke jokes and groantastic puns.

There Will Be Flood"/"Wet Hot American Bummer" (HA!): Much of the Midwest is currently underwater, due to storms, failing levies and acts of not-God. Reporters are already looking for the most dramatic ways to demonstrate the severity of the situation, and President Bush is obviously dreading a visit to the disaster area. Correspondents Jason Jones and Wyatt Cenac reported from a flooded scene, just to dig up some of that dated "George Bush doesn't care about black people" stuff. I guess they had to do it now, as mentioning it in the next night's episode may have been a little weird, what with Mike Meyers being the guest and all. I'm waiting for Wyatt to do his own correspondent field report before I decide how I feel about him. I'm kind of liking his perpetual angry-face, though. And did the audience know for what they were applauding? It sounded like more blind, trained seal clapping.

Jon Stewart kicked off the night with some anger fueled by Mets love. Mets manager Willie Randolph was fired in a rather unceremonious manner. He was all the way on the other side of the country, contacted at 3:00 a.m. and fired by Mr. Met. Sick burn.

"The Gay After": In other news, same-sex marriage is now legal in California, and, somehow, the state is still attached to the rest of the country and it hasn't been engulfed in flames. Hmm, interesting. Some newsworthy couples have tied the knot since this announcement, including George Takei, who married his long-time partner. I just started one of my Summer mini-projects, watching the entire original Star Trek series in preparation for its TV Squad's Retro Squad week, and while I know I'm a newbie Trekkie, I'm pretty sure Takei's name is pronounced "Tek-ayy." It allows for maximum fun in rhyming, "George Takei is gay."

"Baracknophobia": The mainstream media likes to blame the blogosphere and Grandma's e-mail forwards for spreading ridiculous rumors about Barack Obama. I guess they've forgotten all that "Barack Obama is a secret Muslim" stuff that they've been spitting for the past year or so. And no, Obama wasn't sworn in with a Qur'an. Michelle Obama has been getting noise from the media for sounding mean too. I'll admit, it was kind of a sick burn when she made Stephen Colbert sing to her only to tell him that Obama's voice is better. I thought that clip of Fox News accusing Obama of plagiarizing Mario Cuomo was too ridiculous to be true, so I decided to dig up some footage that hadn't been cut up by TDS. Nope, still ridiculous.

"George Walker Bush: Still President": We've still got seven months before the era of President Bush is officially over. With Barack Obama and John McCain dominating the news, Bush has taken a little vacay to Europe, because he's pretty much the only American who can afford to do so at this point. What's up with Bush getting super touchy-feely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Has he learned nothing? When he wasn't giving massages or trying the classic "yawn and stretch" on the Chancellor, he attempted to convince the German press that he's not actually a fan of war and it was his own rhetoric's fault for making it seem otherwise.

Barack Obama only recently got the Democratic nomination and car dealerships are already cashing in on his likeness. Apparently Obama love sells Kia Sorentos like Democratic hotcakes. I know I should have been pretty disgusted or annoyed by seeing that commercial, but all I could think about was how that fellow sounded more like Obama than Fred Armisen's impression on Saturday Night Live. Grumble, grumble.

Have you heard?! Full episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are now available for streaming! These will be available on Hulu, as well as players on the show's official sites (The Daily Show and The Colbert Report). Only the most recent few weeks will be available in full episode format, but the broken up clips that I have been embedding in these posts will be around forever, so that's what I'm going to keep putting in here. This is a fantastic, convenient feature... for the Americans that can access it. Sorry, Canada. Close, but no cigar.

Usually respectable news institutions have been suffering after failing to fact-check breaking news. Entertainment Tonight is no exception to this, making a boo-boo after falsely reporting that Angelina Jolie's never-ending pregnancy has actually come to an end. This also knocked the credibility of Jon Stewart's "Ultimate Celebrity Baby Website" ("Is Jamie Lynne Spears' baby pregnant yet?... Verne Troyer: Sort of celebrity baby").

The Daily Show was a little late to the game, finally covering the big news from the previous night. As the entire world already knows by now, Barack Obama is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. But, in case you haven't heard, Obama's win is super-historic. Bringing Abraham Lincoln (with a small cat glued to his chin) back for his reaction was hilarious, if only to hear him scream about time travel shock. But all Lincoln impressions aside, we can finally celebrate, for this tedious mess is over. Or... is it?

Spoiler alert: Barack Obama has scored the Democratic nomination. Of course, with The Daily Show taping around 6:00 in the evening, none of this was addressed in this night's episode. Just, you know, keep that in mind for maximum awkwardness while watching the proceedings.

"Anarchy Under The UK": After London's mayor banned alcohol, rowdy drunkards without cars took to the Tube and got wasted. Yeah, way to show the man that you guys are responsible enough to handle alcohol. Senior Mass Transit Analyst John Oliver drunkenly explained the beauty of subterranean drinking and then promptly urinated on the spot. Well done, good sir.