daily show: RNC coverage

This is by no means a political blog, but man, The Daily Show was on point last night. There were the occasional crass jokes (to remind you that the show is a satire, and to remind you how ridiculous the conventions are), but Stewart did interject good points that are worth noting. I need to replace my Jon Stewart for President bumper sticker with a newer, shinier one.


Some highlights:
-- 9/11 is the Republican version of "Freebird" "Every time 9/11 is mentioned, [Guiliani] gets a royalty check."
-- "The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull... one is unfairly maligned despite evidence showing they're no worse than any other dog, whereas the other is an artificial demographic that is no better or worse than any other mom..." No, Jon, it's lipstick.
-- Hey college students, Palin uses Wikipedia too!
-- Apparently Republicans want change too... "[we have] mistakenly put the blame on the 'government in charge.' You won't believe whose fault it's actually been." Liberal Washington. The do-nothing Senate. The elite media. The Times and The Post. Reporters and commentators. The Eastern elites. Hollywood celebrities. European ideas. And San Francisco. Wait, what?
-- The difference between a community organizer and small-time mayor is that mayors have actual responsibilities. "Yeah, so to everyone out there trying to making a difference in your communities, fuck you." (I had this exact thought during her speech. What a horrible thing to say!)


Samantha Bee talks to people at the RNC about Bristol's choice. This clip is irrelevant to where you stand on this issue... the responses are hysterical. Samantha Bee always knows how to make people say the darndest things.


An interview with Mike Huckabee. Why can't all interviews be like this? Huckabee is a very charismatic guy (he's quite funny), and these two men actually listen to each other in their conversation. Wisely, Huckabee notes that money wins elections ("it's a sad fact about politics"), but he understands that the internet can change all of that. Compare this forward-thinking to "the other guy" who has never sent an email in his life. The best part of the interview comes at the end, when Stewart says, "So you feel like your party is the only party that can fix the damage your party has done."

Side Note: Yet another musical-misstep for the Republican party! The sister-duo band Heart has asked Palin's camp to stop using their song "Barracuda," which was used at the RNC without their permission. Heart follows John Cougar Mellancamp, Tom Scholz, ABBA, Bryan Adams, and Jackson Browne as musicians whose works were used by the GOP without their consent. How hard is it to ask their permission? Politicians should know, better than anyone, that songs are not just products; they're forms of identification. So why keep stealing songs from liberal artists who don't want to be affiliated with the opposing party?