The Books of Bokonon

Okay, since I am not well and can't really sleep, I will post a couple videos. I'll start off with Jon Stewart as he tries to cut through the crap old Trump and Vance pulled last Friday - an event that still has me muttering Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: The pro wrestling metaphor is fitting, actually. That's about as sophisticated as Trump and Vance can manage. And the Russian government and its state controlled media are jumping for joy. I'll finish with Jimmy Kimmel who had his own reaction to whatever old Trump's SOTU address was.

It's been a while since I did one of these. The last few weeks have been insane, and not in the good way. I mean, it has been, to say the very least, cray-cray. It's been insane in the membrane. These last few weeks have made the Insane Clown Posse look like Hanson. Alright, but first, let's give it up for Seth Meyers! Jimmy Kimmel's in tha house! And you know you are doing it wrong when Canadians boo you singing the US National Anthem:

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of our present moment, and thankfully, Jon Stewart is there to lead the way:

I haven't put up a Jon Stewart video in a few weeks. Perhaps I was not much in the mood. But I am now. This Monday evening, he unpacked a new year with two terrorist attacks that fit nobody's preconceived narrative, and a January 6th that went much differently than the January 6th of 2021. Amazing what happens when the losing candidate handles it with panache, rather than throws a temper tantrum. Jon Stewart laughs, but as we all know, he does so with a certain amount of moral outrage. There was a line from V for Vendetta - I don't remember it exactly - where the character Gordon Dietrich is asked if everything is a joke to him. He answers "only the things that matter." I feel that. Let's watch the video:  

I have had a very eventful last few days, making blogging more or less the lowest priority item on list of things to do. Tonight I am going to take a bit of a breather. Any Monday Jon Stewart hosts The Daily Show, I am going to watch it, one way or another. Most of the time I simply stream it later. Tonight I wanted to catch it when it aired, and it worked out. We are a couple weeks out from a very consequential election in the US and Jon Stewart has plenty of sharp words for the campaigns. Jon Stewart has plenty of things to say about media coverage of the campaigns, and as he sees it (correctly I might add) the media is largely failing. So too are Trump's political allies at calling him out for his very deranged attempt at campaigning. Jon Stewart sees this and he roasts the spineless SOBs who dissemble whenever Trump's darker, more dictatorial words are presented to them to comment and critique. The absurdity of Trump "working" at a McDonald's is what it is. Tr...

One of The Daily Show's recurring guests, Lewis Black, has a few words for the undecideds:

Hi everyone! It is a busy news cycle, and thankfully the late night talk show hosts are at least allowing us a good laugh at some news that would otherwise have most sane people outraged. Laughter is the best medicine, or at least that's what my elder relatives used to tell me. I think there is something to that. In the meantime, let's see what's going on, starting with Seth Meyers: Here's Jordan Klepper from The Daily Show: Next, let's hear from Jimmy Kimmel, with a special guest appearance from Toucan Sam: And finally, Stephen Colbert warms up the audience for what would in a later segment be an interview with Kamala Harris: Hurricane Milton is not to be messed with. If you were told to evacuate, I truly hope you evacuated to a safer area. We're still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which hit the Florida Big Bend region and then hit inland Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Our late night hosts were consistent in ...

Let's start with The Daily Show, since Monday is Jon Stewart's day to host: Seth Meyers has a new Closer Look feature for us: And let's finish with Jimmy Kimmel: Their segments overlap, but each host has his unique take on the events of the weekend. We can all agree that Elon Musk's appearance at a Trump rally was very unfortunate. Seriously, old Elon, as he jumped around the stage like an idiot, looked like he was expecting the Rocky theme song to start any second, only to realize that it never would. So consensus there. And really a lot to be fair. One host spends some time noting the bad old days of eugenics (which NAZIs and MAGATs alike espouse). Another might spend more time on Marjory Taylor Green. We have some enlightened laughs about why Trump really attracts flies at rallies. You get the idea. I'll have more for you all soon.

“Maybe what doesn’t kill you fucks you up for life – but at least I’m still here.” -- Billy Connolly  

I am in a bit of a Daily Show mood right now, so here are a few segments that caught my attention:   Jon Stewart has been on fire since his return to The Daily Show. Desi Lydic opens Tuesday's show with a roundup of GOP's gross and weird men. And Desi Lydic again pointing out that Trump really has a better future as a pitchman for infomercials than whatever the hell he thinks he's doing. Finally, Jon Stewart's interview with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Jon Stewart has a knack of bringing onto his show some of the world's heavy hitters from various sectors that affect our lives and explores some of the big ideas that affect all our lives, with some humor added in for good measure.

Thank goodness for late night talk show hosts. They've turned mocking Trump and Vance's weirdness into art form. Here's the latest from Seth Meyers: Here's The Daily Show's coverage of North Carolina's Gubernatorial candidate, Mark Robinson, who didn't do any weird creepy stuff (/sarcasm) as well as more on the mess Trump and Vance have made of Springfield, and otherwise act like they belong in a halfway house:   And here from last night is Stephen Colbert interviewing Rachel Maddow: 

Occasionally on Progress Pond, I use my space there to post videos of some of my favorite late night talk show hosts. I'll try to use this space here a bit more often now. Let's start tonight's roundup with Jon Stewart, who has recovered from COVID: Next let's hear from Seth Meyers who wants to cover the last three weeks in 15 minutes in his A Closer Look segment: Yes, a lot happened in three weeks, and there was, as the late Frank Zappa would say, some state of the art weirdness. And yes, Seth has been referring to Trump and his various sidekicks as weird for several years now. Hell, I've made plenty of off the cuff remarks about how strange, weird, goofy, wack, or batshit insane Trump and his minions have been for a while too. Kudos to Tim Walz for making it go viral, thus succeeding where the rest of us failed.  I will say this: if your retort to an insult is to defensively deny it or to use the old "I am rubber, you are glue" tactic to retort, you hav...