Neil deGrasse Tyson schools rapper promoting the flat earth theory.

Okay that was sweet.

The Daily Show's brilliant take on the "good guy with a gun" argument is not to be missed.

I LOVED this last night, and I have to admit it was one of the first times that I really did not miss Jon Stewart and his stable of correspondents.

Jordan Klepper nailed this.

I don't usually do a "Moment of Zen" on this blog, but today I think this would be a most fitting first time to do so.

Last night was such an emotionally draining experience for me that I woke up feeling almost as exhausted as I had been climbing into bed.

We keep hearing folks trying to suggest that Jon Stewart is a phony, and a misogynist, and even most recently a racist.

But I am here to tell you that if any of that were actually true that we would not have witnessed the incredible outpouring of love that we witnessed last night.

Yes I know they are actors, but I also recognize genuine love when I see it.

Good bye Jon Stewart, and thank you so very much for everything. 

Jon Stewart is back! Jon Stewart is back! And he immediately gave Donald Trump a smackdown and compared him to Sarah Palin. Ahh, life is good again!

Click image to play brilliance.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Jon Stewart returned to The Daily Show on Monday to scoff at Republicans who are suddenly willing to distance themselves from Donald Trump — but only after he bad-mouthed one of their own in Arizona Sen. John McCain. 

“The only reason you like this guy in the first place is because of the terrible things he was willing to say about Obama,” he said. “But Trump has no control over the projectile vomit of dickishness that comes out of his mouth every time he opens it. It was inevitable some of his word puke was gonna get on you.” 

The GOP should have known better, Stewart said, because the party had been down the same road in 2008 with Sarah Palin and her “Wasilla word salad.”

“Once you cast a spell and bring an Internet comment to life, it no longer belongs to you,” he explained. “Only this time, the chatroom troll emoji you’ve conjured has $10 billion of its own money.” 

Oh, that was SO satisfying. 

Amy Schumer shows us how a realistic video game portrays women in the military.

Okay that was really good.

Bill Nye appears on Comedy Central to make an important point. (Video from Inside Amy Schumer so very NSFW.)

Now that was quite funny, and obviously quite crude, but it was also very on point.

It is a known fact that human sapiens are good at recognizing patterns, and identifying cause and effect, and that it played no small part in our intellectual development.

But what is also true is that we sometimes see patterns where they do not exist, and see a cause and effect that really only exists in our imaginations.

That is essentially the space that for many people is occupied by God, but for those who are less religious may play host to their idea of fate, or the karma, or, as in this skit, the universe.

And trust me people can be just as obnoxiously convinced that the universe is talking to them directly, as religious people are that God sent them a sign by having a bird poop an image of the Virgin Mary on their car window.

The simple truth is that what we often perceive in the world around us is completely subjective.

The trick is to remove the rose colored glasses and see the reality as it is, no matter how much that reality may terrify us at first.

Sure to believe that a god, or the universe itself, is watching out for us, or has our back, might be comforting. But it is also just this side of psychotic. 

A replacement for Jon Stewart has been found.

Courtesy of The Verge:  

Comedy Central has found a new host for The Daily Show: Trevor Noah, a South African comedian who has appeared as a contributor to the show three times over the past year. According to The New York Times, Noah will be announced as Jon Stewart's replacement today. Noah may be a surprising choice, both as a lesser-known name and with respect to the wealth of regular talent on The Daily Show that Comedy Central is passing over, but as a standup comedian and a series contributor, Noah has consistently offered thoughtful perspectives on social issues and international news stories. He's also quite funny. 

A date has not yet been set for Stewart's departure or Noah's debut as host. "I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor," Stewart says in a statement, according to the Times. "He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with." 

With Noah heading to The Daily Show, both of Comedy Central's late night series will soon feature hosts who aren't white — all while the other big names in late night continue to face criticism over their lack of diversity. The Times asked Comedy Central about the possibility of choosing a woman as host, which the network says it considered. "We talked to women. We talked to men. We found in Trevor the best person for the job," Michele Ganeless, president of Comedy Central, tells the Times. Later, Ganeless describes why Noah was ultimately chosen: "He brings such a unique worldview and a deep understanding of human nature, which makes his comedy so insightful."

I actually have no yet formed an opinion as to whether Noah is up to the job or not as I have only seen his work on the show a handful of times.  However I have seen his comedy routine and he is incredibly funny.

But let's face it filling Jon Stewart's shoes is quite an undertaking for ANYBODY, so I am sure that  Noah is feeling both blessed and cursed at the same time.

Blessed that he has this wonderful opportunity, and cursed with the fact that he will forever be compared to a man who has reached legendary status in this country.

Oh well, I plan on continuing to be a loyal viewer. So unless Noah totally sucks ass he will have at least one set of eyes he can rely on.

Daniel Tosh invites the Satanist energy drink lady on for a "web redemption." Doesn't take.

Well she starts off being a good sport, but damn you cannot argue with crazy.

I had actually forgotten about that grabbing the microphone from the Muslims bit. Damn!

(P.S. For those who are wondering about where you may have seen this woman before, we did a write up on her back in November of last year.)

Could Tina Fey be the next host of the Daily Show?

Courtesy of The Hill:

The public wishes Tina Fey could be the next host of “The Daily Show,” according to two separate polls. 

When asked who should take the reins of the long-running Comedy Central faux news show after Jon Stewart exits later the year, respondents in polls conducted by Quinnipiac University and by Ranker.com chose the “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live” alum as their top pick. 

Fey garnered 19 percent of votes in the Quinnipiac poll released Monday, while comedian and Fox News Channel personality Dennis Miller came in second place with 16 percent. HBO “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver, a former “Daily Show” correspondent, snagged 8 percent of the vote, and suspended “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and former CBS late-night host Craig Ferguson both brought in 7 percent. 

The Ranker.com poll had similar findings, with Fey topping the list and Oliver taking the runner-up spot. "Daily Show" alum Steve Carell, “Parks and Recreation’s” Amy Poehler, and comedian Lewis Black rounded out the top five slots in the website’s poll of more than 6,700 people.

Well I didn't get polled but allow me to weigh in now with a  very exuberant voe for the amazing Tina Fey.

I like both Steve Carell and Craig Ferguson too, but no way should it go to Dennis Miller who became to terrified after 9-11 that now he is one of the most ardent right wingers out there.

Besides let's face it if Tina Fey got this job we might see a return of our favorite version of this person.

Here is Jon Stewart announcing last night that he is leaving the Daily Show.

Click image to play video

I have to say, even though I knew it was coming, it hit me kind of hard.

Jon Stewart to leave the Daily Show. Update!

Courtesy of the AV Club:  

Ending one of the most venerable and trusted careers in making a complete mockery of the news, Jon Stewart has announced that he is stepping down as host of The Daily Show. According to sources who were there (some of whom are already passing word along on social media), Stewart let the news slip at the taping of today’s episode, telling those in the audience that he’s retiring. No word yet on when exactly he’s leaving, whether this means he’s ending his time in the anchor chair to focus on being a Serious Movie Director now, or just how much this is Brian Williams’ fault. Presumably all of this information will be revealed in time—and delivered by Stewart himself tonight on your television. We’ll update when we have more.

After this article was written Comedy Center confirmed the news on Twitter:

Thank you Jon. pic.twitter.com/yPdxjnkuLw
— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) February 10, 2015

There is really no way to convey what a profound loss this is to those of us who have relied on Jon Stewart and the Daily Show to find humor in the most terrible of circumstances, hope when everything seemed hopeless, and sanity when it felt like we were all trapped in the bowels of a madhouse.

As a reminder of this man's genius here is Jon Stewart's first show after 9-11.

THAT was what finally pulled me out of my funk. For that alone I owe Mr. Stewart more than I could ever repay.

Update: I don't actually think this is related, but today Brian Williams was put on unpaid suspension for six months.

Jon Stewart addresses the Brian Williams controversy and went after the media for their hypocrisy in calling for accountability here but not holding themselves accountable for publishing lies in the run up to the Iraq War.

Click image to play segment.

"Never again will Brian Williams mislead this great nation about being shot at in a war that he probably would not have ended up in if the media had applied this level of scrutiny to the actual fucking war."

Stewart then shows a number of correspondence from across cable news going after Williams and discussing his lack of credibility in the face of this story. And then flips the script and talks about how the media allowed the Bush administration to lie to the American people on a daily basis in the runup to the Iraq War.

"So I love that now the media pretends that they must guard the crown jewel of their credibility when we've already seen it's Al Capone's vault."

Stewart then plays incredibly embarrassing footage of various news types making excuses for why they did not do their job when it really mattered. When the country was about to go to war based on lies.

 "But maybe this incident will cause reflection on your part. You’ll go back now and look at other instances of media maleficence that lead our country to the most catastrophic foreign policy decision in decades.”

Of course that won't happen so instead the Daily Show plays footage of talking heads discussing further investigations into past reporting done by Brian Williams.

Because you know that will help them redeem their credibility.

So apparently the Daily Show decided to try and break the internet.

#TBT #breaktheinternet

A video posted by The Daily Show (@thedailyshow) on Feb 5, 2015 at 11:49am PST

Yeah, that might do it.

Jon Stewart slams Mike Huckabee for attacking Beyonce for being a bad influence while supporting Ted Nugent, who is arguably SO much worse.

Click the blob on the left to play video.

Here are a few of Stewart's points courtesy of Raw Story: 

“You excuse that type of crudeness because you agree with his stance on firearms,” Stewart said. “You don’t approve of Beyoncé because she seems alien to you. Johnny Cash shot a man just to watch him die.” 

Huckabee responded by saying Nugent did not get nominated for a Grammy for the song, nor did he perform it live on national television at the time. 

“My point is, that song is an adult song, geared for adults,” the possible GOP presidential candidate argued. “But today, we have a very different kind of depiction and things that are considered perfectly OK for kids.” 

“My point is, you can’t single out a corrosive culture, and ignore the one that you live in because you’re used to it,” Stewart countered.

......

“Do you know any parent who has a daughter that says, ‘Honey, if you make really good grades, someday when you’re 12 or 13, we’ll get you your own stripper pole,’?” Huckabee said. “I mean, come on Jon, we don’t do that in our culture.” 

“I think that’s diminishing Beyonce in a way that’s truly outrageous,” Stewart replied.

I thought that much of what Huckabee said was incredibly ignorant and  demonstrative of somebody who is pandering to quite literally the most undereducated Americans in the country. Let's call them his base.

By the way did anybody else notice that Huckabee seems to have found the weight that Chris Christie has been losing?

I don't know if that is simply due to a lack of self control, or if he has decided that the best way to pander to the white, middle age, overweight Americans is to transform himself into their physical doppelganger. But if it is the latter he should realize that his demographic is rapidly dying off from heart disease and type 2 diabetes at such a rate that by 2016 he will have only three fourths of them left to cast a ballot on his behalf.

P.S. You might have noticed that the interview above is edited quite heavily, so in the interest of complete truthiness (God I miss you Stephen Colbert!) here is a link to the entire unedited interview.

"No one’s going to pay me to watch him anymore, so fuck that noise." Stephen Colbert finally breaks character and reveals how he REALLY feels about Bill O'Reilly.

Click the image and allow the genius to wash over you.

Is it wrong that I found this so satisfying?

Two more shows and then we lose this amazing show.

Dammit! I said I wouldn't cry.

The Grand Jury's decision in the Eric Garner case was so terrible that it drained the funny right out of Jon Stewart.

You know we rely on Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, to find the humor in situations that seem to defy laughter.

However during last night's show Stewart's reaction was really the ONLY reaction that we could have expected him, or anybody, to have in response to this incomprehensible news.

Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Victor White III, Eric Garner,  after awhile it is simply too much to take anymore.

Finally white America has discovered something about itself that minorities have known all along. And they don't like it.

Last night the Daily Show mocked Sarah Palin's call for the impeachment of the President. Well it's about damn time!

Click image to play video.

Jon Stewart: "I'm not even going to tell you what time it is. I'm going to let my friend Sarah do it for me."

Palin (From her delightful Facebook video.): "The many impeachable offenses of Barack Obama can no longer be ignored. So it's time to impeach!"

Stewart: "It's time to Impeach! Actually I think it's time to stop checking Sarah Palin's Facebook page. But she posts such cute pictures of baby guns. Well since clicking on that page there already caused Facebook to change all of my pop-up ads to snow machine and moose clubbing products. let's stay with it."

Palin: "Enough is enough of the years of abuse from this President. His unsecured border crisis, for me it's the last straw. It makes kind of the battered wife say, no mas."

Audience laughter.

Stewart: "Now, if I may, it appears ex-governor Palin is finally finished with mangling the English language and has moved on to making Spanish incomprehensible. She's like a serial killer of language. Or whatever the opposite of a Rosetta Stone is. Anyway, the point is this: Her point is the real victim of children fleeing violence in Central America is Latina Sarah Palin."

"It might be easier to dismiss this call for impeachment as just another serving of Sarah Palin's patented word sausages. If not for the fact that people who didn't quit their elected offices mid-term are echoing it."

Stewart then goes on to show a number of fringe Republican lawmakers who have also publicly discussed impeachment. Including the always batshit crazy Michele Bachmann.

Which then leads to this second clip where Stewart openly mocks the Republicans for referring to the Obama administration as dictatorial, and then mocks them again for the fact that the majority of them dismiss any idea of impeaching the President because they realize it will hurt them in upcoming elections.

Stewart: "Yeah and all that is how you know all this talk of tyranny is bullshit. Because when your main concern about deposing a tyrant is how it will affect your party's chances in the upcoming mid-term elections, that's not tyranny."

Stewart then goes on to mock John Boehner for his frivolous lawsuit against the President.

I found it interesting to note that though Stewart spent a lot of time shaming the Republicans for not doing their job, he reserved his most dismissive comments for anybody who would take Sarah Palin seriously or follow her lead.

She has now become a handy dipstick for measuring the depth of the lunacy coming out of the Republican party.

And here we never thought she would be useful again. 

It's official, Stephen Colbert will replace the retiring David Letterman on the Late Show. Update!

Courtesy of Politico:  

Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman when he retires from "Late Show" next year, CBS Television announced on Thursday. 

Colbert, the host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," has signed a five-year deal with the network set to begin when Letterman steps down in 2015. 

“Stephen Colbert is one of the most inventive and respected forces on television,” CBS President Leslie Moonves said in a statement. “David Letterman’s legacy and accomplishments are an incredible source of pride for all of us here, and today’s announcement speaks to our commitment of upholding what he established for CBS in late night.” 

“Stephen is a multi-talented and respected host, writer, producer, satirist and comedian who blazes a trail of thought-provoking conversation, humor and innovation with everything he touches,” Nina Tassler, the Chairman of CBS Entertainment, said. ”He is a presence on every stage, with interests and notable accomplishments across a wide spectrum of entertainment, politics, publishing and music. We welcome Stephen to CBS with great pride and excitement, and look forward to introducing him to our network television viewers in late night.”

Okay I am a little torn here.

I read earlier that Colbert would be playing this straight, and appear on the show as himself, rather than in character.

That raises conflicted feelings in me.

Because while I really like Stephen Colbert, I really LOVE Stephen Colbert.

I mean Stephen Colbert is a gifted performer and quite entertaining, but Stephen Colbert is a genius.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't know if I can enjoy watching Stephen Colbert, while at the same time mourning the loss of Stephen Colbert.

Okay now I have a headache again.

Update: For any of you who are worried that Stephen will be bullied by CBS into being non-controversial or into watering down his comedy, I remind you that the man has the biggest set of balls in all of comedy.

Behold his 2006 appearance at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Stephen Colbert humorously mocks the Redskins over racism on his show, predicts that certain "small minded" people will not get the joke. Michelle Malkin and the Right Wing go out of their way to prove him right.

Courtesy of Americans Against the Tea Party:  

Yesterday, Stephen Colbert masterfully made a point about Redskins owner Dan Snyder refusing to change the team’s name but starting a foundation to help Native Americans in his usual satirical way. 

Colbert has, through the years, played his role well, often using offensive humor to highlight some of the darker aspects of our society. As a right-wing character, Colbert utilized Asian stereotypes in an effort to make the point that if the Redskins were employing any other racial stereotype, people would care. 

Conservatives, of course, leapt on the opportunity to pretend they are not racist by jumping at one of their most hated enemies on Twitter, after Comedy Central quoted part of the segment out of context–making for the perfect opportunity for the right-wing to slam Colbert without actually watching the segment!

 The above was a tweet from Comedy Central on behalf of the Colbert Report.

Of course it received some outrage from the suddenly ethnically sensitive Right Wing. Which prompted this response from Michell Malkin:

Coward just deleted the tweet! RT @TwitchyTeam Racist 'joke' has ppl calling for Comedy Central to #CancelColbert http://t.co/N8G9oBBzSg
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 28, 2014

That's right she is calling for the Colbert Show to be cancelled because she does not understand parody.

And she was not finished yet.

Co-sign! RT @suey_park I'm sick of liberals hiding behind assumed "progressiveness" #CancelColbert
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 28, 2014

Of course a few of Malkin's flying monkeys also jumped on the bandwagon.

This level of cognitive dissonance inspired Colbert to tweet this from his personal account:

#CancelColbert - I agree! Just saw @ColbertReport tweet. I share your rage. Who is that, though? I'm @StephenAtHome http://t.co/e0Pqz7U7i9
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) March 28, 2014

The tweet contains the link to the bit that was referred to by the Comedy Central account, and once you watch it you kind of have to admire how deftly Colbert baited the hook in order to reel in the Right Wing's professional outrage machine.

I have every expectation that Colbert, and possibly other late night comedians, will have a field day with this in the coming days. 

Sometimes it is like shooting fish in a barrel. Stupid, stupid, fish.

Stephen Colbert on the United States approach to foreign relations.

Okay I know it is done as a joke, but it is also kind of scary how accurate it feels.