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Changing the Rules

The Nightly Show

We seem so willing to give up our rights in exchange for a little safety, by forcing technology companies like Apple to install backdoors in their encryption. But not for gun rights. Think about how many lives would be saved if we just tightened up a few loopholes in gun laws, like the loophole that lets anyone buy a weapon at a gun show without any background check, or registering the gun.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the second amendment gives us the right to own guns. I just don’t understand why other rights guaranteed by the constitution seem to be less important to us. The government bent over backwards to let the whack jobs at the wildlife sanctuary in Oregon parade around with their weapons and play tin soldier militia. But tap our phones and our response is a collective yawn.

As usual, it is always about money. Gun manufacturers (via the NRA) whip up the crazy base. And finally, Apple (and other technology companies) are objecting to the government crippling encryption, because it will hurt their brand.

Maybe 1984 already happened, and nobody noticed.

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Late Night Political Humor

“Hillary Clinton had a coughing fit during a speech and the crowd actually chanted her name as she opened a cough drop. She got applause for choking — or as Jeb put it, ‘Must be nice’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“After his big win in New Hampshire, they say Hillary’s team is trying to dig up dirt on Bernie Sanders. You know what you call someone who digs up dirt on Bernie Sanders? An archaeologist.” – Jimmy Fallon

“The big decision for Sanders will be picking a vice president. It’s important because whoever he chooses is just a prostate away from being the next president of the United States.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Bernie Sanders has been fighting an uphill battle against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is battling with anyone who makes eye contact with him. Which means the only one who’s safe is Ben Carson.” – Seth Meyers

“What is going on with the Republicans? I watch these debates. Trump attacks Cruz. Rubio goes after Bush. Bush gets into a fight with Trump. Remember the good old days when the Republicans were all united against the poor and the minorities? What happened?” – Jimmy Fallon

“Pope Francis loudly scolded a fan in Mexico yesterday after the man grabbed his arm and pulled him down. And after hearing that the Pope yelled at a Mexican, Donald Trump converted to Catholicism.” – Seth Meyers

“Donald Trump said at a recent campaign rally that he has ‘never met a human being who’s lied’ as much as Ted Cruz. Then Melania said, ‘You tell ’em, handsome!'” – Seth Meyers

“When Barack Obama was asked if Donald Trump could be president, he said, ‘I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people.’ A president with faith in his citizens? I trust everything this guy says.” – James Corden

“President Obama said he believes Mr. Trump will not be president because the American people ‘recognize that being president is a serious job. It’s not hosting a talk show.’ Maybe I don’t get to do ‘serious’ stuff like pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving but I’ll tell you something, Mr. Obama: Every minute of every day I’m thinking about how to keep Americans safe from Matt Damon.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“After saying he would never ditch his glasses, this week Jeb Bush appeared wearing contact lenses. Most people actually do look cooler without glasses, but Jeb looks like a turtle who has lost his shell.” – James Corden

“Is anyone else worried that Jeb got rid of his glasses the same week he got a gun?” – James Corden

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Election, Eh?

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Late Night Political Humor

Apparently some prostitutes at a Nevada brothel have launched a campaign for Hillary Clinton called ‘Hookers for Hillary’. Yeah, they want to donate money to the Clintons – or as they call it, ‘Giving back’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“According to the latest national poll, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Bernie Sanders has narrowed to ten points. Also narrowed, Hillary Clinton’s eyes.” – Seth Meyers

“Marco Rubio is being criticized for opening his new campaign ad with the slogan ‘It’s morning again in America,’ but showing stock footage images of Vancouver, Canada.” – Seth Meyers

“Actually during his speech at the rally, George W. Bush said his brother Jeb is the guy who can fix the problems that inflame our country’s frustrations. Or in other words, Jeb is America’s Preparation H.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Several political experts have put together a short list of who they believe president Obama is considering for the Supreme Court nomination. Meanwhile, the GOP has put together their own short list.” – Seth Meyers

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Emperor Trump?

Tom Tomorrow
© Tom Tomorrow

Could anyone have imagined a presidential election this bizarre?

It is almost like they invented a new propaganda technique. It is the political equivalent of the “big lie” – an election that is so unbelievable the voters have no idea what to do or who to believe.

I mean, even “Emperor Trump” is starting to make sense to me. Help!

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The Worm in the Apple

Signe Wilkinson
© Signe Wilkinson

The dispute between Apple and the FBI will be going on for a while.

The government can’t even protect their own secrets. And yet they ask us to trust them to put backdoors into the devices that contain our passwords and other details about our most private information, including our health, wealth, and safety.

The bottom line is that compromising digital encryption on a single phone, for evidence that may or may not exist, will make us much less safe in the long run.

Think about it. Did torture make us safer? Would installing video cameras everywhere (including inside people’s homes) to watch everyone’s movements and actions make us safer? Would giving up all of our rights make us safer?

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Late Night Political Humor

“Republicans and Democrats are fighting over whether President Obama should be able to appoint Justice Scalia’s successor. Democrats say that he should, whereas the Constitution says that he shall.” – Seth Meyers

“Do you know that every Presidents Day Michelle Obama lets President Obama eat one skittle as a treat? Meanwhile, Donald Trump spent his by photoshopping his head onto a million-dollar bill.” –Jimmy Kimmel

President Obama just visited LA. Or as Donald Trump put it, ‘The state is being taken over by Kenyans.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Donald Trump just promised that he will no longer use foul language on the campaign trail. So now when people ask him his policy on ISIS, he just says ‘I’m going to bomb the shy-diddly-doodles out of them.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“During a recent rally in Louisiana, Donald Trump actually autographed someone’s baby. Even crazier, when he handed the baby back to the parents, Trump said, ‘Congratulations, your baby’s worth three times as much now.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“The Ted Cruz campaign has pulled a new ad after it was revealed that the actress in it has appeared in soft-core porn; and now Jeb has hired her to teach him how to act like he’s enjoying something.” – Seth Meyers

“Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were both in Las Vegas over the weekend. Hillary attended a campaign rally, while Bernie played the nickel slots.” – Seth Meyers

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Crisis!

Berkeley Breathed
© Berkeley Breathed

What a strange situation in which we find ourselves. Nobody ever took Donald Trump seriously. Especially not the media, who were pretty much responsible for creating him. Not even Fox News.

The Republican party is still in denial. The establishment just knew that if they ignored Trump, he would crash and burn before things got too serious. Their timid attempts to help him crash only backfired.

Even Trump got caught up in his own reality-distortion field. At one point he thought he could take on the Pope.

Trump could still crash and burn, but assuming he doesn’t and he becomes the Republican nominee, what then?

What do the Democrats and their presidential nominee do? They can’t afford to not take Trump seriously.

The big problem is that ever since Reagan said that “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem” the Republican Party, Fox News, the Koch Brothers, Wall Street, and big business have been spending billions of dollars trying to convince Americans that anyone even vaguely associated with the Washington elite is tainted and worthless. Never mind that this anger is expressed as “Government, keep your hands off my Medicare and Social Security”.

Random anger doesn’t make sense. In fact, people are so much easier to manipulate when they are angry and confused.

Until they aren’t, and it backfires.

UPDATE: My favorite journalist, Matt Taibbi, has a fantastic rant “How America Made Donald Trump Unstoppable“.

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Take Back America!

This video from MadTV 20 years ago was satire. Now it seems to be politics as usual. Maybe she could be Trump’s VP?

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Late Night Political Humor

“Congratulations to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump on winning their parties’ New Hampshire primaries last night! In his speech, Bernie said he couldn’t have done it without the support of millions of Americans. While Trump was like, ‘This was ALL me! You losers did nothing!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“America has been told for years to pick the sensible candidate, the responsible one, a buddy, a pal, great on paper. ‘You will grow to love them.’ But now it is getting swept off its feet by a couple of bad boys from the wrong side of the polls.” – Stephen Colbert

“Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders won their respective party primaries. It was a great night for loud men with crazy hair.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Every four years Iowa goes ‘Hey, how about this,’ and New Hampshire goes, ‘No, stupid, this.’ And last night in the Granite State, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump each crushed their competition by 20 points, turning our entire political system upside down.” – Stephen Colbert

“According to the exit polls, Trump and Sanders were the number one choice among white voters and since that’s the only kind of voter they have in New Hampshire, it worked out well.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Outsiders are the insiders. Socialists are the establishment. These are now acceptable hairstyles!” – Stephen Colbert

“Bernie Sanders is the first Jewish person ever to win a presidential primary. Which is why he celebrated his victory by telling the crowd, ‘It could be worse!'” – Conan O’Brien

“Following his victory in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders has become the first Jewish candidate in U.S. history to win a primary. Afterwards, Bernie held a press conference where he answered questions with a question.” – Seth Meyers

“One candidate who did not do so well last night is the winner of the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton.” – Stephen Colbert

“The real story of last night’s primary was John Kasich, who out of nowhere managed to take second place with Republicans. It seems like Kasich’s major selling point is that he’s not Trump, Cruz, or Jeb.” – James Corden

“On the Republican side, Gov. John Kasich came out of nowhere to finish second despite the fact that no one has any idea who he is.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“One of the big surprises last night was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who came in second for the Republicans. And some celebrities are even starting to support him, even Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger said it’s not an actual endorsement. When asked why, Schwarzenegger was like, ‘Because even I am afraid of Hillary!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Today is Ash Wednesday — that’s the first day of Lent when most Catholics give something up. It seems like Catholics in the U.S. decided to give up Marco Rubio.” – Conan O’Brien

“In related news, Chris Christie just dropped out of the race and endorsed Bernie Sandwich.” – Jimmy Fallon

“After last night’s New Hampshire primary it looks like Chris Christie is out, which isn’t surprising — he doesn’t look like the kind of guy who wins a lot of races.” – James Corden

“Jeb Bush came in fourth place. He came in fourth place, but he told CNN that he considers that a win.” – James Corden

“People say Jeb Bush may be finally hitting his stride; in fact one supporter said that Jeb is getting, quote, ‘very loose. And when he’s loose, he’s on fire.’ Jeb said he knows people want to see him get loose, because his crowds are always chanting, ‘Looser! Looser!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Is it possible for a man to be sadder than Jeb Bush? We are a week away from Jeb Bush walking on stage at the debate just wearing sweat pants, eating cereal directly out of the box, and just going, ‘Oh, what’s the point.'” – James Corden

“In New Hampshire, 64 percent of Republican voters want to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. The other 36 percent are familiar with the Constitution.” – Conan O’Brien

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Inevitability

Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post makes a good case that, unless something cataclysmic happens, “Donald Trump is on course to win the 1,237 delegates he needs to be the GOP nominee“.

After all, “Presidential politics is, at its core, all about math.” The math is complicated by the rules being different from state to state, but it is not intractable. And with the help of website fhq, he does the math. And unless you’re a Trump supporter (or a Democrat who believes that Trump would be easy to defeat in the general election, or a comedian) the math doesn’t look good.

President Trump?

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Too Far to the Right

It is telling that the only Republican presidential candidate who could be considered “moderate” is John Kasich of Ohio. But is he really a moderate? Kasich just signed a bill that will defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio.

This isn’t just about abortion. This will eliminate money used for cancer screenings, HIV testing, and for programs fighting domestic violence and infant mortality.

Planned Parenthood’s president denounced the bill, saying:

John Kasich is proudly eliminating care for expectant mothers and newborns; he is leaving thousands without vital STD and HIV testing, slashing a program to fight domestic violence, and cutting access to essential, basic health care. It’s clear Kasich has no regard for women’s health or lives, and will stop at nothing to block health care for the tens of thousands of Ohioans who rely on Planned Parenthood.

This is not a moderate stance. Americans oppose defunding Planned Parenthood 58% to 33%.

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Setting the Bar

GB Trudeau
© GB Trudeau

Not that I believe in Satan or anything, but if I did, I sure as heck would be wondering about some of the leading Republican presidential candidates. In fact, Trump wouldn’t even be my first choice for devil incarnate. After all, he missed sloth.

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President Trump Nominates Gary Busey to the Supreme Court

Seth Meyers worries about the consequences of Obama doing what the Republicans ask and deferring the Supreme Court nomination to the next president. For example, if Trump is elected, will he name Gary Busey to the Supreme Court? Ted Cruz has already announced that he thinks “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson would make an excellent ambassador to the UN. Would Bernie Sanders nominate Ben and Jerry? Or would it totally backfire on the GOP when president Hillary Clinton nominates Barack Obama to the Supreme Court? Meyers thinks that would be worth it! Watch this hilarious clip:

Considering how many times Republicans have accused Obama of politicizing things, it is unbelievable that they didn’t even wait for Scalia’s death to be officially announced before they started to politicize the selection of his replacement.

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Republicans Commit Fraud for Bernie

Republicans were caught urging their fellow Republicans to show up for the Nevada Democratic caucus yesterday, to vote for Bernie Sanders.

This is possible because while the Democratic caucus in Nevada was Saturday, the Republican caucus is Tuesday. Furthermore, while the Democrats allow same day registration, the Republicans already closed their voter rolls. So if someone is currently registered as a Republican, they could have shown up at a Democratic caucus and changed their registration to Democrat and participated in the caucus. The Republicans will not have changed their registration by Tuesday, so they could also participate in a second caucus.

Of course, we already know that Hillary Clinton has won the Nevada caucus.

Furthermore, the Nevada Democratic party has announced that they will prosecute anyone who commits voter fraud, which is what this is.

So much for GOP claims to care about preventing voter fraud.

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