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Late Night Political Humor

“The presidential election now down to the choice of Barack Obama and what’s his name, versus Sarah Palin and what’s his name.” -Jay Leno

“Joe Biden gave a speech in Michigan yesterday, where he said that John McCain is the sequel to President Bush, and he said the sequel is always worse than the original. Yeah. Well, President Bush was furious. He said, ‘Apparently, Joe Biden has not seen ‘The Empire Strikes Back.'” -Jay Leno

“But John McCain’s campaign said that Sarah Palin will not talk to the media, this is a quote, until reporters can address her with respect and deference. Oh, what is she running for, vice president or queen?” –Jay Leno

“I’m not sure if Sarah Palin knows what to do about the economy either. Do you think she has any experience? She was asked today what to do in a bear market. And she said, ‘Well, you should shoot it, then skin it.'” -Jay Leno

“Well, as you all know, during the interview with Charles Gibson last week on ABC, Sarah Palin did not know what the Bush doctrine was. But to be fair, a month ago, she didn’t know who John McCain was either.” -Jay Leno

“John McCain and Sarah Palin attended a campaign rally in Vienna, Ohio, today. They were in Vienna. Apparently, they went to Vienna so Sarah Palin could get some foreign policy experience.” -Jay Leno

“I tell you, you know who’s got to be depressed about all of this? Hillary Clinton. I mean, look at this woman. She works hard, goes to Wellesley, goes to Yale, graduates with honors, devotes her entire life to public service. Now she’s starting to realize if she had just put on some makeup and shot a moose, she’d be on her way to the White House.” -Jay Leno

“Earlier this evening, Barack Obama was in Hollywood at a big fundraiser, a sold-out fundraiser featuring Barbra Streisand singing. $28,500 a ticket. Barbra Streisand was singing. All the big Hollywood stars were there. It featured dinner prepared by the finest Hollywood chefs serving an array of gourmet food. I believe the topic tonight was how John McCain is out of touch with the common people.” -Jay Leno

“Actually, John McCain attended his own fund-raiser tonight, where he raised even more money. He had dinner with his wife.” -Jay Leno

“U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to calm growing fears, vowing that the U.S. financial markets will remain stable. And he said, ‘You can take that to the bank, assuming you can find one that’s still open.'” -Jay Leno

“You know, I’ll tell you, once again, I don’t think President Bush gets it. He doesn’t really understand these economic issues. Like today, he was asked if customers should be concerned by all these bank closings. And Bush said, ‘If the bank is closed, you just use the ATM.'” -Jay Leno

“Well, let’s see, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America. See, that’s when you know the subprime mortgage market is bad, even brokerage houses are losing their houses. That’s why they’re called brokers. After they take your money, you’re broker. You see?” -Jay Leno

“Yesterday, after the Dow Jones industrial average dropped over 500 points, President Bush chimed in. This is what he said. He said, ‘Adjustments in the financial markets can be difficult.’ Yeah, then he told the American people to bend over.” -Conan O’Brien

“A weird thing came out of the John McCain campaign. An adviser to John McCain … claimed today, just a couple of hours ago, that McCain helped create the BlackBerry. That’s what he said, yeah. Or, as McCain calls it, ‘the fancy garage door opener.'” -Conan O’Brien

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McCain’s Blame Game


© Steve Sack

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If Palin were a Democrat


© Keith Knight

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The McCain doctrine of preemptive lying

This article from TPM is so perfect, I’m just going to quote it in full:

McCain Campaign Falsely Attacks Obama For Something He Hasn’t Said Yet

Not sure we’ve ever seen this one before. The McCain campaign has just blasted out a statement attacking Barack Obama for something he hasn’t even said and might say later today!

From McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers:

In his rush to score political points on economic disaster, we’ve heard that at his next event in New Mexico, Senator Obama is about to distort the facts and attack John McCain’s call for removing the Chairman of the SEC… The President of the United States has the power to remove the chairmanship, and always reserves the right to request the resignation of an appointee and to maintain the customary expectation that it will be delivered. Perhaps Barack Obama isn’t strong enough to change Washington, but John McCain is.

The line about Obama’s supposed coming attack on McCain for his “call for removing” the SEC chair is a reference to McCain’s claim earlier today in which he said: “If I were president today, I would fire him.”

As you can see, the McCain campaign misrepresented what McCain actually said. He didn’t “call for removing” him. He said he’d fire him. Presidents can’t unilaterally fire the SEC chair.

Hmmm. Are we seeing the birth of a new McCain campaign doctrine of preemptive lying?

UPDATE: Also read Joe Klein in Time Magazine: “John McCain and the Lying Game”

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McCain has already answered the question of what happened to the real McCain

Many people looking at the current mudslinging and lying coming from the McCain campaign have wondered what happened to the old McCain. You remember — McCain the straight talker who didn’t choose his words carefully, or McCain the maverick who was willing to buck his own party when they were wrong, call televangelists “agents of intolerance”, or point out the obvious that if you make abortion illegal, it will only force women to get dangerous and illegal abortions.

Interestingly, McCain answered that question himself. Even though McCain lost the 2000 presidential primary, his popularity was at an all time high, and he wrote in his memoirs, titled “Worth the Fighting For”:

“I didn’t decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president. … In truth, I’d had the ambition for a long time.”

In other words, when he thought the “straight talker” or “maverick” image would help him get elected, he worked to develop that image. But the 2000 election proved to him that it wasn’t enough, so he tried something else, completely throwing away his old persona for a new, more electable one.

I previously posted a video of McCain appearing in a skit on Saturday Night Live, playing a creepy husband, and people often remark about how good an actor he is. Maybe he is just a really good actor, and the real McCain is someone who will play any part and do anything, at any cost, in order to get elected.

How do you learn how to play a part full time, whatever part you think you need to win? Maybe this is something he learned while being tortured.

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This is the truth – if we turn things upside down

Perhaps the best political ad ever created:

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Irony, thy name is Rothschild

Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and a member of the Democratic Party’s Platform Committee, announced today that she was throwing her support behind Republican John McCain. Lady de Rothschild has been a long time and devoted supporter of Clinton (saying about Hillary’s run for the presidency “I’ve been waiting for this since Bill Clinton left office, frankly”), so it is not too surprising that she is a bit disappointed in Clinton’s loss in the Democratic primary to Obama. Even so, some of her reasons for supporting McCain are incredibly ironic:

  • Talking about Obama in July, Rothschild told CNN “frankly I don’t like him. I feel like he is an elitist”. I am amazed at the chutzpah of any Rothschild, and especially Lady de Rothschild, calling someone else “elitist”. Lady de Rothschild has been described by the Wall Street Journal as a “New York Socialite” and the Washington Post as an “aristocrat”, and met her future husband Sir Evelyn de Rothschild at the secretive and elite Bilderberg conference, where the matchmaker was none other than Henry Kissinger.
  • Lady de Rothschild also claimed that Obama was “too far to the left”, even though in a ranking of all Senators by seven major liberal groups, Clinton was rated more liberal than Obama. And in a similar ranking of all Senators by eight major conservative groups, Obama was rated more conservative than Clinton.
  • Rothschild also said that she was excited about the prospect of a woman being in the White House, even though they disagree on most issues. Rothschild is pro-choice and Palin is decidedly pro-life.
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Merrill Lunch


© Steve Benson

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Late Night Political Humor

“This weekend, Karl Rove said John McCain’s attack ads have gone too far. When Karl Rove says you’ve gone too far, that’s like Mel Gibson saying you’ve had too much to drink.” -Craig Ferguson

“Republican strategist Karl Rove recently gave an interview, and he said John McCain’s attack ads go too far and aren’t truthful. Then Rove said, ‘I’ve never been so proud. That kid’s good.'” -Conan O’Brien

“Both presidential candidates reacted to the market turmoil today. Barack Obama laid out a detailed five-part plan, but John McCain’s plan is much simpler. He’s just going to have his wife fix it.” -Craig Ferguson

“Did you see the Sarah Palin interview on ABC? This state trooper from Alaska says that Palin lied in the interview. She lied on national television. I’d say someone’s ready for the White House!” -Craig Ferguson

“I watched that new reality show on ABC with Charlie Gibson, ‘America’s Next Top Vice President.’ … Oh, what an exciting show that is!” -Jay Leno

“As you know, the Republicans are still keeping her away from the mainstream press. In fact, the only reporter she’s taking questions from is Field & Stream. That’s the only magazine she felt more comfortable with. Actually, Sarah Palin is going from an interview with Gibson on ABC to one with Sean Hannity on Fox. Woo! That should be hard-hitting! … But Sarah Palin says she is ready for Sean Hannity. In fact, she spent all day today writing out the questions he’s going to ask her.” -Jay Leno

“Well, if you saw the big interview with Gibson, Sarah Palin quoted Abraham Lincoln, when Lincoln said, ‘Let us not pray that God is on our side in any war, or at any other time, but let us pray that we are on God’s side.’ And here’s the amazing part. You know who Abraham Lincoln said that to? John McCain.” -Jay Leno

“And despite all the animosity in this campaign, you know, John McCain and Joe Biden are actually old friends from the Senate. They’ve been friends for years. In fact, they go back so far that when they first met, McCain had hair, and Joe Biden didn’t.” -Jay Leno

“Here’s the latest word from Wall Street: ‘Ahhhh!’ Man, I guess you heard by now, Lehman Brothers is filing for bankruptcy. … I don’t think President Bush understands this crisis either. Like today, when he heard about Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, he said, ‘Where am I going to get discount suits now?'” -Jay Leno

“Experts say we’re going through what’s known as a lock, stock and barrel financial phase. You know what that is, and how that works? People are locked out of their homes, their stocks are worthless, and the oil companies have us over a barrel. That’s how it works.” -Jay Leno

“They interviewed Sarah Palin’s father, and Sarah Palin’s father says that they shoot 90% of the meat their family eats. Yeah, the other 10% they hit with their pickup truck.” -Conan O’Brien

“This weekend in New York City, gays and lesbians staged a protest, demanding the right to get married. When he heard this, President Bush said, ‘Wait a minute, now gays want to marry lesbians?'” -Conan O’Brien

“Why do I love [Sarah Palin]? She’s a reformer. Like when the government wanted to give her this $223 million bridge to nowhere [on screen: Palin saying ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to the bridge]. She’s so polite. Now I know that her detractors will say that she actually supported the bridge until it became a political albatross, and ended up keeping a lot of the money for it anyway, or that she claimed to have visited Iraq when she didn’t. Or she didn’t really sell that plane on eBay, or that she left the town she was mayor of nearly $20 million in debt, or that she made sure that women that were raped in her town were charged for their rape kits. Yeah! That’s f**king true. The point is this: shut up. Because you don’t speed-date in order to get to know somebody. You speed-date to make sure you’re not talking to a dude.” -Jon Stewart

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Lehman Brothers in Wonderland


© Jimmy Margulies

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The American Political Super-Collider


© Nate Beeler

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Late Night Political Humor

“This week, the presidential race continued to tighten up. In fact, according to the latest polls, John McCain is now only six points behind Sarah Palin.” -Amy Poehler

“The Washington Post reported this week that Sarah Palin billed taxpayers in Alaska for travel expenses for 312 nights she spent in her own home. You know, maverick style.” -Amy Poehler

“If you watched TV last night, you know Charlie Gibson did something John McCain has never done: interviewed Sarah Palin. No, last night, Sarah Palin gave a interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson. And earlier today, her future son-in-law was on ‘Maury Povich.’ ‘You are the father!'” -Jay Leno

“Did you all see Sarah Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson? In fact, John McCain was watching it at home and at one point he turned to his wife and said, ‘She looks really familiar.'” -Jay Leno

At one point, Charlie Gibson asked Palin about the Bush doctrine, but she didn’t know what it was. But, you know, to be fair, even Bush doesn’t know what the Bush doctrine is.” -Jay Leno

“That was a big bone of contention today on the cable talk shows. Supporters of Palin say, it’s okay she doesn’t know what the Bush doctrine is because the average American doesn’t know what it is. But shouldn’t the bar be a little higher for this job? Shouldn’t they be a little above average? I mean, hey, let’s be honest. We already had an average guy as president. It didn’t work out that great.” -Jay Leno

“Sarah Palin was also asked if we might have to go to war with Russia, and she said, ‘Perhaps so.’ Isn’t that like a magic eight ball kind of answer? Will we have to go to war? ‘Reply hazy. Try again later. It is decidedly so.'” –Jay Leno

“Charlie Gibson sat down and asked some very good, some tough questions. McCain people said they were happy with the interview and they may let her do another one, maybe in a month or two.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“In fact, the other day while talking to a group of supporters, Joe Biden said that Hillary Clinton might have been a better pick for vice president than him. Well, that’s one thing to get the base fired up. Tell them, they picked the wrong person! Yeah! That’ll get them fired up!” -Jay Leno

“John McCain, by gosh, did you know this? He was on ‘The View’ earlier today. Yup. And I thought to myself, well good Lord, hasn’t this man endured enough torture?” -David Letterman

“This morning, Senator McCain and his wife, Cindy, stopped in for a visit of the ladies on ‘The View.’ At one point, Whoopi Goldberg asked John McCain if she should worry about slavery making a comeback if he’s elected. By the way, he never answered her.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“But that John McCain is a great guy. And when he was finished at ‘The View,’ as a thank-you gift he bought everybody on the show a house.” -David Letterman

“After the ‘The View,’ he taped a Rachael Ray show. He did a recipe, it was one of Sarah Palin’s favorite recipes, spaghetti and moose balls. And she said it was delicious.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“But how about that ticket, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Political insiders told me that Sarah Palin’s main job, her main job on the ticket now is to tell John McCain when he’s got something on his chin.” -David Letterman

“But we’re learning more and more about Sarah Palin. Were you aware of this, that at one point she was mayor of a town called Wasilla, Alaska? Wasilla, Alaska, I went to look at it. There is only one store in Wasilla, honest to God: Bed, Bath and Way Beyond.” -David Letterman

“Wasilla, Alaska is so small if you pick up the guide book, it’s called ‘Things to do in Wasilla.’ If you pick up a copy of that guide book and open it up, things to do in Wasilla, it reads, ‘you’re doing it’. That’s it. That’s all you can do.” -David Letterman

“But now because they are a little worried that Sarah Palin may be a political newcomer and has not spent any time in the national spotlight, so she’s being coached by Joe Lieberman. Yeah, I hope Joe Lieberman can pass along some of that excitement that he brought to the Al Gore phenomenon ticket. That’s what we’re looking for.” -David Letterman

“If you think about it, Sarah Palin is like his character from ‘The Bourne Identity.’ She came from out of nowhere, nobody knows about her, and they both kill everything in sight.” -Jimmy Kimmel

“Charles Rangel, chairman of the Ways and Means committee — this is the guy that writes the tax codes — has been found to be in default on his taxes on income, on a beach villa he owns in the Caribbean. Rangel blames it on his accountant, and he said he didn’t understand the law. Didn’t understand it? He wrote it! Huh? If he don’t understand it, how screwed are we?” -Jay Leno

“Obama was talking about McCain’s policies. He said: ‘You cannot put lipstick on a pig. If you do, it’s still a pig.’ This was supposed to describe McCain’s policies; McCain said he was actually talking about Sarah Palin. Which is very unfair, because pigs are smart. They don’t believe in creationism. And by the way, memo to all the geniuses who took it this way: it’s called a metaphor.” -Bill Maher

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Who knew a Harvard economist could be this funny

Greg Mankiw teaches the famous Economics 10 introductory course at Harvard and on Monday he wrote the following blog entry:

Today is the first day of Harvard’s academic year, and the first day of a new year of ec 10. I will give the introductory lecture at noon.

I would like to thank all my friends on Wall Street for doing so much to spark interest in economic issues. You have gone beyond the call of duty, and your timing could not have been better.

That is itself fairly droll, but what makes this ironic is that Mankiw didn’t mention that he was Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2003-2005. In other words, he had major responsibility for keeping the economy running smoothly during the build-up to the current crisis.

Jonathan Schwarz notes that Mankiw must be too modest to give himself the credit he deserves for sparking the current interest in economic issues. Could the current melt-down on Wall Street just be an elaborate scheme to increase enrollment in Professor Mankiw’s courses?

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Bush / McCain = Marx / Lenin!

The Bush administration claims that it is for the free market and privatization, so how are they going to explain that they just nationalized the nation’s largest insurance company, AIG?

Even though they said they would not bail out the sinking company, they just used $85 Billion of the taxpayer’s money to buy 80% of AIG’s (pretty much worthless) stock. If some other country did this, free-marketers would be screaming that those countries were going communist (or at least socialist).

And this is on top of the government taking over the previously private Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just this month, and the investment bank Bear Stearns just before that.

So why did I mention McCain in the headline? The 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the safeguards that had been in place since the depression, and helped make the current crisis possible. It should be no surprise that the primary author of this bill was none other than Phil Gramm, McCain’s primary economic advisor and his probable choice for Secretary of the Treasury. McCain also strongly supported the bill, and has long been a champion of deregulation, although in the last two days he has suddenly reversed course and now says that more regulation is necessary.

UPDATE: Be sure to read this satirical piece from the YellowDailyNews.

UPDATE 2: A comic to go with this story:


© Dan Wasserman

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Watch the two guys in the background

At 45 seconds:

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