The Righteous Humour

7:28 Nov 9, 2012 54

I think I passed fairly quickly through any schadenfreude with respect to angry responses to Barack Obama's election victory this week -- because many of those responses were more alarming than amusing. It's hard not to dwell on what the hell is wrong with people.

So I was grateful to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show team for making me laugh out loud last night as they covered the eruptions from Bullshit Mountain.

I've gathered the clips for you here. You deserve to watch it all. Note that you can also watch the whole episode (which includes a couple of bits not embedded below) here.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

54 responses to this post

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Tristan, 10:42 Nov 9, 2012

i watched the whole thing last night...fuck it its Friday ill watch em all again!

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 221 posts Report
Kyle Matthews, 11:11 Nov 9, 2012

Russell didn't link to the Karl Rove video segment, which is possibly the best:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-7-2012/post-democalypse-2012---america-takes-a-shower---karl-rove-s-math

Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report
Russell Brown, in reply to Kyle Matthews, 11:26 Nov 9, 2012

I didn't? Damn. Let me fix that.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
cindy baxter, 11:36 Nov 9, 2012

Serious belly laughs. I don't think Karl Rove will ever live this down.
On the really ugly side, this blog is quite something - a taste of libertarian hatred. http://www.libertarianrepublican.net/2012/11/the-end-of-liberty-in-america-only.html

auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 102 posts Report
Tristan, 11:38 Nov 9, 2012

it was certainly one for the ages..It's interesting as the election season dragged on you could see the change from Jon Stewart...he was so over the fox news talking heads he became genuinely angry to go along with funny.
I wonder if this will continue or he will settle back in to cynical... plague on both your houses deal that he was doing pre election

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 221 posts Report
Lilith __, 12:47 Nov 9, 2012

Oh very good. Thanks Russell.

Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report
Moz, 13:11 Nov 9, 2012

"buried in a mudslide"... "that's not mud". Gold! Thanks for the link.

Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report
Lucy Stewart, 14:45 Nov 9, 2012

Yes, the idea that some Republicans are taking away that their problem this election was not being right-wing enough is certainly alarming. C.f. several anti-abortion groups, who argued today that Mitt Romney had not demonstrated his commitment to banning abortion fervently enough. There's a deep-seated belief there that not only is Obama not a legitimate president, any president elected by the votes of people-not-white-men would somehow be not legitimate. It's creepy.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report
steve black, 14:56 Nov 9, 2012

Thank you Russell, what a great laugh.
Thankfully Jon Stewart jumped in and wrapped up the interview with Nate Silver before Nate finished telling the Republican strategists the list of things they needed to change to win the next election. Not that they would necessarily listen, but hey, let's not make it any easier.
"Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write." – H.G. Wells

sunny mt albert • Since Jan 2007 • 116 posts Report
Tristan, 15:01 Nov 9, 2012

The disbelief from fox about the numbers was interesting.
They seemed to try and apply the global warming style spin around polls. That is to say it doesn't matter what the science says (ie Silver and co) as long as we parrot to each other what we think is real then it will be real.
Unlike global warming which is complicated and the effects unclear this kind of science (ie math) was pretty simple and the effects came quickly.
From a self interest point of view it would be great if the GOP moved to the right and became unelectable but a great piece by Rachel Maddow here: http://huff.to/YQqByR
reminds us that if both parties believe in facts and debate good ideas then everyone wins.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 221 posts Report
Mark Graham, 15:04 Nov 9, 2012

genius.
perhaps a time to flog my facebook page - Bring Back the Daily News with Jon Stewart to Free to Air Television.
Might need help on that title.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 218 posts Report
David Hood, in reply to steve black, 15:04 Nov 9, 2012

Nate Silver before Nate finished telling the Republican strategists the list of things they needed to change to win the next election
Well, Nate Silver has described himself as basically a libertarian/ Mitt Romney kind of guy personally (though choosing not to vote because of his profession), it is just he is primary a quantitative analysis kind of guy.

Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report
Russell Brown, in reply to David Hood, 16:01 Nov 9, 2012

Well, Nate Silver has described himself as basically a libertarian/ Mitt Romney kind of guy personally (though choosing not to vote because of his profession), it is just he is primary a quantitative analysis kind of guy
And yet I've seen him characterised as a "liberal commentator" more than once. That's what being reality-based gets ya.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report
Michael Savidge, 16:28 Nov 9, 2012

He's a good man Charlie Brown.
Obama thanking his campaign staff.

Somewhere near Wellington… • Since Nov 2006 • 324 posts Report
Alan Perrott, 16:34 Nov 9, 2012

oh, the humanity...
http://whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com/

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 438 posts Report
Richard Aston, 17:16 Nov 9, 2012

Hey Mr Savidge thanks for that link. Its wonderful , great to see the man off the stage, not a orator, unrehearsed but very very real , authentic and with tears of pride for those who helped.
"ripples of hope"

Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report
Richard Aston, 17:18 Nov 9, 2012

Russell thanks for the Jon Stewart links - very very funny - loved it . I'm with Mark we need to see him free to air in NZ , gives me hope in Americans.

Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report
anth, 19:07 Nov 9, 2012

Romney's transition website went live for a while

Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 20:22 Nov 9, 2012

There's also this beautiful piece from Rachel Maddow:
The bit about getting the best ideas from the competition between the sides needs to be hammered into a lot of tribal voters who are unwilling to countenance the possibility of any valid idea originating from a party other than "their" party.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
andrew r, 20:26 Nov 9, 2012

Nice one Russell. Sometimes Jon Stewart does actually hold back, but you get the feeling he found the feakish right wingnut response to Obama's victory almost disturbing. He's like - I know I should no longer be surprised but really, these folks live in my country ? There seemed quite a distrubing and pretty straight forward racist feel in the air there on Fox .

auckland • Since May 2007 • 100 posts Report
Matthew Poole, in reply to cindy baxter, 21:27 Nov 9, 2012

Wow. That's some serious fucked-up kind of crazy. Total lack of perspective.
That said, there's something special about libertarian types. I know someone who stood as a candidate for the Libz last year, and we got into a debate on FB the other day about tax. He said tax is extortion, which is standard libertarian fare, and went on to posit that because it's extortion one has a moral duty to avoid paying. OK, fine, but what if we get to a mythical state called Libertopia where the state only provides defence of the law and defence of the realm, both of which he accepted must be paid for from taxation. Would it be a moral duty to avoid paying tax in Libertopia? I never did get an answer. So someone with some standing as a libertarian cannot muster a coherent argument about taxation without delving into logical inconsistencies that are acceptable to them only because they understand, at least subconsciously, that their ideals will never be realised.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 21:34 Nov 9, 2012

watch the whole episode
I love the auto-captioner. "Legalised" became "legal ides". And I'm only three minutes in.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
DexterX, 06:54 Nov 10, 2012

The GOP lost the election in the primaries; in a nation divided the Republicans were unable to field a Presidential Candidate who could project that they were capable of doing the right thing. On the political freeway the Republicans have taken the last exit to irrelevance; the rhetoric indicates they are not likely to turn the car around anytime soon.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report
Lew Stoddart, in reply to Russell Brown, 09:44 Nov 10, 2012

[David] Well, Nate Silver has described himself as basically a libertarian/ Mitt Romney kind of guy personally (though choosing not to vote because of his profession), it is just he is primary a quantitative analysis kind of guy
[Russell] And yet I’ve seen him characterised as a “liberal commentator” more than once. That’s what being reality-based gets ya.
Silver started doing election analysis on Daily Kos under a pseudonym, and was an admitted supporter of Obama in 2008. (Canonical reference for this is his 2008 FAQ, from before the NYT bought him). Once he ‘came out’, so to speak, or went mainstream, he became less partisan, but still gets tarred with the “liberal shill” brush.
None of which changes the fact that he’s right. A week or two before the election some GOP surrogate on twitter said something like like “Come 2016 we will have a conservative Nate Silver, mark my words” to which Silver replied something like “If the GOP candidate is leading the swing states going into 2016, that conservative Nate Silver will be me”.
L

Wellington, NZ • Since Aug 2010 • 109 posts Report
BenWilson, in reply to Richard Aston, 10:05 Nov 10, 2012

Hey Mr Savidge thanks for that link. Its wonderful , great to see the man off the stage, not a orator, unrehearsed but very very real , authentic and with tears of pride for those who helped.
"ripples of hope"
Word, that was moving. I think that may be why Obama's Hope message is so powerful. He does actually believe it.
But even in tears, he is still an orator. It's a natural thing for him, I think, he orates as he thinks. I feel that he's just talking to me about what he really believes, when he speaks - it's seems conversational. When people are doing that, they tend to become eloquent.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report