Someone with a handheld camera captures the strange scene outside of Rod Blagojevich's house just hours after his removal as governor of Illinois. He breaks into Spanish, a neighbor invites him to watch the Super Bowl at her house and he uses the power of children to soften the moment. Behold...
January 2009 Archives
The Daily Show's senior economic analyst John Oliver has seen enough, and has no confidence that Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan will work given his track record. After eight long days, Oliver asks: "How many chances are we going to give this President before we say enough is enough?"
Continue reading After Eight Long Days of Obama, Time for New Ideas.
During a House Budget Committee hearing on the New Technologies Initiative, Rep. William Cummings (D, Va.-11) introduces a new word to the governmental lexicon. And it's re-pronk-ulous.
When his time in the White House was done, Ronald Reagan left a note for his succesor, George H.W. Bush, and Bush continued the tradition by leaving one for Bill Clinton and Clinton, in turn, left one for George W. Bush. Bush kept it going by leaving a "43 to 44" note for Barack Obama in the top draw of the President's Oval Office desk. Here is Funny or Die's video take on what it said.
It was a rough first day for Robert Gibbs, Barack Obama's new press secretary. His first press conference was a mixture of confusion and combativeness from a press that was mostly deferential to Barack Obama during the campaign. In case you missed the show, Funny or Die has a mostly accurate re-enactment.
Hazing the New Press Secretary - watch more funny videos
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Al Franken, long-time Minnesota senate candidate and former comedian returned to his roots over the weekend at a party hosted by Minnesota's Air America affiliate. Franken leads Norm Coleman by 225 votes after the latest recount in the only ongoing race from 2008, but can't be seated until a lawsuit filed by Coleman is resolved. Franken was mostly serious at the party hosted by his former employer, but couldn't help but let a few jokes fly, including a brief impersonation of Rush Limbaugh, a friendly jab at former vice president and recount victim Al Gore and a dig at former president George W. Bush: "He was so bad he made it impossible for a white guy to run for president."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and daughter Abigail demonstrate the many variations of the so-called fist bump, popularized by then-candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Pictured below: Bump Ninja Kitty. According to Abigail, "Barack tried to do the bump ninja kitty, but he failed."
With Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House, we can expect three things: High taxes, high budgets, and... high fives! So says Pat Buchanan in the intro to Funny or Die's latest montage, shot during the inauguration. The FOD guys really worked their connections this time, as the piece is laden with political, media and Hollywood stars. See if you can spot Larry King, Peggy Noonan, Tucker Carlson, Howard Dean, Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Newt Gingrich, Jack Black, Obama Girl and John Legend among many others.
HIGH-FIVE INAUGURATION! - watch more funny videos
Some people may not be sorry to see George Bush go, but David Letterman is. Letterman recently lamented that the departure of Bush left no choice but for his show to end its tribute to "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches" - what Letterman called a "heavily-laden vein of comedy" stretching back to 2006. All good things must come to an end.
Continue reading Bush Leaves ... and Letterman is Bereft.
(Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
While quoting a book on Vice President-elect Joe Biden on the U.S. Senate floor, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) says that Biden has great "fortitude."
The U.S. Senate's Dr. "No" was Dr. "Noise" for a few minutes Wednesday afternoon. Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma freshman known for his penchant for obstructing legislation in the Senate, was forced to belt out a few lines of Elton John's "Rocketman" after losing a bet to Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, Dem. The two wagered on the outcome of the BCS National Championship Game between Florida and Oklahoma, which Florida won 24-14. The "concert" took place in Nelson's Senate office in Washington in front of a gather of both senators' staff and journalists.
Click on the image to play the video.
Click on the image to play the video.
Don't look now, but CQ Politics columnist and sometime NBC commentator Craig Crawford makes a stealth appearance in a Daily Show skit on Washington punditry. The report isn't particularly kind to the craft, but it does provide some excellent advice to aspiring talking heads.
In preparation for the madness that is expected to descend upon the District of Columbia during the Inauguration, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has a very odd video out explaining how to use the city's subway system. From the poorly-dubbed Obama voice over to the gruesome murder of an inflatable Edvard Munch 'Scream' doll, it's hard to tell if they were going for b-movie camp or just don't have the slightest clue how to put together a video. And the cardboard cutouts of Obama and Biden riding up a Metro escalator are priceless. Anyway, it's quite entertaining, even if our obsession on the production value detracted from the intended message and we still have no idea how to use the Metro.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow gets exclusive interviews with senate-appointee-in-limbo Roland Burris and recently-impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
On ode to the more memorable moments from America's most misunderestimated president:
President-elect Barack Obama, in his first big speech since being elected president, addressed the nation's economic woes. He presented nearly a dozen short and long term fixes, including selling New Mexico to Mexico and renting out the moon for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.
(Click image to launch video)
(Click image to launch video)
What better way to ring in a new year and new Congress than with Stephen Colbert's occasional series, "Better Know A District." This time Colbert has his cross hairs set on Utah's 3rd, represented by freshman Republican Jason Chaffetz. Chaffetz plays a good sport, and even has a few genuinely funny moments, like when he tells a fictional Nancy Pelosi "you're not the boss and me," and coos "hello sweetness," to Colbert's pistol.
Continue reading New Utah Congressman to Nancy Pelosi - "You're Not the Boss of Me".
Just in time for the inauguration, Funny or Die has the perfect item for open-minded white people who want to show the world they're not racist.
OBAMA PLATES - watch more funny videos
For more than two millennia, 2009 seemed like the future. Now that it has finally arrived, the big question on everyone's mind is: where are all the flying cars? The Onion News Network puts this probing question to top executives at GM, Ford and Toyota. Their answer is not going to please you.
For only $3,700 a day - less than the cost of 1,000 lattes - you can make a difference in a life, namely, the life of 57 year old Wayne whose company was wiped out in a typhoon of defaulted subprime mortgages that he approved. Otherwise, he's going to have to give up his Napoleon brandy, his weekends in Aruba and his mistress.
Continue reading You Can Save a Life (Style).