devolute.net

Yeah yeah yeah, It’s all very complicated.  I think I want Obama to win personally, but after a mere 219 years of all-white presidents, I’m not holding out that much hope. So as I can’t vote (what, being a British citizen and all), I’m forced to point and laugh from afar. I could join the ‘Brits for Obama‘ facebook group I suppose, but lets face it; the guy doesn’t need someone like me supporting him from over the pond.

This video makes all the salient points and stars McLovin (from Superbad) and professional Steven Colbert impersonator Ed Helms. I suddenly feel enlightened since it’s been explained so firmly and passionately.

I finally got around to seeing the Simpsons film recently. It was on a ferry and as such there wasn’t anything better on offer. It was the very definition of mediocrity. The same can be said for most recent Simpson’s episodes, however at least now there is a reason to watch the latest seasons offering. A ‘guest’ appearance from the finest ‘Daily Show’ escapee, but still better featured than previous guests have been. Is there nothing Stephen cannot bring a little light to?

The answer, quite blatantly, is yes. Stephen Colbert is the Greatest Living American. This has absolutely nothing to do with his current attempt at a bit of Google bombing, it’s just a statement of fact that occasionally needs stating now and again. I know I’ve written about Mr. Colbert before, but I’ve been paying even more attention to his shows recently and he’s really making sense of the world. He just won’t shy away from real controversial viewpoints like some of those cowardly lefty pundits; take Anne Coulter for example. His truthiness knows no bounds.

So we pray that, like an eagle soaring through the sky in the bright mid-day sun, Colbert continues to fly high over us all.

I’ve taken to watching the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, which follows it every night. To those who know me this won’t come as a surprise; I am a bit of a political whinge-bag and satire is always very much what’s for dinner. However, TDS (as I’m now going to call The Daily Show) is very American and I’m not. Although you can watch it in the UK on More4, this is a somewhat watered-down edition for us Europeans. So I’m forced to BitTorrent it. I’ve started watching for two reasons: Firstly; I’m unemployed and apart from job-seeking and the odd little project, I’m not exactly super-busy (more on this in a later blog post, though). Secondly; It’s brilliant TV. Not only are these shows full of bad puns and wonderfully delivered swipes at the powers that be, but it’s also pretty educational. It’s all delivered from a centralist / media-critical point of view, but personally I don’t have a problem with that. The past weeks have featured an insightful interview with the Pakistani president and the moment Fox News labelled disgraced Republican creepy-congressman Mark Foley as a Democrat.

It’s quite worrying viewing sometimes but host Jon Stewart gives us Europeans a little insight into perhaps why things are the way they are in the US (and hence Iraq too I suppose). It’s reassuring to hear that it’s not just me who finds the content quite educational, as this Indiana University study claims, despite being ‘fake news’ it’s just as real as the ‘real news’ channels. Whether this is down to excellent TDS reporting, or a poor show from the other news networks, I’m not sure. I’ll hazard a guess and say it’s a bit of both. I heartily recommend my fellow ‘Eurofags’ to download via BitTorrent, tune in via More4, or at least head to YouTube and grab some clips.