The last week's worth of Daily Shows and Colbert Reports had some very good moments, so I thought I'd summarize and link to the stuff I found interesting. To start off, the show <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/wed-november-28-2012-frank-oz" source="The Colbert Report">November 28, 2012 -- Frank Oz</a> included a really strong "The Word" segment, shown and transcribed by yours truly below. <media href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-november-28-2012-neil-young" caption="The Word -- Sisters are doing it to themselves" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:421609" width="512px" height="288px" class="frame" align="center" source="The Colbert Report"> In this clip above, Stephen addresses a column by Fox News staff columnist Suzanne Venker---a so-called journalist to whom I would ordinarily not pay any attention but Stephen did such a sterling job of destroying her throwback viewpoint that I couldn't resist---in which she wrote that women aren't getting married as much anymore because ... they are unattractive to men. She argues that men haven't changed at all, so they can't be the problem, something that is self-evident to the enlightened. Women are to blame because they are <iq>angry...also defensive</iq>. To which Stephen responds: <bq>Women are angry and defensive. You want proof? Go up to any single woman and say: the reason you're not married is because you're angry and defensive. (bullet: <i>wear a cup.</i>) And, not only are these shrill harpies scaring good, <i>quality</i> men away from marriage, but they're also making these men deadbeats. Venker says that women have <iq>pissed [men] off [and] undermined their ability to become self-sufficient in the hopes of someday supporting a family. Men want to love women, not compete with them.</iq> Yeah! Men hate women who compete with them; that's why it's so rare for men to be attracted to women in the workplace. I mean, what man wants a woman providing the money while he stays home to do what? Witness his child taking its first steps? I've seen people walk before and, frankly, babies aren't that good at it. Men want paperwork; we want a grinding commute to sit in a cubicle all day long, taking crap from that jerkoff Rick. Luckily, Venker see a way to liberate women <i>and</i> men from these liberate women: all that ladies have to do is [Venkman again] <iq>surrender to their nature -- their femininity -- and let men surrender to theirs. If they do, marriageable men will come out of the woodwork.</iq> Yes, just surrender, and those men will come out of the woodwork, like cockroaches in a darkened crab-shack. But ladies. Ladies, you can do more...by doing less. Maybe you could go without voting. Or stop talking...that's mysterious. I mean, what are you girls thinking? (bullet: <i>Am I in Saudi Arabia?</i>) I mean, follow Miss Venker's advice and you single gals will be able to live out every woman's wildest dream: marrying a man who doesn't want you to achieve anything. And, as a man, on behalf of women everywhere, thank you Susan Venker, I trust you will lead the charge by getting out of the writing business; clearly, it's not in your nature. And that's the word.</bq> The interview with Frank Oz in the same show was pretty funny, as was Colbert's portrayal of a Powerball winner squirrel-shaped pools at the top of show, so check out the <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/wed-november-28-2012-frank-oz">full episode</a> if that sounds good to you. Next up is an episode of the Daily Show featuring an interview with Neil Young (who is pretty good), but is preceded by two stellar segments: <ol> A monologue by Jon, exposing John McCain and Lindsey Graham's hypocrisy vis à vis their near-feral focus on Benghazi and their heaping of approbation on Susan Rice for it. Jon and his staff do a nice job digging up video to show the two senators supporting Condaleeza Rice in a similar situation---similar, except that Condaleeza actually knew she was wrong (and lied about it)---whereas it's perfectly plausible that Susan Rice was just wrong.<fn> ...and then a segment by Jason Jones<fn>---<i>Consultants without Bordersa</i>---about U.S. campaign advisors who go abroad to spread the love and bring the gift of the U.S. campaign style and advertising to other, more benighted countries. </ol> <media href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-november-28-2012-neil-young" caption="November 28, 2012 -- Neil Young" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:421593" width="512px" height="288px" class="frame" align="center" source="The Daily Show"> The main guy Jones interviews, Tad Devine, is so stunningly tone-deaf that it's hard to believe he wasn't in on the joke. A partial transcript follows. <bq><b>Tad:</b> You know, listen, every place is not like our country in terms of the stage of development of democracy. U.S. political consultants just have a lot more experience.</bq> He goes on to give an example of a case he worked on in Ireland where he found a link to the Playboy site from the opposition's web site ... and the opposition's last name was Rabbitte. Comedy gold! Democracy gold! Jason Jones responds: <iq>And just to think, that meaningless titty scandal might have gone un-utilized.</iq> Tad concurs with a lopsided, loopy grin. A little later, Jones asks him about another campagin, this one in Bolivia, where Tad helped elect a guy he describes as having a <iq>great mustache...and an awesome llama ad</iq>. He goes on: <bq><b>Tad:</b> Listen, it's very complicated there. And, unfortunately, after he was elected, there was insurrection---riots---in the streets. Ultimately, he was forced to resign. <b>Jason:</b> American-style democracy, undone by the will of the local people. <b>Tad:</b> It was a very difficult situation. <b>Jason:</b> How did you pick yourself up? <b>Tad:</b> You know...I went on to the next campaign. <b>Jason:</b> God bless you, sir. <b>Jason:</b> <i>(voiceover)</i> And their perseverance is rivaled only by their generosity. <b>Tad:</b> It's been great to travel to these places and work with people... <b>Jason:</b> And to do all this, without getting paid, it's just incredible... <b>Tad:</b> Well, I do get paid for it. <b>Jason:</b> Yes, but, less than you do here [America]. <b>Tad:</b> Sometimes I get paid less and sometimes I get paid more. <b>Jason:</b> Right, well, <i>financial compensation doesn't diminish the volunteer spirit.</i> (Emphasis added.) <b>Tad:</b> Well, I'm someone who enjoys the work and is happy to have the opportunity to do it. <b>Jason:</b> A hero. <b>Jason:</b> <i>(voiced over the graphic below)</i> They say that a hero can save us and, lucky for the rest of the world, we have plenty of those.</bq> <img src="{att_link}screen_shot_2012-12-02_at_12.05.37_pm.png" href="{att_link}screen_shot_2012-12-02_at_12.05.37_pm.png" align="center" class="frame" scale="50%"> And, finally, there is another Daily Show, with a John Hodgman segment (in his role as plutocrat) and an interview with the always-witty (and oh-so-dry) Calvin Trillin. A couple of bits of his wisdom and wit<fn>: <bq>[...] I think we think of something like [Trump running for President] the way that dentists think of tooth-decay: it's a pity, but where would business be without it.</bq> <bq>Calista Gingrich, aware that her husband has cheated on and then left two women with serious illnesses, tries to make light of a bad cough.</bq> <media href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-november-29-2012-calvin-trillin" caption="November 29, 2012 -- Calvin Trillin" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:421654" width="512px" height="288px" class="frame" align="center" source="The Daily Show"> Here's a partial transcript of the John Hodgman bit: <bq quote_style="none"> <b>Hodgman:</b> Now that you've reëlected Obama, I and the other deranged millionaires can no longer afford American workers' pricy demands. I mean, I hate to say it, but we might just have to start shipping jobs overseas. <b>Stewart:</b> What...start? Companies have been shipping jobs overseas for years now. That's not a... <b>Hodgman:</b> And I hate to say it, but once Obamacare kicks in, I just might have to technically make everyone a part-time employee in order to avoid having to pay their health insurance. <b>Stewart:</b> That's a pretty standard corporate tactic, for years now, believe me, I know, I'm at Viacom, that's all they do, throw people [makes shuffling motions with hands] <b>Hodgman:</b> Well, and no matter how hard you work, I might just have to keep your wages stagnant. <b>Stewart:</b> That's already the case! ... John, all these threats that you and your fellow CEOs have been making are really exactly what these CEOs have already been doing for thirty years now. What's the difference? <b>Hodgman:</b> The difference? Well...<b>we used to be motivated by profit; now, we're doing it out of spite.</b> (Emphasis added.)</bq> <hr> <ft>It's adorable how no one actually criticizes Susan Rice for her actual deficiencies: her unswerving support for Israel and her appalling reaction to the latest attacks on Palestine. She is extremely belligerent and is a potentially more jingoist Secretary of State than even Hillary Clinton (hard as that is to believe). There is also news that she is heavily invested in oil companies (to the tune of millions---she's not a poor woman) and will move to green-light the Keystone pipeline as quickly as possible.</ft> <ft>Spoiler alert: amazingly enough, Jones keeps his pants on throughout.</ft> <ft>Trillin's wit is quite evocative of the style of Mark Twain; I'm 2/3 of the way through <i>The Innocents Abroad</i> and Twain was an utter <i>master</i> of sarcasm and biting wit.</ft>