SNL

March 10

Topic: Republican Primary- Newt Gingrich's, Rick Santorum's and Mitt Romney's present place within it

This episode of SNL focuses on a political issue that was very important in the recent past.  This issue was Rush Limbaugh's comments about a Georgetown law student being a slut and a prostitute.  This created many problems and even a trial that led to the Georgetown law student suing Rush Limbaugh.  The episode also discussed Newt Gingrich also referring to himself being a tortoise, "I take it one step at a time"  This statement was then turned around and the joke of course was made, "If you roll me on to my back I can never get up."  This comment is making fun of the fact that Newt Gingrich never had a chance once he began to fall behind Romney in the Primary.

The Daily Show

4/9/12

The White House celebrates Easter and Passover, Tim Weiner talks about the FBI, and The Best F#@king News Team Ever reports on the trial of the millennium.

The Daily show usually is more political oriented show than the Colbert Report.  Both shows are obviously focused on politics but the Daily Show generally allows a viewer to be more politically inclined.  A lot of the satire used is very dry but at times it became extremely embodied with enthusiasm.  The jokes that were made were directed at the Easter at the White House, the director of the FBI quitting with out giving a reason and Martin Luther King being honored as today's rockstar.  This was especially interesting because Martin Luther king is about ten times the person of almost any rockstar that has ever lived.  He helped abolish white supremacy.  To give him the title of a rockstar is actually pretty insulting. 

Colbert Report

April 12, 2012

Topic: Mitt Romney flips the "war on women" script with the help of Hilary Rosen, survivalist singles embrace online dating, and director James Cameron talks "Titanic 3D."

As usual this was a entertaining episode of The Colbert Report.  This is generally a more liberal based show which is a reason I tend to find it to be so funny.  Some of what stood out was the attention paid to Romney and his campaign which is something we have focused on frequently in class.  Specifically the "war on women."  Romney essentially blamed the "war on women" completely on Obama's economic policies saying that the majority of people who lost jobs during his presidency were primarily women.  Many jokes were thrown in there to make it more entertaining.  SOmething else that was discussed was Armageddon which might not have been quite as important to politics as the republican primary.  This really was just to increase the humor in the episode. 

Still want that Abortion?

 

Now this is a bit of an older issue but still one that is very important and frequently talked about.  This of course is abortion.  There seems to be primarily two dominant jokes in this illustration.  The first joke is poking fun at society as a whole in how we're are so enveloped in technology these days that an Ipad is being used as the screen for an ultrasound.  The key joke in this comic is the mandatory pregnancy ultrasound.  Many religious conservatives feel that it should be mandatory that all women who wish to have a pregnancy test are forced to have an ultrasound of their fetus and actually see the life like characteristics of it before they make the final decision.  

Just recently the conservative supreme court justices ruled in favor of strip searching 5-4.  This is what this cartoon is addressing.  It's a funny cartoon because of the image and it also says a lot.  What's important to note is of course the conservatives being completely invasive of this poor little man.  There are specifically 5 conservatives that are there that represent the five supreme court justices that ruled in favor of strip searches.  But what is also very significant are the Liberals behind them. They are supposed to be calling the conservatives out on their previous concerns of the government being to intrusive but they then allow this.  It is a valid point.  Strip searching in many situations is the definition of the intrusion of ones privacy. 

Hold on, let me blow the presidential election for Republicans

Now I know that Santorum has dropped out and this comic doesn't exactly relate to anything specific that is going on in the primary right now but I thought it was just too funny to not post.  Santorum tends to say some very interesting things.  One of which would be this quote: “You win by giving people a choice. You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there. If you’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.”  Rick Santorum speculates that Americans might be better off sticking with President Obama than replacing him with Romney.  So that is what this comic is addressing and it's done in a very humorous way.

Oh that's a good One

This is just a great comic.  It was done at the perfect time because it was obviously Easter this past week.  The issue of Mitt Romney having very little personality has been looming over his head from the start of the Republican Primary.  At this point in the election many Republicans are saying that's it's time to face the facts, Romney is going to win so it's time for the Republicans to fully support him.  The comic just made an awesome parallel between Mitt Romney and the chocolate bunnies one might get at Easter.  I personally found this hilarious because I can relate and the hollow bunnies are a bit disappointing.  Now to compare this to Mitt Romney and in a sense say he really only is a face and there's nothing under his skin is such a witty comparison. 

This really is an amusing comic.  There's not much depth to it but it's still very clever.  Evolution and creationism have always been topics of note especially with specific party affiliation.  Religious people tend to be more conservative so this comic is poking at conservatives for the most part.  The comic makes the joke that those who believe in creationism are the same people that actually have not evolved as much as others.  The artist uses the idea of evolution or lack of evolution to give the reason for people believing in creationism. 

Tres Mas

This comic is very self explanatory.  It shows Mitt Romney's hands shaking an etch-A-sketch which of course has a picture or Rick Santorum on it.  As Romney shakes the etch-A-sketch the image goes away.  This is very obviously signifying Santorum dropping out of the race.  It's interesting that the artist did choose to make Romney's hands holding the etch-A-sketch however.  It makes it seem like Mitt Romney is responsible for Santorum dropping out of the race which he actually indirectly is but it was still Santorum that made the decision.  It wasn't Romney that made that choice. 

This will only hurt a little

I like this cartoon a lot.  There really is a lot of meaning in this one picture.  There's Obama sitting in a doctors office symbolizing his health care plan, Obamacare, getting his reflexes checked.  His healthcare plan has recently been on trial so in the doctors office there are two judges with gavels getting ready to check the Reflexes of Obama. (Obamacare) The Liberal judge is tapping his knee with a small gavel similar to a the rubber hammer doctors use.  And the Conservative judge is about to smash Obama's knee with a gavel closer to a sledge hammer.  The message of this cartoon is to point out that Conservatives are trying to find flaws in Obamacare and really at any cost. 

Hold On Tight

 This is a fun comic to depict.  Initially, one might think that this is directly correlating to the republican primary in general.  However there's more to the photo than just that.  Rick Santorum at one point or another has talked of strapping his dog to the top of his car on a vacation.  This photo on the New Yorker then twists that idea and makes it so Mitt Romney has Santorum strapped to the top of his car like a dog.  The image can almost be looked at as Santorum is to his dog as Romney is to Santorum.

One or the Other

This is a hilarious comic that really makes a lot of sense.  It adds some humor to one of the largely talked about topics present in the Republican Primaries. Most conservatives are against the use of contraception such as birth control.  Most conservatives also dislike the idea of welfare.  Now "the PILL" is halting the birth of many children in an environment where they cannot be properly supported.  If the pill were to be taken away more of our tax payer dollars would be put towards welfare for the women who have the children and also the children themselves as they grow with little support.  So by conservatives opposing both welfare and contraception they are contradicting them selves in a way which was displayed here in a very comical manner.  

I like sunsets and long walks on the beach

This comic may look to be referencing the beginning of the republican primary race but when looking at it critically it can be inferred that it might be a microcosm for the race as a whole.  What's important to not of course are the flip flops that Mitt Romney is wearing at the starting block.  These shoes could have many different meanings.  One might look at this comic and say that the flip flops are referencing the frequent changing positions on social issues Romney has experienced in the past, hence "the flip-flops"  Another interpretation of these flip flops might be the extremely volatile public opinion towards the Republican candidates.  A different way of analyzing this might mean one to believe that the flip flops stand for Mitt Romney's inability to close out the race.  Flip flops obviously aren't good running shoes so there's a good chance they symbolize lack of closing ability.   

My ideals are People?!

This comic specifically focuses on two on the Republican candidates running in the Republican primary.  These would be Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.  They are both holding signs which symbolize some of their supposed core beliefs.  Mitt Romney is holding a sign saying "Corporations are People!"and Santorum is holding one saying "Embryos are People!" as they question whether this girl standing in front of them, who represents the middle class is a person at all.  The comic is meant to highlight the lack of interest these candidates supposedly have in the actual majority of the U.S. citizens and their zealous advocacy towards supporting big business and pro-life.  The rest of the comic isn't that important in terms of having much meaning, it's just the punchline of the strip. 

Finally Back Together Again

This really is a very funny comic.  The elephant of course represents the republican party where the religious man represents the church.  It shows them working together to keep a women from getting her birth control.  The women represents the general public that supports the use of contraceptives such as birth control.  This comic is significant because it shows the "republican party" and the "church" working together which in itself goes against separation of church and state.  It also has the elephant saying "I'm taking a well-deserved break from job creation"  which isn't exactly what the republican party is doing but many of the candidates are focusing on social issues such as the use of contraceptives more than the creation of jobs.