Speaking from experience, a major media corporation cancelled my contract for “financial reasons” in 2023—and that was the beginning of the most exciting chapter of my career, here with you wonderful people ❤️
Thank you Andy! Laughter is a powerful weapon and the best medicine for these times! It’s our brilliant satirists and comedians like Stephen Colbert and yourself who are on the front lines speaking truth to power! If Stephen is looking for a career change , he should take inspiration from Zelenskyy and run for President! 😂💕
Pradnya ~ can you imagine a whole administration and cabinet with folks such as Colbert, Borowitz, Stewart, Letterman, JoJo from Jerz (love her) etc. Intelligent, empathetic, humorous people who would do a damn fine job!
I beg to differ. They have better things to do with their time & energies. However, maybe they can sign on occasionally as paid consultants or speech writers.
or maybe offer a short-term administration, to transition back to reality and intelligence! A whole lot of people are going to need therapy to get back to normal after 45/47
He definitely outshines Donnie-bin-dozing, and his puppet master Putin. Ukraine has given Putin and the Russkies all they can handle. Maybe Putin and Donnie can both resign their presidencies and go to Epstein's island to spend the rest of their lives. NO boats or any kind of transportation off the island will be required. Allow Ukraine to lob a few drones at them a couple times a night.
Don't forget Kimmel, it's now up to him to keep it up. I would love to see Al Franken as a member of the new cabinet!! I'm afraid of the ultra-right wingers that own a lot of the ABC affiliates around the country will again try to get Kimmel off the air, it's up to public to fight back like they did last time.
And that is when I canceled my subscription to that major corporation’s publication, also for purely financial reasons: the money I had been paying them was re-directed to a Borowitz Report subscription.
I did the opposite. I signed up for a Paramount Plus promotion for one year, no commercials and only to watch Stephen Colbert's last year on CBS and help boost his ratings. I never watched anything else on Paramount Plus except several episodes of South Park. I was never a dogged fan of Colbert or any late night until they canceled his show. CBS canceling him prompted me to start watching him every night. Now I'm excited to see the places he'll go and hope he takes his staff and Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine with him.
There are 2 right winger owners of many ABC affiliates, Sinclair in my area, I'm afraid they will again try to get Kimmel canceled just like Colbert. Only after Disney has 1000's of subscribers cancel they re-instated Kimmel.
Their loss was our gain. You and HCR were my first two Substacks, and have kept me sane. Loved seeing my two heroes together a week or so ago! Speaking of comedy and humor, if I lose my sense of humor, next winter, leave me out on the ice. Pyongyang does not have a thriving comedy scene, hilarious. Take my dictator, please!
RR is good. Friends often share Robert Reich and Paul Krugman with me. Then I have a local journalist who just does it through email. I figure that is about all I can handle.
I've just send a message to watch Colbert's show tonight, "if only to boost the ratings" and to avoid CBS "...to take the ratings...and send a message".
I hope the whole cast forms a chain and throws a whole lot of CBS's furniture off the roof. Get an extra-large middle finger cake and have a blast throwing it over the ledge on the roof. Letterman would have a blast helping them!
Andy, thank you for being here, I really enjoy reading your posts, they make my day. I hope Colbert does something similar, he will be welcomed with open arms.
Touché Andy. Forget any dementia or similar diagnosis, it’s the honest truthful humor and satire that has/is driving the invertebrate thin skinned PedoFelon quisling insane. Bravo Stephen Colbert…David Letterman, Stewart, Kimmel, Myers, Oliver and of course, YOU 💙
Andy. I like the New Yorker. One of the reasons I read both the hard copy and on-line was you. Never understood what the canceled you. Do you even know?
Their loss....and the magazine is just not funny any more, or rarely. Cartoons mostly not. Self referential upper bourgeois writing mostly, too. Sometimes a great poem though, mostly not. Friend gifted it to me or I would not get.
And we love you for it Andy, note I just mentioned Lenny Bruce and George Carlin as a couple but not nearly all the comedians that took it rough and came out on the other side better than ever.
I have a Lenny Bruce magnet on my front door which says, 'Take away the right to say 'fuck' and you take away the right to say 'fuck the government.' It shares space with other irreverent comments from Gloria Steinem and Mark Twain.
“You might have noticed, for example, that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.”
I have to admit, I hadn’t noticed, but now that you mention it, besides its funny name, I don’t associate Pyongyang with humor of any kind. I suggest an Underground Railroad to rescue silenced, jobless political satirists struggling to survive within every dictatorship. If they aren’t all occupying jail cells or coffins already.
Your comparison to GWB’s war on terror is spot on. The USA is too GREAT for Trump to fathom that any of his attempts to dominate and destroy America individualism and our appetite for laughter will fail as well.
The only problem with using big words is that trump and maga then do not get the satire at all, so they don’t understand that they’re being laughed at.
I want them to feel the humiliation! My new but very muscular sense of schadenfreude needs to see trump and the inexplicable maga diehards humiliated. A LOT.
I'm not sure they are astute enough to understand being humiliated. Humiliation requires a modicum of sensitivity, which is sorely lacking. Trump sort of knew Obama was taunting him at the WH Correspondents Dinner, but probably because others in the room were roaring with laughter.
I wonder if humiliation for them might be not being the first to kick someone who is down, or to come in last at an endangered species shooting contest. Or perhaps finding out their online love interest, to whom they’ve revealed all their secrets, is actually a trans African American democrat with no pickup truck.
Trump may be angry at all these comedians, but you’re right: he doesn’t really get any of it. He reacts to the reactions.
Very very wise and astute interpretations of what could embarrass him. But I think he's so primitive and childlike in his responses that all he knows is that the laughter is laughter of ridicule and sheer delight at the opportunity to degrade and diminish his 'stature.' He wants so badly to be held in high esteem, admired, elevated and when he thinks he's not getting the applause and respect he feels he deserves, he throws a hissy fit, calls names, and seeks revenge.
I learned about ameliorating, as well as unfettered, copse, capitulate and recapitulate, as well as many other new words to add to my lexicon, as a high school senior from my English teacher, Frank Tufano.
When Dump visited Scotland, I learned what cockwomble and scunner meant, on top of being pleased to find out "orange cunt" was mutually translatable from English to Scots Gaelic.
I agree. Which is why he ejects correspondents from rooms, calls women 'piggy' and 'low IQ'. He's conspicuously and desperately in need of respect; i.e., when he quotes other people talking to him and includes their use of 'Sir'. He really gets off on 'Sir.'
Apparently the quickest way to get Donald Trump angry is not a constitutional crisis, criminal conviction, or corruption scandal — it’s someone telling a joke about him. Nothing bruises his ego faster than laughter.
I thought Trump was already the worst president in modern American history — a man who has repeatedly shown contempt for ethics, democratic norms, and the rule of law, while being protected by congressional Republicans and a conservative Supreme Court willing to look the other way. But this newest deal to hand over $1.7 billion of taxpayer money into what appears to be a virtually unchecked slush fund is one of the most disgusting examples of potential graft and corruption the public has ever witnessed.
Americans work hard and pay their taxes expecting that money to support the public good — not to create massive pools of money with little oversight, weak accountability, and enormous potential for political favoritism, insider dealing, and personal enrichment. When guardrails are stripped away and transparency disappears, corruption flourishes. And far too many people believe this administration has repeatedly treated public office as a business opportunity rather than a sacred public trust.
No president should ever be allowed to operate above the law or beyond meaningful oversight. If any other public official attempted something this blatant, there would be nonstop investigations, hearings, and demands for accountability. The American people deserve answers, transparency, and ironclad protections to ensure taxpayer dollars are never turned into a vehicle for political patronage or personal gain.
But I’m sure we’re all supposed to believe that a man who sells sneakers, watches, NFTs, Bibles, and gold-plated merchandise would never see a billion-dollar taxpayer fund as a business opportunity. What could possibly go wrong?
From his convictions on 34 felony counts to efforts that critics argue would shield himself and his family from scrutiny and tax review, many Americans see him as the most self-centered, divisive, and openly prejudiced individual ever to hold the office of president.
Then again, if he reads this, he’ll probably claim the real national emergency is that somebody made fun of him on the internet.
I agree with your post, Mike, but I think the the most egregious damage done is that tRump and his family are immune, for life, from IRS audits, etc. The money in his slush fund ("a little for you, a little for me") is peanuts compared to tRump never having to deal with IRS inquiries again. He must think he's so damn smart, sailing this one past HIS DOJ.
Well said. No worries, sadly he won't read this. I have to wonder if while in China, he was given tours of the factories that produced the above noted junk. Maybe tRump bobbleheads will appear soon, exempt from tariffs too!
Not to mention the American made cell phones his despicable sons said were coming to market. Many people put down $100 deposit for one. Where are they? In China!
I love the part about Trump, his family and his business won’t be able to access this slush fund. I predict a shit ton of applicants for compensation will be approved if agree to use their compensation to buy a pardon from Trump! The bigliest quid pro quo ever!
He said his fat friend is a very successful businessman. Is playing the role of Odd Job to Trump’s baby goldfingers qualify as a successful businessman?
<snort laugh> you gotta' point there, Paul . . . Cheung is just an odd job overall, but the word "successful" is never one I would use in the same sentence with Cheung's name.
Except the way Jabba the Trump lies, he probably was talking about Cheung. I can easily picture Trump telling Cheung the “Fat Drug” isn’t working for him. But has Cheung gone to London, where Trump said his friend could buy it cheaper?
Once again, you are right on target ! Trump has no moral compass and bankrupts everything he touches. Colbert will become an even bigger force as I hope he teams up again with John Stewart and pummels the Big Lying Trumpkin….
Independents in news and comedy have been beneficial industry disrupters and have completely changed the media landscape. Legacy outlets (which generations after the Boomers never watch anyway) nailed their own coffins! Colbert will find joy in whatever it is he decides to do.
And lest we forget Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a comedian in his early days and that may well be a reason he is a global hero these days! He is also a lawyer but we'll save that for another day!
Andy's comments triggered my brain to muse: I do not remember EVER seeing Trump laugh, I mean a real laugh not his fake grin of glee after making other people suffer. Has anyone out there ever seen Trump laugh ????
I think you're right about what he would laugh at. Re: Joy. I think of the joy my 2 dogs give me daily. I suppose Trump never had a pet when he was a child? Did Mary Trump cover that in her book? DJT probably can't take delight in a sunrise or a bit of Mother Nature that doesn't produce precious minerals, so he ravages our natural habitats.
Along with things never seen, when entering a room that he'd just left, in the late 1980's, folks were miffed because, being a germaphobe he wouldn't shake anyone's hand! When he entered politics I was amazed to see that he was now shaking hands.
Trump is a pathetic figure who's incapable of laughter, in addition to being massively insecure. His extreme narcissism is a manifestation of that in my opinion. (My success in freshman Psych enabled me to make that conclusion)
upon impeachment the nation will gather to dismantle anything he managed to construct. we will all have a laughing toy (a small plush pill shaped toy that when sqeezed laughs) playing this constantly will send him to the happy farm in a white jacket. purchase soon to be prepared !
Geezer, I hope they slow that ballroom down so he doesn't finish it. Unlike many people, I've been to the White House multiple times (on tours, I'm from northern Virginia) and am not actually against building one - something is actually needed, he's not completely wrong. My issue is that like everything else he does, his is tacky and it doesn't go with the rest of the building. I'd like to see that commission that sued him come up with some plans that actually suit the building.
Amen, amen!! As I contemplate the end of Colbert's show (which arrived sooner than I ever expected!), I realize how thoroughly I've depended on him to keep me sane, especially through the Pandemic and the horror show that's happening today. HIs articulate, humorous truth-telling, his graceful, knowing, and fond embrace of us all as just one person to another, had become my final evening go-to. He saw what we saw, served it up on wry, and in doing so, brought us together. Somehow he even made it funny --although his anger and grief are peeking through now, in these last moments. For years, it was always reassuring.
Of course he's not looking for work; I hear he's co-writing the next two Lord of the Rings movies, which is right in his wheelhouse, sci fi fan that he is. But whatever will I do now???
I also am going to miss him and hope he hurries back in front of the camera soon. In the meantime, aside from the other established stalwarts - Kimmel, Stewart, & co., Josh Johnson puts out a new video on YouTube every Tuesday. I find those helpful sanity aides.
Your piece this morning was better than a breakfast pastry. As I was reading it I couldn’t help but wonder why in the world you weren’t still writing at the New Yorker. And then it all sunk in. The “War on Laughter” is something they will never win.
I have a much larger audience now than I did at The New Yorker, and I can write things they would never publish in a million years. Colbert’s future is bright.
I also cancelled my subscription to the NY when you were removed. They still send me emails trying to woo me back, which will never happen. Thank you for providing us with our much needed daily dose of laughter, indeed the best medicine.
Speaking from experience, a major media corporation cancelled my contract for “financial reasons” in 2023—and that was the beginning of the most exciting chapter of my career, here with you wonderful people ❤️
Thank you Andy! Laughter is a powerful weapon and the best medicine for these times! It’s our brilliant satirists and comedians like Stephen Colbert and yourself who are on the front lines speaking truth to power! If Stephen is looking for a career change , he should take inspiration from Zelenskyy and run for President! 😂💕
Pradnya ~ can you imagine a whole administration and cabinet with folks such as Colbert, Borowitz, Stewart, Letterman, JoJo from Jerz (love her) etc. Intelligent, empathetic, humorous people who would do a damn fine job!
Annette, It would be Utopia ! 💕
I beg to differ. They have better things to do with their time & energies. However, maybe they can sign on occasionally as paid consultants or speech writers.
or maybe offer a short-term administration, to transition back to reality and intelligence! A whole lot of people are going to need therapy to get back to normal after 45/47
Not to mention shellfish.
brilliant Suzanne - thanks! 😘
Zelensky seems to be doing okay in Ukraine. I could use a cabinet full of Zelenskys!
Zelensky seems amazing--he gave a podcast interview w/ Alastair Campbell on Leading, and I was blown away at what a leader he is.
He definitely outshines Donnie-bin-dozing, and his puppet master Putin. Ukraine has given Putin and the Russkies all they can handle. Maybe Putin and Donnie can both resign their presidencies and go to Epstein's island to spend the rest of their lives. NO boats or any kind of transportation off the island will be required. Allow Ukraine to lob a few drones at them a couple times a night.
I need to find that interview.
Zelensky also did an interview with David Letterman in a Kiev subway tunnel. Look for it on YOUTube.
I agree - they wouldn't want the jobs, and they need to keep us sane.
<loud applause>
Chelsea Handler, Director of Homeland Hilarity!
Don't forget Kimmel, it's now up to him to keep it up. I would love to see Al Franken as a member of the new cabinet!! I'm afraid of the ultra-right wingers that own a lot of the ABC affiliates around the country will again try to get Kimmel off the air, it's up to public to fight back like they did last time.
What a dream!
what a dream 💓💓💓!!!
God, Annette, if only!!
And don't forget fluffy and George Lopez.
I xan, I can imagine it!c
Stranger things have happened indeed! But then Putin would declare war on him.
Keep on poking the un-bear-able! Humor is helping to keep us sane.
He can handle it
IMHO , Putin would not want to take on another intelligent, courageous and empathetic comedian!😉I think he’s met his match in Zelenskyy! ☺️
Not war. Putin would have him executed.
Putin can't last forever. Maybe one of those ex-KGB agents will turn on him, brush by him with a poisoned umbrella tip!
😂👌🏻
And that is when I canceled my subscription to that major corporation’s publication, also for purely financial reasons: the money I had been paying them was re-directed to a Borowitz Report subscription.
Me too!
Is me three a thing?
If made into a motion, I third it.
All in favor?
Definitely! I'm the third sister in my family, so "me three" is most definitely a thing.
Likewise here!
Al, Yes, of course it is!
good for you!
I did the opposite. I signed up for a Paramount Plus promotion for one year, no commercials and only to watch Stephen Colbert's last year on CBS and help boost his ratings. I never watched anything else on Paramount Plus except several episodes of South Park. I was never a dogged fan of Colbert or any late night until they canceled his show. CBS canceling him prompted me to start watching him every night. Now I'm excited to see the places he'll go and hope he takes his staff and Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine with him.
There are 2 right winger owners of many ABC affiliates, Sinclair in my area, I'm afraid they will again try to get Kimmel canceled just like Colbert. Only after Disney has 1000's of subscribers cancel they re-instated Kimmel.
As did I
From Netflix nausea to MUBi and ANDY. Yay
I worked a better deal. My brother and I wait for their annual promo. Get 1 subscription get one free. So we do. I also subscribed to Andy's substack
Wise use of their promotional attempts to up their numbers.
Ditto
I did the same
Me too!
Thank you so much for being here. Winning battle by battle in the laughter war.
This morning it was more truth than satire!
The Truth.
Their loss was our gain. You and HCR were my first two Substacks, and have kept me sane. Loved seeing my two heroes together a week or so ago! Speaking of comedy and humor, if I lose my sense of humor, next winter, leave me out on the ice. Pyongyang does not have a thriving comedy scene, hilarious. Take my dictator, please!
Heather Cox Richardson and Andy Borowitz were my first two Substack subscriptions too!
Mine too!!
Nadine, great minds think alike!
Agreed!
Wow! Me too - and Dave Barry, whose Substack I learned about from TBR!💕
Mine too!!
Me, too!
same here!! For me it was Borowitz and Robert Reich (local boy)
RR is good. Friends often share Robert Reich and Paul Krugman with me. Then I have a local journalist who just does it through email. I figure that is about all I can handle.
--and send him to the Catskills!
I vote for Guano Islands, he would fit right in.
I've just send a message to watch Colbert's show tonight, "if only to boost the ratings" and to avoid CBS "...to take the ratings...and send a message".
Yes, I've been watching evry night to boost ratings and send an FU to See BS. Other than that I boycott that now Pravda channel.
"See BS"...love it!
I hope the whole cast forms a chain and throws a whole lot of CBS's furniture off the roof. Get an extra-large middle finger cake and have a blast throwing it over the ledge on the roof. Letterman would have a blast helping them!
"Tank, not "take".
reminder: one can easily edit [your own comment] by "clicking" on the 3 dots on the far right side.
N.B.: this is the ONLY reason I would ever recommend going there. Except of course for Gary Larson.
LOL . . . I see what you did there!
(💕Ah, Gary! I miss him terribly!)
Andy, thank you for being here, I really enjoy reading your posts, they make my day. I hope Colbert does something similar, he will be welcomed with open arms.
Don’t ever leave!
Please.....never evereverever.
Touché Andy. Forget any dementia or similar diagnosis, it’s the honest truthful humor and satire that has/is driving the invertebrate thin skinned PedoFelon quisling insane. Bravo Stephen Colbert…David Letterman, Stewart, Kimmel, Myers, Oliver and of course, YOU 💙
And Andy we are happy you are here.
Andy. I like the New Yorker. One of the reasons I read both the hard copy and on-line was you. Never understood what the canceled you. Do you even know?
I was told what Colbert was told.
Their loss, our wonderful gain!
Hallelujah!
Ditto!
--and like See BS, (see Lee Roscoe's comment above) it was likely total B.S.!
Their loss....and the magazine is just not funny any more, or rarely. Cartoons mostly not. Self referential upper bourgeois writing mostly, too. Sometimes a great poem though, mostly not. Friend gifted it to me or I would not get.
And we love you for it Andy, note I just mentioned Lenny Bruce and George Carlin as a couple but not nearly all the comedians that took it rough and came out on the other side better than ever.
I’d give anything to hear Lenny Bruce address this president and the people who put
him in office!!!
And George Carlin as well, both of them talked about politicians with disdain.
He and Andy together-----what a wonderful event.
Oh really, Carol! Can't you just hear him? LOL
That would've been wonderful!
I have a Lenny Bruce magnet on my front door which says, 'Take away the right to say 'fuck' and you take away the right to say 'fuck the government.' It shares space with other irreverent comments from Gloria Steinem and Mark Twain.
“You might have noticed, for example, that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.”
I have to admit, I hadn’t noticed, but now that you mention it, besides its funny name, I don’t associate Pyongyang with humor of any kind. I suggest an Underground Railroad to rescue silenced, jobless political satirists struggling to survive within every dictatorship. If they aren’t all occupying jail cells or coffins already.
And we are ALL the better for your choices coming out of that craziness.
Their loss is our gain!
And we are the beneficiaries of that cancellation!
And we are very glad you are here Andy! Thank you for all of your humor, which helps get us through the day of this asinine regime!
Yes indeed. And we get vocabulary building along the way. Where else do we see commodious, quisling, and risible all in one post.
I’m glad you found that ameliorating!
I like icky, too.
Your comparison to GWB’s war on terror is spot on. The USA is too GREAT for Trump to fathom that any of his attempts to dominate and destroy America individualism and our appetite for laughter will fail as well.
The only problem with using big words is that trump and maga then do not get the satire at all, so they don’t understand that they’re being laughed at.
I want them to feel the humiliation! My new but very muscular sense of schadenfreude needs to see trump and the inexplicable maga diehards humiliated. A LOT.
to make matters worse for them, no one possesses a dictionary (or, as Jay Deviance calls it, the "big book of words")
😂
I'm not sure they are astute enough to understand being humiliated. Humiliation requires a modicum of sensitivity, which is sorely lacking. Trump sort of knew Obama was taunting him at the WH Correspondents Dinner, but probably because others in the room were roaring with laughter.
I wonder if humiliation for them might be not being the first to kick someone who is down, or to come in last at an endangered species shooting contest. Or perhaps finding out their online love interest, to whom they’ve revealed all their secrets, is actually a trans African American democrat with no pickup truck.
Trump may be angry at all these comedians, but you’re right: he doesn’t really get any of it. He reacts to the reactions.
Very very wise and astute interpretations of what could embarrass him. But I think he's so primitive and childlike in his responses that all he knows is that the laughter is laughter of ridicule and sheer delight at the opportunity to degrade and diminish his 'stature.' He wants so badly to be held in high esteem, admired, elevated and when he thinks he's not getting the applause and respect he feels he deserves, he throws a hissy fit, calls names, and seeks revenge.
Enjoy the schadenfreude--it's a wonderful pleasure when it is due to the evil behavior of obese, deranged, vain and ignorant people.
nut ;-}
And so beneficial to a rebarbative, coleric, even peremptory personage such
as I. It would be a misprision to suggest otherwise!
Exactly what I just meant.....ameliorate is so much better than 'better'.
Indubitably. 😉
I learned about ameliorating, as well as unfettered, copse, capitulate and recapitulate, as well as many other new words to add to my lexicon, as a high school senior from my English teacher, Frank Tufano.
LOL
When Dump visited Scotland, I learned what cockwomble and scunner meant, on top of being pleased to find out "orange cunt" was mutually translatable from English to Scots Gaelic.
<triple snort laugh (first ever)>
ROFL love it!!!
He is a real Scunt, even though hey not from Scunthorpe, England.
Be careful! Scunthorpe residents might sue!
LOL!
Don't forget indefatigably. I'm looking that up now!
excellent point, BL! I'm not only amused, but smarter, by being here!
Absolutely. Andy not only makes us laugh, he enhances our linguistic skills.
I can’t decide if it’s the laughter or the high IQ required to create good comedy that irks Trump more.
I think he hates it when people use words he does not understand. :)
ass-eh-toe-meeno-fen....
No one has better word mutilization than the 🍊💩
Mean you "mutilation"?
I think that’s why he’s been trying so hard to build a new, bigly lexicon of simple, often invented vocabulary words.
I agree. Which is why he ejects correspondents from rooms, calls women 'piggy' and 'low IQ'. He's conspicuously and desperately in need of respect; i.e., when he quotes other people talking to him and includes their use of 'Sir'. He really gets off on 'Sir.'
Trump probably adds “Sir” to the quotations he cites.
--when he can get off.....
Such accurate reporting from Stormy--and then the comments from his then-competitor Mario Rubio about his tiny hands.
That would be words.
It can’t be the high IQ; Trump is forever reminding us of his very high IQ.
High if one compares the Felon to a cestode worm.
I was thinking compared to a magat! (see what I did there?) :-D
The worm is smarter. But not from eating Trump's brain.
In fact, that same worm now has a calorie deficit!
Oh good one!!
Or a slime mold…but I think that one is neck and neck.
could it be that IQ could stand for "irritant quotient"?
super-duper definitely!
The higher the I.Q., the higher the A.Q (Arrogance and/or A-hole Quotient)!
I honestly don't think he has the brain power to ponder the difference.
Apparently the quickest way to get Donald Trump angry is not a constitutional crisis, criminal conviction, or corruption scandal — it’s someone telling a joke about him. Nothing bruises his ego faster than laughter.
I thought Trump was already the worst president in modern American history — a man who has repeatedly shown contempt for ethics, democratic norms, and the rule of law, while being protected by congressional Republicans and a conservative Supreme Court willing to look the other way. But this newest deal to hand over $1.7 billion of taxpayer money into what appears to be a virtually unchecked slush fund is one of the most disgusting examples of potential graft and corruption the public has ever witnessed.
Americans work hard and pay their taxes expecting that money to support the public good — not to create massive pools of money with little oversight, weak accountability, and enormous potential for political favoritism, insider dealing, and personal enrichment. When guardrails are stripped away and transparency disappears, corruption flourishes. And far too many people believe this administration has repeatedly treated public office as a business opportunity rather than a sacred public trust.
No president should ever be allowed to operate above the law or beyond meaningful oversight. If any other public official attempted something this blatant, there would be nonstop investigations, hearings, and demands for accountability. The American people deserve answers, transparency, and ironclad protections to ensure taxpayer dollars are never turned into a vehicle for political patronage or personal gain.
But I’m sure we’re all supposed to believe that a man who sells sneakers, watches, NFTs, Bibles, and gold-plated merchandise would never see a billion-dollar taxpayer fund as a business opportunity. What could possibly go wrong?
From his convictions on 34 felony counts to efforts that critics argue would shield himself and his family from scrutiny and tax review, many Americans see him as the most self-centered, divisive, and openly prejudiced individual ever to hold the office of president.
Then again, if he reads this, he’ll probably claim the real national emergency is that somebody made fun of him on the internet.
And yet thirty five per cent of Americans enthusiastically support him. There's the rub.
Clearly 35% of Americans are detached from reality…the definition of psychosis.
Their brains are rubbed out!
I agree with your post, Mike, but I think the the most egregious damage done is that tRump and his family are immune, for life, from IRS audits, etc. The money in his slush fund ("a little for you, a little for me") is peanuts compared to tRump never having to deal with IRS inquiries again. He must think he's so damn smart, sailing this one past HIS DOJ.
Only two things in life one has to do, die and pay taxes. That edict won't last after the pile of excrement has left the WH
Well said. No worries, sadly he won't read this. I have to wonder if while in China, he was given tours of the factories that produced the above noted junk. Maybe tRump bobbleheads will appear soon, exempt from tariffs too!
Not to mention the American made cell phones his despicable sons said were coming to market. Many people put down $100 deposit for one. Where are they? In China!
right next to the same models sold at Wal-Mart, for $130
But he saved so much money with Doge!
receipts, please
They were digital and accidentally erased! So sorry!
I'm sorry, Mike. He'd never get past the first
paragraph. It's the only one with his name in it.
I love the part about Trump, his family and his business won’t be able to access this slush fund. I predict a shit ton of applicants for compensation will be approved if agree to use their compensation to buy a pardon from Trump! The bigliest quid pro quo ever!
OUTSTANDING ASSESSMENT. Thank you, Mike.
Exactly! Colbert is for the long run; Drumpf is a dirty joke!
Rumps passing will be the laff heard 'round the world.
--along with giant sighs of relief!
Along with dancing in the streets!
I know happily who is going to have the last laugh! Thanks Stephen, we’ll see you soon!
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung posted: “Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power. F*ck around, find out.”
Cheung should, by now, realize that the real power lies with those who speak truth to dictators & liars & to all who laugh in agreement.
Steven Cheung — his pic is in the dictionary under “porcine,”
also "obsequious slob"
Steven has a potty mouth and should be put in time out . . . in Siberia. I wonder if he's the "fat friend" tRump talks about when mentioning GLP-1s
He said his fat friend is a very successful businessman. Is playing the role of Odd Job to Trump’s baby goldfingers qualify as a successful businessman?
<snort laugh> you gotta' point there, Paul . . . Cheung is just an odd job overall, but the word "successful" is never one I would use in the same sentence with Cheung's name.
Except the way Jabba the Trump lies, he probably was talking about Cheung. I can easily picture Trump telling Cheung the “Fat Drug” isn’t working for him. But has Cheung gone to London, where Trump said his friend could buy it cheaper?
only if he’s paid for two seats on the plane
He resembles Random Task in Austin Powers.
And OddJob in 'Goldfinger.' I wonder if he can hurl his hat.
He does make us hurl, and Trump is Fool‘s Goldfinger.
Yes Andy, laughter IS the best medicine. Thank you for your daily doses.
Andy - your tribute to laughter and Stephen Colbert is beautifully written. Thank you -
Once again, you are right on target ! Trump has no moral compass and bankrupts everything he touches. Colbert will become an even bigger force as I hope he teams up again with John Stewart and pummels the Big Lying Trumpkin….
He laughs best, who laughs last.
Independents in news and comedy have been beneficial industry disrupters and have completely changed the media landscape. Legacy outlets (which generations after the Boomers never watch anyway) nailed their own coffins! Colbert will find joy in whatever it is he decides to do.
And lest we forget Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a comedian in his early days and that may well be a reason he is a global hero these days! He is also a lawyer but we'll save that for another day!
Slava Ukraini
Always enjoyed Zelenskyy’s rare appearance on Jon Stewart’s show—smart, funny man!
!!! Didn't know he was on Stewart's show! Can we see them anywhere?
I have searched high and low! YouTube denies such an episode exists… It would have been in 2018, prior to Zelenskyy’s leap into politics in Ukraine.
Figures, doesn't it? I wonder if Stewart has control
over his old shows and would consider releasing it.
Andy's comments triggered my brain to muse: I do not remember EVER seeing Trump laugh, I mean a real laugh not his fake grin of glee after making other people suffer. Has anyone out there ever seen Trump laugh ????
and, Walter, you know if we did see it, it was because someone was ridiculed, injured or humiliated; tRump has never known real, true joy.
I think you're right about what he would laugh at. Re: Joy. I think of the joy my 2 dogs give me daily. I suppose Trump never had a pet when he was a child? Did Mary Trump cover that in her book? DJT probably can't take delight in a sunrise or a bit of Mother Nature that doesn't produce precious minerals, so he ravages our natural habitats.
right, Frances, I don't think even money gives him joy . . . because its an emotion that doesn't exist in his small, thoroughly inadequate brain.
He is not entitled to real true joy. Ever.
I once heard Carol Burnett make a very astute connection between intelligence and a sense of humor. Trump's not bright, so Trump doesn't laugh.
Along with things never seen, when entering a room that he'd just left, in the late 1980's, folks were miffed because, being a germaphobe he wouldn't shake anyone's hand! When he entered politics I was amazed to see that he was now shaking hands.
He may be shaking hands, but his body has responded by blooming all over with rashes no makeup can hide.
ewwwwwwwww
He must laugh when he looks in the mirror every day…am I right?
I have not. Good question.
Trump is a pathetic figure who's incapable of laughter, in addition to being massively insecure. His extreme narcissism is a manifestation of that in my opinion. (My success in freshman Psych enabled me to make that conclusion)
excellent post, Steve - I think you should use your success to evaluate the rest of the tRump Sh*t Show
No one has EVER seen him laugh.
There’s nothing bullies hate more than being laughed at. Trump slots into the category perfectly.
upon impeachment the nation will gather to dismantle anything he managed to construct. we will all have a laughing toy (a small plush pill shaped toy that when sqeezed laughs) playing this constantly will send him to the happy farm in a white jacket. purchase soon to be prepared !
Geezer, I hope they slow that ballroom down so he doesn't finish it. Unlike many people, I've been to the White House multiple times (on tours, I'm from northern Virginia) and am not actually against building one - something is actually needed, he's not completely wrong. My issue is that like everything else he does, his is tacky and it doesn't go with the rest of the building. I'd like to see that commission that sued him come up with some plans that actually suit the building.
Amen, amen!! As I contemplate the end of Colbert's show (which arrived sooner than I ever expected!), I realize how thoroughly I've depended on him to keep me sane, especially through the Pandemic and the horror show that's happening today. HIs articulate, humorous truth-telling, his graceful, knowing, and fond embrace of us all as just one person to another, had become my final evening go-to. He saw what we saw, served it up on wry, and in doing so, brought us together. Somehow he even made it funny --although his anger and grief are peeking through now, in these last moments. For years, it was always reassuring.
Of course he's not looking for work; I hear he's co-writing the next two Lord of the Rings movies, which is right in his wheelhouse, sci fi fan that he is. But whatever will I do now???
hold Andy and the TBR community tighter! :)
Watch Jimmy Kimmel
I guess I'll have to try, if they let HIM stay! Never liked him that much to stay up. ;-D alas.
I also am going to miss him and hope he hurries back in front of the camera soon. In the meantime, aside from the other established stalwarts - Kimmel, Stewart, & co., Josh Johnson puts out a new video on YouTube every Tuesday. I find those helpful sanity aides.
Write your own sci-fi project featuring an orange autocrat headed for a fall?
We've all seen that one, alas...
Your piece this morning was better than a breakfast pastry. As I was reading it I couldn’t help but wonder why in the world you weren’t still writing at the New Yorker. And then it all sunk in. The “War on Laughter” is something they will never win.
I have a much larger audience now than I did at The New Yorker, and I can write things they would never publish in a million years. Colbert’s future is bright.
I also cancelled my subscription to the NY when you were removed. They still send me emails trying to woo me back, which will never happen. Thank you for providing us with our much needed daily dose of laughter, indeed the best medicine.
New Yorker's loss--our gain. I know this is trite, but sometimes trite is also true.
Wendy..sometimes " trite " is just spot on !.👏👏
Thank you!
Less fattening too!