I think it's incredibly healthy for a society when "fake" news programs become real and "real" news programs become fake.

At least this way, we get to laugh at the things that are destroying our entire planet, instead of, you know, actually rising up and gathering in the nation's capital en masse, by the millions, in order to effectuate true, peaceful change in the workings of the world. Maybe this is because we'd rather die with smiles on our faces, not frowns.

Not only do we get to do what we're told, we get to do what we're sold. We're Americans - we are pros at playing the part of the mindless consumer. It's what we've been conditioned to do for over a century now, so why shouldn't we be good at it?

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Dark Comedy at its best: sad and funny at the same time.

Bring 'em home. Now.

pissed off patricia @ 5:

Humor is about the only thing keeping many of us sane right now.

Are you calling us sane now? I'm not sane anymore - for the last 7 years. ;)

ralph @ 7:

If Iraq is like Indiana why don't we send troops there?

It's too close to DC.

wonder if the soldiers are even allowed to see these clips?

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...to add, it's like they're using Iraq to get ratings. Again, there is no other reason that he has to actually be there to do his shtick -- at least from what I see.

(And I love the Daily Show -- I'm no troll).
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Tony Snow:

I guess we'll never know the answer to your hypothesis until/unless we give that a try.

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance."

Tony Snow @ 15:

Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 2:

I think it's incredibly healthy for a society when "fake" news programs become real and "real" news programs become fake.

At least this way, we get to laugh at the things that are destroying our entire planet, instead of, you know, actually rising up and gathering in the nation's capital en masse, by the millions, in order to effectuate true, peaceful change in the workings of the world. ?

I don't think that millions of people marching onto the capital, especially a capital ruled by bloodthirsty people, would result in anything approaching "peace".

That's what THEY want you to believe. Cynicism is encouraged by the corporate elite. And I think Orwell... makes a good point. Millions of Americans will laugh at the situation but when it comes to doing something about it....

I had mixed feelings about this.
Did Riggle entertain the troops while he was there? I presume he's a comedian/actor. Was this for his resume? Or were they exploited for our humor?

Weaseldog @ 19:

Remember that Rob Riggle is part of the USO tour. So the Daily Show stuff is a sideline for him, while he is there.

This is for the troops, more than it is for the Daily Show viewers.

Ah, thanks for the explanation.

Slightly off-topic... I've been worrying over the convergence of events in Iraq. Bush's speech about killing fields, the upcoming coup, the real probability that we'll install a violent dictator... I think the speech was meant set off Republican talking points, for when the killing fields are repeated in Iraq.

We may soon be looking back at events like the Daily Show in Iraq, as the good old days.

So Al Franken shouldn't entertain troops in a "blood zone"?

hadenuf @ 26:

So Al Franken shouldn't entertain troops in a "blood zone"?

Al Franken doesn't do shticks for T.V. from Iraq.

Hey -- I'm all for entertaining the troops, but it's just kinda weird that he's doing this for cable-viewers at home as well.
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Bottom line: We live in the misery our Elite creates, then they provide us with ways to laugh at our misery, thereby relieving us of our desire to do something about our misery.

Baaah. Baaaaaah. Baaaah.

"If Iraq is like Indiana why don’t we send troops there?"

Because "Peace in the Midwest" just isn't as good of a campaign slogan.

Plus, our dictator is friendly with the Bush Administration (former budget director for W's OMB, I believe).

I can't think of a good reason for Riggle to not be there. Watching him show the frustration and holding politicians up to ridicule tripped a synapse. Not really in a bad way, but more of a this-is-very-surreal-and-we-would've-never-expected-the-world-to-look-like-this-8-years-ago way.
At least TDS, unlike the "real" news, actually sent someone with a military background.
Dildoes with balls attached.

gods bless the troops. Their deadpan responses made for some great comedy. I hope this visit by Riggle took their minds off their horrific jobs, at least for a short time.

hadenuf @ 20:

I had mixed feelings about this.
Did Riggle entertain the troops while he was there? I presume he's a comedian/actor. Was this for his resume? Or were they exploited for our humor?

Riggle was interviewed on NPR yesterday about this. He's a reserve marine. He was there as part of the USO tour, and the stuff done for the Daily Show was an afterthought. He was curious to talk to other soldiers to find out if what Pence had said (about Iraq being like Indiana) had made any impact on the soldiers from Indiana. It was for them to vent. And they were aware of Pence's comments and the stupidity of them, clearly.

He said he deliberately stayed away from any pro-Bush/con-Bush bits because he thought it was inappropriate under the circumstances. He just wanted to highlight the troops and what their actual daily lives and thoughts about them were like. He purposely often became the butt of his own jokes. And like all USO acts, his goal was to give the soldiers a diversion from the reality that they might die at any time--something he said they are all very well aware of and grateful to have momentarily lampooned. Sometimes laughing at your all-to-real circumstances is better than dwelling on them. Their comments, not mine.

From *his* comments, my sense is the soldiers do see the Daily Show and do know that he is someone who could, himself, be called to Iraq at any time. He has served in both Kosovo and Afghanistan.

RobertD @ 38:

hadenuf @ 20:

I had mixed feelings about this.
Did Riggle entertain the troops while he was there? I presume he's a comedian/actor. Was this for his resume? Or were they exploited for our humor?

Riggle was interviewed on NPR yesterday about this. He's a reserve marine. He was there as part of the USO tour, and the stuff done for the Daily Show was an afterthought. He was curious to talk to other soldiers to find out if what Pence had said (about Iraq being like Indiana) had made any impact on the soldiers from Indiana. It was for them to vent. And they were aware of Pence's comments and the stupidity of them, clearly.

He said he deliberately stayed away from any pro-Bush/con-Bush bits because he thought it was inappropriate under the circumstances. He just wanted to highlight the troops and what their actual daily lives and thoughts about them were like. He purposely often became the butt of his own jokes. And like all USO acts, his goal was to give the soldiers a diversion from the reality that they might die at any time--something he said they are all very well aware of and grateful to have momentarily lampooned. Sometimes laughing at your all-to-real circumstances is better than dwelling on them. Their comments, not mine.

From *his* comments, my sense is the soldiers do see the Daily Show and do know that he is someone who could, himself, be called to Iraq at any time. He has served in both Kosovo and Afghanistan.

The part in bold is an important point. He's "embedded" -- like the corporate media. No difference in these pieces. So he's a "diversion"? Why then does he need the T.V. camera? Entertain the troops...fine. But if you're going to water-down the truth and get ratings for simply "being in Iraq" -- then I think that goes against what the Daily Show is all about. This "diversionary" thing is an excuse (for the T.V. bits), in my opinion.

Lots of flies?

Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 16:

Tony Snow:

I guess we'll never know the answer to your hypothesis until/unless we give that a try.

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance."

Kind of like the guy with the kidney stone singing Give Pee a Chance.

Unfortunately for booshco peace is only the pause between conflicts to allow for reloading.

STOP George @ 40:

RobertD @ 38:

hadenuf @ 20:

I had mixed feelings about this.
Did Riggle entertain the troops while he was there? I presume he's a comedian/actor. Was this for his resume? Or were they exploited for our humor?

Riggle was interviewed on NPR yesterday about this. He's a reserve marine. He was there as part of the USO tour, and the stuff done for the Daily Show was an afterthought. He was curious to talk to other soldiers to find out if what Pence had said (about Iraq being like Indiana) had made any impact on the soldiers from Indiana. It was for them to vent. And they were aware of Pence's comments and the stupidity of them, clearly.

He said he deliberately stayed away from any pro-Bush/con-Bush bits because he thought it was inappropriate under the circumstances. He just wanted to highlight the troops and what their actual daily lives and thoughts about them were like. He purposely often became the butt of his own jokes. And like all USO acts, his goal was to give the soldiers a diversion from the reality that they might die at any time--something he said they are all very well aware of and grateful to have momentarily lampooned. Sometimes laughing at your all-to-real circumstances is better than dwelling on them. Their comments, not mine.

From *his* comments, my sense is the soldiers do see the Daily Show and do know that he is someone who could, himself, be called to Iraq at any time. He has served in both Kosovo and Afghanistan.

The part in bold is an important point. He's "embedded" -- like the corporate media. No difference in these pieces. So he's a "diversion"? Why then does he need the T.V. camera? Entertain the troops...fine. But if you're going to water-down the truth and get ratings for simply "being in Iraq" -- then I think that goes against what the Daily Show is all about. This "diversionary" thing is an excuse (for the T.V. bits), in my opinion.

This is satire. There are cameras to record it...sort of like when we'd prefer to have people testify before Congress with an official record kept. The Daily Show is trying to make a point to us at home--the soldiers were willing to help Riggle do that and got, perhaps, a little bit of humor out of it in return.

So maybe the part in bold is the important point.

Anyone from the TDS-If you happen to read this, thank Major Riggle for me. I never got sent to the sandbox, but have many brothers and sisters that are either there now, or have been during the course of this war.

Thank you for for providing an outlet for the troops to lampoon Pence and the rest of the bastards that promote rather than fight this war. Maybe this message will get to more of the non'ers that actually support this bullshit escapade. Let's bring them all back before one more human being is sacrificed upon the altar of this administration's greed and avarice.

Respectfully,
"FATSO"
USAF 99-05

If Riggle routinely goes to Iraq with the USO, why not have him doing reports from there? If I was a family member of one of these troops, I'd be thrilled for any opportunity to see my loved one even if it was only on a tv screen. Plus this probably attracted an audience that may not otherwise watch TDS and, since most of us here agree that this show is more informative than MSM news, what's not to like about that?

Riggle rocks

Orwell's Illegitimate Son @ 30:

Bottom line: We live in the misery our Elite creates, then they provide us with ways to laugh at our misery, thereby relieving us of our desire to do something about our misery.

Baaah. Baaaaaah. Baaaah.

Too simplistic. Throughout most of human history, the "elite" did not provide any ways to laugh at "misery". Nor is humor intended to keep the elite in power. There are plenty of other ways to maintain a regime. For example, next time you're in Zimbabwe, check out all of the ways to laugh at misery that the Mugabe regime offers.

re: STOP GEORGE at #39

I agree. Makes me uncomfortable to see these bits that are supposed to be funny if you are anti-war.

We want the war stopped. And everyday, some of these troops die and everyday Iraqis get blown up, shot and killed. Sometimes by us, sometimes by al qaeda, sometimes by their countrymen.

I doubt if anyone at TDS is pro-war, but to be embedded is to make the bits more friendly to those who support the war, and there is no way to laugh with pro-war people when there is this much death and human misery on the line.

Just my humble o.

that was fuckin hillarious..........REALLY......still LOL

mudshark @ 57:

Was this the one where he acts like Forrest Gump and starts talking about dildo's....ye got yer latex dildo's and yer black dildo's and yer white dildo's and yer pink dildos and yer soft dildo's and yer hard dildo's and yer looong dildo's and yer fat dildo's and yer battery operated dildo's and yer manual dildo's lets see....well....I'm gettin a little tired now.....I think I'll go home now....

sorry...I forgot the double ended dildo.....meanwhile.......back at the ranch in Crawford.......

I'm a born and bred Hoosier...and still live here in Indiana. I was offended and insulted by Rep. Mike Pence's asinine statement. Not all Hoosiers are Neocon/religious right/Bush fanatics.

I'm a big fan of the Daily Show, and a big fan of Rob Riggle. I was excited when he joined the DS cast.

He's segment on Iraq/Indiana was a work of art and did what I wished main street media had done; shown just how idiotic Mike Pence's statement really was!

Kudos to Rob Riggle for his work with the USO and his past service to this country. Kudos to the DS for the segments they did from Iraq. Not only was the Indiana segment funny and poignant but so was the one where American servicemen got to wish the Iraqi parliament a happy vacation.

sr

The Daily Show mocks stupidity - if only the MSM would at least note it.