John Oliver (of The Daily Show and The Bugle Podcast) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, talking about Twitter and strange findings on the internet.

Open thread below...

Jon Stewart featured a great segment last night on "The Apparent Trap" that Republicans like John Boehner fear if they walk into President Spider-Man's Obama's lair to talk over health care.

As a bonus, this clip also has a hilarious report from John Oliver about how Republicans' message of bashing public health care goes over with Hawaiians -- who have such a program in place statewide. It has a precious moment when a Republican woman babbles something about "He who pays the piper calls the tune." As Oliver says: "What?!!?"

DOWNLOADS: (4075)

PLAYS: (15490)

Embed

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart got the official word in the origins of the swine-flu outbreak from John Oliver, reporting from the Centers For Disease Control, and Jason Jones, reporting from the Centers For Stuff I Heard From Some Guy:

Stewart: What have you been hearing at your center?

Jones: All kinds of things. OK, A: This disease was engineered by the government as an excuse to declare martial law, so that B: They can liquidate private health-insurance coverage.

Stewart: Yeah, that sounds a little farfetched there, Jason.

Jones: Well, then why is the government hoarding all the Tamiflu for themselves, their families, and disgraced Wall Street tycoons?

Stewart: Where did you hear that?

Jones: [pause] ... Some guy.

Stewart: Do you have a second source?

Jones: What, you mean another guy?

Oliver: Jon, Jon, Jon! You know this is preposterous. This is a naturally occurring mutation that has so far traveled a pathogenic route --

Jones: Can it, Science Boy! While you babble, Americans are being infected by the millions!

Oliver: Not true --

Jones: The entire state of Arizona is dead!

The problem that Daily Show writers must face each day is that their routines often mimic the real behavior of the wingnuts on the right.

The Daily Show's John Oliver went to a Barack Obama and a Sarah Palin rally and found that Americans are more unified than we're led to believe: We're all scared sh%#less.

From the BBC improv show "Mock the Week." Yes, that is The Daily Show's John Oliver delivering the good ones.

Open Thread below... Continue your debate discussion here as well...

But as close as we're going to get for a while.

(Thanks to Nate for the tip to this dKos diary)

The Gothamist interviewed The Daily Show's John Oliver on his feelings about the strike:

Someone from the WGA, I think it was the president, said the strike could go on for nine months. I did not hear that. To be honest I find brinksmanship like that difficult to stomach and it makes both sides sound equally bad. They're playing games with people's lives at the moment, and I'm not even talking about the writers. On The Daily Show we have a staff who are very concerned at the moment about losing their jobs - researchers, P.A.s, etc. - and I find talk like that quite difficult to stomach. I understand they're trying to play some kind of brinksmanship game but that doesn't make it any less difficult to hear when friends of mine who live paycheck to paycheck are being seriously affected by this strike. And they don't even stand to benefit from any of the negotiations!

I have some friends who are familiar with the negotiations--or lack thereof-- and they've been telling me that the companies may not feel compelled to negotiate in good faith until January or February, when their original content will be used up. United Hollywood has more videos as well as ideas on how you can show your support...