Tag Archives: Government

~ pop culture

Goodbye, Colbert Report


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On Its Final Day, Remembering Some Of The Colbert Report’s Best

The final episode of “The Colbert Report” airs tonight, as its host Stephen Colbert moves on to succeed David Letterman as the new late night host on CBS. In the move, Colbert is retiring the hilarious, ridiculous, and lovable conservative pundit that hosted his show. In his honor, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite Colbert moments:

  • The Colbert Super PAC, “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” In one of the best examples of the comedian’s humor to actually educate people about an important civic issue, Colbert’s efforts earned him a Peabody award, over $1 million in donations, and some pretty hilarious bits.
  • When Colbert interviews Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem about their new feminist radio station — while the three of them make an apple pie.
  • Former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl landed himself in some hot water after saying that abortion services are “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.” Abortion is actually just 3 percent of Planned Parenthood services, and when Kyl was corrected a spokesman said the Senator’s comment was “not intended to be a factual statement.” Enter Colbert.
  • Pretty much any time Colbert went head-to-head with Bill O’Reilly.
  • Colbert’s Congressional testimony — in character — about the plight of migrant farm workers. “I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, sliced by a Guatemalan . . . and served in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”
  • After Daft Punk cancelled their appearance on the Report, Stephen gathered some of his friends — including Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Fallon — to do their own rendition of the musical group’s summer hit, ‘Get Lucky.’
  • Any of Colbert’s “Better Know A District” segments — but perhaps most importantly when Nancy Pelosi rode a BMX bike.
  • Colbert’s appearance as the host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2006: “To sit here at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush. To be this close to the man! I feel like I’m dreaming. Somebody pinch me. Actually, I’m a pretty sound sleeper, that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.”
  • That time when Colbert and Jon Stewart staged the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
  • Colbert’s moving, tearful tribute to his late mother. The comedian knew how to be serious, too.

Thanks for nine years of giving us the most low-class, bloviating, hypocritical, obnoxious, arrogant — and all-around amazing — coverage of important progressive issues and so much more. We don’t know what to expect from the new show, but we aren’t expecting anything less.

PS: Want a taste of what Colbert is like out of character? Here he is talking to the Yale Daily News, with Yale student and former CAP Action intern Cody Pomeranz as the interviewer!

~ pop culture, ~ Youtube ...gotta listen to this

Clean Bandit … Stronger


http://youtu.be/ySzTUzbpZg4?

~ pop culture, ~ Youtube ...gotta listen to this

Clean Bandit … dust clears


~ pop culture, ~ Youtube ...gotta listen to this

Clean Bandit – Heart on Fire [Official Lyrics Video] Elisabeth Troy


~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org … What happened yesterday


 To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email.
If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.ColorOfChange IMageWe can’t afford to stop fighting. Sustain racial justice organizing with a $3 monthly pledge to ColorOfChange.

Contribute

 

To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, we will see a change in Congress that signals deep challenges for our families and communities.

Over the coming weeks and months, analysts will have much to say about the role that Black voters played in this election. Already we know that across the country, Black voters defied expectations and turned out at rates higher than in 2010 despite continued attempts by the right wing to suppress our votes.

And, unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t enough for Kay Hagan (D-NC) who lost a must-win Senate seat to Thom Tillis (R-NC) by a razor thin margin — while our communities faced the most aggressive voter suppression laws passed in the country since the Voting Rights Act. It wasn’t enough in Georgia, either, as we watched Michelle Nunn (D-GA) concede while thousands of voter registration forms remained unprocessed. And it certainly wasn’t enough in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Democratic challenger wouldn’t even admit to voting for President Obama.

As a movement, we’ve got a lot to figure out; a lot more work to do to hold the people in power accountable.

I know this much: an America in which candidates are afraid or unwilling to speak directly to Black voters about the issues that matter to us is an unacceptable, insufferable status quo; an America where politicians ignore police violence and support a broken criminal justice system, prioritize corporate interests over community values and fight to make it harder for us to vote is intolerable.

If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.

Will you help sustain this movement with a $3 monthly contribution?

Obscured by the larger national picture, yesterday had some meaningful victories which demonstrate the strength of our movement. Californians passed Proposition 47 which will force the state to change course from four-decades of misguided, incarceration-only policies which have destabilized Black families and drained resources from Black communities.

Massachusetts passed a bill providing for earned sick time that will relieve working folks of having to choose between their job and the health of their families. Additionally, voters in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska passing ballot measures to increase the minimum wage shows that there is a groundswell of popular support for issues of economic equality but candidates must exhibit political courage to move this agenda forward.

And despite the Republican takeover, the 114th Congress will have more Black members than at any time in history.

With announcements coming soon about the indictments of the officers responsible for murdering Mike Brown and Eric Garner our movement has never been more important. We can’t afford to stop fighting.

Yes — I will make a $3 monthly pledge to stand with ColorOfChange and continue holding politicians accountable.

Thanks and peace,

Rashad