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This is even better if you imagine it happened this year instead of 2019.

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This is insane. Why are we not supporting these law enforcement officers?

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From Andy Borowitz:

When George W. Bush launched his War on Terror, I noted that it was the first time in history that someone had declared war on a human emotion. If Bush defeated terror, I wondered, what was next—shyness?

Now Donald Trump has declared a War on Laughter, and I suspect it will be every bit as successful as Bush’s crusade.

Trump’s fear of being laughed at is nothing short of pathological. For years he’s been a crybaby about his portrayal on “Saturday NightLive.” And it was Barack Obama’s mockery of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner that reportedly impelled him to run for president. (Thanks, Obama.)

Like everything else rattling around in the commodious cavern of Trump’s brain, his fear of ridicule is unoriginal: he shares it with pretty much every dictator in the world. You might have noticed, for example, that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.

The autocrats’ anxiety is entirely justified. Comedy is their kryptonite. They rule by intimidation, and when we laugh at them, their power to scare us evaporates. As Mark Twain wrote in The Mysterious Stranger, “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”

Which brings me to Trump’s latest target in his War on Laughter: Stephen Colbert.

Earlier this week, Colbert roasted the quislings at CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for donating $16 million to Trump’s presidential library to settle a risible lawsuit he filed against them. Given that Shari Redstone, Paramount’s biggest shareholder since the death of her icky father, is desperate to keep the government from scuttling a merger that will make her even richer, Colbert was justified in calling the payment a “big fat bribe.”

Yesterday, Trump’s proxies at CBS dutifully canceled Colbert, issuing the following statement: "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."

No offense to Colbert, but the funniest comedian at CBS is whoever wrote that statement. They might be the most hilarious words ever typed, with the possible exception of the phrase “Trump’s presidential library.”

I seriously doubt this is the last we’ll hear from the indefatigably creative Colbert, who will likely move to a new platform where he’ll enjoy more freedom and financial success than he had at CBS.

And as for Trump, he might think he’s winning the War on Laughter—but much like George W. Bush, he’s going to discover that his mission is far from accomplished. He can cancel all the comedians he wants, but he will never make us stop laughing at him.

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According to Stats for Spotify, here’s what my first six months of 2025 looked like. The family watched "The Greatest Showman" for the first time and we've all been listening to the soundtrack on repeat, which is why six of the top 10 songs are from that movie. And why I feel the need to include an 11th ranked song -- because that one is so good and would have been in my personal top 10 had "The Greatest Showman" not taken over the request hotline.

In the past six months, I also saw Shovels & Rope, James Felice, and Nada Surf in concert, which buoyed my desire to listen to them recently.

Numbers in parenthesis indicate how many times a song/artist has been included on the six-month list.

Songs:

“Starburster” by Fontaines D.C.

“The Greatest Show" by Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron, Zendaya, The Greatest Showman Ensemble

“In ár gCroíthe go deo" by Fontaines D.C.

“The Other Side” by Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron

“A Million Dreams" by Ziv Zaifman, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams

“yes! yes! a thousand times yes!” by Home Is Where

“This is Me" by Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble

“A Million Dreams (Reprise)" by Austyn Johnson, Cameron Seely, Hugh Jackman

“Something is Working” by Shovels & Rope

“Come Alive" by Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Daniel Everidge, Zendaya, The Greatest Showman Ensemble

"The Giantess" by James Felice

Artists:

Fontaines D.C.

Shovels & Rope

Manchester Orchestra (4)

Our Lady Peace

Laufey (3)

Foxing (4)

Nada Surf

Touche Amore (4)

Hans Zimmer (3)

Hugh Jackman (lol)

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FUMBLE!

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Bruce Eric Kaplan for the New York Times

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Amateur hour.

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Still relevant…

The final debate

CLINTON: Well, that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States. TRUMP: No puppet. No puppet. CLINTON: And it’s pretty clear… TRUMP: You’re the puppet! CLINTON: It’s pretty clear you won’t admit… TRUMP: No, you’re the puppet. CLINTON: … that the Russians have engaged in cyberattacks against the United States of America, that you encouraged espionage against our people, that you are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do, and that you continue to get help from him, because he has a very clear favorite in this race. So I think that this is such an unprecedented situation. We’ve never had a foreign government trying to interfere in our election. We have 17 — 17 intelligence agencies, civilian and military, who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyberattacks, come from the highest levels of the Kremlin and they are designed to influence our election. I find that deeply disturbing. WALLACE: Secretary Clinton… CLINTON: And I think it’s time you take a stand… TRUMP: She has no idea whether it’s Russia, China, or anybody else. CLINTON: I am not quoting myself. TRUMP: She has no idea. CLINTON: I am quoting 17… TRUMP: Hillary, you have no idea. CLINTON: … 17 intelligence — do you doubt 17 military and civilian… TRUMP: And our country has no idea. CLINTON: … agencies. TRUMP: Yeah, I doubt it. I doubt it. CLINTON: Well, he’d rather believe Vladimir Putin than the military and civilian intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect us. I find that just absolutely… (CROSSTALK) TRUMP: She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.

- October 19th, 2016

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9ed8e6397c4f