Trends

June 13th, 2073

REPORTER:  Yes as you can see I’m here at the site of the statue to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., in the state capital, where protesters are forming a crowd around the pedestal.  Here we are, beg your pardon—yes, you there, tell us about your protest?

Donald Trump as Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes

Mashable explains the concept of “Donald and Hobbes”, a Reddit page dedicated to contributors’ incisive and humorous Photoshops of Donald Trump as Calvin in Calvin & Hobbes.

Many of them are surprisingly apt (and many of the rest are still pretty funny).  There’s even one where he asks a Ouija board whether he’ll be president one day:

Imperial Candidate Donald Trump

“Trump: I will mandate death penalty for killing police officers”

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to issue an executive order to mandate the death penalty for anyone who kills a police officer.

I’m not even sure I disagree at all with the policy as policy, but…

Proposed future headlines:

“Trump: I will mandate judges make good decisions”
Trump vowed to make a “strong statement” with an executive order if elected.

What I Heard: American President Goes to Mexico, Tells Them to Loosen Their Already Generous Laws

President Bush spoke of the need for Mexican regulatory reform on a two-day visit to business-friendly Nuevo León, saying those who reject minimal taxation and a further rollback of environmental and safety regulations will ultimately be proven wrong.

“We want to be a factor of cohesion, not division, with full respect for the sovereignty of Mexico,” President Bush said Monday. “This, at the end, is about — and only about — a matter of fairness for those who contribute so much to the development of the Mexican economy.”

A Conservative Antidote to Doonesbury

Via Liberty Island, Right-wing Riot has an interesting idea:  Take real Doonesbury strips (the comics written and drawn by liberal great Gary Trudeau for the last half century or so) and replace a fraction of the words with satirical conservative content.  (The replacements are clearly indicated in red text.)

Things You Hear on NPR: Conservatism Is Racist

Last fall, partly as a show of good faith, I promised to listen to NPR every other day (on odd-numbered days).  (Of course I think you should make sure to get a balanced diet including at least some conservative media as well, lest you unwittingly allow yourself to sit in a self-reinforcing bubble of liberal prejudices.)

I have done so.  I don’t have much time to listen to NPR (any more than I do to listen to conservative and Christian talk radio), but I now get a significant part of my news from NPR (and the BBC, and Public Radio International, and American Public Media, and whatever else comes across the local NPR station), as I did in high school.

Communist News Site Relays Onion Piece as Straight News

Via Facebook friends, National Review Online, and everyone else,

The People’s Daily Online, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party, has fallen for a satirical article in the Onion proclaiming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the “Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.” The report credulously quotes the Onion’s endorsement . . . .

The People’s Daily piece has since been taken down.  Oops!  How embarrassing.

Also covered by the Blaze.

‘FAQ on Christianity’

Frank Fleming at PJ Media offers a satirical FAQ about Christianity.  Sample:

How long have Christians been around?

While many people see Christians as a brand new and quite scary thing, records show Christians have been around since at least the 1950s, and maybe even much earlier.

. . .

So they’re like hipsters?

Yes, except everything they do is unironic.

Fleming reminds me a little bit of Dave Barry.

More Creative Ways to Support Obama 2012

We already knew that Barack Obama was a full-time campaigner (with a side job as president, when he can fit it in), but this is novel:  The Obama campaign now recommends that you register your wedding with them—that you actually ask your wedding guests to donate to Obama’s re-election effort (i.e., to fund ads smearing Romney?) in lieu of gifts—explaining that four more years would be “a gift that we can all appreciate”!