SNL: Ben Carson and Trump; Bernie Sanders (Larry David)

Saturday Night Live kicked off a fairly terrific episode this weekend with a faux CNN news report, announcing Ben Carson's (in likely Jay Pharaoh's last impression of him) endorsement of Donald Trump. This is mixed with the latest appearance of Larry David as Bernie Sanders. Lots of good stuff in here.

David Ippolito's Tom Cruise Scares Me Updated for 2016

I haven't checked in with David Ippolito, "That Guitar Man from Central Park" in a while, but I hoped he had a new version of Tom Cruise Scares Me up for the 2016 election. He didn't disappoint. Well, not much. Ippolito is a Bernie Sanders supporter (not that there's anything wrong with that), and his update takes a shot at Hillary Clinton. But let me reiterate, that though Clinton is my preferred candidate, I'll happily support Bernie if he winds the nomination, and that all of the candidates on both sides "scare me" to one degree or another. But Bernie or Hillary much less so than anyone running on the Republican side.

Dr. Ben Carson Causes Pile-up, Confusion at GOP Debate

Hilarious.

SNL: Skewers FOX "News," Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Chris Christie

Funny stuff. The only problem is, Taran Killam is far too attractive (and not nearly creepy enough) to play Ted Cruz effectively.

SNL: George W. Bush Throws His Hat into 2016 GOP Race

Why not? Strategery!

SNL: FOX & Friends on Syrian Refugees

Saturday Night Live's spoofs of the oddly named FOX & Friends show are generally a highlight for me, mostly because it's amazing they can make that show seem any more ridiculous. Saturday's edition was no exception, though I missed the "corrections" they usually run. The Debbie Wasserman-Schultz bit didn't amuse me, because it doesn't ring true, but the Ben Carson stuff is gold.

SNL: Young Ben Carson

After a lackluster, politics-heavy Donald Trump episode last week, this weekend's Saturday Night Live (this time hosted by Elizabeth Banks) mostly backed away from political sketches. But one (save the somber cold opening by Cecily Strong, quietly acknowledging the Paris attacks) skewered Ben Carson pretty thoroughly. And--bonus!--it was funny!

The Ben Carson West Point Story, Fact or Fiction?

Image from source, Esquire

I love deductive reasoning, puzzle games, investigative journalism, forensic evidence gathering, the lot. If the CBS slate of programming can be used as evidence, most Americans do as well. But it doesn't seem to be applied to much more than procedural dramas, certainly not much in real life.

That's why I love it when someone actually puts brain to task, and puzzles out, what is true and what is not true in a given story. You get at that by finding out what can't possibly be true, what is undeniably true, and then fitting in the plausible connective tissue, and disregard the fantastic and the dubious. When this is done, the Ben Carson West Point story comes down to this: Ben Carson lied.

Did Politico do a bit of shoddy journalism? Looks that way. But they weren't wrong.

Don't believe me (ahem, Dan)? Check it out.

[Excerpt]

Ben Carson Debunked: Inside His Made-Up West Point Story

Let's re-cap what has happened in the last few days since that first explosive story came out in Politico…and was observed here by our own Charlie Pierce on Friday. To wit, the Tale of Cadet Ben Carson. On Friday, Politico posted a sensational, but sadly incomplete, evaluation of some of Dr. Carson's claims about his past. Specifically their story asserted that Carson had not been given a "scholarship" to West Point, as he claimed in his book(s) and in multiple accounts of his past in speeches and interviews since 1990, when his first co-written autobiography appeared. . .

Read more at: Esquire

Right Wing World: Ben Carson Caught an Unspinnable Lie, Now What?

Ben Carson has told a series of whoppers that had little effect on his sudden rise past longtime, improbable juggernaut Donald Trump. But just as Trump could seemingly say or do nothing to dent his support, Carson shrugged most of them off, in that borderline narcoleptic way he's got. The base didn't care. But this latest one? They care. I checked.

Some choice quotes from FreeRepublic.com, Right Wing World's bell weather.

 

"This is the end for Carson. Where will his white guilt GOP supporters go?"

 

"This ones bad for Carson... We have 'rights' to our own opinions, but NOT to 'our own' facts."

"This will be his undoing."

 

Image from source, Poltico

"You lie, you wither and die. Bye bye Ben."

Before you give them too much credit, realize that it's not the fact that he lied, so much. He's done that before. It's that he lied about a core section of his biography. And there wasn't a nifty way to spin it.

Now, the question is, who will reap the spoils? Back to Trump, or onto the next hot thing?

[Excerpt]
 
Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship
 
Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. . .

Read more at: Politico

SNL: 2016 Republicans!

Funny. Though arguably, with so much to work with, could have been even funnier.

2016 Clown Car Update: Ben Carson Climbs In

While the 2016 edition of the GOP Presidential Clown Car is certainly as feature-rich as the previous models, I can't decide if it is as entertaining. Ben Carson adds a little bit of diversity, not only by his distinctly different hue, but for his background. Yes, I know that Rand Paul is sort of a doctor, but not a real one (unless you buy his self-accreditation). Carson, though, is a surgeon. That's impressive.

 

But, I was taught that "book smarts" don't always equal practical smarts. From what I've seen, Carson is kind of scattershot in that regard. He's not completely wrong on everything. He's really bad at analogies. He's got a few very conservative social stances, and yet seems to support dying with dignity (which would go against the Schiavo "pro-life-at-all-costs" contingent). I doubt he's as sanctimonious as a Huckabee, as off-the-wall as Herman Cain or as bananas as Sarah Palin. But he might give this rolling side show a little flavor.

[Excerpt]

 

Detroit native Ben Carson set to announce presidential run
 

Dr. Ben Carson is choosing Detroit for a little prayer and politicking today — with a schedule that includes a prayer breakfast with city pastors, an assembly at the Detroit high school that bears his name and the official launch of his presidential campaign. . .

 

Read more at: Detroit Free Press