Todd's Mischief Blog

Despite this being a piece of agitprop in favor of CFPB from prior to it's creation — and thus not very funny — it's still a great showcase of comedic talent that I want to talk about. I'm sure there are a lot of ideas about what makes a good celebrity impression. Certainly there are a lot of techniques. But if you ask me, a good impression is equal parts mocking and complimentary. It's a hyper-accurate portrayal of the person. Put another way, a good impression is neither fawning nor spiteful. Let's consider how each stacks up. We start with Armisen's Obama, which is incredibly bland. One might argue that Obama himself was bland and so the material just wasn't there. No. Playing Obama as simply dull is being gentle. A good impersonation would portray him as dull to the point of somnambulism. I'm gonna skip over  Michelle b/c she's basically a prop in this scene and I'm not as familiar with Rudolph's other portrayals of her. Next, in order of...

Distancing conservatism from “birthers” may not be as easy as it seems Trump is strutting like a peacock over the release of Obama’s long-form birth certificate. Not surprisingly, even this does not quell the birthers, as indicated by Trump’s promises to now investigate the document . So leave the kooks to themselves. For the rest of us, the issue is put to bed and we can all move on, right? Maybe not. Having the birth certificate released ought to make it easier for Republicans and Tea Partiers alike to distance themselves from the birther movement. As the 2012 presidential campaign season opens, it would be nice to focus on important issues like the economy, foreign affairs, and entitlements. But don’t be surprised if you hear charges of racism lobbed at the president’s political adversaries once more. Already, left-wing pundits say that it was racism in the Tea Party that gave rise to the birther movement. Even if they are willing to admit that birthers were a Clinton Machine creati...