Bush Publishes ‘I Can Has Prezidensy’ (Borowitz Report)

Cover of George W. BushThe Borowitz Report has obtained an advance copy of former President George W. Bush’s memoir, entitled I Can Has Prezidensy.  Here are some highlights:

– The book contains a “Where’s Waldo?” foldout section with WMDs.

– Bush says the biggest disappointment of his eight years in office was learning there was no Santa Claus

– The book’s appendix includes a series of connect-the-dot drawings Bush was unable to complete

– Bush on the unfinished business of his Presidency: “I never did learn how that neat story about the goat ended.”

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In NBC Interview, Bush Calls Kanye's On-Air Insult Worst Moment of Presidency (Media Mob)

Cover of Decision Points

By Nate Freeman

November 3, 2010

In anticipation of the Nov. 9 release of his memoir Decision Points, George W. Bush will sit down with Matt Lauer for a prime-time news special this Monday to talk over the experiences relayed in the book. In the excerpts released yesterday in a press release, the NBC anchor grilled the ex-head of state on the memoir's key moments — namely 9/11, the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, etc.

But which of these events — all of them defining disasters of this millennium — does Bush consider the worst moment of his presidency? None, actually! It seems Bush is the latest victim of the cutting disses Kanye West can sneak into his nimble, dexterous flow. The offending quip, of course, was West's assertion, on an NBC Katrina telethon, that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Bush admits that 'Ye burned him hard.

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Facts, schmacts? Not while Politifact and This Week's Jake Tapper are watching! (Mr. Media)

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By BOB ANDELMAN

If you’re going to get called on the carpet for something you did right, might as well be by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central’s whirlwind of truthiness, “The Colbert Report.”

That’s what happened about a week ago to Bill Adair, Pulitzer Prize winning editor of Politifact.com, the online fact-checking operation spawned by the St. Petersburg Times.

In case you missed this story, Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC’s Sunday morning political chat fest, “This Week,” announced his guests’ most questionable claims would be subject to fact checking by Politifact.

Meanwhile, over at NBC’s venerable “Meet The Press,” host David Gregory dismissed the need for fact-checking his guests. I understand his point; does anyone fact-check the wrestlers’ claims on "WWE Smackdown"? Of course not. It’s pure, scripted entertainment. Not something anyone takes seriously.

Colbert even invited Tapper and Adair on his show to discuss their work.

Politifact uses a series of truth-o-meters to declare politicians’ boldest statements either true, untrue, half-true or “pants-on-fire” lies. It won a Pulitzer Prize for its work in 2009, which was the first time Bill Adair was on Mr. Media. Now that he’s been discovered by Colbert, he’s a tougher guest to book, but we’re always delighted to have him.

BILL ADAIR AUDIO EXCERPT: "The result is some good fact checking that wouldn't have been done before." 

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You can LISTEN to this interview with BILL ADAIR, editor of POLITIFACT.com, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

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NBC denies adding laugh track for Sarah Palin (James Hibberd/THR)

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March 5, 2010

NBC is denying a report that "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" boosted apparent audience enthusiasm for Sarah Palin's appearance by using a laugh track.

A report from liberal site Daily Kos is getting plenty of pickup saying the response of the live audience to Palin's jokes was entirely unlike what NBC aired. Written by a member of the audience claiming to be a sound engineer, here's the relevant portion:

They added laughter where there was none during uncomfortable portions. Well, there was some laughter. Mine, of derision. During those pregnant pauses in her performance I was laughing long and loud, couldn't help myself as much of what she was saying was utterly surreal, ridiculous, hypocritical - nonsense, spewed platitudes, pushed buttons. I was seriously thinking of leaving as it was getting hysterically unfunny.

After sitting through the taping of the show in the studio I can recount many portions where there was little or no laughter or response, but at the later broadcast they are smoothed over with applause and laughter that WERE NOT THERE at the taping. Groans, hoots, grumbling, or just dead silence - all missing.

They should bear some responsibilty for hawking a defective product. This is corporate shilling in the worst way, not only to raise Leno's ratings, but to push Palin on a crowd with fake laughter and applause. 

Clearly the Daily Kos poster isn't a Palin fan (and would lose a spelling bee if given the word "responsibility").

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Sarah Palin shopping Alaska reality show (James Hibberd/THR)

Sarah Palin -- reality TV star?

The former Alaska governor is teaming with uber-producer Mark Burnett to shop a reality series about her home state, network sources confirm.

Palin and Burnett made the rounds at at least three of the major broadcasters (NBC, ABC and Fox) while in Los Angeles for her taping of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" this week. 

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Saturday Night Live Edits Sketch (Remote Access)

There is an interesting report on Remote Access: The T.V. Blog about some curious editing by NBC on the recent "Saturday Night Live" political sketch above. You can read about the controversy here. Meanwhile, if you missed it, here's the video, which is still pretty funny and brutal on both sides of the aisle.

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