Just for Skeets and Giggles (01.11.25)

My thoughts are with the tens of thousands affected by the LA fires, including friends and colleagues who have lost their homes or continue to be displace, and with the brave firefighters and frontline workers who are exhausted but fighting on. May the winds die down and the fires be put out soon so that we can mourn, begin rebuilding, and see a return to normalcy.

Trump’s criminality was front and center this week as the president elect scrambled but failed to stave off sentencing before Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

We must never let this just slide.

Also in the headlines was the gathering of five current and former presidents to honor the late President Jimmy Carter. Cameras were trained on the two rows with the highest drama, catching some interesting moments.

Melania Trump even made an appearance.

I don’t know if this is photoshopped but it is funny.

People everywhere wondered what Trump and Obama were laughing about, so folks did some bad lip reading.

Andy Borowitz with headlines from The Great Beyond:

This week the nation also marked a grim anniversary on January 6. But something about this time was different than four years ago. Liberals had a bit of laughing / crying fun at the absurd contrast.

This won for best mash-up of cultural and historic moments:

Republicans even went there, meaning they bragged about how orderly and short the electoral count was this time around. C-SPAN even reported on it without comment or irony.

Other GOP House members tried to make it seem like a bit of weather would impede certification. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was forced to sit back down.

Never forget, Elise.

There was a crowd of people on the mall, but not for the reasons MAGA gathered four years ago.

The finality of the election brought out some real talk.

And it wasn’t just about the presidents.

And who really is going to be sworn in on January 20? The New Yorker has opinions.

But just as we were all feeling truly defeated, the universe handed us a gift. This clip is karmic gold.

Trump gave a press conference at Mar-a-Lago that was truly bonkers, and the best person to tell us about it was Stephen Colbert in this monologue.

Trump also confirmed that he was not ruling out the use of economic or even military pressure to (checks notes) take Greenland away from our NATO ally, Denmark. Trump has been pushing this idea online and here’s how it’s going:

The man-o-sphere has taken up the ridiculous call.

Folks imagined what Trump would say if he ever set foot there.

Don, Jr. going to Greenland as part of Trump’s advance team drew universal derision.

The New Republic should win a Pulitzer just for this headline.

Trump claims to love maps, so here’s one:

And this ploy might actually work (apologies for the its/it’s error in the screenshot):

Thanks to my bestie Blair for sending this reel to me yesterday.

Greenland wasn’t the only thing Agent Orange was weirdly obsessed about. Something about renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America? It’s all just a pointless distraction.

Here’s another take:

Mike Luckovich for the dunk.

Of course, Trump is also rattling sabers at Canada and Panama. We need to re-up this map.

The Daily Show had an important question in this clip.

Trump isn’t the only witless Republican, of course. Plenty of others give him a run for most incredibly stupid. There’s a word for these folks circulating:

Take former actor Kevin Sorbo.

Or Florida Man.

Beyond the stupidity, something weird happens to many on the far right:

They’re just not giving us their best people.

In a sign of these dark times, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that he would be ending fact checking and allowing much more hate speech to proliferate on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp in order to return to the company’s “Free Speech” roots.

Did he really mean what he said? Because…

Others chimed in.

Even though the MAGAs took the White House and Congress back, they are still supremely unhappy with just about everything. I loved this take:

Since we’re out of power, we might as well troll a bit.

This guy gets major props.

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The right tried of course to politicize the LA fires. Example: Don, Jr. making it about… Ukraine?

(For the record, there is no shortage of equipment to fight the fire in LA.)

Online, suddenly everyone had opinions unsupported by any expertise or facts. In other words, online.

Residents were asked to conserve and in some cases boil water, and the privilege was real.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, over in the UK, they’re facing similar battles with Elon and the far right, even as Elon and the far right… battle each other? Wait, that sounds familiar! Larry the Cat, with the zinger.

He really is quite an upgrade from the right-wing troll, CatTurd.

Speaking of cats, this clip was brills.

I know people in meetings with this same face.

I need to try this with my corgi.

My dog also loves the snow but has never tried this… yet.

She also doesn’t mind the cold, at least not our relatively mild New York City winters. But across the country, it’s well below zero in many places, as these dogs understand:

For some pups, TV feels like real life:

Speaking of adorable, I have never seen a squirrel look so much like a ginger rabbit.

For many of us poor humans, it was back to work after an extended period of being off.

And the cold weather for many didn’t help. At least the snowplow names were great!

Note to self: Parental struggles in an age of zoom play dates are real.

People somehow couldn’t just be happy for one of the most glamorous couples around. I think all the bros just wish they were him, living his life.

This took me a second and then I burst out laughing.

Speaking of Zendaya, this moment with Angelina Jolie resurfaced with amazing commentary.

Other random commentary on the way we live today:

And a question for the ages:

I do worry about what I cook my meals in these days, but the truth is,

This misadventure played out like a Mr. Bean skit:

The Golden Globes happened, if anyone was watching this year, and host Nikki Glaser was significantly better than last year’s disaster. Here’s a clip:

Demi Moore was a big winner that night, but is this really the best they could do with the chyrons?

Okay, one more dunk on Nancy Mace.

Major entertainment companies keep merging and morphing. Best summary yet:

I leave you with a dad joke, per usual:

Enjoy your weekend!

Jay