SNL "The White POTUS"

[MaineNative]

Thought I was going to die laughing. They knocked it out of the park with this one.

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[CurtEastPoint]

1. This was SUPERB!

[IronLionZion]

2. That was amazing

[FirstLight]

3. wow... talk about a fever dream...

Ivanka ditching the meditation about material wealth my fave


...and Eric and his butter noodles!

[oasis]

4. Telling it like it is.

[WarGamer]

5. A++ exceptional.

[poli-junkie]

6. Genus!

[Bluetus]

7. Funny and so creepy

Isn't it a shame that only the comedians are allowed to present the truth anymore?

The legacy media is kept on a short leash because they no longer do journalism. They do clicks and Nielsen points. And they believe the most important thing in their business model is to maintain "access". With this administration, that is only possible if they commit themselves 100% to being a pure propaganda voice for the administration with no filters of fact checking, or even the occasional perspective.

And the one thing every character in this little play had in common is that the only interest they have is themselves.

[nolabear]

8. There's a reason why the holy fool is part of mythology.

[Bluetus]

10. Yep. Looking at the business models, they are reversed

One would think that there would be similar business models between comedy shows and news. One would think that both would be interested in serving their audience.

For comedians, that could mean dishing out preposterous stuff to make people laugh, even if they know it isn't true.
For the news business, it should mean informing the audience with the best and most honest information available.

But it isn't that way at all. The major news outlets are owned by gigantic corporations who fund these "news" properties primarily to support their corporate interests. This means that when faced with a choice between telling the audience the truth or being a mouthpiece for the administration that can reward or punish the corporations, they will go for the latter 99 times out of 100.

But worse, when they aren't simply being a megaphone for the fascists, they are focused on getting their clicks. That means that they have completely reversed the classical model of journalism. Journalism used to be taught as providing meaningful headlines, then putting the most important information in the first paragraph -- the basic who, what, where and when. Then in subsequent paragraphs, the journalist might explore the why, how, and what does is the likely impact on the reader.

That formula is rarely followed these days. Now, it is about clickbait. Lead with a catchy headline that may have no connection with the truth. String the audience along, obscuring details and facts as long as possible in order to present as many ads as possible. With online articles, one might have to go to paragraph 10 before learning any of the essential facts.

And the comedians have also largely reversed their model. Back with Johnny Carson, Jany Leno or whoever, they would do "bits" that poked fun, but were clearly exaggerations or complete inventions for comedy's sake. Kind of a "Can you imagine this?" sort of thing. Today, the truth is so bizarre and the hypocrisy so astounding that the comedian barely has to do anything other than to add a punch line. The jokes practically write themselves. And people laugh because they would rather not cry.

That's where we are now.

[senseandsensibility]

11. I agree completely

And a very good example of what you are talking about is when CNN took its public rightwing turn a while back, their ratings went down not up. It did not sway them leftward though. That's because ratings are not their priority. Their priority is serving corporate interests because they are a corporate entity.

[Bluetus]

12. And CNN is owned by

Last edited Mon Apr 14, 2025, 02:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Warner Brothers Discovery. That's a huge conglomerate. But the story doesn't end there. That's a publicly traded company but well over 60% of the shares are owned by institutional investors. And these are the people that have the inside track to power inside the Beltway.

In other words, it is those institutional shareholders that are driving all these companies, forcing the property to serve the interest of the other other properties that they also have big investments in. Back in the Standard Oil days people were concerned about interlocking corporate boards. Today, we have that plus an even more intense situation with all these huge Institutional Investor groups.

[Xavier Breath]

9. Trying to imagine the reaction of someone who watched that but hasn't actually seen The White Lotus.

What the hell did I just watch?

Loved Chloe channeling Parker Posey for her Melania impersonation.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Great segment