Tag Archives: Daily Show

Meet The Diplomat And Daily Show Fan Accused Of Being A CIA Spy In Russia

A photo released by the FSB showing a man claimed to be Ryan Fogle in FSB custody on Tuesday, May 14.

TPMDC

Ryan Christopher Fogle, the “third secretary” at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow who was detained by Russia’s domestic intelligence agency and being accused of being a CIA spy Monday night, is a former frat boy and Daily Show fan from Missouri.

According to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, Fogle was found in possession of a letter attempting to recruit an officer from one of Russia’s special services to work with the CIA, two wigs, three pairs of sunglasses, cash, and a knife, among other things. After he was detained, Fogle was turned over to the U.S. Embassy and expelled from Russia Tuesday.

Records link Fogle’s family to two different inner-ring suburbs of St. Louis, Mo, Clayton and Richmond Heights. He reportedly graduated from Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, a high school in the wealthy St/ Louis suburb of Ladue, in 2002. Four years later, Fogle graduated from Colgate University.

While at Colgate, Fogle was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He also was a member of the Konosioni Senior Honor Society, a group of 26 student leaders chosen by their peers each year to “preserve and promote a greater appreciation and understanding of Colgate’s honored heritage and celebrated traditions.” Fogle participated in student government and, at the end of his sophomore year, was elected to serve as an election commissioner. As a freshman, Fogle was a member of a committee that organized lectures on campus. In 2003, he discussed a lecture he helped plan featuring former Daily Show contributor Mo Rocca with the school newspaper. Fogle was clearly a big fan of the show.

“Not only is Mo Rocca a comedian, but he is extremely talented and well known. Almost everyone here watches the Daily Show with some consistency,” Fogle said. “When he’s on the show he’s absolutely hilarious.”

After college, Fogle stayed in touch with his classmates. A 2008 issue of a Colgate magazine said Fogle attended the Colgate-Georgetown football game in November 2007 with other members of the class of 2006. The winter 2010-2011 issue of his fraternity’s newsletter included contact information for Fogle in Virginia and indicated he wanted to correspond with fraternity members. In late 2011, the email address Fogle listed in the fraternity newsletter was among those identified as belonging to subscribers to briefings published by the global intelligence company Stratfor in a release from the hacking group Anonymous.

Fogle also maintained a presence on Facebook, though most of his page was not visible to the general public. The only pictures that can be seen on his profile are nine photos of landmarks that seem to be from international travels including shots of Masada, the Kremlin, and the Great Sphinx of Giza. Fogle’s profile picture is a photo of waves hitting a beach.

Though Fogle left behind a digital trail, those who knew him offline provided no information about him to TPM. Multiple former classmates of Fogle’s declined to discuss him. A woman who answered the phone at his family home in Missouri who identified herself as “Ms. Fogle” also did not wish to speak with us.

“I don’t really have anything to say. Thank you though,” she said before hanging up.

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CNN’s John King admits ‘dark-skinned male’ gaffe damaged credibility

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Grio

CNN anchor John King became the subject of widespread criticism after he inaccurately reported that a Boston bombing suspect was in custody and that they were a “dark-skinned male.”

Even before his reporting was proven false, King was ridiculed for his choice of words by numerous figures including the Rev. Al Sharpton and Daily Show host Jon Stewart.

The National Association of Black Journalists even issued a statement condemning him:

There have been various reports identifying a potential suspect as “a dark-skinned individual”. [sic] This terminology is not only offensive, but also offers an incomplete picture of relevant facts about the potential person of interest’s identity. When conveying information for the public good, and which can help law enforcement with the help of a vigilant public to keep the country safe, it’s important that such facts be put into proper context.

NABJ in no way encourages censorship but does encourage news organizations to be responsible when reporting about race, to report on race only when relevant and a vital part of a story. Ultimately this helps to avoid mischaracterizations which might encourage potential bias or discrimination against a person or a group of people based on race or ethnicity.

Now King is speaking out about what he calls “bad information” that hurt his “credibility.”

“I’ve been at this for nearly 30 years,” he said during an interview with Washington, D.C. radio station WTOP. “I’ve covered a couple wars and a lot of breaking news and a lot of cops-and-robbers situations. I’ve got a pretty good track record, but when you do something like this it’s embarrassing.”

While King has taken responsibility for his error he has also reiterated that he is not racist.

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Jon Stewart rips apart Rand Paul’s attempted outreach to black students

Jon Stewart screenshot

The Raw Story

On The Daily Show Thursday night, host Jon Stewart and correspondent Larry Wilmore mocked Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) recent speech to black students at Howard University.

Stewart observed that Paul portrayed himself as courageous and heroic for appearing before the highly prestigious students, which was not a particularly dangerous situation.

Stewart also noted that during his speech, Paul condescendingly explained that Republicans had at one point been strong supporters of civil rights for African Americans. But Paul completely ignored the political realignment that occurred in the mid-20th century and the so-called “Southern strategy” used by Republicans.

“You can’t just yada yada yada the last 60 Republican years,” he remarked. “‘A Republican freed the slaves, gave black people the vote, yada yada yada and now all blacks vote Democratic. I mean, what the hell.’”

Employing a relationship metaphor, Wilmore complained that the Republican Party had disappeared for 50 years but now wanted to hook-up with black voters.

“How can we trust that you’ve changed if you’re pretending it was always all good?” he asked, noting a Republican official in Kansas recently used the term “nigger rigging.”

“Black people aren’t coming back until the Republicans admit we aren’t just dealing with ‘accidental racism,’” Wilmore remarked. “Believe me, if the past 50 years had been some of that Brad Paisley, LL Cool J bygones-be-bygones shit, we’d have gone with the tax breaks.”

Watch video, via Comedy Central, below:

Part 1

Part 2

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Jon Stewart Answers Those Who Say ‘Now Is Not The Time To Talk About Gun Control’ (VIDEO)

Host Jon Stewart in the studio of The Daily Sh...

Host Jon Stewart in the studio of The Daily Show in 2004 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Addicting Info

Despite the fact that mass shootings are an almost weekly occurrence these days, our country is in shock. A young man, for some reason, felt that the answer to his problems with his mother was to murder more than 26 people. It’s far too common.

Regardless, the reaction of many, especially those on the right, is silence. ‘Now is not the time,’ they say. ‘It’s too soon.’ ‘It’s disrespectful to the dead.’ To that, I say, BULLS***! There is no better time to address the degeneration of our society. There is no better time to address the fact that it has become acceptable among a small segment of society to shoot their way out of problems. There is no better time to address the fact that guns are easier to obtain than credit cards. There is no better time to address the fact that gun owners need less licensing than the person who cuts your hair.

Earlier in the week, after the shootout in a Portland, OR mall, and after a football player shot his girlfriend, on the field, Jon Stewart addressed the people saying that it’s too soon. Unfortunately in our country, there never seems to be a time when the headlines are clear of senseless gun violence. When will it be appropriate? According to the media, as Stewart says, that time is:

  • Not right after a violent event;
  • Not by a sportscaster;
  • Not during a sporting event;
  • Not under circumstances when the killer could have used his hands.

In other words, it’s never appropriate, so we need to make it appropriate.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-10-2012/any-given-gun-day—bob-costas—fox-news

It seems that even the President agrees. In today’s press conference, he alluded to the fact that Jon Stewart is right by saying, politics aside, it’s time to “take meaningful action.” Meaningful action can only happen after having a serious discussion.

We will mourn. Our collective hearts are emptier today. We’ll hold the children in our lives a little closer, but we’ll also talk and we’ll try to find ways to make our country a little safer.

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Filed under Gun Control, Gun Violence, Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Criticizes Fox News For Limbaugh Double Standard (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post

As the controversy over Rush Limbaugh’s inflammatory comments about Sandra Flukecontinues, Fox News is finding itself in somewhat of a dilemma, as Jon Stewart pointed out on Tuesday night’s “Daily Show.”

The conservative news network had the choice of either defending or condemning Limbaugh, who many in the GOP vocally support, but instead raised Bill Maher’s controversial Sarah Palin joke from last year as evidence that liberals are also guilty of irresponsible diatribes.

Stewart was perplexed by Fox’s diversionary tactics on the subject:

“So I guess by bringing up Bill Maher, Fox is saying, ‘So we’re even, right? Off-setting penalties. Let’s just say we all get back to what really matters to Americans: whether Obama is a Sunni or a Shi’ite.’”

Fox pundits went on to accuse comedians of having a liberal double standard, or as Michelle Malkin put it, “the humor card,” allowing them to say anything they want under the umbrella of comedy and entertainment. However, this argument lacks solid footing given the GOP’s defense of Limbaugh as merely “being absurd” and even Limbaugh’s own excuse for the Fluke comments as an “attempt to be humorous.”

As a comedian himself, Stewart obviously had strong feelings about this so-called hypocrisy:

“See here’s the other thing I’m sick and tired of about this comedian thing: nobody’s hiding behind comedy, and there are repercussions for what comedians say. When you’re doing it in a club, there are repercussions. Ask Michael Richards. Ask Tracy Morgan. If you do comedy on television, there are repercussions. Ask me.”

Watch the full clip below to see Stewart criticize Fox and the GOP in general for their defense of Limbaugh.

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Jon Stewart On GOP Warnings Of 2nd Obama Term: ‘The First Term Was Laying The Trap?’

This clip is priceless.

You gotta love this guy’s exceptional wit and spot-on political analysis, which blends meticulously in his comedy sketches…

Mediaite

As the November election approaches, Republicans are beating the sound of a familiar drum from 2008 on President Obama– that he is a radical, bent on destroying the Catholic Church and Second Amendment, out to “fundamentally transform” America. On tonight’s Daily Show,Jon Stewart took a look at how well the predictions from 2008 have fared, and how absurd some of today’s predictions are in that context.

He began with some clips from 2008, notably Rep. Steve King asserting that “radical Islamists will be dancing in the streets” if President Obama were elected. “Talk about hitting the nail, if you replace ‘dancing’ with ‘dodging unmanned missiles raining hellfire from the sky,’” Stewart deadpanned.

By now, he noted, “we’ve pretty much gotten first term,” and “conservatives got a little kicked in the crystal balls.” So what is on the menu for 2012? He noted Newt Gingrich stating President Obama was desirous of a “war on Catholicism;” an NRA executive expecting the Second Amendment to be obliterated the first day after inauguration. “If Obama hasn’t been able to pull any of that shit off during the first term of his presidency, what is he waiting for?” Stewart asked. “The whole first term is just laying the trap,” he mused, perhaps “all he has done in his first term is just a canard so they he can get a second term?”

The clip via Comedy Central…

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Stewart: Is Fox News ‘turning into The 700 Club?’

No, in my opinion Fox News is more on the opposite end of that spectrum…

The Raw Story

Annoyed over Fox News attacking President Barack Obama for not saying “God” in his Thanksgiving Address, Jon Stewart asked Monday evening if the network was “turning into The 700 Club?”

The Daily Show host took the network to task once again for their latest, peculiar over-reaction in a segment titled “Much Ado About Stuffing.”

“Seriously, failing to mention God in you Thanksgiving address, not a huge Thanksgiving faux pas,” Stewart said. “I could understand if instead of pardoning two male turkeys, he had married them. Then I could understand Fox getting bent out of shape.”

Stewart wasn’t even accepting Fox’s attempt to “be fair” to Obama, as the network mentioned that he wasn’t the first president to leave out God in his Thanksgiving address.

“Who did you make look up that shit on a holiday weekend?” he asked. “Who did you do that too?”

Fox News later told its viewers that Obama did indeed mention God in his written Thanksgiving address instead of the Youtube broadcasted message. By that time in the segment, Stewart was ready to move on.

“This is about turning Thanksgiving into yet another one of those Christian persecution culture war type things,” he said. “Don’t you do it! Don’t you do it to Thanksgiving! I’ll give you the war on Christmas, we are trying to fuck that up. This is all reformed Jews have left.”

WATCH: Video from Comedy Central, which was broadcast on November 28, 2011.

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Jon Stewart Rips Fox News For Defending Herman Cain (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post

If there’s one thing Jon Stewart knows best, it’s how to point out Fox News’ follies. He played another round of “find the hypocritical reporting” with the conservative network on Monday night’s “Daily Show,” this time focusing on their defense of GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain.

As Stewart points out, the “big get” of the Politico story that first highlighted Cain’s past sexual harassment allegations is that they appear to be true. With more women coming forward and Cain himself admitting he knew about a settlement (after a brief bit of amnesia), there is a wealth of evidence mounting against him.

So why is he blaming the media for the story? Stewart found that odd, especially since the first place 24-hour cable news network, Fox News, has been trying to help him. The problem is, Stewart found a few holes in their defense.

Watch the segment below to see Stewart have a field day after finding clips of Megyn Kelly both deriding the Politico article because of anonymous sources and then using anonymous sources to fuel speculation about union corruption. And it just gets better from there — make sure you watch until the end to see the clip Stewart refers to as “The Holy Grail.”

 

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New York Observer: Exclusive “Occupy Wall Street” Unaired Fox Footage

Who is that guy?  He needs to work for the Obama administration as press secretary.

You really have to ask yourself why Fox News ambush reporter did not show this on Fox News‘ Greta Van Susteran or one of the other ditto-heads there.  This guys answers to the reporters’ lame questions are simply PHENOMENAL!

The New York Observer

Even if Geraldo Rivera was at the Zuccotti Park yesterday, Fox News has generally been a tad dismissive of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Foxnews.com (as of this writing) has no coverage of this national event on their front page stories. (Hard to imagine for a network that was so gung-ho about the Tea Party!) Red Eye‘s Bill Schulzwent out to try to “prank” the protestersBill O’Reilly sent a producer minion out with the same mission: to belittle OWS’s cause by cutting up interviews to make people sound stupid.

Well, here is an interview that Fox News filmed, but doesn’t want you to see. The segment was shot on Wednesday for Greta van Susteren‘s show, (though it looks like the same producer from this O’Reilly segment questioning Michael Moore‘s anti-capitalist agenda) though the decision was made to leave it on the cutting room floor. The reason should be obvious pretty quickly.

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Jon Stewart To Sarah Palin: Either You’re Running For President Or You’re Crazy

On The Daily Show Wednesday night, Jon Stewartlooked into whether certain alternative presidential candidates sought out by Republicans are willing to throw their hats (or their shocking pink neckties, or their blue fuzzy vests) into the ring.

Stewart looked into New Jersey Governor and Great Right Hope Chris Christie‘s suggestion to visit Politico.com to watch a video of his response to the question of whether or not he’ll run. “Oooh, it’s like a treasure hunt, I love it!” quipped Stewart in his finest Mad Hatter voice. Christie’s answer is sweet and simple: “No.” But leave it to we the media to turn gold back into straw. Stewart played a (rather hilarious) clip of reporters saying Christie had “left the door open” to running. But the man said NO. “Chris Christie has given you his answer, so stop grinding up against him asking if you can just put the tip in!” he yelled, unfortunately.

Then there’s Sarah Palin, whose concern seems to be that the title of President would wrangle in her power. But the presidency is “one of the higher-level” positions we have in his country, a Stewart on the verge of a heart attack pointed out. And then there’s the matter of her recent speeches and appearances in early primary states “riding in a colorful bus” and “telling people what you would do if you were president,” which led Stewart to observe that “you’re either running for president, or you’re a crazy person.”

Watch the whole segment, via Comedy Central:

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Filed under Gov. Chris Christie, Sarah Palin