En Fuego

I'm still living clean. Without cable TV, that is. It's been tough, especially with English Premier League football in full swing and my desire to watch more Katrina coverage on the news channels, but overall it's a good thing. Still, the big thing that Mrs. F and I miss is the Daily Show. Luckily, you can view clips at the Daily Show official site (video in Windows Media only), and occasionally Crooks and Liars will have a video tidbit, so we're not totally out of the loop.

Thank the heavens! Cos The Daily Show has returned from a Labor Day week vacation and are absolutely on fire. Here are a couple of choice moments, gratefully transcribed by Bill in Portland Maine in today's edition of his Daily Kos Cheers & Jeers thread:

Jon Stewart: Now, for you people who are saying, `Well, stop pointing fingers at the president...left-wing...the media's being too hard: No.  SHUT...UP!  No!  This is inarguably---inarguably---a failure of leadership from the top of the federal government. Remember when Bill Clinton went out with Monica Lewinsky? That was inarguably a failure of judgment at the top. Democrats had to come out and risk losing credibility if they did not condemn Bill Clinton for his behavior. I believe Republicans are in the same position right now. And I will say this: Hurricane Katrina is George Bush's Monica Lewinsky. The only difference is that tens of thousands of people weren't stranded in Monica Lewinsky's vagina. ----------- Ed Helms: While everybody else is busy setting up commissions and finding fault, through the president's leadership he'll end up building a billion dollar dam in Arkansas. Jon Stewart: Why would he build a dam in Arkansas? Ed Helms: His plan will be to fight the water there so we don't have to fight it here. ----------- Jon Stewart: So no one's going to be held accountable for this at all? Ed Helms: No. In fact, if history is any indication, they'll be hard-pressed finding enough medals to pin on these guys. My sources tell me the head of FEMA will be dipped in bronze and turned into an award to be given to other officials.

Here are links to the specific Daily Show stories in order of appearance (as best as I can tell); the links will take you to a Comedy Central page where Windows Media player is included within the HTML (if you have it installed):

• Inarguable Failure Was there bureaucratic bungling? The short answer is: yes. The long answer is: YEEEEEESSSSSS!
  
• Beleaguered Bush Ed Helms takes a look at the efforts to save our beloved and beleaguered president.
  
• Bush's Timeline As Katrina's waters broke through New Orleans' levee, Bush headed into the eye... of San Diego.
  
• Meet the F**kers An introduction to a new breed of public servant.

On the subject of other media, faithful Cracker KDT informs me that this week's This American Life (heard on NPR stations typically starting on Friday nights; check your local schedule) "will be interviewing FEMA employees about how the agency has changed over the past four years. One comment was that they are mentioning how their ability to respond to natural disasters has been "dismantled." Should be interesting..." I agree.

Also, looks like I might be listening to last week's episode about garbage--perfect timing as I'm about to read Garbage Land : On the Secret Trail of Trash (well, once I whittle down my reading stack a bit).