Since when did SNL become an outlet for Fox News propaganda?

So earlier in the day I saw a post about this skit some website or another suggesting that it was great.

I did not read the whole thing because I didn't want the skit to be spoiled before I had a chance to see it. (#Alaskaproblems.)

But as I'm watching the damn thing I kept shaking my head and saying out loud, "WTF? That's not what happened at all!"

Think Progress noticed the same thing:  

“BILL: And if I pass the legislative test, then I wind up on the President’s desk… 

BOY: President Obama what’s the big idea? That bill was trying to become a law.” 

In the sketch, once the bill reaches Obama’s desk, he pushes the bill down the steps. But this is the opposite of what actually happened. Obama was desperate to see an immigration bill — of virtually any type — cross his desk. In May 2013, he reached a tentative deal with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, which would have been substantially more conservative than the Senate bill. It was ultimately rejected by Republican House leadership. 

“BILL: Don’t you have to go through Congress at some point? 

EXECUTIVE ORDER: Oh that’s adorable, you still think that’s how government works.” 

The implication here is that presidents before Obama didn’t use executive action for major policy areas. In fact, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan both used executive orders to protect undocumented immigrants. In 1989, Bush’s order protected about 40% of the undocumented population, roughly the same percentage as Obama’s order.

Think Progress ends the article by saying that SNL is under no obligation to get their facts right in order to do parody, but I disagree with that.

Maybe back in the 70's SNL could be a little sloppy, and get by with it because their viewers were not nearly as well informed as viewers today. But in a world where they are competing with brilliant satirists like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and HBO's John Oliver, they need to cross their fucking 't's" and dot their fucking "i's."

Do you know how you know when you have really screwed the pooch while presenting a political parody? When freaking Ted Cruz is quoting you while attacking the President, that's how.

I have been pretty underwhelmed with SNL this season, but I thought I would give them a chance to his their stride.

Yeah well forget that shit now. I am done with them.
 

Writing Sarah Palin satire is an exercise in futility, since she is essentially a walking talking parody of herself already.

Okay I feel like I need to address this since it is now getting a little out of hand.

The Daily Currant wrote a piece in which they attribute these words to Sarah Palin: 

“If I were Obama I’d put all 11 million of these folks on boats and send them back to Mexico,” she opined. “The liberal media says it’s impossible to deport that many people. But I say we can do it if we have enough ships. 

“Let’s commandeer all the cruise ships, all the fishing vessels and all the yachts those fat cat Obama donors own. And then let’s pack ‘em full of illegals and send these people on a one-way cruise to Mexico City. 

“The long voyage back across the Mexican Ocean should give them plenty of time to think about how they shouldn’t be coming here to America and jeopardizing our freedom and prosperity by breaking our laws.”

Now the Daily Currant suggests that she said this during a Fox interview, so  right off the bat most of you should know that is impossible since we tend to cover those interviews here at IM. And let's face it, we would have been all over that if it were true.

Secondly you should always be a little skeptical when you think "You know that's even too crazy for her." Because chances are that yes it is probably too crazy for her.

And third by now you should all know that there are sites like the Daily Currant and the Onion out there that brilliantly make up these stories for our entertainment, and that they should NOT be taken seriously.

In fact here is a list that you can refer to in the future to keep from being fooled again.

Now before any of you start to feel embarrassed that you were suckered let me assure you that it has happened to me before as well. And there are plenty of news outlets, like Fox and Breitbart, that still get punked with some frequency.

For this one in particular I received at least a dozen e-mails and comments excitedly pointing to the article. And that includes one from my daughter last night, which simply said "Did you hear what Sarah Palin said yesterday?"

Of course that could have been anything, but it turned out to be this article which all of her friends were buzzing about.

And that's really the point right? Getting buzz and fishing for clicks.

However it makes what I do all the more challenging. Because when I dig up an actual crazy fact about Sarah Palin it is immediately in competition for attention with all of these fake crazy "facts" about Sarah Palin.

So let's do us all a favor and try to double check sources before sharing some of this stuff on Facebook Twitter, or here at IM.

Let me end this by thanking you for your support, and the many legitimate links that you DO send my direction. It makes this job a whole lot easier as I certainly don't have enough time to scour the internet effectively on my own. 

Amy Poehler's new book discusses her fearlessness, including rapping a song as Sarah Palin, with the real Sarah Palin sitting on set.

Amy Poehler has written a new book, much like fellow SNL alum Tina Fey before her, that discusses her life and what she has learned along the way.

On of those things was to overcome her sense apprehension and to courageously move forward with decisions that others might have balked at.

One of those decisions occurred on Saturday Night Live during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Here is more courtesy of The New Yorker: 

“I like picking fair targets,” Poehler writes in “Yes Please.” This means avoiding jokes that feel “too mean or too lazy.” The most satisfying example of this, perhaps—a perfect deployment of satire—was her Sarah Palin rap, which she wrote, with help from Seth Meyers and Andy Samberg. The conceit was that Palin had planned to do a rap number about herself but had backed out of it, and that Poehler casually agreed to pinch-hit. “One, two three!” she yelled. She presented, in lyric form, the nightmarish essence of the 2008 Palin campaign experience (“When I say Obama, you say Ayers! I built me a bridge, it ain’t goin’ nowhere”; “I got a bookish look and you’re all hot for teacher”), as Palin gamely and helplessly played along, trying to look cool and comfortable. The fact that Poehler did it while nine months pregnant—fully committed, technically perfect, firing finger guns at a moose and doing Cypress Hill-style la-la-las—felt like the ultimate out-mavericking, combining Palin-style trappings of macho-feminine power with humor and smarts. The sketch was scathing but ostensibly respectful, her performance relentless and irresistible. Watching the rap now, years later, the Palin era over, you still laugh and cry with admiration. When she growls, “I’m an animal, and I’m bigger than you!” you feel it. Poehler had her baby a week later, and she watched “Weekend Update” from her hospital bed. 

While not as iconic as Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression, Poehler's Palin rap was a real show stopper, made even more memorable by the fact that Palin gamely tried to play along despite the fact that her eyes betrayed her realization that she had suddenly stepped off into the deep end of political parody.

And with lyrics like this who can blame her:

i'm jeremiah wright cause tonight i'm the preacha 
i got a bookish look and you're all hot for teacha 
todd lookin fine on his snow machine 
so hot boy gonna need a go between 
in wasilla we just chill baby chilla 
but when i see oil lets drill baby drill 

my country tis a thee 
from my porch i can see 
russia and such 

For those who may have missed this amazing television moment,  take a moment to enjoy the incredible, and very pregnant, Amy Pohler, and her incredibly naive victim by clicking here.