Splitsider

Personality-driven reporting has become the rule rather than the exception. On Fox News and MSNBC, breaking stories come with a built-in perspective, keeping viewers loyal while helping insulate them from dissenting, challenging or complex opinions. Most blogs operate in a similar way. Try, if you can, to count how many times in the last few days you’ve skimmed over insight-free outrage at the childhood behavior of Mitt Romney. This is a question of hits, of course — a famous man being awful is news everyone wants to click on, and taking a righteous stance against him is easy, safe, and brand-building. On its own, this seems to be just [...]

Conservative blog The Daily Caller got their hands on a draft of a potential cold open for this past weekend's SNL, written by Jim Downey and featuring Fred Armisen's President Obama addressing the nation about the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death. And because this one was not used but one about Fox and Friends was, you know what that means: their liberal bias made them scrap the one critical of Obama! It certainly had nothing to do with Fox and Friends being a funnier cold open, I'm sure. SNL is so in the tank for Obama!

And because this was released to a conservative political website, you [...]

With only three new episodes of SNL left this season, time is growing short for Mittens Romney to swing by and awkwardly interact with Jason Sudeikis's version of him during a cold open. And it looks like it's definitely not happening, at least not this season, according to Lorne Michaels. He said that “We only have three shows left and they’re pretty jammed packed. It might be in the fall, but we’ll never know, that’ll all depend on his availability.”

That's a nice reminder of how long a slog this presidential campaign will be, isn't it? There are three weeks left in this season of SNL, then [...]

Further proof that politics are a joke and the punchline is always money: Stephen Colbert's Super PAC has officially raised more money than the Super PAC backing Ron Paul, Take Endorse Liberty — potentially because the name of Paul's Super PAC makes no fucking sense. Take Endorse Liberty? Does your libertarian hatred of laws extend to the laws of the English language? But whatever the reason, here are the numbers: Colbert's Super PAC has $794,000 cash-on-hand and raised $44,000 in March, while Paul's Super PAC has $54,000 on hand and raised a paltry $13,000 in March.

Which begs the question: who the hell is sending Ron Paul's [...]

The thing about Stafford student loans is that they're realllllll sexxxy so you can't just talk about them. You need to quietly, breathily coo their benefits into the ears of the public. Like if the rates do go up, you'll be all like, "Hey baby, did you wash those fine pants in Windex? Because I can see that you can't afford detergent now that you have a lot of student loan debt. Also, I can myself in them." President Barack Obama did just that, last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by Slow Jammin' the News (seen above). Also, below are all the clips from the interview. Each one [...]

Poor VP Joe Biden and his lackeys aren't fans of HBO's new show Veep, which centers on a fictional version of his office. A staffer of his had this to say about it: "It would have been more watercooler conversation-inspiring if it had been funnier. The show gets the D.C. personalities right, but it has what's funny about the VP all wrong. A senator would come to him. Not the other way around. That the VP paradoxically has enormous power and no power — is treated like the president but isn't. But they missed that." Perhaps they should pitch a rival VP-based comedy to Showtime? The more the merrier, [...]

No? Good answer, considering they are both comedians and not like serious political people. But in the pretend land of The Campaign, out August 10th we're asked to choose sides between Will Ferrell as Cam Brady, seemingly playing a less severe version of his George W. Bush, and Zach Galifianakis as Marty Huggings, seemingly playing a more severe version of his Seth Galifianakis character. The candidates campaign ads are above, the film's synopsis below. Who are you going to vote for?

A little while back, Jason Segel told Us Weekly that he really wanted to put Madam Secretary Clinton in his next film, saying you can feel her comic chops "from a mile away." Well, it seems like Mrs. Clinton took his offer very seriously and wrote him a letter to say she just doesn't have time right now to star in Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2: More Forgettable, Sarahier and Marshallest but maybe one day:

Huffington Post: The president of the White House Correspondents Association described you as “sophisticated and edgy while appealing to a wide audience.” Do you agree?

Jimmy Kimmel: Only with the word “wide.” “Sophisticated?” Obviously, she and I have never met. I’m not someone you would describe as a sophisticated man. But you know what, I understand the room and I’m comfortable in almost any forum and I’m sure it will work out fine. Well, I hope it will work out fine. But I will try to lean towards being sophisticated instead of leaning on my normal assortment of farting jokes. – Part of an interview with Jimmy Kimmel about preparing for the White House [...]