Mr. Wasserman I Just want to let you know that I honestly really understood what you were asking for us to do and I had a really good blog, but my internet conveniently crashed and I lost it. I’ve learned my lesson and will write in Word from now on, but I’ll see what I can do without stressing over it. I am absolutely not joking like I was the last time. If you would care to hear a slightly more in-depth explanation, I’ll talk to you in class.

I have always liked the way that Stephen Colbert reports, because people listen to what he has to say to find the joke within. The audience is simultaneously waiting for the joke and taking in what he has to say. In this way, he makes his audience members think critically about his underlying statements. This is a very convenient way to spread information.
Anyway, Stephen Colbert proposes to have a draft. He says that it would result in productive protesting. Trying to get the soldiers out of Iraq is too high a reach for America, and Americans need a more ground-level (so to speak) protest. Americans can get somewhere with an argument about a draft.
The hidden message is that Americans need to find a way to keep conservatives out of office. AND that electing a democrat is not the right way to go, because liberal activism will overwhelm Americans and conservatives will “Bounce back” and rule for years to come.
This is satirical, because Colbert is addressing serious issues in American society and making them look stupid by comparing them to other, ridiculous current events. I did not think this video was as funny as other “The Word” specials. I was being the critical thinker in this instance. I understood most of the jokes, but because of this assignment I was trying to analyze what he said.

Iraq will become a regional war from it’s position as a national war, mainly because of the religious leaders in Saudi Arabia.  The religious leaders are telling the people to support their Sunni friends in Iraq before the Shi’ites (I don’t know how to spell it) overthrow them.  If the religious leaders convince enough Saudi Arabians to participate in this act, then the Sunnis could change the social positioning of the groups in Iraq.  This will also get Saudi Arabia involved in the Iraq war, beginning the regional war.  I would expect the Shi’ites in Iran would assist the Shi’ites in Iraq because they are religiously related.

Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable.—Anonymous (http://www.teachersagainstprejudice.org/)

This was the first website that came up on google, and I really liked that one quote. I kind of feel like I’ve heard it before, but it is just as moving. It makes a lot of sense to me, and I’m sure it does to you guys to.

I challenge you to a game of Sorry. The deal is: if I win, I get full credit on this assignment; however, if you win I don’t get credit for it.

Satire is so popular, because people need to be able to laugh at the hard times and at the sad things (sad as in The Daily Show’s presidential speeches.) Satire allows people to enjoy these times, things, events, and stupid people. It is like laughing off your anger. Making fun of the people who make you look like a fool (Bush) is an important part of a balanced diet. It helps keep your cool. I must add that if satires hadn’t been making fun of this country all the time, this country would be a little more stressed and angry. So I could say that this country’s balance is made possible by The Colbert Report and The Daily Show.
Scary Movie is not satirical. It makes fun of other movies, unlike The Daily Show which makes fun of social problems. The making fun of social problems is missing from Scary Movie, and that alone is the reason why it is not in the category of satire.
I enjoy satire, myself. My favorite examples of satire are The Onion and The Daily Show. When I read The Onion I cannot help but laugh out loud sometimes.

I found that the conditions Frederick Douglas explained were very poor.  The food and clothing rations for each slave were unacceptable compared to the food and clothing “rations” that our parents provide us with today.  Each adult recieved a monthly “allowance” of eight pounds of pork or fish, and one bushel of corn meal.  Each adult’s yearly clothing allowance consisted of two linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers, one jacket, one pair of negro cloth trousers for winter one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes.

The slaves were expected to cook their own meals, and they were responsible for cleaning their houses, repairing their clothing, and tending to personal gardens.  No one did anything for them.  Slaves got nothing more in return for their service than the clothes they wore and the food they were given to cook.  There were no exceptions either.  When a slave’s ration of food went bad or a shirt disintigrated, it would not be replaced until the next month or year.

The newest slaves were disadvantaged.  They did not clearly know how the system worked until the other slaves taught them how to manage everything.  Only then were they in good shape.  The masters would hand out provisions and leave it to the slaves to figure out how to manage them.