Last night's SNL: Pushing the Osama/Saddam link HARD.

[barbaraann]

Did anyone else catch this rerun? I couldn't believe it.

There was a very, very long piece with Saddam in prison talking via wireless phone with Osama. During the whole segment they called each other "bro" and acted like they were buddies from elementary school or something. It wasn't even funny and it seemed to me like a pure propaganda piece to plant the idea in the mind of the public that there is/was a link between the two.

I guess there aren't transcripts so I'm wondering if anyone else noticed it. Maybe I should get TIVO.

[tcfrogs]

1. It wasn't funny

Fallon & Sanz just seemed to be having fun cracking each other up. That comment is probably more DU Lounge material. I don't think it's any big deal, and wasn't it pretty late in the show?

[seabeyond]

2. didnt think was funny but didnt feel like you do

didnt feel like propaganda.; just a skit

[Frances]

3. If a skit is spinning the govenment line

and the line is factually and clearly false, doesn't that make the skit propaganda?

I heard Jon Stewart joking about how Saddam was so bad that Osama would not have anything to do with Saddam.

The government has insisted CORRECTLY that Saddam was the worst of the worst, but Jon Stewart was contradicting the idea that the two were in cahoots, so Stewart's joke was not propaganda, in my opinion.

[Kanary]

4. That was *very* funny

"I mean, how bad do you have to be to be rejected by Osama?"

~~gigglesnort~~

Kanary

[barbaraann]

7. Propaganda humor always seems to fall flat, for some reason.

Rush Limbaugh is a good example. He supposedly tells "jokes" but they just aren't funny. Dennis Miller is another example.

I can't see how there could be ANY humor at all in a conservation between Saddam and Osama and I don't believe the skit was conceived for humor purposes.

[No Passaran]

5. It was just a skit

No harm done

[AP]

6. In the movie Bob Roberts, there's a segment where Bob Roberts (a RW pol

running for senate or president -- I can't remember) is the guest on a saturday night live-like show. John Cusack plays a cast member and he gets pissed because the network has told the writers to do propaganda pieces to help Roberts. One skit is about how great the atomic bomb is. The movie was made in 92, I think.

I guarantee you, Tim Robbins, who wrote and directed Bob Roberts, wasn't just inventing this out of thin air. I'm sure the writers on those shows get pressure from the networks to do skits which help out the republicans. It's too obvious.

[barbaraann]

9. Aha--thanks for the info!

The reason it struck me is that I recently read an article about how false memories can be implanted. People who had been to Disneyland were shown pictures of Bugs Bunny at Disneyland and then asked if they had seen Bugs Bunny there. (Of course, Bugs is not a Disney character and is never there.) Quite a few of the subjects, I think about a third, reported that they had seen Bugs at Disneyland!

The skit had a split screen with Osama and Saddam on for about five minutes and I know that the connection got planted in a lot of minds without people knowing it. The script was so boring it seemed like fifteen minutes, but I guess it was only five.

[UTUSN]

8. Year's Over, Wasn't It a Re-run from the Saddam Capture? n/t

[barbaraann]

10. I'm not sure. I don't watch much SNL.

But it did have Saddam in an orange jump suit so it was after the capture. I think it was around the Time of Brittney Spears' quickie marriage because that was also a skit.

[cheezus]

11. YES! You should get TiVo!

the difference between regular tv and tivo is like the difference between dialup and broadband. Or b&w and color. It's not NECESSARY, but once you have it you'll wonder how you ever managed to stand watching tv without it.

[barbaraann]

12. Thanks for the advice.

I'm going to have to manage my time very well between now and November and I think it will help me do that.

[cheezus]

13. I'll gush about it some more

warning: at first I found I was watching waaay more tv. but after the novelty wore off I find I'm watching a lot less

the best thing about tivo is this: when do you watch tv? for most people it's just sitting down when they want to turn their brain off and just relax. This results in flipping around trying to find the least bad thing on. with tivo you get your choice from a bunch of shows you actually like!

It's easy to program: you just select the show by it's title. if it chages times or days tivo takes care of it for you. if there's a movie or actor or topic you want, you can set a "wishlist", and any show matching in the future will be recorded for you.

I love tivo - it makes tv so much better that tivo users end up like mac people - evangelizing because we really believe it'll make your life better.

[Paragon]

14. Relax.

It's comedy.

They used to do an identical skit with Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky talking over the phone -- and yes, Saddam would break into those conversations, too. Everyone very chummy.

[AP]

15. My conclusion from reading this thread: pop culture is EXCELLENT TOOL for

propaganda.

You could have the most blatant propaganda imaginable, and people still wouldn't be upset. "Relax, it's just entertainment!"

[chelsea0011]

16. SNL also did a skit pre-war that had war protesters as idiots

who didn't have any idea what they were protesting against. Some thought it was whales, some abortion, some ERA. It was insulting but they were on board with the war. As the tide turned they began to change their tune with the skits. They are followers, not brave satirists. Chappelle should be running things over at SNL. MAD has always been more cutting and not afraid of stepping on toes.

[K-W]

17. The SNL writers are fairly liberal, this is just a joke.

It isnt even a pro-bush joke. Part of the joke is that it is an invented relationship. It wasnt funny because past the idea they didnt have anything and they cant write funny dialogue. Calm down guys, seriously.