wow, that was really clever.

myself,I'm tired of copyright laws that emphasize money-related restrictions on copyright and access. maybe all creative people should be required to work 20 hrs a week selling shoes or groceries, or making shoes or farming, then paid for 40 if

a. a committee of cobblers or farmers agrees they should be considered artists, and

b. they work the other 20 hours arting.

ALSO: the only copyright laws would then be there to make sure people get credit for what they created, instead of say, somebody else claiming to have written or painted their stuff.

and Sumner Redstone should be forced to sell mobile homes for a living, and all his money be given to poor Chinese people.

Very clever.

Me, I'm amused by people bitching about the strike--it seems like they think writers should just grovel in gratitude for being allowed to exist at all. And that people are somehow ENTITLED to have writers make up fun storylines for them. And that negative consequences of the strike should be blamed on strikers rather than, say, the fucking CEOs. Like this moronic rich college kid on Livejournal:

http://arctangent.livejournal.com/177114.html

People like this twit are our future, guys.

It brings a ton of very talented people together, and pays them to produce something which—while extremely insightful about the media—really can't deal with something even deeper and more important: corporate power and commercial culture. Once the show's back on the air, it won't be featuring anything like this.

The interesting thing is that the Colbert Report (though not the daily show) does deal with corporate power and commercial culture, and does make fun of Viacom. I'm not sure why Colbert gets away with it--my guess is that it's just so damn funny and so helps Viacom's profits in a way that makes up for the damage done to the corporate image.

My guess is that the critiques they're making are so far off the map that most of the audience can't even hear them. I think this is why people get so annoyed by folks like Chomsky, who you could essentially replace with a loop tape saying "THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS AN IMPERIALIST POWER (list of references)." Unless you beat people over the head with this sort of thing, it slides by, and thus isn't that dangerous.

Ah, THE RIGHT to bargain collectively, the ONLY way workers have EVER, in mass, found a DECENT living.(bought with the workers BLOOD)
1-202-225-0100 DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

a. a committee of cobblers or farmers agrees they should be considered artists, and

b. they work the other 20 hours arting.

Ha! That violates the cardinal rules of government enforced and guaranteed private profit. Maximal payback for minimal costs enforced by me, you, and the law into perpetuity.

You're never going to get rich enough to matter if you settle for the "I'll just get paid fairly for my labor," paradigm.

The unfairness and exploitation are worked into the formula of private employment by the gov. If the incentive wasn't there (a clear marque to exploit), private entities (corporations, small businesses) wouldn't employ jack, thus passing citizen welfare over to the government - unambiguously. And that ain't us. We like to be ambiguous on that subject.

Lani:

The interesting thing is that the Colbert Report (though not the daily show) does deal with corporate power and commercial culture, and does make fun of Viacom.

What do you have in mind? I don't actually see it enough to know.

Awesome video! The writer's strike is definitely being felt on the national stage as well. The democrats in Congress have been forced to pull out that tired old "Timetable for withdrawl" screenplay from years ago rather than having some fresh new theatrical material to make it seem as if they care about ending the war. Oh well.

Obviously not, though it hasn't stopped you from talking about it

Both TDS and Colbert have mocked the Viacom/Youtube suit and mentioned Summer Redstone's name repeatedly. Like the Simpsons and Fox, they enjoy biting the hand that feeds.

The interesting thing is that the Colbert Report (though not the daily show) does deal with corporate power and commercial culture, and does make fun of Viacom.

What do you have in mind? I don't actually see it enough to know.

commenterwithnoname, could you clarify what you're talking about, and what the source of your seeming unhappiness is?

Jonathan, Colbert frequently makes references to the press being owned by corporations. He comes right out and blames the idiocy he mocks on corporate control.

A specific instance of mocking Viacom's control over his own broadcasts that leaps to mind is an episode where Colbert thinks he's won the lottery (or something like that) and immediately starts bashing Sumner Redstone and Viacom because he doesn't need a job any more--and then grovels like mad when he finds out that actually, he still needs his job.

I was reacting to your post, in which you imply that the Daily Show creators are somehow co-opted by their corporate owners and that they are thus prohibited from addressing the issues of corporate power. You then admit, in comments that you're not all that familiar with their work. Although reading it again, I see that you and the commenters are actually referring to the TDS spinoff, I tend to think of them as the same entity, so my mistake.

As to the source of my unhappiness, probably my alcoholic mother but I don't see how that's relevant here.