FOX tickles conservatives’ funny bones with satire

Most political junkies love “The Daily Show,” but those on the right don’t always agree with host Jon Stewart’s politics. Well, pretty soon, they’ll have their own alternative: Fox News Channel’s “The Half-Hour News Hour,” which debuts this Sunday. Hosted by comedians Kurt Long and Jennifer Robertson (and produced by “24” co-creator Joel Surnow), the show approaches satire from a conservative point of view. So far, two episodes have been filmed and the show’s future depends on the success of these first episodes.

Clips of the first episode have already popped up on the Internet, including one with a “President” Rush Limbaugh and “Vice President” Ann Coulter. VP Coulter warns viewers that, if they don’t watch Fox’s show, “We’ll invade your countries, kill your leaders, and convert you to Christianity.”

Surnow, who is politically conservative, told Yeas & Nays that he’s long wondered why conservative humor hasn’t found an audience on television.

“Most of the political satire really all comes from the left,” Surnow said, citing Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and “Saturday Night Live” as examples. “They’re all really brilliant and we’re huge fans ... but lots of people would like to see other targets get skewered.”

And any suggestion that liberals are just inherently funnier than conservatives is hogwash, says Surnow. “I think talent visits everybody,” he said. “People who are talented are just talented.”

Surnow says “The Half-Hour News Hour” will find its best comedy in political hysteria. “Barack Obama is a fine person but the hysteria that has created this guy as a presidential hopeful is funny to us,” he said.

Brian Montopoli, who edits CBS’ “Public Eye” media blog, says “it’s not impossible for conservatives to be funny.” But he finds it odd that the comedy show will be on a news channel and said that “the two clips I’ve seen so far just frankly aren’t very funny. ... They were so ideological that they almost cross over into unfunny and shrill.”

Surnow, however, is convinced he’s tapping into a ripe market. “There’s an audience out there with an appetite for this stuff,” he said. “And they’re hungry.”

New Web site wants politicians to pay up

Thursday marked the debut of AbsentCongress.org, a “nonpartisan, conservative student-led Web site addressing congressional accountability, eliminating government waste and supporting the American federally republican system of government.” (They must not see the inherent contradiction in “nonpartisan, conservative student-led Web site.”)

Not only does the Web site plan on tracking the voting attendance records of all federal lawmakers, it also plans on sending them a monthly bill for their missed votes.

“For example, U.S. senators are paid $165,200 per year,” the Web site explains. “In the month of January, the Senate had 39 votes, and therefore each vote cost the American taxpayer $353 per senator. A member who missed three votes in January owes the American taxpayer $1,059.” Politicians will be asked to repay the Department of Treasury for missed work. Conversely, “Perfect Attendance” certificates will be sent to, well, the good little politicians.

Currently, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., “owes” the Department of Treasury the most ($7,060), followed by Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii ($6,707), Kit Bond, R-Mo. ($3,530), Craig Thomas, R-Wyo. ($3,177), and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. ($3,177).

As for the Senate’s 2008 presidential wannabes (not already mentioned above), only Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., currently has a perfect record. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., owes $706, Joe Biden, D-Del., owes $2,824 and John McCain, R-Ariz., needs to pony up $706.

Givens gives in to Obama

The list of celebrities endorsing Sen. Barack Obama continues to grow and now the junior senator from Illinois can add one more: Robin Givens (the actress also known in some circles as “Mike Tyson’s ex-wife”).

In an interview with Yeas & Nays, Givens said she’s pulling for Obama in 2008.

“I’m a Barack kind of girl,” Givens said. “He’s like this breath of fresh air.” Givens is in town to promote the new MyNetworkTV drama “Saints and Sinners,” in which she plays a New York interior designer named Kelly Mitchell. It debuts on WDCA My20 on March 14.

Givens said she watched Obama’s announcement in Springfield this past weekend and was inspired. “I loved it when he said that we all have a job to do,” Givens said. “He brings it back to sort of the good ’ol days where we all have to take a little bit of responsibility for making the world a better place.”

Regardless of who wins (Givens also said she likes Sen. Hillary Clinton, too), Givens is eagerly awaiting the campaign. “No matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you have this overall sense that everybody wants change,” Givens said. “And I like the sense that we’re all sort of humans together and wanting things to be better.”

Presidential wannabes duke it out online

How are the Web sites of the various presidential contenders faring? Alexa.com ranks Web sites based on their traffic and here’s how the various campaign Web sites fared, from most popular to least:

1. Barack Obama

2. Hillary Clinton

3. John Edwards

4. Dennis Kucinich

5. John McCain

6. Newt Gingrich

7. Mitt Romney

8. Rudy Giuliani

9. Tom Vilsack

10. Sam Brownback

11. Bill Richardson

12. Ron Paul

13. Joe Biden

14. Tom Tancredo

15. Duncan Hunter

16. Chris Dodd

17. Mike Huckabee

How important is Internet popularity? Very, says Howard Mortman of the online marketing company New Media Strategies. “Being on top of that list is a huge victory for Hillary and Barack,” Mortman says. “If people are looking for information and they’re seeing Hillary and Obama at the top, that’s what you want, that’s a success.”

D.C. requires one more doctor in the house

Pat Cleary, executive vice president at the National Association of Manufacturers, reports his organization and the American Medical Association were both having conferences at the J.W. Marriott on Tuesday night when he heard an example of bureaucracy run amok.

“Because there is a crowd of several hundred people,” Cleary wrote on his Shopfloor.org blog, “District of Columbia government regulations require that they have a paramedic (which they must pay for) on duty and on the premises. Never mind that this is a room of over 600 physicians, a paramedic is still required on the scene.

“Rules are rules, after all. Even when they don’t make any sense. Somebody call a doctor.”