28 Dec, 2015 23:30

Redacted Tonight on who became the biggest jokes of 2015

With 2015 coming to a close, RT’s premier comedy news show takes a long, hard, Redacted Tonight look at the people, corporations and government agencies that have made themselves one big, unfunny joke over the course of the year.

Here they are, in no particular order.

#1 Joe Scarborough

After scoring the only joint interview with the billionaire Koch Brothers in recent years, the host of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC proceeded to give them a fluff-job beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. At one point he literally said it was tough to find someone who hasn’t been touched by their generosity.

#2 Bill Cosby

OK, not really a joke – but the former TV star accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, has certainly turned out to be a total laughing stock. His years of acting like some kind of moral authority only adds insult to injury.

Want to see how Cosby has become a joke? The proof is in the pudding… Jello pudding. And also at the end of this clip:

#3 CNN

We're sure we would find many reasons CNN has turned out to be a joke, but we’ll just pinpoint one.

Following the first Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders won every online poll and focus group that anyone could find. Despite this, the next day CNN ran with the headline “Clinton Dominates Debate.”

When they finally did find a poll Hillary Clinton won, it was after 4 days of trying to convince the nation that Hillary Clinton had won the debate. Can we say biased much?

#4 The National Security Agency (NSA)

But we don’t need to tell them that – they’ve already read our emails.

#5 US President Barack Obama

Again, tough to nail down just one reason here, but let’s go with the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

After saying in his run for the Presidency that trade deals need to be decided by “Main Street” instead of “Wall Street,” he helped created the largest ever trade deal in complete secrecy. Only corporate lobbyists were allowed to see it until recently. And what do you know, it turns out that the TPP is really good for Wall Street – while it punches Main Street in the face.

With the TPP, Obama proved that his words mean nothing yet again.

#6 Donald Trump

He can’t be serious, right? Can he?

Trump has been the surprise candidate in this year’s primary campaign, so like a modern-day snake oil salesman that even the White House spokesman broke the fourth wall and called out his “carnival-barker routine.”

Whether it is his initiative to ban Muslims, or the intent to build a wall with Mexico, or [fill in your own reason here], Trump exemplifies everything that is wrong with the American electorate.

#7 Wei-Hock “Willie” Soon

It was revealed this year that Soon, a prominent scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and critic of climate change, has received over a million dollars from the fossil fuel industry to write reports and give testimonies. Oops.

#8 Ben Carson

So your history seems to be made up, some of your books are plagiarized, you don’t understand science, you have no governing experience, and you seem to be half-asleep.

Why is everyone making fun of you?

#9 Walmart

You might think Walmart doesn’t fit on a list of people who have become jokes, but corporations are people now, remember?

As if Walmart didn’t have enough strikes against them, it came out this year that they worked closely with the FBI and Lockheed Martin to crush worker organizations that were asking for a living wage. That’s right, the store that sells wife beater t-shirts, Vagisil, and a liter of Monster Energy Drink in a single value pack – has actually done something sinister. Who would’ve imagined?

#10 Chevron

Since we're on the topic of corporate people, here is another. After losing a lawsuit which made it clear they had dumped billions of gallons of toxic sludge in the Ecuadorian rainforest, Chevron counter-sued. That’s right: they sued the victims of their own toxic dumping. And they won.

In October, it came out that their star witness – former Ecuadorean judge Alberto Guerra – admitted to perjury and receiving money and other benefits from Chevron. Now their case is falling apart and with any luck they will actually pay the surviving victims of their environmental destruction.