“Live from New York … it’s Democratic Talking Points!” “Saturday Night Live’s’ 50th season won’t kick off that way, but it might as well admit the obvious. The once-mighty sketch show, an institution which gave rise to some of Hollywood’s biggest comedy stars, is now little more than MSNBC with musical guests. Sound harsh? Quick, name the last sketch that skewered a Democratic politician. How many jokes did “SNL” tell about President Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline? The progressive’s retreat on free speech? Vice President Kamala Harris’ word salad speeches? Squatters gone wild? Big-city crime spikes? Illegal immigration impacting small town USA? To paraphrase Dean Wormer from “Animal House” … zero point zero. Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images When Sen. Ted Cruz caught heat for being away from Texas during a winter storm he caught holy heck from Team “SNL.” Get the drift? It’s impossible to miss the show’s extreme bias, an echo of late-night television in the post-Johnny Carson world. The show’s key players, including founder Lorne Michaels, are either kidding themselves about the show’s new normal or think it’s funny to lie about it. Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter that “SNL” still hits both sides of the aisle. Really. You can’t lecture the audience, which most of politics is now, people lecturing the audience. Ours is like, yeah, there are kind of idiots on both sides. And we’re not going to do anything that didn’t work at dress [rehearsal]. It has to play. It has to be comedy. We’re first and foremost a comedy show. That’s not a new show writer or a gullible cast member. It’s the comedy genius who introduced “Saturday Night Live” to us all the way back in 1975. The show’s early days cast a huge shadow on the new cast. Said shadow grows even longer this Fall. “Saturday Night,” hitting theaters Oct. 11, recalls the frantic 90 minutes prior to the very first “SNL” episode. Chaos! Excitement! Counter-culture comedy! It’s all there, directed by Oscar-nominee Jason Reitman. ‘Saturday Night’ 2024. Columbia Pictures/SPE. Broadway Video. Right of Way Films. SNL Studios. IMDB. Mostly unfamiliar faces bring Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and the original “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players” back to screens across the country. The film is earning raves from early festival screenings. It also reminds fans why the show once delivered must-see comedy. Not every joke landed, of course. Others have aged poorly. If the sight of John Belushi in a bee costume makes you howl in 2024, you may need professional help. That unpredictability was part of the show’s appeal. You didn’t know what might happen next. Yes, it was live, and that element helped. The cast members dug into the show’s free-spirited ways, pushing the comedy envelope early and often. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images All it took was one irreverent sketch to fuel water cooler gossip for days. The show’s finely tuned anarchy spoke to an era grappling with the end of the Vietnam War, the fallout from Watergate and an energy crisis.  Years later, “SNL” morphed into a comedy incubator: Aykroyd. Belushi. Murray. Chase. Murphy. Carvey. Rock. Sandler. Ferrell. Fey. It may have lost some of its comic edge, but it hit both sides of the political aisle and kept the focus where it belonged. Is it funny? Then it makes the final cut. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images The current “SNL” lacks both laughs and cultural clout. When was the last time “SNL” broke out a major comedy star? Current player Bowen Yang has snagged steady big-screen work, but he’s never the star and his films typically make “indie-film” cash. The media will prop up the show’s 50th season, giving every anti-Trump sketch wall-to-wall coverage. A shrinking band of progressives will tune in to see how the show hits Trump in the weeks before the election. They know the show’s comedic targets even if they don’t know every punchline word for word. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Everyone else has found new comedy faces to speak Truth to Power. Think Tim Dillon, Ryan Long, Andrew Schulz, Tyler Fischer and Shane Gillis. These comedians didn’t need “SNL” to jump-start their careers. Gillis famously got fired from the show before he could step on its historic stage for past “problematic” jokes. He returned four years later as a show host, his presence proving “SNL” needed him far more than he needed the NBC showcase. The rest reach out via Patreon, YouTube, stand-up stages, Netflix specials and podcasts, bypassing both Hollywood and the once-might “SNL” incubator. You never know what they’ll say next or who they’ll target with the next withering punchline. That sense of chaos once lived in “SNL’s” creative DNA. Now, that’s all but gone, replaced by corporate groupthink and an unwillingness to rock the boat. Remember how guest player Brad Pitt feted Dr. Anthony Fauci during the pandemic? Or how several cast members serenaded outgoing President Barack Obama with the song, “To Sir, With Love?” Later, “SNL” player Jay Pharoah admitted the show “gave up” on mocking Obama during his two terms in office. NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images What about Kate McKinnon warbling a mourning take on “Hallelujah” after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump? Is this comedy or DNC propaganda? The line isn’t even blurry on most nights. “SNL” once invited both Trump and Elon Musk to host the show. Would NBC brass allow either to do the same today, even if the ratings would likely be huge?  That says it all. * * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

“Sopranos” actress Drea de Matteo had words of condemnation for some of her Hollywood peers turned political activists, including Meryl Streep and George Clooney.  “I’m still a super liberal so I feel like it’s time for us all to come together but a lot of people on the Left are afraid … George Clooney, Meryl Streep, all of these huge celebrities endorsing war, supporting Dick Cheney,” the actress said during a Wednesday appearance on Fox Business.   “I don’t understand the inversion and how people have flipped unless they’re ‘under the gun’ so to speak … I find it hard to believe that people like George Clooney or Meryl Streep don’t actually know what’s going on. Maybe they should use their bank accounts to support what’s happening in the world right now,” she added. The 52-year-old went on to rail against the current state of the entertainment industry. “I think that Hollywood is meaningless,” she said. “The American Dream is on hold. I feel like Hollywood is dead. The music industry is dead … There’s no … artistic movement speaking out about this … You don’t see fine art. There’s usually protest art about wars and censorship. We’re stagnant right now.” “I find it interesting to see these celebrities that are endorsing a situation that is the antithesis of what they once stood for as celebrities sort of and freedom of everything,” de Matteo said. “Speech, art, integrity. I question their integrity right now.” Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! This isn’t the first time the actress spoke out against celebrities and their political involvement. She spoke with The Daily Wire about Hollywood stars making political endorsements and why she’s opposed. “In the past, I understood the value,” she said during an interview earlier this month. “There was a rock and roll aspect to it, you know, you had all these musicians, there was a celebration of the country. I know now that there is no celebration of this country, and there’s no patriotism.” “I feel like a lot of these celebrities are either tone deaf, and they don’t know what’s going on,” de Matteo said. She added that most “well-intentioned liberals” would “abandon ship” if they knew what was really going on.  “It feels sad to see how misinformed [celebrities] are,” she says. “If they’re not misinformed, then it makes me question their integrity as a human being and why they would want to hurt people on that level,” de Matteo said of Hollywood stars endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

The Biden-Harris administration, which has consistently undermined the state of Israel during its year-long battle against the Islamist terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, is joining the United Nations to invoke immunity for UNRWA and its employees who aided and abetted Hamas in its murderous massacre of more than 1220 people in Israel last October 7. In August, the UN admitted that nine UNRWA employees “may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks.” “Some of those employees were described as teachers and social workers — and included an Arabic instructor who was revealed to be a Hamas military commander that helped slaughter Kibbutz Be’eri,” the New York Post noted. In June, more than 100 victims of the October 7 massacre filed a lawsuit against UNRWA, saying UNRWA “knowingly providing Hamas with the US dollars in cash that it needed to pay smugglers for weapons, explosives, and other terror materiel” and that Hamas money changers collected 10%-25% on transactions, “ensuring that a predictable percentage of UNRWA’s payroll went to Hamas.” “In addition, the lawsuit said UNRWA ‘knowingly provided material support to Hamas in Gaza’ by allowing the terror group safe harbor in its faculties, including schools and other buildings used for weapons storage or command centers, based on the assumption that its premises ‘were inviolate’ and thus immune to attack by Israel,” The Times of Israel reported. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! But the United Nations and the Biden-Harris administration want to whitewash the issue and make its employees immune from prosecution, declaring, “Since the UN has not waived immunity in this instance, its subsidiary, UNRWA, continues to enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution, and the lawsuit should be dismissed.” “The plaintiff’s complaint does not present a legal basis for claiming that the United Nations waived its immunity,” Biden’s DOJ echoed. “Therefore, because the UN has not waived immunity in this case, its subsidiary, UNRWA, retains full immunity, and the lawsuit against UNRWA should be dismissed due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction.” As Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, and Eugene Kontorovich, professor at George Mason University Scalia Law School, noted: Under the UN Charter, its officials are entitled to such “privileges and immunities as are necessary for the independent exercise of their functions.” The United Nations thus claims that immunity from civil suits for invading a country and massacring its citizens is “necessary” for the exercise of its functions — and President Biden and Kamala Harris apparently agree. If immunity for mass murder is necessary for the UN’s functioning, maybe it is time to rethink the UN entirely.

Former President Donald Trump sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday, just one day after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the European leader and announced an additional $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine. The meeting also comes days after Zelensky called Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), “too radical” and expressed doubt that Trump has a plan for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. The conflict is now in its 31st month as Russian and Ukrainian soldiers continue to fight over Ukraine’s southern and eastern territory. Donald Trump meets Zelensky in New York. "We're gonna have a good meeting." pic.twitter.com/uSUQt8HJST — The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 27, 2024 Trump has promised to end the bloodbath in Ukraine if he becomes president. Before meeting with Zelensky, Trump told reporters, “We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled,” The Hill reported. “We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump added before Zelensky chimed in, saying, “I hope we have more good relations.” “But it takes two to tango, you know, and we’re going to have a good meeting today,” Trump continued. “And I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.” Zelensky told The New Yorker earlier this week, “Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.” “With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand,” Zelensky added. “I’ve seen many leaders who were convinced they knew how to end it tomorrow, and as they waded deeper into it, they realized it’s not that simple.” The Ukrainian president also said Vance is “too radical,” arguing that the Republican vice presidential candidate’s message “seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice.” Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Trump blasted Zelensky at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday for “making little nasty aspersions” toward him. The former president also called Zelensky the “greatest salesman on Earth,” adding, “Those buildings are down. Those cities are gone. They’re gone. And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal.” Some conservatives accused Zelensky of “election interference” after he appeared with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) at a factory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania earlier this week. During their visit to the factory, Shapiro signed an artillery shell that was being shipped to Ukraine. “The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote in a letter to Zelensky.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was winning the battle against its enemies and tore into the United Nations General Assembly in a Friday speech, accusing the body of being a “house of darkness.” Netanyahu began his speech by stating that he did not intend to come to the UN this year, but changed his mind because he felt Israel was being slandered. “I decided to come here to speak for my people, to speak for my country, to speak for the truth,” Netanyahu said. “And here is the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace, and will make peace again.” “And I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall: We are winning.” Netanyahu also slammed the UN for its long-standing bias against Israel, which he said has gone into overdrive since October 7.  Calling the UN a “house of darkness” and “a swamp of anti-Semitic bile,” Netanyahu pointed out that there have been more anti-Israel resolutions passed against Israel in the UN than the entire world combined.  “What hypocrisy, what a double standard, what a joke,” Netanyahu said.  “It’s not about Gaza … it’s always been about Israel. … The UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce.” “So all the speeches you heard today, all the hostility directed at Israel this year, not about Gaza. It’s about Israel. It’s always been about Israel, about Israel’s very existence.” Netanyahu referenced the story of Moses, wherein the ancient Jewish leader said to the Israelites that the actions they choose will determine if they bless or curse future generations. “That is the choice we face today: The curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression, or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew.” Netanyahu unveiled a “map of a blessing,” showing the potential for Israel and Arab partners to form a land bridge to connect Europe and Asia with rail lines, energy pipelines, and fiber optic cables.  Showing a second map “of a curse,” Netanyahu highlighted Iranian influence in the region.  “Iran’s malignant arc has shut down international waterways. It cuts off trade. It destroys nations from within and inflicts misery on millions.” he said, adding that Iran’s aggression endangers every other country in the Middle East. “Which of these two maps that I showed you will shape our future?” Netanyahu asked. “Will it be the blessings of peace and prosperity for Israel, our Arab partners, and the rest of the world? Or will it be the curse in which Iran and its proxy spread carnage and chaos everywhere?” Netanyahu called on the UN Security Council to place sanctions on Iran to help ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons. “Our actions delayed this program by perhaps a decade, but we haven’t stopped it,” Netanyahu said. “For the sake of the peace and security of the entire world, we must not let that happen and I assure you, Israel will do everything in its power to make sure it doesn’t happen.” Netanyahu retold the story of Hamas’ deadly October 7 massacre, where terrorists murdered, raped, and kidnapped Israeli civilians.  The prime minister laid the blame for the attacks on Iran, which has funded the terrorist groups attacking Israel, including the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah. He mentioned Iran’s direct attack on Israel in April.  “I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran: If you strike us, we will strike you,” he said. “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach and that’s true of the entire Middle East.” Netanyahu announced its successful crippling of Hamas, which previously had 40,000 terrorists, with 15,000 rockets and 350 miles of tunnels. “A year later, the IDF has killed or captured more than half of these terrorists, destroyed over 90% of their rocket arsenal, and eliminated the key segments of their terror tunnel network. In major military operations, we destroyed nearly all of Hamas’s terror battalions.” To complete Israel’s victory, Netanyahu said the focus is “‘mopping up” the remaining terror group’s capabilities and returning the remaining hostages home. Netanyahu advocated for the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza, wearing a yellow ribbon pin representing those held in captivity. “We will return your loved ones home,” He said to the families. “We will not spare that effort until this holy mission is accomplished.”  The prime minister brought several relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas to the speech. Among his guests were Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan was kidnapped from the Supernova festival, and Kobi Samerano whose son Yonatan’s body is held hostage. Other guests included Salem Alatrash, whose Arab-Israeli soldier brother Mohammad was murdered and had his body taken hostage, and Yifat Haiman, whose 27-year-old daughter Inbar was murdered after being taken hostage at the festival. Sharon Sharabi, the sister of hostages Yossi and Eli, and Yizhar Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father Oded who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his wife — who was freed in November— were also in attendance. Netanyahu said Hamas still exercises governing power by stealing humanitarian food brought into Gaza and selling it to make a profit.  “If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup, rearm, and attack Israel again and again and again as it is vowed to do so,” he said. “Hamas has got to go.” Netanyahu said Israel will reject any deal where Hamas is allowed to rule, adding that Israel does not have intentions of Israelis resettling Gaza. He said the chief goal is to deradicalize Gaza. “This war can come to an end now, all that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms, and release the hostages but if they don’t we will fight until we achieve victory — total victory— there is no substitute for it.” Netanyahu said Israel is determined to defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying that the terror group has murdered more Americans and French men “than any group except Bin Laden.” He pointed out that Hezbollah joined the fight against Israel the day after October 7, “completely unprovoked.” Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of turning vibrant northern communities into “ghost towns” through its near-daily rocket attacks, which have forced 60,000 Israelis from their homes in the north. “Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year,” the Jewish state’s leader said. “Well, I’ve come here today to say enough is enough. We won’t rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes.” He pointed out that Hezbollah has been violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which requires it to not have forces south of the Litani river, something it has done for nearly 20 years.  Netanyahu said Israel is not at war with Lebanon, but with Hezbollah, which has “hijacked” the country. Turning to building peace with neighbors, Netanyahu said he hopes to achieve a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, as he has already done with other Gulf countries through the Abraham Accords.  “What blessings such a peace with Saudi Arabia would bring,” Netanyahu said. “It would be a boon to the security and economy of our two countries. It would boost trade and tourism across the region. It would help transform the Middle East into a global juggernaut. Our two countries could cooperate on energy, water, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and many, many other fields.” He added that the best way to disturb Iran’s “nefarious designs” is to achieve “such a peace” that could be brokered with the help of the United States. Representatives of Saudi Arabia and Iran were not present during Netanyahu’s speech. Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in July where he proposed an “Abrahamic Alliance” to expand upon the Abraham Accords and combat Iran and its proxies. He said Israel will win its current battles because the country does not have a choice. “After generations in which our people were slaughtered, remorselessly butchered and no one raised a finger in our defense, we now have a state. We now have a brave army — an army of incomparable courage and we are defending ourselves.” “Am Yisrael Chai, the people of Israel live, now, tomorrow, forever,” he concluded. Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows this week to take on Hezbollah and ensure that Israelis can return to their homes after 11 months of displacement. The IDF has so far struck over 2,000 Hezbollah targets during its operation, including several civilian homes that doubled as rocket storage and launch sites, according to IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. The Biden administration pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah this week. Netanyahu’s office expressed gratitude for the efforts, but continued with its operation, reiterating its goal of returning its citizens to their homes in the north. Israel secured $8.7 billion in U.S. aid for its ongoing military efforts, including  $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement and $5.2 billion for its air defense systems, Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday. Protests erupted in New York City Thursday night ahead of Netanyahu’s address, with protesters chanting, “We’re going to get you!” outside of the Loews Regency New York Hotel, where they believed Netanyahu was staying. Over two dozen protesters were arrested, the New York Post reported.

'She was sitting in there by herself, strapped into her car'

A post shared on Threads claims that the NFL issued a “permanent ban” on the “Black National Anthem.”   Post by @usabuzzdaily View on Threads   Verdict: False The claim originated as satire. No reputable sources have reported on this claim. Fact Check: A post shared on Threads claims that the NFL issued a ban […]