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A 21-year-old man who admitted posting online threats against the creators of the animated TV series "South Park" was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison. ... Chesser admitted to posting online threats against the "South Park" creators due to a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed. He also admitted that he tried to go to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group that the United States considers a terrorist organization.

No joke: The Daily Show brought a camel to the protests in Madison the other day, presumably to help make fun of the Cairo/Madison comparisons. As this video shows, the gag didn't turn out so well: Who knew that an animal indigenous to the Middle East couldn't walk on snow and ice in the Midwest? Local firefighters eventually rescued the camel. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Daily Show didn't use any footage of the camel in its Tuesday night broadcast. Update: If I'm not mistaken, it appears that Daily Show correspondent John Oliver walks in front of the...

Well the onslaught of Piers Morgan publicity is ratcheting up, evidenced by the steady flow on online clips (which are exceptionally well produced we might add.) The latest features Morgan sharing with his staff plans to avoid predictably partisan takes in his future show and coverage. He also notably both lauds and takes a shot at Jon Stewart for ‘jumping the shark’ at the end of his rally. From CNN: “I don’t want to be too nicey-nicey,” said Piers. But: “I’m not going to be partisan. Although I have lots of opinions which I will share with you in the...

Want a press pass? Dear Leader cannot be reached at this time. Interacting with Comedy Central over the upcoming Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity, or the March to Keep Fear Alive, or the This Is Not a Political Rally rally is much like trying to communicate with North KoreaÂ’s Kim Jong II.I have been conducting a long-distance email relationship with Steve Albani, Comedy CentralÂ’s vice president for corporate communications. I am trying to get press credentials to cover the event for PJTV. Here are my unedited email conversations with Mr. Albani: Me: Hope all is going well with your...

The rally is scheduled for noon to 3 p.m. EDT. It will be broadcast on C-SPAN and Comedy Central.

Irony reaches new heights at Comedy Central is going to “strictly prohibit filming” of the Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive. PJTV’s Washington Bureau chief Richard Pollock inquired with the Comedy Central’s senior vice president of corporate communications Steve Albani about receiving credentials. Albani claimed that Pollock would not be given credentials because of limited supply, and as such there would be no room on the “press riser” for PJTV’s camera and crew. When Pollock said that he’d be fine with filming not on the press riser, Albani said that filming would be “strictly prohibited” between 3rd and...

Barack Obama’s appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” last night marked the first time a sitting president has appeared on the Comedy Central program. It likely marked another first: the first time a president was called “dude” in a TV interview. Obama said that administration official Larry Summers did a “heckuva job” on financial reform–and the President suggested his words were deliberately chosen to echo the language George W. Bush used to praise FEMA official Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina. Stewart jokingly told the president, “You don’t want to use that phrase, dude.” Was it disrespectful for Stewart...

America Prepares to Get Angry at Jon StewartBy Elspeth Reeve | October 26, 2010 11:38am Jon Stewart has begun his tour of the nation's capital with a taping of The Daily Show before a "very, very policy-oriented" audience in Washington, The Washington Post's Dan Zak reports. ("We're not used to people nodding, like, 'Oh, I worked on that bill,' " Stewart said.) Stewart and Stephen Colbert's many young fans are packing their bags and arranging for sofas to crash on as they ready to head into D.C. for the comedians' pro-satire Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. But not everyone's...

The depressed Democratic base needs to ask itself some questions: Do women want more representatives who oppose abortion? Do Hispanics want to see immigration reform postponed? Do young voters want college loans slashed? If they don’t, they’ll set aside whatever valid grievances they may have with Obama and mobilize. If Democrats lose control anyway, maybe nothing too bad will happen. Obama will veto GOP bills, and politics will be paralyzed for two years as the parties jostle for 2012. But a right-wing Republican takeover of Congress and state capitals isn’t something to accept with indifference. Midterms matter, and voters tempted...

October 22, 2010 John Stewart's 'Sanity' Rally to include Code Pink, Anarchists Jason McNew It is looking like John Stewart's "Restore Sanity" rally will define sanity rather peculiarly. Code Pink, Anarchists, and pro-abortion groups plan to attend at the Lincoln Memorial on October 30th.

Jon Stewart is a smart and funny guy. As any regular visitor to Mediaite knows, we are big fans of his incisive and entertaining commentary on the often absurd intersection of media and politics. But that doesn’t mean we always agree with his point-of-view; take for example his take down of MSNBC’s new campaign to re-brand themselves with the phrase “Lean Forward.” In the following segment, Mr. Stewart makes a lot funny jokes, but perhaps its a little early to dismiss an entire ad campaign.

(RollingStone.com) -- Jon Stewart has revealed the location of his Rally to Restore Sanity (and Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive): The east end of Washington D.C.'s National Mall, between 3rd and 7th Streets.

Norris and all Americans currently live under the "Rushdie Rules," which punish whoever disrespects Islam, Muhammad, or the Koran. Make fun of Muhammad and you're on your own. Local and national politicians had nothing to say about her plight. Journalists, usually keen to protect one of their own, went silent. No organization sprung up to raise money for her protection.

MTV Networks is planning to host a live town hall with President Obama October 14, an executive familiar with the program confirms to TVNewser. The town hall, which was first reported this morning by Politico’s Playbook, will be held Thursday October 14 at 4 PM, and will run on MTV, BET, CMT, MTV Tr3s and other MTV Networks. The executive also said the event would be streamed live online via the network’s websites. Politico reports that MTV’s Sway Calloway, CMT’s Kate Cook and BET’s April Woodard will host the town hall, which will have an audience comprised of young people.

When I saw the news that Stephen Colbert was going to testify before Congress to talk about the one day he spent working on a farm, I was ashamed. After his testimony today, I’m not only ashamed, I am angry. But my anger isn‘t so much directed at Colbert as the politicians who thought it’d be a good idea to put on a committee comedy spectacle in the halls of Congress. While some criticized Colbert’s appearance earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she thought it would be a great idea for the Comedy Central star to give his...

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert is slated to testify at a congressional hearing Friday on immigration titled “Protecting America’s Harvest,” two sources have told The Daily Caller. One Republican source said Colbert will be testifying “in character,” the Bill O’Reilly-like muse Colbert uses for his show. A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman, confirming Colbert would testify, said the hearing matter was a “serious issue . . . this is not a TV stunt.” Some Republicans have already expressed unhappiness with Colbert witnessing at the hearing, thinking it would make light of a serious issue. The hearing is before the House Judiciary Committee’s...

Comedian Jon Stewart on Wednesday bashed Fox News for parent company News Corporation's $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. Unfortunately, Stewart failed to inform his viewers that Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central, has so far given disproportionately to Democrats this year. Also missing in the "Daily Show" host's attack of FNC and Glenn Beck was that News Corp. prior to this contribution had historically given more to Democrats than Republicans. Such facts were unimportant Wednesday evening, for Stewart was on another in a long line of Fox News is the devil incarnate rants (video follows with...

Lyndon Johnson is famous for saying that if he had lost the favorable opinion of liberal former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite that he had lost that of most of America. President Barack Obama may be at a similar juncture now. With his poll numbers continuing a downward trend in light of the Gulf oil leak, his unpopular health care bill, and deficit spending, liberal comedian Jon Stewart asked a question Monday that is now beginning to emerge even in the minds of stalwart Democrats: Is government capable of doing anything large and expansive ? As chronicled by Noel Sheppard...

"You don't just blurt out racially charged comments on camera... you do it on your radio show!"

Appearing on Monday’s The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to promote his book, "The Promise," MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter – also of Newsweek – asserted that President Barack Obama had "prevented another Great Depression," and declared that Obama had it more difficult than Franklin Delano Roosevelt because he had to "sweep up" like a "shovel brigade" after President Bush, as he used a word that had to be bleeped out for airing. Alter: "He proceeded to make history almost right away, not only because he was the first African-American elected President ... we were all living history. This man...