Colbert Sits Down with Frank Luntz — Hilarious Video (+ Top Politics Stories)

The video below is quite hilarious. Had me laughing out loud for a little while. I just wrote about it over on Planetsave, as one thing in particular stood out to me that made the video that much funnier. Here were my thoughts (followed by the video):

Frank Luntz is, no doubt, good with words (and a little more than that). He holds his fair share of responsibility for the climate crisis we’re in, too, as he has helped the Republican Party avoid action on this critical topic through word games. (Note: he doesn’t like talking about that much these days.)

The uber-funny Stephen Colbert sat down with him recently to learn a trick or two. The resulting video is hilarious (while also a bit interesting). The funny thing is, Luntz seems to not get that Colbert’s job is to be ridiculous and funny while also poking fun at crazy Republicans. Not sure how he could not get that, or if he just gets irritated somewhat easily.

Truthfully, though, beyond the fact that this video should give you a real laugh, there are some interesting tips there that we could probably all benefit from. Good news, too — it looks like Colbert is going to have Luntz back on the show. Looks like this might even be the beginning of a series.

Here are some more good politics stories of the week, divided up by topic:

Tea Party Crazies

Rick Perry

1. Rick Perry’s Meager Environmental Efforts May Be Too Much For Republicans
2. Perry Reveals Plan For Total U.S. Anarchy: ‘Put A Moratorium On All Regulations’
3. Perry’s Climate Lies Win 4 Pinocchios as Huntsman Aide Says GOP Can’t Win “If We Become the Anti-Science Party.”
4. Rick Perry Thinks Texas Climate Scientists Are In A ‘Secular Carbon Cult’
5. Huntsman Spox: ‘Science clearly was not a mandatory course for Gov. Perry’
6. Rick Perry On Climate Change And Texas Agriculture: ‘We’ll Be Fine’
7. Rick Perry Signed Unconstitutional Law Nullifying Federal Light Bulb Law
8. Rick Perry Is Big Oil’s $11 Million Man

Michele Bachmann

1. Bachmann Requested Federal Funding from DOT
2. Bachmann Promises to Drop Gas to $2 a Gallon: Some Possible Solutions

Other Tea Party Crazies

1. #1 Tea Party Citizen Mistake… (+ Top Activism & Politics Stories)
2. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has “Gutted” Renewable Energy Programs in Favor of Natural Gas
3. Planet Earth Gets S&P Downgrade due to Unbalanced Carbon Budget and Global Warming Deniers
4. Politifact: It is not “fair to say the science [behind climate change] is in dispute.”
5. It’s Official: Congress’s Next Spitting Contest Will Be Over the Gas Tax
6. Calls Mount for Fallen Candidate to Redeem Climate Lies

Other Crazies — from Industry or Media or Other Side of the Political “Line” — (& responses to them)

1. Smog Polluters Recycle Disproven Claims Of Economic Disaster If Americans Choose Clean Air
2. U.S. Panel Endorses Fracking As Its Members Are Faulted for Industry Ties
3. Interior Department takes steps to accelerate climate change
4. Washington Post Shills For Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
5. CNN Doc On Mountaintop Removal Falls Flat
6. Industry Pleads That EPA Has “Discretion” to Violate Clean Air Act
7. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Resourceful Earth: Continuing the “Jobs vs. the Environment” Fallacy
8. More Big Oil Astroturf Across The Country: Missouri Front Tells Activists To Plant Anti-EPA Questions At State Fair

Might be Crazies (still undecided)

1. Obama Fired Up About Partisanship, Gridlock in Washington
2. China studying regional CO2 caps: official

Non-Crazies!

1. This is what LOVE looks like
2. Japan Puts Nuclear Regulation in the Hands of Environment Ministry
3. When Will Your Mad As Hell Moment Happen?
4. 12 Green Groups Push for End to Oil Industry Tax Breaks
5. One More Push Can Preserve Federal Safe Routes to School Funding
6. Climate Scientist Joins Tar Sands Protest: ‘It’s Unethical For Us To Stand By While The Greed Of Others Results In The Destruction Of Our Biosphere’
7. Mythbusters: Debunking The Claim That Fuel Economy Standards ‘Kill People’
8. Northeast Clean Fuels Standard = Thousands of Jobs, Billions of Dollars
9. National Congress of American Indians opposes Keystone XL tar sands pipeline
10. Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists