Latest news with #MCHammer
The Guardian
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stephen Colbert on Ice: ‘Constantly devising new terrible ways to treat immigrants'
Late-night hosts talked about US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict and how the situation at home should be higher on the priority list. On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about the 'tenuous ceasefire' that Donald Trump has been taking credit for after getting involved in the situation between Israel and Iran. The president's controversial decision to bomb Iran has led some of his most ardent loyalists to claim he deserves the Nobel peace prize. Colbert said he is 'not sure if they give an award for bombing people into submission' and anyway, they 'kept bombing each other' despite an alleged ceasefire. The ongoing conflict led Trump to lose his cool with press, telling reporters that Israel and Iran 'don't know what the fuck they're doing'. Colbert quipped: 'He is so mad and/or so projecting'. While Trump had claimed the attack 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities, it was later discovered that this was not the case. 'So less operation midnight hammer and more operation MC Hammer,' he said before joking that Iranian officials would be singing Can't Touch This to the US. Colbert argued that more attention should be paid to how terribly people are being treated back in the US with Ice 'constantly devising new terrible ways to treat immigrants'. This week saw plans revealed for a new detention centre in Florida's swamps, set to be nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz. Colbert joked that it sounds more like the 'name of a game on sale for 99c in the Nintendo eShop'. He added that 'this idea is so twisted that even people in Florida think it's cruel'. On Late Night, Seth Meyers spoke about how US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict is 'wildly unpopular' with voters and even among Trump loyalists. He also played the viral clip of Trump swearing in front of reporters and said despite Trump often acting inappropriately, 'it's still surprising to see the president drop an f-bomb on the White House grounds'. He added that 'he's usually so concerned about optics' before playing the recent clip of him joking about not saying the word erection in front of press. JD Vance also appeared on Fox News this week and Meyers claimed that he only 'goes on Fox News to remind the president that he exists'. Meyers spoke about Trump's victory lap on social media saying: 'you don't get credit for cleaning up your own mess unless you're under the age of five'. One of his many bizarre posts had him writing that Israeli forces would be leaving Iran with a 'friendly plane wave'. Meyers asked 'what the hell is a friendly plane wave?' and joked that 'everything in Trump's mind is Thomas the Tank Engine'. He said that ceasefires are 'good ideas and we should have more of them' but they often involve time and effort and Trump is 'less interested in putting the work' when that's the case.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters call for preserving independence of U.S. Postal Service
Local U.S. Postal Service workers staged a protest Thursday morning at the Liberty Bell downtown as part of a national day of demonstrations against the Trump administration's proposal to remove the agency's relative independence and cut its budget or possibly privatize the agency. To the sound of MC Hammer's song "U Can't Touch This" and scattered honking from drivers-by, 16 people were gathered at the southeast corner of Truxtun and Chester avenues by 9:15 a.m. holding signs that read "Hands Off! Our public postal service." Many of the demonstrators were union members opposed to President Donald Trump's idea of moving administration of the USPS to the U.S. Commerce Department. They denounced plans for the newly created Department of Government Efficiency to suggest or carry out budget cuts at the 249-year-old agency. Some also spoke up against longstanding calls by Republican politicians to privatize the service, which in 2023 employed 640,092 people and posted a $6.5 billion financial loss. Trump proposed privatizing the agency in in 2018 but backed down amid bipartisan opposition. He floated the idea again in December. As USPS employees did in large cities across the country on Thursday, the protesters downtown said the service should retain its independence under the executive branch of the federal government. At the national level, protesters have also warned that private ownership of the USPS could lead to election interference if personnel levels are reduced in certain areas. "The message is, the postal service isn't a business — it's a service to the American people," said Monica Brown, a mail processing clerk at the postal service location along Pegasus Drive in Oildale. She is also a member of the American Postal Workers Union Local 472. "Basically, (Trump) is trying to dismantle unions. Unions are the pathway to the middle class," she added. The local's president, Brendan Buettner, said the demonstration was intended to protect USPS as a public service. He said selling off parts of the agency would increase the price of services it provides and could result in an end to mail deliveries to rural areas. Buettner said he would like to invite Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, the appointed head of DOGE, to a site visit in Bakersfield so they can see the work of hard-working men and women serving the public. On Monday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major donor to the Republican Party, sent members of Congress a letter saying he had engaged DOGE to help with longstanding plans to "improve overall our operations, enhance the marketability of our products and dramatically reduce cost and grow revenue." "While we have accomplished a great deal," he continued, "these specific initiatives for which we have sought assistance from the DOGE team for a variety of reasons remain undone." He went on to state that DOGE will work with USPS on the management of retirement plans, workers compensation costs, "unfunded congressional mandates," regulatory requirements, retail center lease renewals, leveraging of postal infrastructure for federal agencies and counterfeit postage. DeJoy promised to report back to Congress if the scope of his cooperation with DOGE expands beyond those topics. He acknowledged he lacks authority to change federal laws, employee benefits or the way pension assets are invested. DeJoy wrote that Congress is "rightfully focused" on USPS achieving break-even financial status, "just as I am." The postal service has reported handling nearly 103.7 pieces of first-class mail at its peak in 2001, and that the volume declined by half by 2020 amid competition from email, FedEx and United Parcel Service. During Thursday's demonstration along Truxtun, protesters repeated at least two sets of chants. One began with "Whose post office?" followed by the response, "The people's post office!" Another started with "USA!" and continued "Not for sale!" A second demonstration has been planned for Sunday at the corner of Ming Avenue and Wible Road.
