Bill Nye the Bad Fashion-Sense Guy Explains What "Top Kill" Is

Remember back when we didn't have a constant, streaming flow of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico and threatening to upend the Southwest ecosystem and cause unimaginable destruction and tragedy? No, me neither. But, it looks like we might maybe hopefully get a reminder real soon like…

Engineers have at least temporarily stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning.

The "top kill" effort, launched Wednesday afternoon by industry and government engineers, had pumped enough drilling fluid to block oil and gas spewing from the well, Allen said. The pressure from the well was very low, he said, but persisting. The top kill effort is not complete, officials caution.

That's all well and good, except, huh? They're pumping "drilling fluid" into the "well"? Slow down there, Amadeus. Can't we get someone to explain this in terms that I can explain with my stupid brain? Possibly with a pie tin full of slime?

I was totally with him there for a minutes, and then he used the word "molecule," and he lost me.

Tags: CNN, Energy & Oil, John King, Science & Technology

The RedState.com Guy Is Moving to CNN (But Will They Make Him a Hologram?)

Erick Erickson, Colbert Report guest, RedState.com editor and defender of goats, has landed a new gig on CNN, aka the MSM. This is not a St. Patrick's day joke! Here's the official announcement…

Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing primarily on CNN's new show John King, USA¸ the network announced Tuesday.

"Erick's a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach," said Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming.

So many questions! Will Erickson's audience see him as a sellout or a successful infiltrator? Is CNN skewing right or is CNN just desperate for more ginned-up shouting matches, since reasonable discourse gets terrible ratings?

Most importantly, what is with "John King, USA"? Does that mean Campbell Brown gets Canada?

Tags: CNN, Conservatives, Erick Erickson, John King, Red State

Chris Matthews Is One Scotch Away from Being Ron Burgundy

Last night's Daily Show was devoted entirely to the State of the Union, including the GOP response and the media coverage. And if you saw the SOTU, you know it was a much-needed reminder in these difficult times, that despite our many differences, we Americans have in us the ability to unite behind the common goal of laughing at the boobs in Washington and the boners on cable news. Just as the founders intended.

The Daily Show's coverage of the SOTU continues below. And you can see The Colbert Report's take here.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bob McDonnell, Chris Matthews, CNN, Fox, John King, Jon Stewart, MSNBC, State of the Union, The Daily Show, Video, Wolf Blitzer, Wyatt Cenac

Jon Stewart Skewers Cable News on Obama's First 100 Days

As Jon Stewart illustrated on last night's Daily Show, the big three cable news networks' coverage of President Obama's first 100 days in office was like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Fox was too cartoonishly critical, while MSNBC was too whorishly sycophantic. Logically, CNN should be just right, but in this version of the story, baby bear ate a lot of lead paint as an infant.

The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm / 10c.

Tags: Barack Obama, CNN, Fox, John King, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, The Daily Show, Video, Wolf Blitzer