Monday Links: Drone Drama

* The Kroll Show dramatizes drones.

* Pope Beyonce? Yes please!

* A list of historical fallacies, from Cracked.

* A little girl hears Bad Brains for the first time.

* Please don't watch this if you're afraid of spiders.

* More George W. Bush selfies have surfaced.

* Maybe if we had fewer guns we'd have cooler fisticuffs.

* Jesse Thorn's new show on NPR looks very promising.

*How to order takeout during a blizzard without being a dick. (Save this one for next time.)

* Teddy Roosevelt had an interesting way of expressing himself.

Tags: Beyonce, Dick Cheney, Drones, Funny or Die, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Guns, Nick Kroll, NPR, Oscars, Pope Benedict XVI, Punk Rock, Ronald Reagan, Spiders, Theodore Roosevelt, Weather

Our Endorsements: A Christmas Space Song!

* This astronaut wrote a Christmas song.

* Hawaii loves their Obaminal Snowman.

* The 2012 coming out party was awesome.

* President Obama loves to embarrass his kids.

* This New Yorker political cartoon gets a little fresh.

* The origin of the teddy bear, from Laughing Squid.

* Relax! I finally found the dumbest article explaining the fiscal cliff.

* The Christmas edition of the Professor Blastoff podcast features Ira Glass.

* From The Onion, Paul Ryan ups Congress' heart rate with a new exercise video.

Tags: Daily Links, Fiscal Cliff, House of Representatives, LGBT, Malia Obama, New Yorker, Sasha Obama, The Onion, Theodore Roosevelt

Our Endorsements: Sarah Silverman Cuts to the Chase

* Sarah Silverman's NSFW indecent proposal.

* What is this "Afghanistan" you speak of, from The Onion.

* The New Yorker political cartoon of the day for all you thinkers out there.

* Sean Lennon asks you not to frack his mother on Jimmy Fallon.

* Watch Romney get pulled over during the Seamus incident, from Funny or Die.

Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Daily Links, Environment, Funny or Die, Jimmy Fallon, Mitt Romney, Sarah Silverman, Seamus Romney, Sheldon Adelson, The New Yorker, The Onion, Theodore Roosevelt, Yoko Ono

Great Moments in History According to the Obama White House

Among presidents and other high-ranking politicians, narcissism isn't so much a hazard as a job requirement. Still, there's being self-centered and then there's… rewriting the history of the United States to include one's own accomplishments within the biographies of past American leaders.

The conservative Heritage Foundation and Commentary Magazine catches the White House doing the latter — enumerating Barack Obama's achievements within the biographical sketches of presidents past. Unfortunately, the President's communication team neglected a few key moments in history…

* When Jefferson assumed the Presidency on March 4, 1801, the crisis in France had passed. Today, President Obama communicates with the President of France entirely through apologies.

* On March 4, 1841 William Henry Harrison became the first president to have his photograph taken. Today, the most dangerous place in America is between President Obama and a live camera.

* Inaugurated on July 10, 1850, Millard Fillmore had a weird name. Today, Barack Obama has a weird name.

Read More »

Tags: 14th Amendment, Barack Obama, Franklin Roosevelt, George Bush, Grover Cleveland, History, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson

Hipsters-in-Chief: A "Proud" American Tradition

Whether we're comfortable with it or not, America will forever be saddled with the legacy of the hipster. Besides giving birth to phenomenon, we kind of embody it. We're youngish and cocky, and we think we know better than everybody else, and please don't make us listen to anything you have to say because we really don't want to hear about it. If you need us, we'll be talking amongst ourselves, mutilating our natural beauty and making fun of the way you dress.

Speaking of which, Alexandra Govere — of MTV's Power of 12 political blog — has done us all a great service by listing the top five Presidential (and First Ladial) hipsters, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt…

The Nature Guy is a staple in hipster circles. He’s the one whose profile pic is of him reading in a tree, or meditating on an elephant, or doing anything in a grand, outdoorsy setting that makes it very hard to make out how hot he is if you are not Facebook friends with him. Damn privacy settings.

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was born a hipster. If a man with a stuffed bear's name does not qualify as hipsterific irony, I don’t know what does. It seems only natural that a man named after an animal* would go on to protect them. As President, the conservation of America's natural resources was one of Roosevelt’s top priorities. In 1903, he made Pelican Island, Florida, the U.S.' first National Wildlife Refuge. He went on to protect nearly 230 million acres of land. Pshhhh… And the hipster with a tomato plant on his windowsill calls himself a nature guy!

I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed that George Washington didn't make the list. I mean, that guy was hanging out in Williamsburg, like, two centuries before it was cool. And what about Abe Lincoln's skinny pants? Not to mention his casual bisexuality. I don't know, seems like this list could be expanded.

To learn more about hipsterism in American presidential politics, read Indecision Delegate Jordan Carlos' thought-provoking essay "Rebranding the GOP for the Hipster Vote."

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^{* Yes, we're all aware that Teddy Roosevelt was actually named after Teddy Roosevelt. Not vice versa. So, hold your fire, well-meaning pedants.}

Tags: Fashion, MTV, Theodore Roosevelt