TVSquad

Following the Daily Show's report on the FAA, American Airlines canceled one thousand flights for inspection. Coincidence? Yeah, actually, probably.

"Iraq Me Dave Petraeus Part 2": Ahh, the intro this segment will never get old. Thank goodness Commanding General Dave Petraeus is still talking crazy, because I love me some faux-Falco. Anyway, Petraeus pulled out his best graphs to testify in front of Congress. He even managed to squeeze in an "ethno-sectarian competition". No "civil war"? That is one sweet thesaurus, Petraeus.



The wonky circular logic of Petraeus and his buddy Ryan have driven Jon Stewart to a 2001: A Space Odyssey level of craziness. We will leave Iraq when it is time to leave Iraq. Flawless. Since the Petraeus has repeatedly insisted that only history can judge how we do in Iraq, Jon hooked up a feed to himself 30 years in the future. It looks like we're still screwed. The only thing better than future-Jon's wicked Gandalf beard was current-Jon's "Ohh, I was also going to ask... about my family" faux pas. And damn those giant hands! I hate those props, despite the fact that I love doing a Phil Ken Sebben-style "Ha-HA! Giant hands on dowels..."

Senior Middle East Correspondent Aasif Mandvi reported on the Iraqi people's reaction to the Petraeus hearings. It looks like they're just happy to be mentioned. Plus, they love graphs. Who doesn't! It's been a long time since we've seen Mandvi. Now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing an Aasif Mandvi correspondents banner when I visited the TDS studio. Poor guy just missed the cut for the promo shots.

The night's guest was Steve Coll, author of The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century. First fun fact from the interview: Osama bin Laden has fifty-some brothers and sisters. Worst case of Jan Brady issues ever. Coll offered some interesting background stories about bin Laden's family. Unfortunately, Marcia had some Western culture-obsessed friend, and that probably had a permanent effect on Jan bin Laden. Sorry, I'll stop calling him that now. Anyway, I'm not bin Laden expert, so some of this information was pretty surprising. I mean, the ties from American aviation to bin Laden's family (one of his brothers and father died in separate accidents) make his life all the more soap opera-y. Also, "the Hitler moustache of..." is my new favorite phrase.



Jon/Stephen: Battlestar Galactica references for. The. Win. On a slightly related note, I'm starting to find that I have trouble even listening to the words "Battlestar Galactica" without tacking on "Bears... Beets..." Moment of Zen: Senator Evan Bayeh knows Petraeus is talkin' about.