The best ten minute briefing on TV

The Daily Show is mining the mother lode of comedy with the goings on in the world of American politics this week. The scandal that has enveloped the Republican Representative for the State of Florida, Mark Foley has provided no shortage of material for the best writing team on television these days.

What Jon Stewart and his crew put on the air every night must be but a dream for the regular network news shows. Stewart's presentation is fast paced, funny and probably just as informative as the breathless breaking news approach taken by the various news networks in the States.

The first ten minutes of any Daily Show episode probably gives you a very concise bit of information about the hot issue of the day, all while they leave you holding your side from laughing so hard.

This week’s programs have been particularly edgy, as they tackle the Foley scandal and the taking to the lifeboats by the Republicans. The Daily Show frequently exposes the hypocrisy of the political class, doing so in a way that the main networks or cable networks could never do.

They certainly test the bounds of good taste at times, and the material below is truly not for those of a tender young age (unless you’re ready to sit down and explain a lot of things that you might have wished could wait a few years more), but this week’s openings have been hilarious and more to the point, on the money about the scandal that the Republicans probably wish would just go away. Fat chance there.

Here are the Daily Show openings for this week, a collection of material that does much to eviscerate the spin control plans of the politicians before they can even get started.

Many observers in the US fear that too many Americans may be taking too much of their information from the satirical shows, while not tuning into the serious news channels with their extensive research skills and seasoned news veterans.

However, you know maybe the folks at the shows like the Daily Show are much more in tune with fact checking and research than their critics at the news channels might like. Take this bit of hilarity from the Fox Network yesterday, which found the perfect solution for the Republicans on this issue.

Yep when in doubt move the scandal ridden subject over to the other political party; it’s truly Machiavellian in its design.

Republicans, all is not lost, just as long as the fair and balanced (though factually inept) friends of Fox have control over the chyron keys!