Tonight’s guest on The Daily Show is Dahlia Lithwick. The panelists on The Nightly Show are Lewis Black, Jordan Carlos, and Grace Parra.
Dahlia Lithwick
is a Canadian writer and editor who lives in the United States. Lithwick is a contributing editor at Newsweek and senior editor at Slate. She writes "Supreme Court Dispatches" and "Jurisprudence" and has covered the Microsoft trial and other legal issues for Slate. Before joining Slate as a freelancer in 1999, she worked for a family law firm in Reno, Nevada. Her work has appeared in The New Republic, The American Prospect, ELLE, The Ottawa Citizen, and The Washington Post.
My guess is she is on to talk about the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
The only experience more absurd these days than trying to actually be Merrick Garland —dutifully attending courtesy meetings that lack any meaningful courtesy and painfully enduring what is surely the most insulting nonconfirmation season in American history—is trying, as a journalist, to cover Merrick Garland and his stalled nomination.
Because there is virtually nothing happening each day, there is virtually nothing to write about each day. And because we don’t write about it each day, voters continue not to know that it is going on each day. And since so many Americans don’t know about what isn’t happening to the empty seat at the Supreme Court each day, that all adds inexorably to the vague general impression that they must not care about it. And since they don’t seem to care about it, it hardly makes sense to write about it. Right?
So how is this story that is actually kind of hugely important ever going to matter, both to journalists and to voters? Well, Chief Justice John Roberts—who could bring serious attention to the issue were he to choose to do so—has opted to stay above the fray despite being the GOP’s new public enemy No. 1. He isn’t going to respond to the efforts to draw him in or fence him out. Which means that Garland and the White House are left trying to turn the fact that there is no story to tell, every day for 55 days and counting, into a glittering news story. This is near impossible when footage showing Garland walking the Senate corridors for discourteous courtesy meetings is about as exciting as the Garland not-story visuals can get.
This is the lay of the land, and we in the media had best figure out how we are going to move forward with it: There is nothing interesting about nothing happening to a 63-year-old judge. Moreover, the court is, by design, secretive and built of paper, and stories about Merrick Garland’s paper answers to questionnaires will never compete with stories about Donald Trump’s teeny tiny hands. Even the fact that “everybody yawns” when told about a Supreme Court vacancy being blocked in an unprecedented manner in U.S. history isn’t a story. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be.
Last Nightly
Tonightly
Lewis Black
is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his angry face and his belligerent comedic style, in which he often simulates having a mental breakdown. Black's comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and made regular appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart delivering his “Back in Black” commentary segment. When not on the road performing, he resides in Manhattan. He also maintains a residence in Chapel Hill, N.C. He is also a spokesman for the Aruba Tourism Authority, appearing in television ads that first aired in late 2009 and 2010. He was voted 51st of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central in 2004; and was voted 5th in Comedy Central's Stand Up Showdown in 2008 and 11th in 2010. Black has served as an "ambassador for voting rights" for the American Civil Liberties Union since 2013.
Jordan Carlos
is an American stand-up comedian who played a recurring character on The Colbert Report and is a co-host on the Nickelodeon kids' show Me TV. He currently appears as a panelist and reporter on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
Grace Parra
is an American screenwriter, presenter, and actress who is a contributor on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.
This Week's Guest List
THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH, Comedy Central
Tu 5/17: Dahlia Lithwick
We 5/18: Jason Sudeikis
Th 5/19: Arianna Huffington
THE NIGHTLY SHOW WITH LARRY WILMORE, Comedy Central
Tu 5/17: Lewis Black
We 5/18: Anthony Anderson
Th 5/19: Paul Scheer
THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, CBS
Tu 5/17: Anthony Anderson, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Coldplay
We 5/18: Josh Gad, Gillian Jacobs, Band of Horses
Th 5/19: Rose Byrne, Bobby Flay, "Weird Al" Yankovic
Fr 5/20: Seth Rogen, Krysten Ritter, Wolf Parade
CONAN, TBS
Tu 5/17: Amanda Peet, Lamorne Morris, Ty Segall & the Muggers (R 3/22/16)
We 5/18: CONAN in Korea (R 4/13/16)
Th 5/19: Josh Brolin, Tom Segura, Cage the Elephant (R 2/3/16)
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC
Tu 5/17: Ryan Gosling, Dave Salmoni, Mash-up Monday with Flo Rida Georgia Line (R 5/9/16)
We 5/18: Dax Shepard, Katie Nolan, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Th 5/19: Magic Johnson, Ludacris, Ciara, Ariana Grande
Fr 5/20: Bryan Cranston, Anika Noni Rose, Joanna Newsom
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, NBC
Tu 5/17: Simon Cowell, Josh Gad, Anthony Bourdain, Mario Batali
We 5/18: Zac Efron, Carmelo Anthony, OneRepublic
Th 5/19: Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Corinne Bailey Rae
Fr 5/20: Billy Crystal, Beanie Feldstein, Flatbush Zombies