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Jon Stewart did his best to make a mockery of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for being brazen enough to consider a presidential run in 2016, given the fact that he's not exactly popular with most of the country, or even within his own party, with his penchant to stick his finger in the eye of his fellow Republicans if it means he's elevating his own profile.

After going through a series of video clips and a long list of why most Americans should never take this man seriously, Stewart brought up the one other item that might prove problematic for Cruz should he decide to run for president -- and that's the fact that he was born in Canada. He was however, ready to put "the Donald" on the case since he's already been so helpful with investing President Obama's birth certificate.

I had to wonder after watching the clip above from the Daily Show if one of Stewart's staffers read this post on Cruz: 5 Reasons Ted Cruz Would Be A Democrat’s Dream 2016 GOP Nominee:

In a move that only surprised people who assume there’s some limit to the ego of Ted Cruz (R-TX), the freshman senator from Texas has let it be known that he is considering running for president in 2016.

“If you don’t think this is real, then you’re not paying attention,” says a Republican insider. “Cruz already has grassroots on his side, and in this climate, that’s all he may need.”

“There’s not a lot of hesitation there,” adds a Cruz donor who has known the Texan for decades. “He’s fearless.”

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Reince Priebus and the RNC's recent efforts to work on the GOP's messaging and their ridiculous minority outreach program were mocked roundly on this Tuesday evening's The Daily Show by host Jon Stewart, who was, to put it mildly, not impressed with their post-election plan:

“Holy shit, let me break this strategy down, if I may,” Stewart said after running a clip of RNC Chair Reince Priebus discussing the report. “Let me break this strategy down. After pretending minorities didn’t exist proved a loser, the Republican Party has decided to physically go into these areas and engage, person to person, or, as that is known on the streets, talking. But of course, as the saying goes talk is not cheap.”

That’s where the additional paid staff come in.

“So there you go,” Stewart said. “You’re going to go into minority neighborhoods, do a little market research, then send paid spokespeople back into the minority communities with a new retargeted message. Hey, it worked for Kool cigarettes, why not, why not for another organization that has seemed indifferent to the overall health of minorities?”

Stewart followed up with some highlights from this year's CPAC 2013 and after showing the audience some of The Donald, the Wasilla Snowbilly and their new "rising star" and Fox favorite Ben Carson's speeches, wished the Republicans "good luck in 2020."

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I wrote about this last year, when Trump took his circus to Scotland to quash the proposed wind farm that he said would unduly affect his planned golf mega resort. Apparently the good people of Scotland had the sense to reject his "expert testimony".

Trump has not exactly endeared himself with the public there in recent months (big surprise, right?), using increasingly inflammatory rhetoric as scare tactics.

via Scottish television network, STV.

American billionaire Donald Trump has vowed to launch a “lawsuit” after the Scottish Government gave the go-ahead to an offshore wind farm near his Scottish golf course.

The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay, which was given approval by the government on Tuesday, will consist of 11 wind turbines and their connecting cables.

It will be sited between two and 4.5 km off the Aberdeenshire coast, capable of generating up to 100 MW, providing enough energy to meet the needs of over 49,000 homes – almost half of the homes in Aberdeen.

Mr Trump had previously vowed not to complete his golf development at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire - which is due to include a second course and five star hotel - if the wind farm was built claiming it would spoil views from his course.

Following the decision Mr Trump said he would now bring a "spend whatever monies are necessary" in an effort to stop the project going ahead.

Mr Trump said: “This was a purely political decision. As dictated by Alex Salmond, a man whose obsession with obsolete wind technology will destroy the magnificence and beauty of Scotland.

Here is Donald Trump about a year ago.

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It looks like Bill Maher still isn't too worried about Donald Trump and his lawyers, because The Donald ended up on the butt end of another orangutan joke on this Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher on the topic of text shaming -- with Maher citing some examples he "found on the Internet" of some well known figures and their "confessions."

From this Thursday's Hardball, former RNC Chairman and now unfortunately for anyone who watches the network, MSNBC contributor Michael Steele, decided to get into a spat with Chris Matthews over whether CPAC 2013 ought to be inviting the likes of birthers like Donald Trump to speak at the conference rather than those from the Republican party who might actually have a chance of winning a national election. Steele's response was basically to dismiss all of Trump's birther talk and attempt to paint it as ancient history.

That was so last month, don't you know. Al Cardenas, chairman of the American Conservative Union which runs the event defended their choice of speakers as well, but I'm with Matthews on what we're likely to hear from The Donald when he takes the stage:

Matthews surmised CPAC’s theory was, “invite the noisemakers and snub the people who might actually lead you out of the wilderness.”

If you look at the scheduled speaking times, CPAC’s priorities are clear. Sen. Ted Cruz is allotted 33 minutes of speaking time, Sarah Palin has 16 minutes, and Donald Trump gets 14 minutes. Down at the bottom are Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan with 11 minutes a piece.

Matthews asked former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele if Trump’s conservative message at CPAC could be overshadowed by all of his birther talk about President Obama.

“I think that characterization can be put behind Donald Trump…Let’s see what the man says tomorrow,” said Steele, telling Matthews that no one’s talking about the birther issue “but you. You’re the only person bringing it up.”

“You know why?” Matthews said. “Because people who think that the president is an illegal immigrant shouldn’t be talking out loud almost anywhere.”

Cardenas said Trump was invited because he’s a “successful businessman” who can reflect on the realities of today’s economy. “I think he’ll be a positive influence on the youngsters here.”

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Anyone who is a regular reader of this site is probably already familiar with Donald Trump's threat to sue Bill Maher over his joke where he asked flame thrower and birther for proof that he was not the result of his mother having sex with an orangutan. Well, now that Trump followed through on his threat, Maher responded during his New Rules segment on HBO this Friday evening, and let's just say, the results weren't pretty for Trump.

Maher took Trump apart and opened up the segment with this:

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I'm not sure what Bill O'Reilly's smoking this week, but during his Talking Points Memo on Tuesday's show, he seemed very enamored with wingnut Ted Nugent and his second appearance on CNN this Monday and his "straight talk" with anchor Piers Morgan.

So much for Fox trying to help the GOP with not being the "stupid party."

Note to Bill-O -- embracing the likes of Nugent isn't going to help the Republicans with their "messaging."

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Attention junkie Donald Trump is doing his best to take advantage of Bill Maher poking fun at him on Jay Leno's show this week, where he decided to one-up Trump's birtherism with President Obama. Sean Hannity actually had this clown on for the better half of his show Thursday evening and Trump repeated some of the same remarks he made on Extra the previous day: Trump will ‘probably sue’ Maher after proving mother didn’t have sex with orangutan:

Real estate mogul Donald Trump is threatening sue HBO comedian Bill Maher over a bet over whether the billionaire’s mother had sex with an orangutan.

During an interview with NBC’s Jay Leno earlier this week, Maher had mocked Trump’s absurd offer of $5 million if President Barack Obama could prove he was a U.S. citizen. Maher said that he would donate $5 million to the “Hair Club for Men” or “Institute for Incorrigible Douchebaggery” if Trump produced evidence to counter the claim that he “had been the spawn of this mother having sex with an orangutan.”

“The other night on Jay Leno’s show, he made an absolute offer, I made an absolute acceptance,” Trump explained to Extra on Wednesday. “I sent him documentation and he owes me $5 million, which I’m going to give to charity.”

Trump repeated his threat to sue Maher and also told Hannity that HBO should fire the comedian immediately for insulting him:

Hannity said there would be far more outrage if anyone but Trump had been the target of Maher’s barbs. Trump called Maher “insulting” and said he was shocked by the “horrible things” Maher was saying about his parents. He sent a letter directly to Maher with his birth certificate demanding the five million dollars, which he joked that Maher may or may not have. There has been some question over whether Maher would be legally obligated to pay up, but Trump assured Hannity that his lawyer is confident of their case.

But on the subject of the double standard, Trump agreed that there is only minimal outrage because the insults were directed at him. He told Hannity that if he ever said anything similar about Obama, “you would be fired immediately.” He said that more people should be outraged about Maher’s statements, bragging that his lawyer won him five million dollars before and he’ll do it again.

Apparently the entire concept of comedy and satire is lost on these two. You've got to give it to both of them for having that feigned victimhood routine down pat, though. Heaven forbid that mean old comedian was picking on Trump. It's not like he's ever said anything hateful or disrespectful to deserve it!

Hannity was also pushing him about whether he's going to run for president again and he didn't rule it out, so I guess we've got an early scoop: The next Republican presidential primary is going to be just as big of a clown show as the last one.

Here's Maher on Leno's show earlier this week for anyone that missed it.

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Bill Maher had some fun in this Friday's edition of New Rules with everyone from the wingnuts who doubted Nate Sliver's math, to Sean Hannity, to Ted Nugent and Victoria Jackson, to Fox News and their fearmongering about the New Black Panther Party.

And he reminded everyone that when it comes to reelecting our first black President, with white people, far too often it's one step forward and two steps back in regard to race relations in this country. Having Fox or right wing hate talk off the air would go a long way towards remedying that situation. As Maher noted, there is one thing to be hopeful about on that front, which is that like The Beach Boys, their fans are dying from old age.

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From this Friday's Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill's annual election reel, "In Memoriam."