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The Daily Show's John Oliver was back for his second week filling in as host for Jon Stewart and doing a fantastic job once again. He opened this Monday's show with a revelation following the return of Sarah Palin to Fox "News" and her hawking her upcoming book on their ridiculous "War on Christmas":

John Oliver: Just f*cking ignore Sarah Palin’s turd supermarket of self-contradictory nonsense:

“I just don’t even know where to begin with her,” he said. “I mean — hold on. I think I’ve just realized something. F*ck it, this is exactly what she wants. Just because I walked into a turd supermarket doesn’t mean I have to buy anything.”

Though Oliver could mock Palin in the typical Daily Show-esque fashion by mashing up clips of the conservative commentator contradicting her own “nonsense,” the more prudent move was to “just f*cking ignore her.”

“I promise America it will feel so good,” he remarked. “It will be like we give our brains an enema together.”

Ignoring Palin rather than mocking her would be a difficult task, Oliver acknowledged, but it was the right thing to do.

It makes me wonder if the writers over at The Daily Show read Karoli's post on the same subject. While I understand and share the fatigue completely and the sentiment behind not wanting to feed her obvious trolling, I also think ignoring her completely is dangerous. I would prefer to see the media ignore her for the most part unless she's subjected to the proper level of mockery and derision she received here.

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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced on Monday that she was writing a book filled with "legalese" about how to fight what some social conservatives call the "War on Christmas."

In her first appearance on Fox News after once again becoming an employee of the network, Palin was asked by Fox News host Megyn Kelly to fill in the audience about how she had been spending her time.

"I'm doing great," the former Alaska governor explained. "I'm very busy of course with my kids -- two beautiful grandkids -- writing a book, a book about Christmas and pushing back on the politically correct who would try to take Christ out of Christmas."

"We talk a lot about that in the book," she continued. "Kind of a legalese how-to push back and protect the heart of Christmas. At the same time, a very festive and happy and jolly book about tradition and recipes and fun things about Christmas."

Kelly wondered with all the time she was spending on her book, was Palin able to keep up with the recent scandals involving Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and National Security Agency surveillance?

"It's the whole ball of wax that all leads to this revelation that government lies," Palin opined. "And with Benghazi though, government lied and people died. So, that's very significant. The other issues are government lied and government spied. That's pretty bad too."

"It's a foundational message of the tea party grassroots movement, and that is that government is out of hand, it is oppressive, it is intrusive into every aspect our lives. And it's grown so large that it is unaccountable this point."

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After playing a series of embarassing clips from Michele Bachmann, Phyllis Schlafly, Allen West, Sarah Palin, John Ratzenberger and others, the same bunch of assorted lunatics who show up at all these conservative conferences over and over again, this time at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference now on in DC, Martin Bashir asked former RNC Chairman Michael Steele this rather pointed question...

MARTIN BASHIR: What does the GOP hope to accomplish by repeatedly appealing to the far right of the party while at the same time possibly alienating more mainstream republicans?

MICHAEL STEELE: [Deep breath and a sigh] Well, I think they need to....

...and Steele's voice trailed off as MSNBC's Karen Finney and Touré burst into howls of laughter.

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The Daily Show's Jon Stewart took his audience through the good, the bad and the crazy that was the NRA's 2013 National Convention over the weekend. After pointing out that it looked a whole lot like a recycled CPAC convention with the same lineup of guests complaining about the same set of grievances, Stewart noted that they did eventually get around to the fearmongering and guns.

After showing some of Wayne LaPierre's "simple message" about how the only one that can stop a "bad guy with a gun" is a "good guy with a gun," Stewart pointed out that the message wasn't quite so simple at the convention this year, since the lot of them didn't seem to know just who the bad guys or good guys are, or what the definition of democracy and tyranny are for that matter.

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Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas (R) recently told a conservative radio show that President Barack Obama's administration may be engaged in a "conspiracy" to purchase all available ammunition as a form of gun control.

Last week, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s National Security Subcommittee caved to conspiracies theories in the conservative media and held a hearing about whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was buying a billion rounds of ammunition to use against the American people.

In an interview with NewsMax host Steve Malzberg on Monday, Lucas explained that he had joined with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to introduce a bill that would limit the amount of ammunition the federal government can buy.

"What do you think that they think they need this for?" Malzberg wondered.

"You know, it's hard to see into the mind of an Obama-appointed official," Lucas opined. "But this is the administration that's super gun control, that really, really, really doesn't trust people with firearms and obviously they don't trust people with ammunition."

"Is this a conspiracy to buy up all the bullets so they're not available to us? I don't know," he added. "But I suspect, Steve, it's a combination of these big purchases by the non-Defense Department government agencies like Homeland Security and a near-panic buying among my constituents, who are afraid that in some gun control bill there were be a limitation on on their ability to buy ammunition. Or the president will do something by executive order."

Although conspiracies theories about government ammunition purchases have been thoroughly debunked, Republican lawmakers have continued to let conservative sites like Alex Jones' Infowars, Glenn Beck's The Blaze and The Drudge Report drive their agenda.

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Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's National Security Subcommittee, slammed Republicans on Thursday for conducting a hearing that he said was driven by Internet conspiracy theories suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was buying a billion rounds of ammunition to use against the American people.

In his opening statement on Thursday, subcommittee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) cited "recent news reports" about the "federal government's massive procurement of ammunition."

"The question is, what is an appropriate use of this ammunition, where is it stored, how much are they paying for it and what are they doing with it?" the Utah Republican asked.

Although Chaffetz mentioned media outlets like The Associated Press and USA Today, much of the hype about DHS ammunition purchases have been driven by conservative websites like Alex Jones' Infowars and Glenn Beck's The Blaze. And the theories have been kept alive by the Fox News Channel, the Fox Business Network and even televangelist Pat Robertson.

"To the extent that we're responding to conspiracy theories or whatever, I think we're really wasting everybody's time on that," Tierney said in his opening statement. "It might have been predictable that Sarah Palin would have taken opportunity to feed these conspiracy theories with statements that the government was preparing for civil unrest, but it was a little more disturbing that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) would seize the opportunity to accuse the government cornering the market on ammunition to drive up prices."

"Unsubstantiated false conspiracy theories have no place in this committee room -- hopefully," he continued. "Federal ammunition purchases are a fraction of the total ammunition market and they've been decreasing in recent years. Even the National Rifle Association distances itself from these conspiracy theories."

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The founder of a Colorado gun group is looking forward to November's "hunting season" because it will be "time to hunt Democrats."

Dudley Brown, who serves as the executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and the executive vice president of the National Association for Gun Rights, used some violent rhetoric during a Wednesday interview with NPR about how gun owners would deal with Democrats who supported President Barack Obama's proposal for universal background checks.

"I liken it to the proverbial hunting season," Brown quipped. "We tell gun owners, 'There's a time to hunt deer. And the next election is the time to hunt Democrats.'"

"This is a very Western state with traditional Western values," he pointed out. "And citizens had to have firearms for self-defense, and right now that's still the case."

A 2010 post on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page had placed crosshairs over Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ congressional district only months before the Democratic congresswoman was shot in January of 2011. Palin had said supporters should “reload” and use their votes to “aim for” the Democrat’s defeat.

(h/t: Think Progress)

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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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As James Lipton rightfully noted during his interview with Lawrence O'Donnell on this Thursday evening's The Last Word, this was really a remarkable example of just how talented Tina Fey is, who had little to no warning before being asked to revive her SNL impression of Palin for him this week:

‘Inside the Actors Studio’ showcases Tina Fey–or was it Sarah Palin?:

Tina Fey got mavericky once again, reviving her Sarah Palin character during a recent appearance on Inside the Actor’s Studio with James Lipton.

It’s been more than four years since Fey first introduced her indelible impression of John McCain’s former Republican running mate on SNL. (For the record, Fey said she prefers to be identified as “maverick at large.”)

Lipton told MSNBC that before they went on stage, he asked if she would be willing to improvise playing Sarah Palin again, and she said you betcha.

Fey, in character, weighed in on a range of topics like marriage equality (“The Bible says it’s gross…a lot of the amazing wonderful people I met in the audience at Dancing With The Stars seem to go that way. But no”), gun laws (“I believe that if everybody had guns, then there would be fewer guns in the stores”) and even beauty tips for fellow mama grizzlies (“I’m a fan of the Bump It”).

I'd like to see her back on SNL doing the dressed for Sturgis, CPAC 2013, fingernails on a chalkboard, post-Fox firing, Rove-bashing, reality TV version of Palin in the coming year.

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Former Bush adviser turned ABC contributor, Matthew Dowd was asked to weigh in during the panel segment on This Week on some the speeches at this years Conservative Political Action Conference, and didn't hold back with continuing his criticism of the decision to invite Sarah Palin to speak at the event.

Two weeks prior, Dowd complained that Palin "wasn't competent enough for Fox News" and "diminishes" CPAC. While I'd agree with him on the former, given the list of the other wingnuts who were invited to speak there as well, there wasn't much left to "diminish." Republicans have been pandering to the Christian right and the TeaBirchers in their party for decades and now that they've taken over the joint, they're complaining.

RADDATZ: Congressman, anybody make you nervous there at 2016?

BECERRA: No, no. I think...

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