WILL & GRACE Creator Donates Copies Of Gay Bunny Book To Indiana School Libraries

Talk about a story with a "hoppy" ending!

Earlier this month, I reported that John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight, announced his team had written and published A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a children's book spun from the news that Vice President Mike Pence's family had penned and illustrated their own children's book, Marlon Bundo's: A Day in the Life of the Vice President.

Jill Twiss, a writer on Oliver's Last Week Tonight show penned the charming book with illustrations by E.G. Keller.

Marlon Bundo is the actual pet rabbit of the Veep's daughter and both books follow Marlon as he hops around D.C.

But in the Last Week Tonight tome, Marlon Bundo falls in love with another male rabbit named Wesley, which probably irked the Veep as he's known for his notoriously anti-LGBT positions and policies.

The LWT book sold-out and became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.

But wait - there's more!

This week, Max Mutchnick, one of the creators of Will & Grace, has purchased and donated a copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to every elementary school in the Pence's home state of Indiana.

Along with the books, Mutchnik sent a letter which read, in part:

"I would like to donate this copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to your library. After hearing about the book, I brought it home and read it to my twin daughters. It's a poignant story about how love and community can rise above intolerance."

You can check out A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo on Amazon here. Maybe there's a child in your life that could benefit from some good, wholesome storytelling :)

I was blown away by the new John Oliver children’s book, “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.” With Easter upon us, I wanted to not only support the brilliance of John Oliver, but also celebrate the Gayest Bunny of Them All: The Easter Bunny. So I decided to buy a copy of Oliver’s “Bundo” (written by Jill Twiss) for every public grammar school in Indiana. All 1,121 of them. Here’s why: Mike Pence has had an enormous platform in Indiana, and as it relates to gay people, he’s used it to spread a message of intolerance. By donating these books, I hope to counter those efforts and provide positive role models and a story of inclusion for children in Pence’s home state. If this book can help one boy or girl in Indiana love and accept who they are, I know both Marlon Bundos would be proud—even though one of them is on the downlow.

A post shared by Max Mutchnick (@maxmutchnick) on Mar 30, 2018 at 2:12pm PDT

John Oliver's Book About Mike Pence's "Gay Bunny" Sells Over 180K Copies

John Oliver chats with Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers chatted with John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Tonight about the runaway success of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, Oliver’s bestselling book about Vice President Mike Pence’s gay bunny.

Oliver debuted the book at the end of a segment of his show regarding Pence’s homophobic views. Oliver says the project evolved “on the quiet.”

The book has hit #1 on Amazon’s best seller list selling over 180,000 copies leading not only the Pence's bunny book (#4) but also James Comey's upcoming A Higher Loyalty (#2).

Also available is the audio book read by a list of luminaries like Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jim Parsons, RuPaul, Ellie Kemper, and John Lithgow and features a white-haired stink bug character that looks awfully familiar.

You can find the book on Amazon here. All proceeds from the book go to The Trevor Project and AIDS United.

Inside A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo

John Oliver's Gay Bunny Book Hits #1 On Amazon

So, after chatting about Vice President Mike Pence's many anti-LGBTQ issues and policies on Sunday night, John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Tonight announced a "gay bunny" version of the childrens book by Pence’s 24-year-old daughter, Charlotte, and illustrated by his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence about the family pet bunny, Marlon Bundo.

As fate is a funny chick, Last Week Tonight's version has hit #1 on the Amazon book chart topping the Pence version currently sitting at #4.

The proceeds will go to The Trevor Project, which supports LGBTQ youth, and AIDS United, which works to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States.

John Oliver's Book About Mike Pence's Gay Bunny Hits #1 On Amazon

John Oliver, host of HBO's Last Week Tonight, did a deep dive last night on Vice President Mike Pence's terrible record on LGBTQ rights.

About the only thing Oliver could find to like about the veep is his pet rabbit, Marlo Bundo.

Bundo is so popular that the vice president’s daughter, Charlotte Pence, wrote a book about the bunny which was illustrated by second lady (and watercolor artist) Karen Pence.

The publisher says the tome “gives young readers a bunny’s-eye view of the special duties of the vice president.”

In order to spotlight the LGBTQ rights Pence so virulently opposes, Oliver trolled Pence with a parody book, A Day in The Life of Marlon Bundo, wherein a bow tie wearing Marlon meets and falls in love with another gay bunny but runs into obstacles when they try and marry.

Overnight Oliver's became an Amazon #1 bestseller:

Oliver’s parody book was penned by Last Week Tonight contributor Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller.

The proceeds will go to The Trevor Project, which supports LGBTQ youth, and AIDS United, which works to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States.

“Please buy it for your children; buy it for any child you know, or just buy it because you know it will annoy Mike Pence,” says Oliver. “You’d be doing a nice thing, in a really dick-ish way. And isn’t that the dream, at the end of the day?”

You can watch the segment below. The section on Bundo begins around the 14:10 mark.

John Oliver Explains How Sinclair Broadcasting Group Is Affecting Local Newscasts

I don't usually watch long video clips on the interwebs (short attention span, don't you know), but I did find this segment by John Oliver on HBO's Last Week Tonight to be compelling.

I think a lot of Americans would be surprised to find out that their local news is being thoughtfully manipulated by a conservative conglomerate.

Oliver explains how Sinclair Broadcast Group is setting itself up to be the country's largest owner of local TV stations, and with that ownership the company is dictating content and political bias.

As Oliver points out, with Fox News you know you're getting a conservative viewpoint. Not so when it comes to these local stations.

With in-house created "editorials," daily "Terrorist Alert Desk" scares and clips that are dispatched to the stations labeled "must run," local viewers are being told what to think without really understanding why the content is being presented.

Watch the clip below.

HBO's John Oliver Explains The Flawed American Health Care Act

John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Tonight explains how the version of the American Health Care Act passed by House Republicans this past week is worse than the first version of the legislation.

"Yes, they took a bad thing and managed to make it even worse. It's like watching Mariah Carey's Glitter and saying, "You know what this needs? Jar Jar Binks."

And while House Speaker Paul Ryan and his fellow Republicans insist that the bill guarantees access to health care for people with pre-existing conditions, they are not making clear that any small gap in insurance coverage could result in much higher premiums.

“It’s like if your daughter asks, ‘Can I have a cookie,’ and you say: ‘Sure, that will be $1.5 billion, Katie. You have not been denied this cookie, you still have full access to it should you choose to become successful enough to afford it.'”

Watch below.

John Oliver: Ok, I Admit It, Trump Is My Fault

John Oliver, of HBO's Last Week Tonight, finally copped to the fact that it is HE who is to blame for a Donald Trump White House run.

Deadline recaps:

“It is frankly hard to believe there ever was a time when people thought a Trump candidacy would be funny, but there was such a time,” Oliver said, in his own defense. “As you may remember, three years ago I guest-hosted The Daily Show. “And, there is something you should see,” he said, cueing up his video confessional.

In The Daily Show video Oliver responds to an MSNBC report the reality TV star will consider a White House run in ’16, taunting Trump, “Do it! Do it! Look at me! Do it!” as his Comedy Central show audience erupts in gales of laughter. “I will personally write you a campaign check now, on behalf of this country, which does not want you to be president but which badly wants you to run,” Oliver added.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

John Oliver Makes History Giving Away Almost $15 Million

On Sunday night's edition of HBO's Last Week Tonight, John Oliver explored and explained the ugly world of debt of debt-buying.

And to really get a firm grasp of the industry, he and his team formed their own debt-buying company (Central Asset Recover Professionals, short for, “C.A.R.P., after the bottom-feeding fish.)”

And then CARP spent $60,000 buying almost $15 million in old medical debt.

Why? So Oliver could then forgive all that debt, thereby becoming the biggest giveaway in the history of television beating even Oprah Winfrey herself.

Watch the segment below.

HBO's John Oliver Asks "How Is This Not A Thing?"

Taking the week off for Memorial Day, HBO's John Oliver of Last Week Tonight flips the script on their usual "How is this a thing?" segment and wonders aloud "How is this NOT a thing?"

What kind of "things" would Oliver like to see invented? How about a biodegradable tread mill, car keys that cry if you attempt the leave the house, or bread pants?

(h/t JMG)

HBO's "Last Week Tonight" Examines The Caucus & Primary System

Don't let the time length deter you - this is really well-worth the watching.

Living in Nevada myself, I cannot fathom why we have presidential caucuses. It absolutely reduces participation in choosing our presidential nominee.

I hate it.

John Oliver does a good job of noting the sad facts about this arcane system.

John Oliver Breaks Down The Numbers On The Infamous "Trump Wall"

John Oliver of HBOs Last Week Tonight breaks down one of the few "policy" proposals we have any kind of detail on from Donald Trump - the now infamous "Trump Wall.

Noting that Trump's numbers on building the wall have changed over the past several months from $4-12 billion,  crunching the figures leads to a much higher price tag - more like $26 billion.

And, then the actual maintenance doubles that figure over the first 7 years of the project.

Oliver also delves into the idea of "making" Mexico pay for the wall, and more.

Some funny stuff in here, but at the very least you come away realizing that even the few things Trump thinks he's thought out, actually have no "there" there.

John Oliver On The Truth About Filling A Supreme Court Vacancy

John Oliver, host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," kills it on this segment addressing the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the sudden brouhaha by Senate Republicans claiming SCOTUS justices simply aren't nominated in the fourth year of a president's term:

GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz established an arbitrary 80-year time frame during which he said no president ever got a hearing for a nominee in the last year of his term, but Oliver pointed out that Cruz was wrong.

Dead wrong. Five times wrong.

Five nominees came before the Senate during that period, with three making it onto the highest court in the land.

Oliver then turned his eye on the Judicial Crisis Network — a conservative advocacy group that stumps for hardline right-wing judicial appointments — for their ad claiming “We the people” should wait until a new president is sworn in and let that president choose.

Oliver pointed out that “We have a perfectly good president” right now who was re-elected three years ago and is entirely capable of making that decision.

Of course, the bottom line is President Obama was elected to a second FOUR year term, not three year term. And it is his responsibility to nominate a replacement for SCOTUS, and the Senate's job is to "advise and consent." Not block anything from happening.

It's a bad move by Republicans as it just cements the perception that they are the party of "no," and nothing else.

John Oliver On Terrorist Attacks In Paris: "F**k These A**holes Sideway"

John Oliver began last night's episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight" by addressing the terrorist attacks in Paris this past Friday in a way you can only do on cable TV.

Warning: NSFW

Donald Trump Vs. HBO's "Last Week Tonight"

John Oliver, host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight" told the team of CBS This Morning he had no interest in interviewing GOP White House hopeful Donald Trump on his show.

Trump lashed out via Twitter (for a change) and told the world he'd been asked to do "Last Week Tonight" but turned it down.

The producers of LWT had their own retort to contribute.

.@thehill John Oliver had his people call to ask me to be on his very boring and low rated show. I said "NO THANKS" Waste of time & energy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2015

A couple of points... 1. Yes, we have a boring show. 2. At no point did we invite Donald Trump to appear on it. https://t.co/qjpg9FLb0V

— Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) November 1, 2015

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: LGBT Discrimination

Seventy-one percent of Americans believe employment discrimination is illegal everywhere. Truth of the matter, though, is you can be fired in 31 states for being LGBT.

John Oliver breaks down The Equality Act.

John Oliver's LAST WEEK TONIGHT Takes On Televangelists

HBO's Last Week Tonight Takes On Sex Education In Our Schools

I'll preface this with the obvious fact that I don't have kids.

That being said, I'm always amazed at the outrage some parents' have about their child learning basic sex education in school. You constantly hear "that belongs in the home!"

Except - as John Oliver points out in this segment, No parent wants to talk to their kids about sex, and no kid wants to talk about sex with their parents.”

From The Week:

There are no standards for what to teach kids about sex, federally or sometimes even locally. Only 22 states require sex ed, Oliver noted, and only 13 require that the information be medically accurate. Viewers of this clip will get to see a lot of really bad sex-ed videos, and learn some discouraging statistics.

John Oliver Contemplates Statehood For Washington, D.C.

Have you ever wondered why Washington, D.C. isn't a state?

In fact, the city doesn't even get a vote in the House of Representatives even though the residents pay federal taxes, the population is larger than Vermont and Wyoming, and has a Gross Domestic Product higher than that of 16 states.

John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Now wondered too.

Make sure you stick around for the nifty little song at the end.

How Is Daylight Savings Time Still A Thing?

Like most folks, I thought Daylight Savings Time was a "thing" for the farmers (or "farm people" as they put it in this video.)

Daylight Savings Time actually was started by the Germans during WWI.

Doesn't that make you go "hmm...?"

For the record, I've never seen the point. It's kind of like cutting 12" off the top of a blanket, sewing it to the bottom and thinking you've made the blanket longer.  

John Oliver on The Lottery

According to reports, Americans spent more than $68 billion on lottery tickets last year.

State lotteries claim to be good for education and the general wellbeing of citizens.
But are they? (Spoiler alert: No.)