In today’s long-awaited “Tuesday Fun Video,” Mexican CNN anchor Rick Sanchez plays Mexican music over footage of a massive iceberg collapsing into the ocean, near Greenland, just to put on a show for tourists. While you Science-pansies out there may whine, “Wah wah global warming wah wah wah,” just like that, your Wonkette sees an opportunity to flex its God-given capitalistic rights with a “tourist trap:” Watch the Earth DIE, live! [HuffPo]

Robert Gibbs made a very special announcement today about the communist plantation, Cuba! You can now travel and send gifts and clothes there — if you’re a Cuban-American with family on the island, that is. (Although the liberal New York Times writes that there maybe be more easing on the way, which Obama may announce during his trip this week to Trinidad and Tobago, which is very symbolically near Cuba.) MORE »

Here’s America’s most celebrated Twitterer(?), Rick Sanchez of CNN’s afternoon team, writing a number of ludicrous things. “Knee operation soon,” he announces out of the blue, to the entire Internet. And he wants to have sex with the nurse, but his wife is supposedly with him. He’s just at some hotel having an affair, isn’t he? [Twitter]

CNN’s Rick Sanchez and Joe the Wurzelbacher meet again! And this time Sanchez isn’t even talking to him in person, so he can just rant angrily like a blogger! (Fun!) It is most comical when he reads Joe’s war-babble like a third grader. [YouTube]

We have received a full 956 tips today about various clowns’ Twitter pages being hacked, including those of Barack Obama and Rick Sanchez, the King of Twitter. Someone thinks this official message from the Fox News about Bill “O Riley” indicates hacking, but what’s the excuse for “Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps?” The more important question here is why anyone on this planet uses Twitter at all. (Except for Wonkette’s Twitter, which is just great.) [Towleroad]

Here’s CNN’s coverage of the wacky Kipling-inspired Blago press conference, in which the governor of Illinois is on cocaine, lots and lots of cocaine. And for those of you who didn’t understand our constant exclamations about Rick Sanchez’s Twitter in the liveblog, well, pay attention. It is the best possible thing to happen on cable teevee, showing crazy Internet peoples’ comments during actual news events. One of the last ones sums up the hilarity: “sundaycosmetics: Are u taking story ideas fm Twitter?” [YouTube]

Here’s jolly CNN anchor Rick Sanchez asking “Fast” Joe the Plumber a buncha questions he’s already been asked several times a day since he became the McCain campaign’s raison d’être. Talkin’ about taxes. Then, around 3:40, Sanchez abruptly lists every example of how Joe the Plumber is a lying fraud and a dick. He also makes fun of Joe for being poor on numerous occasions. MORE »

McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb, the ABBA-loving masturbatrix of Dungeons & Dragons, just gets demolished here by CNN’s Rick Sanchez in a profoundly awful two minutes of spokesmanship. Jesus criminy, is there ANY spokesman for this campaign who actually knows how to speak? Tucker Bounds, Nancy Poopenheifer, Jill Hazelbaker, Michael Goldfarb, all ruined & dead. Who next will emerge from the catastrophic School of Conservative Pundits? [YouTube]

As the much-deserved memorials pour in for ABC anchor Peter Jennings, it is difficult to resist speculating about the future of the network nightly news. Television execs will cast about for how — or even if — they can revitalize the genre. It might involve fog machines or podcasts or Jon Stewart. Jennings was there when the first generation of old men gave way to the network suits’ bright ideas about people wanting to see a hipster read the news:

“It was a little ridiculous when you think about it…A twenty-six-year-old trying to compete with Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley. I was simply unqualified.”

Jennings may have realized it right away, though it took three years for the network to send him back into the field for seasoning. The good news is that things move faster today. The bad news is that networks don’t seem to learn from their mistakes. After a couple months of podcasts, television journalism will be “Fear Factor” meets “Dateline.” MORE »