Saturday Night Live tapped into the legacy of Schoolhouse Rock last night to engage in some lively political parody.
During the show's opening sequence, the Bill (Kenan Thompson) cheerfully sings his intro tune, "I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill," and explains he's an immigration bill who hopes to become a law one day. It was a reference to President Obama's announcement this week that he's using an executive order to stop five million undocumented immigrants from being deported.
"How does a bill become a law?" the student asks. As the Bill starts singing out his answer about being voted on as it moves through the houses of Congress, President Obama (Jay Pharaoh) arrives and pushes him down the steps (with some clever editing from the original segment from the 1970s).
After the student questions Obama, the president explains, "There's an even easier way to get things done around here. It's called an executive order."
When the student asks, "Doesn't it have to go through Congress at some point?" The executive order (Bobby Moynihan) responds, smoking a cigarette, "Aw, that's adorable. You still think that's how government works."
The Bill tries to stand his ground after clambering up the steps several times - only to be pushed back down every time.
Watch the original "Bill" song from Schoolhouse Rock here.
