An uproarious, moving John Oliver is perfect on Ferguson

[RockaFowler]

[marble falls]

1. Perfect.

[longship]

2. "Let's see if they can go a month without killing a black man..."

"...and then they get their toys back."

The tag line is utterly brilliant.

(As is John Oliver.)

R&

[Brigid]

12. Well, if you gave your kid a toy,

he kept hitting other kids with it, would you not take it away?

[daleanime]

28. Hell yes.....

Give it to some one who will take better care of it.

[KeepItReal]

3. Well said, as usual, Mr. Oliver

eom

[yuiyoshida]

4. wow..

He is so dead on, totally agree!

[Baitball Blogger]

5. John Oliver is so spot on.

Well done, well done.

[sarge43]

6. Best summation of this obscene horror yet

An APC in Keene NH - Mother of God on a rocket sled.

[Brigid]

7. OMG, I am dying here!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. He's my new favorite comedy news person.

Didn't know who he was until he got his own show, since I don't watch The Daily Show or Stephen Colbert, but he's really good.

[Enthusiast]

9. Well, he makes it funny but what he says is perfectly valid.

This nation is a laughing stock. And it's mostly because of the far right wing ignorant ass Republican dumb fucks®.

[Brigid]

14. Of course it's valid.

Which only makes it funnier.

[Enthusiast]

10. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

We need more recommendations here.

[valerief]

11. It appears PDs are being given these "toys" to provoke

violence. Divide and conquer. Keep racial tensions high while the rulings class shits in our rivers and raids our Treasury.

Also, Jon Oliver is a god.

[Brigid]

13. I do not know if Oliver is a US citizen or not,

But I rather hope not. He is too good for us.

[jakeXT]

33. He married a combat medic

Among the highlights of his ensuing career at “The Daily Show, probably the most memorable for him was covering the 2008 Republican Convention in St. Paul. As his usual obnoxious correspondent, he was at risk because he could not afford to get arrested for anything — deportation loomed. So when he wandered into a restricted area and was pursued by security, he sought refuge among some veterans invited by pro-military politicians. The one who helped Mr. Oliver hide out was a female vet, Kate Norley. He was grateful, took down her email and married her three years later.

He is still a British citizen, though now his resident status is secure as the spouse of an American. His life has been such a whirlwind, the clothes and other personal items he stowed away in 2006 remain exactly where they were, in a storage unit in London. “It’s either there or it’s been robbed or there’s been a fire,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/arts/television/john-oliver-launches-last-week-tonight-on-hbo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=nytimesarts&_r=1

[freshwest]

29. +1. But for those in the crossfire it has to be addressed.

[JNelson6563]

15. Absolutely brilliant!

[zeemike]

16. He pretty much laid it all out there.

I have not seen a better commentary than that one.

[onecent]

17. Excellent!!!

[ReRe]

18. Deuuuuuuuuuude!

"You can't even see him!"

Nothing but a bunch of Keystone Cops with tanks!

John Oliver wins the contest this week (my side hurts from laughing so hard.) Thanks RF!

[Paper Roses]

19. Excellent! n/t

[johnlucas]

20. Props to John Oliver from Britain! Broke It DOWN!!

The Confederates have just told on themselves again.
It's just like 1963 when they bombed that church.
That religion of White Supremacy is poisoning them.

When you plant bad seeds, bad crops will grow.
If only IF ONLY they didn't make that 3/5 compromise & considered the Africans as people instead, we wouldn't be here right now.
Because of that error, this White Dominion mentality has become Pavlovian.
And the sickness must be dealt with for this country to EVER make real progress.

One good thing about the racism that has come to surface since the emergence of the 1st Black President is that it gives us a chance to detoxify from that White Supremacy poison.
We have a chance to heal that ancient sickness.
Are Blacks people or aren't they? Are ANY non-Whites people or aren't they?
Are we all equals or aren't we?

The poisoned ones are playing their part & eventually that mentality will be purged from the American consciousness.
All they had to do was be themselves & all we had to do is capture it on camera.
Now the whole world can see the sickness for themselves.
And they will provide the tools that will quarantine it.

Thank you John Oliver for breaking it down EXACTLY as it is.
John Lucas

[freshwest]

30. ^^^Read this, everyone^^^

[Champ50]

39. Excellent post!!!

[SunSeeker]

21. Brilliant! nt

[arcane1]

22. I can't WAIT to see this tonight!!

John has been a breath of fresh air indeed!!!!

[Lifelong Protester]

23. Watched it Twice

Hearty K & R. He really nailed it.

[Initech]

24. John Oliver has been batting 1.000 since his show started!

[PoutrageFatigue]

34. Indeed he has.

Really brilliant observations and excellent writing too...

[DrewFlorida]

25. He has such a great way of cutting through all of the BS and getting to the heart of the matter!

[LloydS of New London]

26. Nuked 'em!

[daleanime]

27. bookmarked

[Uncle Joe]

31. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, RockaFowler.

[ybbor]

32. It's a sad state of our media affairs...

When our comedy shows are where the real hard hitting news comes from. These guys and gals do investigative journalism so much better than the so-called journalists.

Thank you Comedy Central for churning out the next great news people!

[nirvana555]

36. I absolutely adore John Oliver. We're fortunate he has a show. N/t

[tavalon]

42. It's been that way for well over a decade

I've gotten used to topsy turvy world.

[scmoore120]

35. kick

[Cha]

37. Wow, that was Brilliant! Thank you, John Oliver.. and RockaFowler!

[ThoughtCriminal]

38. Super Rec

No. Make that super-duper rec.

[me b zola]

40. K&R

[tavalon]

41. I don't know why it still surprises me when I realize that these allies,

(Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and now John Oliver) actually read DU or at least their writers do.

There was a thread last night that urged us to stay on point, disregard the distraction attempts and repeat like a broken record the exact phrase that John Oliver opened this piece with.

Don't yell at me if I get the statement a little wrong but basically, an unarmed teenager was killed by a Ferguson police officer. And then he went on to use the DVD extra comment which I read here last night almost verbatim.

Now, I'm not about to get bothered if they plagiarize the good stuff at DU and many have been able to stay on topic.

That was an awesome 15 minutes that I don't mind giving up.

[flamingdem]

43. brilliant!

must see viewing for all 'mericans

[jtuck004]

44. These people are fucked. Even the governor is an incomeptent boob. n/t

[2banon]

45. That was excellent. This one really ought to be posted far and wide. awesome segment.

thanks for posting.

[DonCoquixote]

46. What sort of age is it

when comedians do the work Journalists should be doing?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

47. A thousand recs!! Well done, Mr. Oliver.

[tblue37]

48. He is pretty much perfect on everything.

Especially when he calls dingo.

[McCamy Taylor]

49. Well done. But why do we in the US need to frame our politics as humor?

Why are so many people scared of being "political"? Does it hurt too much if we don't add a laugh?

[freshwest]

50. Media owners, like kings of old, only tolerate dissent from their jesters, is why.

If they go too far, like Olbermann or Rather, they will be villified then replaced by another who speaks to the American sense of indignation and their longing for justice. As they are shown the door, the masses focus on that and not the truth of what got them tossed off the air. Thus the narrative cannot build upon itself with repetition to effect needed change.