It has been a while since I watched an episode of Last Week Tonight, but this one is definitely blog worthy.
Not only does Oliver do a great job of undermining the argument for preserving these statues, but the segment also features references to Ben Affleck, Anderson Cooper, Larry David, and Stephen Colbert. (Though to be honest I am not sure that Affleck will appreciate how he is portrayed in the program.)
That is just some damn good cable television right there.
Did you see Larry David on PBS This Is Your Root?
ReplyDeleteHe learned he has roots in Alabama and Germany. Slave owners in his family. He was shocked.
Cousin to Bernie Sanders too!
DeleteTear down Auschwitz, and maybe we can talk.
ReplyDeleteAuschwitz is a memorial to the dead. The confederate statues pay homage to traitorous assholes.
Delete5:51PM is too dumb to realize its idiocy.
Delete5:51 here. Maintaining the buildings at Auschwitz is not, to me, a memorial to the dead. It's a testament to the ability of a person to view another person as vermin and to treat it accordingly, as well as a source of justification for the bigotry ignoring of basic human rights being practiced by a certain country in the Middle East.
DeleteIf the Southern generals, Lee seems to be singled out right now, are to be remembered only as a traitors, then remember that all our Founding Fathers, when they signed the Declaration of Independence, were traitors. They became heroes only when the British were defeated.
Lee's loyalty was to his home state of Virginia first. A lot of people then identified themselves with their state more than with the Union. As I recall, Lee signed the oath of loyalty to the Government of the US after the war. If the US was willing to forgive him for his traitorous behavior, why can't we?
If someone can't walk past a statue without feeling a sense of outrage, then that person needs to learn to deal with it and not expect everyone to shore up his/her inability to make peace with the past.
Personally, I will stop and admire any damn equestrian statue I see, especially if the rider is Lee, who was considered the finest equestrian ever produced by West Point.
I've read a lot about the making of statues. My interest is in the process of casting, the conformation of the horse, the accuracy of the tack, the placement of the rider's hands, looking at the placement of the horse's legs which indicates how the rider died. To me, those statues are an art form.
Not that it should matter, but I'm degreed and as liberal as they come.
Very well done (as usual for Oliver) but the cogent points will not be understandable to the brain addled racists and general Trumpanzees. Extreme racist stupidity is the state those peawits are permanently mired in.
ReplyDeleteThese statues really are monuments to the alt-right racist minds that defend their placement.
"I have the direct number to White House, but I no really want to call him there because Melania is there,” Ivana said. "I don't want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife.”
ReplyDelete-Ivana Trump
First Lady
“I’m first lady, OK?" she added, laughing.
MAKES SENSE TO ME.... IVANA SUCKED UMMM .... WELL SHE WAS FIRST
Does that mean Milania is The Turd Lady? I meant to sat the Third Lady
Is it coincedence that states’ rights is also the mantra of the Republican party?
ReplyDeleteDon’t the alt-right White Nationalists also spew states’ rights for everything they don’t like?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/arrest-warrant-issued-black-man-180137014.html
ReplyDeleteMissed it by a mile. Someone needs to remind John Oliver that he is British. Both Oliver and Colbert slipped in my ratings after watching this episode earlier and now here.
ReplyDelete