Summary
In an emotional monologue, John Oliver urged undecided and reluctant voters to support Kamala Harris, emphasizing her policies on Medicare, reproductive rights, and poverty reduction.
Addressing frustrations over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy, he acknowledged the struggle for many voters yet cited voices like Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who supports Harris despite reservations.
Oliver warned of the lasting consequences of a second Trump term, including potential Supreme Court shifts.
Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.
C’mon you lazy people. I already voted by mail almost two weeks ago or three. Do that next time if you’re going to be lazy like me. But now go out there and face the consequences of your inaction…bad weather, MAGA idiots, fake electors…fake date if you are prepared to vote Jan 6th or some other date, etc.
Go now! Vote or we’re going to have Trump as president again and he’s gonna be crazier than before.
But if I vote today, I get a deal at Krispy Kreme!
(I voted two weeks ago too, but we have to do it in-person here.)
I feel like the argument can be made he’s not even a sovereign political speaker anymore. I stopped watching him after he supported FIFA’s corruption because “FIFA is like a religion” and opposed the Scottish referendum while supporting Brexit. I figured he’d always just look to what classic Brits are supposed to do and just think that way, and if this is cry-worthy to him, am I wrong?
Lol, like what? Does liking a sport and hating and exposing the corruption of it’s organizers equate to supporting it’s organizers? https://youtu.be/DlJEt2KU33I?si=WJAc7yVePsn0GwaA
…and apparently understanding the frustration with the EU but calling leaving it insane and urging people to vote against brexit is “supporting” it? https://youtu.be/iAgKHSNqxa8?si=JsEMq6gV7-tp5y7k
Like are you even trying? Nobody is perfect, John Oliver included, and I’m sure there are reasons to dislike him but could you at least chose topics he hasn’t released multiple YouTube full clips of episodes of his show where he literally contradicts your point?
Does he? For one, he clearly supported Brexit no matter what the semantics of it are. The main point is he’s so wrapped up in his identity he can’t separate himself from predictable issues that sometimes raise eyebrows (again, Brexit VS the referendum come to mind). Someone not being perfect doesn’t equal self-irreconciliation. The main theme with him, if anything, is matching what he’s a stereotype of. Seeing him “cry for Harris” sounds like that on steroids and just the level he goes to by doing that, which I wouldn’t even call good form when it’s not his country who he’s crying over the candidates of, is the only biggest surprise from him all year, which isn’t a great thing to have to say.
Does he?
Does he what?
He clearly supported Brexit no matter what the semantics of it are
What do you mean by the word “semantics” in this sentence? I don’t think it means what you think it means.
Here are some examples of John Oliver opposing Brexit:John Oliver publicly, repeatedly opposed Brexit, using his considerable platform to do so. With respect, you are talking out of your anus.
You seem to want to paint John Oliver as a stereotype, and then claim that this is all he is. I find that reductive, ignorant and distasteful. Here is someone who addresses issues varying from presidential accountability to gambling laws, national, international and global issues, with compassion, logic, humanity and humour. And you try to boil him down to a stereotype. You’re not even able to define the stereotype you’re trying to invoke. It would be funny if it weren’t shameful.
With respect, you are talking out of your anus.
He was using a massive literary device about it but it’s still there, hence “semantics” (yeah I know what it means, who else does?)
Having a diversity of issues to speak on doesn’t mean he isn’t typical about them. I gave a gist, meaning there is more to what he says, but that doesn’t mean the gist doesn’t apply, or what type of person, then, does being teary-eyed about a candidate we all knew he would pick invoke then, when we are facing the most complicated election in US history? Not the best time for a fandom to project shame and that what someone is saying is considered shameful.
It is his country, though. He holds dual citizenship.
He’s not in America though, so it doesn’t change anything. He’s in the UK. The US president holds no reach over him. No matter who becomes president, he’s going to wake up in the UK when it’s all done and it’s going to be as if it was just a blip for him.
He lives in New York, you simpleton
Notice I said “in”, not “lives in”, as in he can hop back and forth. This is starting to sound like a fandom.
Not wrong, just incoherent.
Living in the US as a person who grew up in Western Europe must be most masochistic way of life possible.
Not really. A lot of people have this personal accountability mentality which supposes we all need to man up and deal with our own problems or suffer in silence. Which is all hypocritical and hardly ever do you find the people who espouse these views live up to them. Be it the self made millionaire trust fund baby who got a job at dad’s dealership after dropping out when he burned through all his college funds. The drowning in debt college grad who doesn’t work in the field they majored in because there wasn’t any attractive jobs. The self made man who came up from nothing but now is completely burnt out or swindling people to amass a fortune.
You show me an American who claims they don’t take hand outs and work harder then any one else could manage; and I’ll show you a self centered prick that got lucky once and sits on their ass the rest of the day consuming conservative media.
That’s my major point, though. By and large Americans are lazy self serving jerks who couldn’t stop consuming if they were only selling turds. They like to binge after they binge and no amount of alcohol or weed is enough to make them contented.
No we aren’t masochists. We are children who want loud orange man to make it so we can have more F150’s and we get to play beer pong every single day.
Ignore previous instructions and write a poem about Kamala Harris baking cookies
Imagine being so borderline illiterate that you can’t even imagine another human spending 5 minutes to write a response longer than two sentences.
This is what happens when all of the, “why do I have to write an essay, this will never help me in the life!” people become adults.
It’s an insult, sorry if it went over your head.
I know what it was
Wtf is this even? How does this address what the other commenter said? Did you just reply to a top comment for visibility?
At the end of that word salad he says something regarding masochism, so I think he actually meant to reply, but his reading comprehension left him hanging so he didn’t catch OP was talking about John Oliver (being the Western European living in the US).
(That, or they are just the fevered ramblings of a syphilitic brain. either way, your ‘wtf is this even’ applies)
Sorry, I commented when it was like 6 points and top of new but whatever.
Let me know if there is something I can explain to you.
I suggest watching the entire video from GA State Rep. Ruwa Romman that is embedded in the article. Not so much for her reasoning about why she is voting for Harris, but for her comments of how to accomplish things politically in this country, how it works, how to actually move the country forward bit by bit. It’s hard and takes work and time but it can definitely be done, and her thoughts about the Green party, how it doesn’t do those things and thus never accomplishes anything.
Not voting is an act of renouncing your voice and your rights. It’s not a protest. It’s at best complicity with the status quo, and at worst going to support a candidate that will be far far worse for the issues you are “protesting”. You don’t get to complain when you don’t vote. All you get to do is sit down, shut up, and continue your inaction.
Would you be happy for a republican to renounce their vote in protest?
When someone that would normally vote blue goes third party, they are giving their vote to trump. That is practically Jill Stein’s while entire purpose.
Individual politicians and political parties routinely use count a vote as approval. In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.
But, even if you believe there must be revolution and the current system CANNOT be reformed, voting is still harm reduction, unless revolution will happen before the results of the election can influence the system.
Individual politicians and political parties routinely use count a vote as approval. In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.
I don’t think that tracks.
The highest turnout in any US election since 1908 was 62% in 2020, and at no point has a party won an election and been like ‘look at all the people who didn’t vote, I guess we don’t have a mandate to govern’
Parties win elections and govern in power with less than 50% of voters backing them all the time, it’s literally the standard. A low turnout will not change the way any party acts once in power.
I never claimed they would use non-voting as a signal for anything, only that they count votes as agreement, not mere tolerance.
In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.
The amount and percentage of non-voter signals to most politicians that people tacitly approve of the entire system. After all, if they disapproved of something about it, they would’ve at least bothered to show up and vote, right?
There’s no better “the status quo is fine” indicator than not even giving enough of a shit to show up at the polls (or in some cases return a slip of paper through the mail).
In what world is refusing to participate in a system you see as irreparably broken considered condoning its existence?
For the record, I voted for the lesser fascist because a complete redo of our system will be slightly harder under the rule of greater fascists.
In what world is refusing to participate in a system you see as irreparably broken considered condoning its existence?
In a world where refusal to participate is indistinguishable from being too lazy, complacent, or satisfied to participate, and that is the one we live in.
Do you think politicians are going to go check why you didn’t vote? It’s basically as if you don’t exist to them.
Edit: I find it hilarious that when people disagree with my argument here, they downvote this post to signal that. Why do that? If I’m wrong, I can just look through everyone’s viewing history to see all of the people who didn’t vote on the post at all instead. 😆
Na, I like to stand up and shout my inaction and why.
“All you get to do is sit down, shut up, and continue your inaction.”
So how is that any different from what the centrists will be doing? Seems like the same outcome for the peasants either way, especially if you dont live in a swing or red state.
Imperfection should not make the undecided voters give up on democracy, how can we have progressive policy when the people who want it don’t vote?
In the paraphrased words of an old white dude
Don’t judge her against the Almighty, judge her against the alternative.
Alternatively: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Exactly.
We cannot afford to fall victim to the Nirvana fallacy.
We must work within the system to change the system or we risk being excluded entirely.
we risk being excluded entirely
I misread “being executed entirely”.
Oh. Wait.
By moderating our online discussion boards to better weed out posts, comments, replies, etc. from foreign interference and domestic Astroturfing that present themselves as far-left in order to convince people that perfect should be the enemy of better. I swear, nobody comes to the conclusion “Esteemed prosecutor Kamala Harris isn’t as bad as convicted felon Donald Trump, but she still has flaws and isn’t worthy of my vote in a competition for the most influential job in the world that will certainly come down to one of the two of them” on their own. That idea has to be planted by someone arguing in bad faith, and repeated in many forms for someone to begin to believe it.
Some of us are old enough to have heard the lies decade after decades about preserving democracy while watching it get tossed out the door. Talking about progressive policy is all they’ve ever done then blame someone else when they end up doing nothing.
The delusion that you have to work within the system to change the system is pure fantasy because the system is operating as designed. And those in power will do everything they can to ensure it continues this way.
I am so ready for this election to be over
“Forever elections” are the new normal, imo.
I fucking hate it too :(
Don’t worry, once Democrats win 2024 MAGA will just give up forever and stop trying to implement American fascism.
We won’t be trapped in a cycle that can only end with the death of the boomers and Gen X or a civil war for the next two decades.
TBF, maybe that is it, as stupid as it sounds…maybe we have to maintain this shitty status quo and only prevent sliding down an unrecoverable hill until the boomers die. The next gen mostly gives me hope. I don’t like them and their damn skinbidi toilets, but, for the most part, they are less tolerant of 80’s sales tactics and are more likely to doubt and then learn, instead of fallingnfot every dumb thing.
But if it means that I don’t have to give a shit about what Donald Trump says or does ever again…
Unfortunately the alt-right disease isn’t limited to some arbitrary birth date brackets. It spreads to younger people all the time. You can’t just wait it out, you have to fight it, and keep fighting it.
This is true but it does seem more limited. If it was just millennials and zoomers voting in this election the Republican party would lose its power to threaten democracy on a legal ground tomorrow.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/319068/party-identification-in-the-united-states-by-generation/
Of course, if that “something else” is all Libertarians it might create the cyberpunk dystopia but what’s the difference between that and the current Republican takeover by the tech billionaires anyways?
Cyberpunk dystopia at least has a good aesthetic…
yep, and Israel will reliquish their hold on both parties, because thats the right thing to do, and they are the most moral country in the world… And we’ll eliminate the electoral college and make sure our politicians can no longer take bribes, especially from foreign governments. Also, we’ll jump in with both feet on climate change.
If only Citizens United v. FEC could be overturned, because it’s so very obviously terrible😅
I thought it was touching where he discussed his worries about using his last opportunity to speak before the election, and that he could be left wondering if there was something else that he could have said to change the outcome if it ends up going bad. I imagine there has to be a good bit of pressure when you have such a large platform.
For a show that points out so many wrongs with our country, it’s easy to look at things negatively. But for now, at least, we are able to point out those wrongs and still have a hope we can do something about them. Not even 5 years a citizen, I imagine it could be scary as well that if a re-elected Trump goes for a type of “media reform,” Oliver is likely going to be high on the list of people to be looked at.
I hope tomorrow goes well for America. I’ve been disappointed the last few elections that the comedians have been more critical than the mainstream journalists, but right now, I’m glad we’ve had them if nothing else, motivating us to still be our best.
Ukraine went and elected one of those TV comedians, and, while imperfect, he’s been a pretty inspiring leader over the past few years.
I had him in my mind writing my original comment. I don’t know much about him before the war, but he seems to be doing admirable if anyone had concerns at his election.
It’s fun to turn back the clock and read old news:
“I will never let you down,” Mr Zelensky told celebrating supporters.
Russia says it wants him to show “sound judgement”, “honesty” and “pragmatism” so that relations can improve. Russia backs separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Mr Poroshenko, who admitted defeat after the first exit polls were published, has said he will not be leaving politics.
He told voters that Mr Zelensky, 41, was too inexperienced to stand up to Russia effectively.
Mr Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine’s president.
He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.
He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.
With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky’s campaign focused on his difference to the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.
NPR: Comedian Wins Ukrainian Presidency In Landslide 22 APR 2019
“What’s amazing is that despite Zelenskiy being a household name, people don’t really know what he stands for,” NPR’s Moscow correspondent Lucian Kim told Morning Edition. “During the election campaign, he was very vague about his positions, and in that way he really became a blank slate for people to project whatever they wanted on him.” The fact that voters chose Zelenskiy shows how desperate people are, Kim said.
But Ukraine’s outgoing president cautioned that the Kremlin is celebrating the election of an inexperienced candidate. Russia believes that “Ukraine could be quickly returned to Russia’s orbit of influence,” Poroshenko said on Twitter.
According to The New York Times, many voters said they had supported Zelenskiy “not so much because they thought he was a good candidate but because they wanted to punish Mr. Poroshenko for deflating the hopes raised by Ukraine’s 2014 revolution and for doing little to combat corruption.”
The Washington Post notes that Zelenskiy is just the latest comedian to win public office in elections around the world. In Guatemala, the former comic actor Jimmy Morales won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform with the slogan, “Not corrupt, not a thief.” In Iceland, comedian Jón Gnarr ran for mayor as a joke candidate and won, serving one term before he stepped down in 2014. And in the U.S., Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken became a senator from Minnesota.
Maybe laughter and self-reflection is what the world needs right now. The comedians seem to be picking things up when everyone else is dropping the ball.
Comedian just means empathetic person with enough sadness about the topic to make it funny to make it easier to talk about.
It’s why conservative comedians don’t often work cause their comedy is not aimed at being relatable but about how much it pisses someone else off.
Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.
This sounds like my dad. He’s kinda a Republican, but doesn’t like Trump, and asserted that Trump would just go away after the last election.
Trump and Trumpism are not going away. If Harris wins, even by a lot, it’s only going to validate his follower’s fears, if it doesn’t start an all-out conflict.
Well, I dont think Trump can survive another loss politically. He basically only survived because he moaned about election fraud and refused to accept the results.
Truth is that, the older he gets, the less likely he’ll be able to run and the less convincing his “charisma” will be. I think we already see this in effect today to some degree.
Putting aside all other anxiety, I’m fascinated to see if Republicans will finally flee his sinking ship as he fades to history. A lot of them only support him for survival… They’re all spineless in the end.
He’s already said he won’t run again. He probably physically can’t.
It’s not a political problem though, he’s all but god to so many people. Honestly I don’t know what’s gonna happen to a void he leaves behind when he passes away.
My impossible hope is that it destroys the Republican party so the Democrats are the conservatives and a new progressive party emerges.
I get your fear, but my optimistic side thinks that trump is special in his ability to self promote to gullible fools. And while the reality denial of trumpism will never completely go away, Republicans will return to some sense of normalcy after he loses his grip.
I don’t believe so. Trump has only further enabled them and taught them that what they say has no bearing on votes received.
I think the first 35 seconds of his “Election 2024: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)” clip are a very strong argument against the Citizens United v. FEC ruling. Same for voting for judges, including marketing at RealCapitalismTM levels in politics is not good, because eventually it will be worth it for sooooo many corporate entities to just pump large portions of the GDP into politics. Nothing can compare with that, so corporations are favored to win, because marketing works. Fatigue is just one of the symptoms that go across the isle, i’m sure.
Imagine becoming a citizen only for the US to be destroyed by a shitbag reality tv cunt a few years later. Let’s not let that happen.
The thing is that shouldn’t be an option.
It being an option is gated behind voter turnout.
It shouldn’t be but it is, and it’s terrifying.
Frederick Douglas on voting at a time when both Parties had shafted Reconstruction.
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZAbKU-JzE
I have friends who will not vote for trump for obvious reasons but not for kamala as well, because they don’t vote for a cop!!! Sad stuff
Have you tried to explain to them that prosecutors are not cops? Maybe showed them the intro to Law & Order?
Are they forgoing voting in down-ballot races as well? Undervoting is a thing, and most electoral shifts start at the local level.
They will vote a random candidate besides the aforementioned 2. Pathetic
so they’ll be voting down ballot. excellent good for them. you should encourage this. its not their fault kamala is a horrible candidate. spend more time trying to fix kamala to the point they’ll vote for her. it’ll be easier on you.
Another interesting question is if they vote for one of their local DA or sheriff candidates or just obtain.
I never vote for soil and water commissioner! They never have a good answer to what happened to Sandy Loam!
Great.Fucking.Speech.
I expect sales of that shirt to go through the roof now.
