S07.E14: Policing in America

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main Topic: Policing in America

Other topics (and now this . . .): Nothing else because given the events of the past week, adding other topics seemed too silly even for Last Week Tonight

Original air date 2020.06.07

 

[formerlyfreedom]

And wow.

I forgot again to record this, had it on live, but I set the recording for the later showing, because I need to rewatch - so much to unpack. Great way to end the show - I had seen the video of the woman, but DAMN. So much right in what she's saying.

I am going to get my shit together and remember to record all of these, rather than rely on my 'oh, it's on, go watch!' brain.

[Annber03]

Goddamn, can we have that woman at the end run for president? Her and the guy who cussed out the people at that meeting as a ticket? I say this a lot with this show, but seriously, play that clip on a loop for everyone to hear. 

"Tremendous restraint." Okay, de Blasio. And Trump telling officers to "not be so nice". Tough talk coming from somebody who hides out in a bunker from protesters. There is so, so, SO much else I could say about him and the whole tear gassing protesters/Bible photo op stunt and so on that's been happening this week, but that would go well beyond the bounds of what's acceptable here, so...yeah. I'll just leave it at that for now. 

Also, I love Tucker Carlson trying to act all sympathetic towards those who don't live in gated communities, like he knows their fears. How much you want to bet he lives in a gated community, or at least, in a very nice area with plenty of security and whatnot? Like I said last week, he can stop talking at any time. 

Anywho. Yeah. The anger and frustration here, both from Oliver and those who are cussing out the police and all those who are continuing to put them at risk is palpable and cathartic and sorely welcome and needed. This is not the country we should be living in. 

On a lighter note for a moment, LMAO at Cocaine Cops who Fuck. 

[Lantern7]

Anyone else expect the credits to roll as audio of John puking was playing? I don't mean for comedic effect . . . this has been his tough year on LWT, and the events of the past few weeks must be weighing down on him. Look at the still of him in the first season. Even if John's accelerated aging doesn't turn out to be as severe as Jon Stewart's seventeen-year stint on The Daily Show, it still isn't healthy.

And fun to see those that talk the toughest probably dreaming of wielding that much power. Especially Tucker Carlson. At this point, I'd be rooting for John to take a swing at him. Gotta love how John gets a patronizing tone going as he "talks" to Tucker, ending by swerving into "fuck you!" For the audience, I think it's a better running gag than John's overtures towards Adam Driver.

[ebk57]

The woman at the end was stellar.  And John's reaction afterwards, to end the show, unexpectedly brought me to tears.  It's a rough time.  

Tucker Carlson - sentient polo mallet (I think that's what it was...).  Tucker is trash. 

[formerlyfreedom]

I think John's choice to just end it without comment or music was a perfect way to finish. Because..........yeah. Mood. (as the kids say, apparently? I'm old, tired, angry, and sad.)

[Iguana]

That was an amazingly powerful way to conclude the show. That woman’s raw pain, anger, sadness and despair were heartbreakingly clear. A visceral, almost poetic, expression of the unbearable frustration and outrage at the generations of oppression, injustice and bigotry, and then that gut-punch of an ending. Someone needs to force all the Tucker Carlsons to watch that clip for a couple days straight, Clockwork Orange style. 

[meira.hand]

7 hours ago, saoirse said:

I am going to get my shit together and remember to record all of these, rather than rely on my 'oh, it's on, go watch!' brain.

You can watch him on his YouTube channel. It has clips of each week's main subject posted the following day.

This week it covers the whole show (https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The guy with the epic 30 seconds of comments was an excerpt from an eight hour meeting that the Los Angeles police commission had on Tuesday about the protests from the previous weekend. There were some amazing comments throughout the day but the "I yield my time - FUCK YOU" guy was so good. Succinct and to the point!

A few more examples:

All eight hours:

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Robert Lynch]

I was not surprised by De Blasio and Cuomo. Chris Hayes made an analysis about them handling the police. It was great John didn’t make it all black and white. The woman’s statement at the end was worth it. 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[allonsyalice]

The woman at the end of this weeks broadcast is Kim Jones.  She's an author. Please, please, say her name. 

[paigow]

Betting that the writing staff will be working overtime to find fresh Tucker Carlson descriptors for the next episode. The show might not be able to fix systemic racism, but maybe getting Carlson off the air is an acceptable Plan B.

[AimingforYoko]

25 minutes ago, paigow said:

Betting that the writing staff will be working overtime to find fresh Tucker Carlson descriptors for the next episode. The show might not be able to fix systemic racism, but maybe getting Carlson off the air is an acceptable Plan B.

"Sentient Boat Shoe" and "Human Polo Mallet" are particularly inspired.

[ahisma]

As soon as I heard that the topic was policing, I was hoping he would include David Grossman, and he did! The podcast Behind the Bastards recently did an episode on him titled “The Man Who Teaches Our Cops to Kill” if you want to learn more about his f***ed up curriculum for reprogramming civilian police reflexes into a kill-or-be-killed mindset. That Minneapolis police union head was horrifying, especially encouraging cops to take the training behind the back of the mayor. 

[paigow]

Loved the casual slapdown of The Blacklist writers...validation for loyal hate watchers!

Edited June 8, 2020 by paigow

[Popples]

This is the Kim Jones video in its entirety.

 

[paigow]

Biden needs Ms. Jones on his team...

[ruby24]

I think the problem with "defund the police" is illustrated by this episode- John had to explain it. 

How about use a different word that doesn't automatically make people think something else? Like "rebuild? That's closer to what it will mean.

[peeayebee]

Yeah, I didn't know what "defund the police" meant. I had assumed it meant all funding zero. Today on NPR was a segment on defunding that included an interview with an ACLU person whose focus is on policing. She made many statements identical to what John had said. It was interesting.

The other day I watched a video where Mayor Frey of Minneapolis was meeting with protesters on the street. One woman kept asking him, "Yes or no: Will be abolish the police department?" He eventually said no and was booed as he left. Maybe I'm wrong, but I wouldn't think the woman or crowd wanted the police completely eliminated.

Anyway, it's hard to imagine the defunding movement be implemented. I know it was done in Camden, but .... I don't know. There have been many other times when it seemed like things were really going to change, then they didn't. Maybe it's different this time. I hope.

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, paigow said:

Biden needs Ms. Jones on his team...

Yes.

5 hours ago, paigow said:

Loved the casual slapdown of The Blacklist writers...validation for loyal hate watchers!

I like how he included his own show in that list, LOL :p.

8 hours ago, ahisma said:

As soon as I heard that the topic was policing, I was hoping he would include David Grossman, and he did! The podcast Behind the Bastards recently did an episode on him titled “The Man Who Teaches Our Cops to Kill” if you want to learn more about his f***ed up curriculum for reprogramming civilian police reflexes into a kill-or-be-killed mindset. That Minneapolis police union head was horrifying, especially encouraging cops to take the training behind the back of the mayor. 

Those guys he talked about were creepy. The whole time I was watching them I kept thinking, "These are the sorts of people you see hanging out at those compounds in rural Idaho and Montana and so forth." 

[Hooper]

10 hours ago, paigow said:

Betting that the writing staff will be working overtime to find fresh Tucker Carlson descriptors for the next episode. The show might not be able to fix systemic racism, but maybe getting Carlson off the air is an acceptable Plan B.

Well, "You're as big an asshole in person as you are on your show" was the descriptor Jon Stewart used that got Tucker off the air.  There's no shame in recycling the classics.

[paigow]

23 minutes ago, Hooper said:

Well, "You're as big an asshole in person as you are on your show" was the descriptor Jon Stewart used that got Tucker off the air.  There's no shame in recycling the classics.

Maybe get some help from impressionists like Frank Caliendo to have John Madden through G.W. Bush repeating that line....

Edited June 8, 2020 by paigow

[formerlyfreedom]

re watching now...pizza rat is always gonna pizza rat no matter what... 😆

[link417]

22 hours ago, ebk57 said:

The woman at the end was stellar.  And John's reaction afterwards, to end the show, unexpectedly brought me to tears.  It's a rough time.  

Tucker Carlson - sentient polo mallet (I think that's what it was...).  Tucker is trash. 

Glad it wasn’t just me, then. It’s been a rough time, indeed.

[purist]

What an outstanding episode. I hope it wins all the awards.

[swanpride]

Well, now I know what all the "Brie Larson wants to get rid of police" vids which are popping up on youtube are actually about....

Great show. I especially love that he focussed on the problem and how he pointed out that the same solutions discussed now have been discussed for ages and yet never used.

[DEL901]

23 hours ago, allonsyalice said:

The woman at the end of this weeks broadcast is Kim Jones.  She's an author. Please, please, say her name. 

 

18 hours ago, Popples said:

This is the Kim Jones video in its entirety.

 

Wow.  Everyone needs to watch that clip.  And in her Twitter, it seems like others are sharing it too.  It needs to be heard.  

[iMonrey]

This is at least the third TV show and/or podcast this week that has illustrated how a police force originated in an era of slavery, and also has delved into the power of police unions. If nothing else I would hope all of this recent talk would start to educate people, but I'm never confident these messages are reaching the people they need to.

[Victor the Crab]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 1:50 PM, paigow said:

Biden needs Ms. Jones on his team...

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Joe Biden watched Kim Jones' video and took everything she said to heart. Same with that guy ripping on the LA police commission.

[Milburn Stone]

I like Bill Maher in normal times, and maybe normal times will return, but I watched this episode of LWT because it was recommended to me by two people, and boy, have they found a great way to do television in the age of Covid or what? I have seen LWT before, and this episode was every bit as good IMO as any I'd seen BC. (Before Covid.)

Edited June 11, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[paigow]

High profile sponsors are abandoning Tucker Carlson. Which fate would be worse?

• Going off the air
• The only sponsor is HBO running LWT promos

[ElectricBoogaloo]

An Interview With the Man Who Told the LAPD, 'Suck My Dick and Choke On it, I Yield My Time, Fuck You'

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, paigow said:

High profile sponsors are abandoning Tucker Carlson.

This news pleases me. 

[b2H]

32 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

This news pleases me. 

Until Fox abandons him, he still has a platform.  More fodder for John.

[Annber03]

14 minutes ago, b2H said:

Until Fox abandons him, he still has a platform.  More fodder for John.

This is true. Still, it's good to see some people pulling away all the same. 

[Kromm]

On 6/11/2020 at 7:37 AM, Milburn Stone said:

I like Bill Maher in normal times, and maybe normal times will return, but I watched this episode of LWT because it was recommended to me by two people, and boy, have they found a great way to do television in the age of Covid or what? I have seen LWT before, and this episode was every bit as good IMO as any I'd seen BC. (Before Covid.)

I find Bill Maher to be a mixed bag, and sometimes really rough to watch. He's got a few progressive ideas, but pairs that with some truly annoying, truly caveman notions as well.  Sometimes he comes off like Dennis Miller to me... someone I thought was cool when I was much younger and as the years went on, either he went nutty or I just got a clearer view of who he always had been.

[paigow]

How long will it take people to realize that SYSTEMIC and SYSTEMATIC cannot be used interchangeably?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

K-pop Fans Spam Tucker Carlson Hashtag with Fancams as Fox News Host Is Deserted by Advertisers