S07.E24: U.S. Supreme Court

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  U.S. Supreme Court 

Other: Vin Diesel's single debut; legal decision on Breona Taylor

Original air date: 2020.09.27

[buttersister]

Just when I thought it wasn't possible to love John Oliver and this show more, there's tonight.

And thanks for the tip, John, I qualified to run!

[Annber03]

"And going forward, every time I think of McConnell, I will think of that donkey." LOL. Also, "The Democrats believe it has to be their way or no way." Really, McCarthy? Really? That is rich. 

John's definitely right, though, about needing significant change. The fact that even Nixon was in favor of ending the Electoral College is fascinating. I live in Iowa, one of those rural states, and I would be more than fine with getting rid of the EC. 

I do agree that completely getting rid of the filibuster, while understandable, would also be risky, so if we don't go that far, at the very least, we should make it significantly harder, if not outright impossible, to abuse. And YES to term limits. For any and all government positions. We need to rotate out and get new blood in a hell of a lot more often just in general, so we can get new ideas and new perspectives and new faces. And of course, the fact that it would remove so much motivation from some corners to pick people solely because they want to have complete control over everything for an extended period of time would be a definite plus as well. 

Honestly, though, when it comes to the judge picks and stuff, if the Democrats do win in November, and they really wanted to do something significant, I would suggest just impeaching and removing this administration's picks based off the sole fact that they were chosen by a president who was a) impeached in an election year, and b) was impeached because he tried to sabotage our elections. Something he's still trying to do even now. At least that way there'd be actual justification behind that significant change, with not wanting to honor the picks of somebody who abused their power so egregiously, and it wouldn't come off so much like simple petty revenge. And then maybe we can write or enforce laws that make it clear that any future presidents, of either party, who do similar things do not get to appoint people (ideally in part because trying to mess with elections would be grounds for removal from office). 

And if the Democrats win, we also need to do more beyond relying on the Supreme Court to ensure that civil rights and women's rights and healthcare and such aren't ever again at risk of being overturned or dismantled or things of that sort, too. 

As for other stuff...so. There are Trump coloring books. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet... And on the topic of books, WTAF with that Penn one? Apparently one of our cats was fascinated by that sceensaver at the end, though, according to my mom :D. 

[formerlyfreedom]

I had no idea Peeps were around for any time besides Easter. I had no clue I was missing out. I could just get the ones off the back of the fridge from 1998 though...

'Fight mule piss with mule piss.'  I shall be adding this to my lexicon....

[kittykat]

Oh John I've missed you.  It does seem like every time he takes an extended break it all really goes to shit so I figured the main story would be the fallout of RBGs death.

Abolish the electoral college!  Seriously why is this even an argument anymore?  The conservative people I know usually go *whine* i don't want California and New York deciding every election.  Rigggghhht because that doesn't already happen Every four years with Florida, Ohio and Michigan *eye roll*

I live for the Peeps and Pumpkin Spice interstitials.

[swanpride]

I know, it's maybe naive to ask, but can't the democrats pack the court and THEN do reforms which will ensure that all the manipulations the Republicans do won't work in the future. They might even been able to then push for term limits for the judges, or introduce legislation which will stop others to pack the court in the future? Granted, they would need a majority in the house AND the Senat to do this.

[swanpride]

Oh, also...I am now curious how Halloween or Christmas Peeps look like.....

[Annber03]

57 minutes ago, kittykat said:

Oh John I've missed you.  It does seem like every time he takes an extended break it all really goes to shit so I figured the main story would be the fallout of RBGs death.

Right? I mean, I certainly don't begrudge him needing the occasional break, I'm glad he gets them throughout the year. Lord knows he and his staff deserve some time off. But yeah, every time he does go on break, I brace myself for whatever might happen while he's off. 

Quote

Abolish the electoral college!  Seriously why is this even an argument anymore?  The conservative people I know usually go *whine* i don't want California and New York deciding every election.  Rigggghhht because that doesn't already happen Every four years with Florida, Ohio and Michigan *eye roll*

God, this. I mean, if people here in the middle of the country are tired of the most populous states being able to decide the election, maybe do more to draw more people out this way or make those who were born and raised here stay here. Don't get mad at California and New York for having bigger populations.

And then of course, as this episode (and past ones) noted, D.C. is sitting over here like, "Hey, at least you guys get representation, what are you complaining about?"

To say nothing of how, if the situation were reversed, I can guarantee that the same people wanting to protect the EC would be wanting to abolish it. Of course some don't want to let go of it. It benefits them. 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Want to peep at multi holiday Peeps?  Peep here: https://www.peepsbrand.com/halloween-recipes-and-crafts/ 

Just don't try any of the recipes.  We don't want you to go into a coma from the sugar load. 

[swanpride]

...those "decorations" are nightmarish.

 

Honestly, how is this company still in business?

[Gothish520]

17 minutes ago, swanpride said:

...those "decorations" are nightmarish.

 

Honestly, how is this company still in business?

The Halloween ones? I think they are cool! Peeps are way too sweet for me now, but I loved them when I was a kid.

[swanpride]

All of them, not just the Halloween ones. Halloween even makes kind of sense, since people don't care if the sweets they gift to others are nasty.

[Lantern7]

Just watched on DVR. Once again depressed as fuck. Once again, John shows the flaws in this country. Once again, I don’t think enough people are aware of them. “Preaching to the choir” sounds trite, but I’m not seeing a situation where someone gets HBO Max, plunges into the exclusive content, and then gives the fussy British man a listen.

Some people need to be punished for their wanton hypocrisy. In the context of this episode, I’m in favor of tying Mitch to a chair, forcing him to listen to Sean Penn read his own book, and occasionally force him to drink lukewarm mule piss.

7 hours ago, Annber03 said:

As for other stuff...so. There are Trump coloring books. I shouldn't be surprised, and yet... 

And he’s striking a superhero pose in a suit on the cover. That’s slightly more horrific than the mental image of him doing yoga naked. Also, there’s the obvious joke about the intended reading group, but if John won’t stoop to tell it, then why should I?

Edited September 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[paigow]

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I’m in favor of tying Mitch to a chair, forcing him to listen to Sean Penn read his own book, and occasionally force him to drink lukewarm mule piss....

With a giant bowl of Peeps...

Edited September 28, 2020 by paigow

[purist]

I'm not even American, and I find the current situation in the USA to be so depressing I want to curl up and die. McConnell is the devil.

The only things in the episode that raised a faint smile with me were picturing McConnell as a urinating donkey, and the Ted Cruz 'Green Eggs and Ham' poem.

[khyber]

8 hours ago, kittykat said:

Oh John I've missed you.  It does seem like every time he takes an extended break it all really goes to shit so I figured the main story would be the fallout of RBGs death.

Abolish the electoral college!  Seriously why is this even an argument anymore?  The conservative people I know usually go *whine* i don't want California and New York deciding every election.  Rigggghhht because that doesn't already happen Every four years with Florida, Ohio and Michigan *eye roll*

I live for the Peeps and Pumpkin Spice interstitials.

It would be nice to have my vote truly matter in the general election. Why should Iowa & N.H. matter so much? 

8 hours ago, swanpride said:

I know, it's maybe naive to ask, but can't the democrats pack the court and THEN do reforms which will ensure that all the manipulations the Republicans do won't work in the future. They might even been able to then push for term limits for the judges, or introduce legislation which will stop others to pack the court in the future? Granted, they would need a majority in the house AND the Senat to do this.

That's what they should do.

[khyber]

If DC ever gets statehood, John should have Eleanor Holmes Norton on the show.

[Gothish520]

9 hours ago, swanpride said:

All of them, not just the Halloween ones. Halloween even makes kind of sense, since people don't care if the sweets they gift to others are nasty.

Nightmarish to look at, or you think they would be nightmarish to eat? Because how anyone could find those Halloween Peep cupcakes nightmarish to look at is beyond me. They're adorable. As for eating, just take the Peep off and eat the cupcake, lol.

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, paigow said:

With a giant bowl of Peeps...

This comes from Geneva: “Forcing someone to drink mule urine? That is permissible. Forcing someone to eat Peeps? That is permissible. Forcing someone to do both things at the same time? That is your ass. No pun intended.”

Edited September 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[swanpride]

Nightmarish to look up...this decoration looks as if it will melt away if you look to long at it.

 

[mojoween]

When the little Peep popped up in the circle and the angry guy said “NO!” that tickled me more than it probably should have.

I called my son away from playing a computer game, iPad game and the PS4 (he just loves to multitask) to watch the screen saver logo and we were super disappointed it never hit the corner. I cannot comment on Sean Penn’s audiobook because what the fuck.

[peeayebee]

21 hours ago, kittykat said:

I live for the Peeps and Pumpkin Spice interstitials.

I had to FF thru this Peeps segment. I guess I don't find it all that funny, and the Monster-Truck voice just irritates me.

Get rid of the electoral college. Make DC and Puerto Rico states. That all would make me feel a little better.

[Hooper]

Of the actions John proposed, getting rid of the electoral college is the least practical.  That would require a constitutional amendment, which would have to be approved by a 2/3 vote of both houses.  As unlikely as that scenario is, the next step is even more fantasmagorical - being ratified by 3/4 of the states.  Any state with less than the mean population per state has greater representation with an electoral college than with the popular vote, and is not going to vote to give up that disproportionate representation.  We couldn't even get 3/4 of the states to ratify the ERA, and women make up at least half the population in every state.  No state is going to ratify an amendment that gives its people less of a voice in presidential politics.

Some of the other things John suggested - term limits might get passed if Dems control both houses, and maybe statehood for PR and DC.  But unfortunately, the electoral college is baked into the system.

 

[Ailianna]

On 9/28/2020 at 2:06 AM, swanpride said:

I know, it's maybe naive to ask, but can't the democrats pack the court and THEN do reforms which will ensure that all the manipulations the Republicans do won't work in the future. They might even been able to then push for term limits for the judges, or introduce legislation which will stop others to pack the court in the future? Granted, they would need a majority in the house AND the Senat to do this.

 

8 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I had to FF thru this Peeps segment. I guess I don't find it all that funny, and the Monster-Truck voice just irritates me.

Get rid of the electoral college. Make DC and Puerto Rico states. That all would make me feel a little better.

 

7 hours ago, Hooper said:

Of the actions John proposed, getting rid of the electoral college is the least practical.  That would require a constitutional amendment, which would have to be approved by a 2/3 vote of both houses.  As unlikely as that scenario is, the next step is even more fantasmagorical - being ratified by 3/4 of the states.  Any state with less than the mean population per state has greater representation with an electoral college than with the popular vote, and is not going to vote to give up that disproportionate representation.  We couldn't even get 3/4 of the states to ratify the ERA, and women make up at least half the population in every state.  No state is going to ratify an amendment that gives its people less of a voice in presidential politics.

Some of the other things John suggested - term limits might get passed if Dems control both houses, and maybe statehood for PR and DC.  But unfortunately, the electoral college is baked into the system.

 

Hooper is right about the challenges and practical unreality of a constitutional amendment to rid us of the electoral college.  That's really why we still have it--that the constitution is designed to be hard to change and hard to amend, so that it doesn't just change with passing fads.  In general I even agree with the idea that it should be hard to change.  It's just frustrating to see so many people/states that put the immediate short term gain before the longer term gain.  

I was somewhat nonplussed that he advocated for statehood for Puerto Rico though.  I think (I don't know for sure) that a lot of people in DC want to be a state, and since there are so many people living there now (not what was originally envisioned), I think that's fair.  DC plates literally say "taxation without representation."  But Puerto Rico is a different matter.  There is a LOT of controversy within Puerto Rico as to whether statehood is the right choice for them, and John just ignored all the reasons some Puerto Ricans think it's better to not be a state.  I would love for them to have actual representation in Congress, since it affects so many things, but I understand that the people there should have the say, not people in the mainland who are just trying to affect the Electoral College.  

[purist]

3 minutes ago, Ailianna said:

I was somewhat nonplussed that he advocated for statehood for Puerto Rico though [snip] There is a LOT of controversy within Puerto Rico as to whether statehood is the right choice for them, and John just ignored all the reasons some Puerto Ricans think it's better to not be a state.

He did say 'if they want it' - though it would have been easy to miss that, as he said it as a kind of parenthetical remark.

[smittykins]

On 9/28/2020 at 2:35 AM, swanpride said:

Oh, also...I am now curious how Halloween or Christmas Peeps look like.....

Pumpkins and trees, respectively.

[Popples]

On 9/28/2020 at 2:35 AM, swanpride said:

Oh, also...I am now curious how Halloween or Christmas Peeps look like.....

No matter how they look, they will always taste disgusting.

[Gothish520]

22 hours ago, swanpride said:

Nightmarish to look up...this decoration looks as if it will melt away if you look to long at it.

 

Ok, I really hate to keep harping on this, but I think I'm confused. You must be talking about the graphics on the show, which I didn't really pay much attention to, what with the voice and the bold red lettering.

I'm referring to the link to the Peeps website, which has these:

They are objectively adorable and I reject any statements to the contrary. 😁 🎃

[juno]

This is one of my favorite shows on TV. I have never missed an episode. I could not get through this episode. I found it so depressing and I find the current American Administration so full of bullies and sociopaths that I had to turn it off.

Amazingly, this is from a Canadian your buddy from up North.

[Babalu]

6 hours ago, juno said:

This is one of my favorite shows on TV. I have never missed an episode. I could not get through this episode. I found it so depressing and I find the current American Administration so full of bullies and sociopaths that I had to turn it off.

I, too, would have found it incredibly depressing had I not watched it after the New York Times report about Trump’s taxes came out. I kept saying to Saturday John (is that when it’s filmed?), “Cheer up, buddy! It’s going to get a lot better in a couple of days!” Of course, Amy Coney Barrett could still be confirmed by the Senate, which would lead to many of the bad things mentioned by John, but some of them likely won’t come before the Supreme Court if we have a new administration, especially if there’s also a predominantly Democratic Senate. I’m hoping that my new semi-optimism is not unfounded.

[swanpride]

@Gothish520 The cats are cute (thought the colour weirds me out a little bit). The others are kind of weirdly shaped. And that green….reminds me of the time when a Supermarket in Orlando traumatized me with rainbow coloured toast. Everything about those things look through and through artificial and disgusting.

[conquistador]

On 9/28/2020 at 7:34 AM, kittykat said:

I live for the Peeps and Pumpkin Spice interstitials.

I wonder if this is something cultural. I’m European and it’s funny how little I understand the appeal of these. I think this show is great and informative and always make me laugh - but the screaming PSL voice just escapes me. I watch with a blank expression and open mouth.

[swanpride]

Well, I never tasted the pumpkin spice one, so who knows, maybe it is great. And I at least get the appeal of something you only get in season...god knows that I'll buy a package of Lebkuchen from Aldi every year, just like I am excited when I discover that they have their white chocolate with passion fruit filling (which happens soooo rarely). But those Peeps, they are already looking nasty, and I bet they taste like pure suggar.

[Gothish520]

1 hour ago, swanpride said:

Well, I never tasted the pumpkin spice one, so who knows, maybe it is great. And I at least get the appeal of something you only get in season...god knows that I'll buy a package of Lebkuchen from Aldi every year, just like I am excited when I discover that they have their white chocolate with passion fruit filling (which happens soooo rarely). But those Peeps, they are already looking nasty, and I bet they taste like pure suggar.

Oh they definitely taste like pure sugar, with a dash of artificial vanilla. If my memory serves; it's been a couple of decades since I've had one. 

But when you're a kid, it's all about the sugar. Who remembers pixy sticks? Basically sugar in a straw, yum! 😝

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

But when you're a kid, it's all about the sugar. Who remembers pixy sticks? Basically sugar in a straw, yum! 😝

Ooh, yes :D! I remember getting those a lot at Halloween. 

[swanpride]

...really depends on how you are raised. My mother was always intend on me not eating things which were overly sweet (not that I didn't get sweets at all, but never anything which was pure sugar), so on the few occasions I encountered something like this, I didn't like it, exactly because it was so sweet. Still don't, btw.