S08.E23: Lukashenko

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  Belarus 

Also: Texas abortion law; pumpkin spice latte; 

Original air date 2021.09.12

[Annber03]

Welcome back, John! Glad to see him back in his studio, and with an audience as well!

And oh, what a mess of a story to discuss right off the bat. Soooooooooooo many things I could say about this utterly batshit insane anti-abortion "law" in Texas, and about Greg Abbott. So, so many. But I think I'd get in trouble if I said a lot of them. All I will say is kudos to everyone who spammed the hell out of that stupid site that was put up for reports, and I hope all the efforts to fight this nonsense pay off. Please, please, please somebody find some way to put a stop to this insanity. 

Sure am glad, too, that the "pro-life" crowd who's been throwing absolute hissy fits about people being asked to wear masks in public or get vaccines are being so consistent with their stance on this abortion ban. /s

As for the main story...that clip of that reporter illustrating for us, in all his glory, what people held captive in Belarus went through. That...that was something :p. John's reaction to that was hilarious. 

But ugh, the poor people of Belarus, having to deal with someone like Lukashenko. No wonder he gave gifts to Putin, they're certainly cut from the same cloth. Also saw shades of Kim Jong-Un and his family dynasty in those photos of him and his son. And his incredible sensitivity to being picked on and mocked and criticized reminds me of a certain other recent president who shall remain nameless as well. I'm glad to see the people fighting back as they are, and efforts to support the pro-democracy side trying to get him out of power. May they be successful in their cause and their fight. 

And I am totally going to get one of those bears, because alongside the political support involved, holy crap, they are adorable :D. I'm also with John that we should totally have daily teddy bear drops here in the U.S., just for the hell of it. 

[scarynikki12]

Tonight I learned that armadillos have a lot in common with my cats.

The Bud Light Seltzer broke Angry Voiceover Guy!

Ollie made the most of his time in the Void but he’s SO HAPPY to be back in a studio and it makes me happy for him.

I know it’s only a momentary joy but I love watching him tell Abbott to go fuck himself. And the people who flooded the website with Shrek porn deserve a Nobel Prize.

Lukashenko. This fucking guy.

Don’t worry Ollie we’ll buy your bears.

[buttersister]

23 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

The Bud Light Seltzer broke Angry Voiceover Guy!

He had me laughing so hard before the seltzer showed up! FU, Bud Light.

[RedbirdNelly]

the pumpkin spice part always has me wondering why news anchors have to discuss it every year. We get it. We don't need your news updates on it or yearly banter. 

It was kind of nice to see an episode with no Biden slams. I really would enjoy a teddy bear dropped into my yard via parachute. 

It was almost weird to see the show back in a studio with an audience. I remember early in the pandemic, it took a bit of getting used to for me watching the show in the void. I was used to a certain amount of audience reaction and energy. Then the quiet got to be normal.

[paigow]

In Mexico, abortion was recently decriminalized by its Supreme Court... In 2019, approx 60K abortions were performed in Texas. Hopefully, those Mexican clinics have the capacity to handle U.S. demand...

[ahisma]

The switch to live audience didn’t make as big of an impact for me. Stephen Colbert, for instance, does more mugging for the crowd and applause interrupts for longer. John’s flow is generally the same. When it really hit home was the bears dropping from the ceiling at the end. Festive AND adorable! 

That armadillo kind of looked like the latest CGI creation for the next Star Wars film…

Poor voiceover guy. I don’t drink beer but I completely empathize!

Yeah, I was trying to figure out if that was really Belarus on the map. When it was a fakeout, my next guess was that it was Estonia. Geography fail—it was Lithuania. 

[swanpride]

Six weeks is just idiotic. Six weeks is sometimes my regular circle, and that is assuming that I don't skip a month altogether (which happens pretty much every time I travel or have a lot of stress or become ill). 

Also, the whole "rape is a crime" thing was just cringe. Yeah, we have seen that when you choose your last supreme court judge...also, you can hardly remove a rapist from the street before he committed the crime of raping (and potentially impregnating) someone. 

I am a little bit surprised that nobody of the big businesses weighted in on abortions, especially since I remember that when Georgia wanted to push through its last idiotic abortion law, a number of big companies, especially connected to the movie businesses, DID threaten to pull out.  But I guess there is less hollywood and more oil in Texas...

The pumpkin spice joke is getting old. 

Belarus was maybe a little bit more of a theme over here in Europe than the US, because nobody is really pleased about the situation. 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, ahisma said:

Yeah, I was trying to figure out if that was really Belarus on the map. When it was a fakeout, my next guess was that it was Estonia. Geography fail—it was Lithuania.

And here an either really easy or really difficult one (depending on how well informed you are): What was the small landmass directly beside Lithuania? 

Btw, this reminds me of John Olivers Hymn for the EU...wasn't one of the line "and where the f... is Lithuania"? 

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, swanpride said:

Six weeks is just idiotic. Six weeks is sometimes my regular circle, and that is assuming that I don't skip a month altogether (which happens pretty much every time I travel or have a lot of stress or become ill). 

It'd never happen for real, I realize, but man, in my fantasy world, I would love to hear someone say to every single male politician in office, "You want to have a say in what women do with their bodies and their reproductive choices? Fine. You must be required to take a sex ed class and read some biology books first. If you refuse to do so or fail the class, then you don't get to be involved in the policymaking/legislative decisions." Period. End of story. 

Quote

Also, the whole "rape is a crime" thing was just cringe. Yeah, we have seen that when you choose your last supreme court judge

Right? They'd have to remove a whole bunch of people currently in various political offices if they were actually serious about such things. 

Quote

I am a little bit surprised that nobody of the big businesses weighted in on abortions, especially since I remember that when Georgia wanted to push through its last idiotic abortion law, a number of big companies, especially connected to the movie businesses, DID threaten to pull out.  But I guess there is less hollywood and more oil in Texas...

Abortion is a far more hot topic issue than voting rights. No way are most corporate bigwigs going to make themselves vulnerable to accusations of not being "pro-life". 

[SnarkShark]

Wasn't the actual name of the episode "Lukashenko"?

 

Anyway, great episode.  The Alexander Lukashenko part being brutal, but the Texas part even moreso.  I'm not sure how much we're supposed to discuss what Oliver said, but I think its fair to note it was pretty fact heavy and pointed.

 

And Pumpkin Spice DOES suck.

 

 

[ahisma]

1 hour ago, swanpride said:

And here an either really easy or really difficult one (depending on how well informed you are): What was the small landmass directly beside Lithuania? 

The little bit to the southwest? Weirdly, a little bit of Russia disconnected from the rest!

[ALenore]

21 minutes ago, Victor the Crab said:

What's the matter with Texas? Greg Abbott claims the best way to keep women from getting raped is to arrest all the rapists. DA FUCK? Just how does one plan on doing that?

To me, "arresting all the rapists" is code for "getting rid of all the Mexicans." I mean that was pretty much Trump's first statement in his election campaign.

[DoctorAtomic]

The audience groan at the Bud Light made the episode worth it. 

[Tiggertoo]

Oh the bears are all sold!  I loved how passionate he got about needing to parachute down every day.

[Hanahope]

Please, pumpkin spice cannot make bud light worse.  
 

Belarus is a cautionary tale of when an election process freshly does become completely rigged.

[Brandi Maxxxx]

14 hours ago, paigow said:

In Mexico, abortion was recently decriminalized by its Supreme Court... In 2019, approx 60K abortions were performed in Texas. Hopefully, those Mexican clinics have the capacity to handle U.S. demand...

Mexico might have to pay for the border wall after all.

[lasu]

I know it's a sign on progress and on that front I'm thrilled, but I HATED the studio audience!  Like, not them personally - it just sounded like a laugh track.  I found it extremely disruptive to the flow, but I'm sure I'll get used to it again.  But it was really taking me out of things.

The Texas rape stuff -so much what the fuck.  So...since you outlawed abortion, you're going to go arrest all the rapists?  Um...why didn't you just arrest all the rapists before now??  And also, are you going to primitively arrest them? Because otherwise you have to sit around and wait for someone to be raped, so not exactly problem solved?  Even this answer had been in response to something that made sense, this answer didn't.

Also, John made a point about how they have to detect a fetal heartbeat before its technically a fetus.  I'm assuming people way smarter than me have already looked at this, but it seems at first glance like a loophole, at least for a couple more weeks.  Couldn't one say there was no fetal heartbeat detected if there isn't a fetus?

[andromeda331]

Texas abortion law. Yeah, that's insane and stupid. Most don't even know their pregnant at six weeks. 

I love the teddy bears! They are so cute. A teddy bear protest? Parachuting Teddy bears? That too adorable. 

I love that the money front John Oliver's teddy bears are going to help Belarus. That's really great! 

[peeayebee]

On 9/13/2021 at 8:29 AM, RedbirdNelly said:

I really would enjoy a teddy bear dropped into my yard via parachute. 

Wouldn't that be great! It would truly bring joy into our lives.

 

On 9/13/2021 at 11:07 AM, ahisma said:

That armadillo kind of looked like the latest CGI creation for the next Star Wars film…

It reminded me of a creature from 'The Dark Crystal.' And what were those things hanging from it? Medical electrodes?

I didn't like hearing the audience again. I really liked listening to John just do his thing without laughter and applause. 

The Texas abortion law is infuriating. I think I read that some guy spent years coming up with it, crafting a law that courts supposedly couldn't touch, what with vigilantes basically carrying the load. And just the threat of expensive lawsuits is enuf to keep people from seeking an abortion.

 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

I think I read that some guy spent years coming up with it, crafting a law that courts supposedly couldn't touch, what with vigilantes basically carrying the load. 

Which, in a state with extremely lax gun laws (to say the very least), just adds to the sheer horror of this law. 

[JustHereForFood]

This is one show where I don't really understand why they need an audience. The constant laughing was a bit disconcerting. 

On 9/13/2021 at 5:47 AM, Annber03 said:

Sure am glad, too, that the "pro-life" crowd who's been throwing absolute hissy fits about people being asked to wear masks in public or get vaccines are being so consistent with their stance on this abortion ban. /s

This, so much! And I would really like if we could retire the term "pro-life", in favor of the more accurate "anti-choice", or "anti-women".

On 9/13/2021 at 4:29 PM, RedbirdNelly said:

the pumpkin spice part always has me wondering why news anchors have to discuss it every year. We get it. We don't need your news updates on it or yearly banter. 

Haha, same. It's like a very easy (and lazy) thing to complain about in order to look cool. 

On 9/13/2021 at 6:21 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Tonight I learned that armadillos have a lot in common with my cats.

Same here. I think this is the first time I have seen an armadillo, they are very cute. But why were they scaring the poor creature to make it scream like that? ☹️

On 9/13/2021 at 7:09 PM, swanpride said:

Belarus was maybe a little bit more of a theme over here in Europe than the US, because nobody is really pleased about the situation. 

Agreed. I am in Slovakia, and while we don't share a border with them, it still makes me quite worried. The treatment of journalists in particular and the plane hijacking is horrifying.

On 9/13/2021 at 7:09 PM, swanpride said:

Btw, this reminds me of John Olivers Hymn for the EU...wasn't one of the line "and where the f... is Lithuania"? 

I loved that song 😄.

[Lantern7]

Good episode for John's return to a studio audience . . . but given how there's no new episode this week (September 19) due to the Emmys (and the possibility of LWT folks attending), I wonder if they should have held off another few weeks.

On 9/13/2021 at 12:21 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Ollie made the most of his time in the Void but he’s SO HAPPY to be back in a studio and it makes me happy for him.

Especially at the beginning, where he went back to enthusiastically slapping his desk. The Void hasn't gone far, though . . . I noticed it's now in the opening credits, listed as "Vedi, Vici, Void." I also dug the laughter . . . especially when Jon described an armadillo as "an opossum working at Medieval Times."

Texas is a mess. Fun to see a snitch site get flooded with bogus Avengers abortion attempts and Shrek porn, but I think bigger victories are needed.

Belarus with Lukashenko is fucked up. That's what I like about LWT . . . even when you think you know all the bad stuff going on, John tells you about a guy running the only dictatorship in Europe. And that led to the horror of seeing a journalist display torture, in the cold, "cakes out." John was right . . . we could have taken his word for it, as opposed to the unflattering camera shot of his . . . "cakes."

[xaxat]

On 9/14/2021 at 10:34 PM, peeayebee said:

The Texas abortion law is infuriating. I think I read that some guy spent years coming up with it, crafting a law that courts supposedly couldn't touch, what with vigilantes basically carrying the load. And just the threat of expensive lawsuits is enuf to keep people from seeking an abortion.

The Supreme Court may have tried to duck the issue with their Shadow Docket "pass" on the law, but one one Texas doctor is going to make the courts take a public stance.

Opinion: Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban

Quote

And that is why, on the morning of Sept. 6, I provided an abortion to a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the state’s new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.

I fully understood that there could be legal consequences — but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested.

As for the person who came up with the law (A white male. I know, you're shocked.) He says that women should stop having sex if they are truly worried about their reproductive rights. Seriously.

(Dude has obviously never  read Lysistrata.)

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, xaxat said:

As for the person who came up with the law (A white male. I know, you're shocked.) He says that women should stop having sex if they are truly worried about their reproductive rights. Seriously

He can fuck right off with that insane nonsense. 

[Brandi Maxxxx]

Well... at least he supports women having autonomy for one part of the process. That's more than you can say for certain other lawmakers.

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, xaxat said:

The Supreme Court may have tried to duck the issue with their Shadow Docket "pass" on the law, but one one Texas doctor is going to make the courts take a public stance.

Opinion: Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban

That guy's a hero. Someone fearless needed to do a practical challenge to the law.

[JustHereForFood]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:34 AM, xaxat said:

As for the person who came up with the law (A white male. I know, you're shocked.) He says that women should stop having sex if they are truly worried about their reproductive rights. Seriously.

Jeez, we get it. He's not getting any. Does he have to compensate so hard for it? (Just a rhetorical question). And I am not even surprised that he already plans to criminalize sex with same-sex partners too. Sigh.

[JustHereForFood]

When I made the comment above about men who are not getting any compensating by policing women's sex lives, I did not expect to be validated this soon. Daily Show With Trevor Noah just did a piece about another genius behind this law. It would be funny, if it wasn't so frustrating.