S03.E30: Season Finale - 2016 United States Election Results

[Athena]

Third season finale.

Quote

Main segment: 2016 United States election results
Segments: Media of the United States

 

[stillshimpy]

I feel like we should start a very intricate and complex drinking game (the more rules the better, or else we're all going to die before the end of the credits if the rules are "Sip every time John references our dystopian future" "drink every time he mentions a camp that will likely be formed" "chug an entire bottle of Euphoria Juice laced with Calgon or some other escapist shit every time John mentions one of those camps that you are certain you're likely to consigned to".    

I'm clearly planning on being dead by 10 p.m.  on Sunday. 

ETA: Oh.  I should probably add that LWT airs at 9 p.m. my time vs. my packing my cosmic bags and hit the karmic road before the finale even hits the airwaves. 

Edited November 9, 2016 by stillshimpy

[Popples]

Spoilery speculation:

Spoiler

At the end of the show, John takes out a gas can and starts drenching the set. Of course he wouldn't light a match or anything.

It probably wouldn't happen, but it's something I mused yesterday morning.

[fastiller]

What's the over/under on him referencing looking up and seeing rock bottom?

Edited November 11, 2016 by fastiller

[Victor the Crab]

Well over, I'd imagine.

[stillshimpy]

What's the over/under on him referencing looking up and seeing rock bottom?

I'd put even money on him re-writing the pledge of allegiance to include rock-bottom language, "I pledge the loss of my temperance to the flag of the United Screwed States of America and to the republic, which we just trashed, one nation, under a rock, contemplating the bottom, endlessly."  

You know, uplifting stuff like that.   

It's okay, I have more tequila.  

[Victor the Crab]

43 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

I'd put even money on him re-writing the pledge of allegiance to include rock-bottom language, "I pledge the loss of my temperance to the flag of the United Screwed States of America and to the republic, which we just trashed, one nation, under a rock, contemplating the bottom, endlessly."  

You know, uplifting stuff like that.   

It's okay, I have more tequila.  

Thanks for giving me a well needed laugh. Pass the tequila, please.

[MrWhyt]

how about a pool on the number of times the phrase "What the Fuck!" is used? 

[stillshimpy]

 Pass the tequila, please.

*glug glug glug glug glug glub* 

*glug* 

Here you go.  I started you out with the dainty "Oh shit, the end times already?" size :-) 

[GHScorpiosRule]

45 minutes ago, Victor the Crab said:

Thanks for giving me a well needed laugh. Pass the tequila, please.

 

15 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

 

*glug glug glug glug glug glub* 

*glug* 

Here you go.  I started you out with the dainty "Oh shit, the end times already?" size :-) 

Until tomorrow night, check out Tracey Ullman. She'll give you the laughs you need until Ollie.

[Lantern7]

John is awesome. I don't think that the situation will ever be normal, but it's good that John can remind us. As for the "Fuck 2016" segment? A little reminiscent of the Lewis Black-led slam on Texas when Ted Cruz talked shit about New York, but this was pretty epic. And with celebrities! Jeffery Tambor thinks 2016 should be fucked, and he won an Emmy! Seriously, aside from the long-suffering sports fan bases in Chicago and Cleveland, I can see why this year fucking blows, at least on a general level.

Like I said on the Anxiety Thread, I really hope John doesn't get deported before the show comes back in February.

[anna0852]

I'm pretty sure John is a naturalized citizen and can't deported. I hope....

[GHScorpiosRule]

John made me laugh and cry. And happy that the ? ? wasn't in the opening.

[The Luvly Junkie]

   Upon watching the "Fuck 2016" segment I couldn't help comparing John blowing up the 2016 sign into a slow-motion framed explosion to the work of the Slow-Mo Guys, who happen to also be from Britain and one of them having a strikingly recognizable nose. As for the segment itself, it felt cathartic but grim to reflect upon what's happened this year, and to see the 2016 in flames as the final image of the show felt a bit terrifyingly post-apocalyptic, making me anxious about 2017. Will Ollie-Scone and Trevor Noah be deported because of Trump's "I don't give a fuck" rhetoric? The only thing I hope for is that next year that the late night comics will hone in on 2017 and make it a tolerable year. I believe satire isn't dead til TDS' successors throw in the towel, and I doubt any of them are far from done with comedy. 

[TVcritic]

On 11.11.2016 at 11:25 PM, fastiller said:

What's the over/under on him referencing looking up and seeing rock bottom?

Rock bottom leaks out to a parallel universe where rotten personalities rule the countries all over an environmentally f*cked-up planet.

Not funny, but that's where we are right now.

[purist]

That was a superb finale. Deeply depressing, yet with some useful advice on what to do from here, and of course the fabulous 'Fuck 2016' ending. I look forward to LWT returning to keep us all relatively sane in the post-Obama era.

[dusang]

I appreciate John's "THIS IS NOT NORMAL" Post-It, as immediately after watching this show I saw a tweet about "celebrities normalizing Trump" and a clip of Oprah (OPRAH!!) talking about having hope and calming down after seeing Trump meet Obama at the White House. I appreciate the goal of "peaceful transfer of power" and talking people down from violence but ... well ... you know ... FUCK 2016.

I'm also curious as to whether they will post the entire episode to YouTube -- usually the main segment is up by now but it doesn't appear to have been posted yet.  ETA: Oh, it has been posted but with geo-blocks!!  Boo.

Edited November 14, 2016 by dusang

[Primetimer]

And what we do now.

View the full article

[peeayebee]

This was an awesome ep, or at least as awesome as it could be considering the subject matter. 

Like John said, it's impossible to tell what promises trump will keep because he goes back and forth so much. However, he's surrounding himself with terrifying people, so we can't be too hopeful.

The other day I pledged a monthly amount to Planned Parenthood and having been subscribing to a couple of online newspapers. I want to do more to financially support important organizations, but I'm not sure how much I can give. I hope wealthy individuals give lots to such orgs.

I read a tweet-thread from someone who worked in a Congressional office. She said the best way to communicate with your rep is by telephone. You will likely only speak to a staffer, but they run the office. Emails are worthless because the offices receive so many. A letter is pretty good, but a phone call is the best.

[Calamity Jane]

My favorite meme on FB today:  A picture of people waving CONFEDERATE FLAGS telling Democrats to "get over" losing the election.  HA HA HA HA HA HA. Maybe they could try  a little "get over it" themselves?

Edited November 14, 2016 by Calamity Jane

[cpcathy]

I agree 2016 sucked ass, except the one good thing that happened to me was I got to go see Coldplay in concert for free two nights in a row and met the band backstage, and they were brilliant, so, take that, John!

Edited November 14, 2016 by cpcathy

[WhosThatGirl]

I didn't start watching LWT until after he won the emmy and it's now my favorite show. I really hope nothing happens between now and February because I really like his show and needed it with this election (it was a mix of this show, Bills hbo show, and Samantha Bee that got me through this election) and well.  

This episode was good. Kind of depressing when I think about 2016. 

[b2H]

2 hours ago, dusang said:

I appreciate John's "THIS IS NOT NORMAL" Post-It, as immediately after watching this show I saw a tweet about "celebrities normalizing Trump" and a clip of Oprah (OPRAH!!) talking about having hope and calming down after seeing Trump meet Obama at the White House. I appreciate the goal of "peaceful transfer of power" and talking people down from violence but ... well ... you know ... FUCK 2016.

I'm also curious as to whether they will post the entire episode to YouTube -- usually the main segment is up by now but it doesn't appear to have been posted yet.  ETA: Oh, it has been posted but with geo-blocks!!  Boo.

I was looking for something I could use as a FB profile picture that said 'not normal', but no luck.

And I have to say that the absolute BEST cameo in the F*** 2016 was the host of the Nightly Show, whose name escapes me.  Absolutely the best.

[ganesh]

I just can't get over the "welp, he's our president now, so we need to give him a chance" canard. Are you kidding me? Obama barely finished the oath of office and put his hand down when we got the "We're going to make him a one-term president." The absolute gall.

As important as the supreme court is, it still takes 2/3 senate approval, and it's not like nominees haven't been voted down. I'd rather Clinton be nominating them, since she actually knows something about something, though. 

[Hanahope]

30 minutes ago, b2H said:

And I have to say that the absolute BEST cameo in the F*** 2016 was the host of the Nightly Show, whose name escapes me.  Absolutely the best.

Larry Wilmore, and yes, great cameo.

[scarynikki12]

38 minutes ago, ganesh said:

As important as the supreme court is, it still takes 2/3 senate approval

I thought it was just 51 yea votes? Did it change? If so, how did I miss it?

[ganesh]

I thought it was 2/3, but I could be wrong.

[vibeology]

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I read a tweet-thread from someone who worked in a Congressional office. She said the best way to communicate with your rep is by telephone. You will likely only speak to a staffer, but they run the office. Emails are worthless because the offices receive so many. A letter is pretty good, but a phone call is the best.

Not only call, but call the District Office. Everyone has an office in their district and an office in DC and from what I've read (not American so I've gotten very aware of how this all works in the past week) a call to the district office is the most effective way to reach out.

In the past week I've donated to Planned Parenthood (using Mike Pence's name and address so he'll get a thank you note) and the Southern Poverty Law Center. I was happy to see John's list of other orgs because I knew some but not all of them. I can't donate directly to campaigns or political parties (again, not American) so it's nice to have a list of ways I can help. Because trust me, it's not normal and it will have a lasting impact on the entire world.

[iMonrey]

I think Democrats can filibuster a nominee but Republicans can use the "nuclear option" to shut down debate and force a vote. But it's still just a simple majority, not 2/3s.

This show should have satisfied anyone who needed that cathartic release they aren't getting anywhere else. It was just far enough removed from Tuesday that I could stomach it, and yet I had to turn away just about every time they showed a clip or picture of Trump. I felt the strongest point John made was about the danger of the media "normalizing" Trump, and we are seeing that already. I loved the analogy that you discover a wombat is flying your plane and you say "Well, it's not what I would have wanted but let's give the wombat a chance." That's pretty much the talking point right now everywhere you turn. And it should be noted that this is the same media who has "normalized" Trump all through the election cycle and treated the election as though it were any other and both choices for President were equally valid. So it's not a matter of "if" since it already began long ago.

Fuck 2016, indeed. 

[TheOtherLibrarian]

I am bereft at the thought of months without John Oliver and Bill Maher. I barely made it through this week. Just terribly grateful I'm not visiting in-laws over the holidays this year. Not sure I could maintain no-politics politeness.

[anna0852]

No, it's 2/3 majority for SCOTUS. I just checked. 

[iMonrey]

Really? Well, that's somewhat comforting news. I guess.

[meowmommy]

I've been in a self-imposed news blackout since Tuesday night.  But I thought LWT might help, although I waited until just now to watch, and it did.  Of course, I winced in pain every time JO mentioned P-E Drumpf, but still...   I have Samantha Bee and Bill Maher on DVR for when I'm ready to bear it.  

(Wish I could say I haven't been out of work for five months and therefore could contribute to some of those causes.   2016 has been shitty for me, too.)  Everything he said about FB and the bullshit items that come across the "News Feed" from people blithely spreading horseshit is absolutely true.

Edited November 14, 2016 by meowmommy

[trow125]

Funnily enough, before Larry Wilmore even showed up in the montage, I was thinking about how one of the shittiest things about 2016 was the loss of "The Nightly Show."

[Hanahope]

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

No, it's 2/3 majority for SCOTUS. I just checked. 

Yeah, but some 'conservative' Democrats are going to cave in.  Until the Dem party has enough pull by its liberal extremists, ala Tea Party, to threaten their seats, there will be some that will agree to vote with the Reps.

[Silly Angel]

Quote

I was looking for something I could use as a FB profile picture that said 'not normal', but no luck.

I'm using a safety pin. It's not much but it's something.

[dcalley]

2 hours ago, anna0852 said:

No, it's 2/3 majority for SCOTUS. I just checked. 

It looks like it's a simple majority to confirm, not 2/3. But before that vote can be done, consent to vote has to be unanimous. If it's not unanimous, then a cloture motion has to be filed before the vote can be taken, otherwise debate continues. Cloture motions for nominees to the Supreme Court require 60 votes to pass. This is my source, and please correct me if I'm wrong. IANAL. Item 6 is the one I had to read multiple times. http://judicialnominations.org/how-the-confirmation-process-works

Edited November 14, 2016 by dcalley

[anna0852]

Okay, I  must have conflated cloture requirements with confirmation. Thanks for the info!

[purist]

8 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I read a tweet-thread from someone who worked in a Congressional office. She said the best way to communicate with your rep is by telephone. You will likely only speak to a staffer, but they run the office. Emails are worthless because the offices receive so many. A letter is pretty good, but a phone call is the best.

Here's an excellent thing I found on Tumblr, via Twitter, called 'Call your congressperson. Here’s a script.'

[ALenore]

Here's a great piece in The Atlantic about last night's show.   http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/john-oliver-activist-comedian/507599/

The conclusion reads:

Quote

 

It was a striking moment—not just in American politics, but in American comedy. It was comedy that insisted, on moral grounds, that there are things more important than being funny. It was comedy not just “with a conscience,” but with a political goal. And, in all that, it was a fitting conclusion to a presidential campaign that had so seamlessly blended the logic of reality television with the logic of reality—and that had so deeply muddled the line between celebrity and politics. Here was John Oliver, performer and public figure, exhorting his loyal viewers to action—and making it very difficult to tell where, precisely, the “comedian” ends and the “activist” begins.

 

[fastiller]

3 hours ago, Silly Angel said:

I'm using a safety pin. It's not much but it's something.

I have been rotating various safety pin pictures as temporary profile photos.

[Irlandesa]

I haven't watched this show in weeks because the election had been stressing me out.  And I stopped seeing Donald Trump as funny.  He's not. 

I loved a lot of this show. I appreciated his call to activism.  I was sad at 2016 blowing up because, had last week turned out differently, that could have been a highly cathartic moment that it ended up not being. 

I feel like his takedown of media normalization was way too late in the cycle.  Maybe it could have mattered earlier when they were normalizing before. Or had it been a drumbeat. It made me think of a think piece that claimed DT likely would not have won if Jon Stewart were still in charge of TDS since focusing on media incompetence was his thing.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I was over JS by the time he left but critique of cable media was largely missed this election cycle when it was needed most.

Hell, it's wrong but I resent him for any joke he told about Clinton because this election was too important.  Wait until after the election. 

[zxy556575]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I feel like his takedown of media normalization was way too late in the cycle.

I adore activist John but also genuinely feel sorry for him because he tried so hard not to turn the show into the Rump Review. Next season, I'm afraid it's all the eye can see.

[OneWhoLurks]

Quote

 

The result? In the hours since Oliver urged HBO viewers to donate to ProPublica, the nonprofit has seen a surge of donations, said Richard Tofel, ProPublica's president and founding general manager.

“We are now 12 hours after the broadcast, and still running at multiple donations per minute,” Tofel said.

By comparison, ProPublica usually gets a few donations per day, Tofel said. Last year, the investigative nonprofit raked in about $500,000 in donations. This year, thanks to the election and Oliver's recommendation, they're on pace to "exceed that very significantly.”

 

Quote

 

Two of Oliver's researchers used to work for ProPublica, Tofel said. The nonprofit got a heads-up from his show in advance so they could be ready for a potential influx in donations.

Although ProPublica editors aren't treating money from the John Oliver-induced surge differently than they would other donations, they're conscious of the fact that many donors intend to support journalism about politics, Tofel said. ProPublica held a meeting to discuss coverage ideas last Wednesday, and editors are interested in "opening up new beats and assign(ing) reporters to things that are important,” he said.

"With the possible exception of New Year’s Eve, we have never seen anything like what we’ve seen in the last 13 hours,” Tofel said.

 

ProPublica is seeing a surge in donations after John Oliver’s Trump segment

[Victor the Crab]

Ollie was great in the season finale, with equal parts passion and humor. Well needed over certain other so-called comedians - Bill Maher, I'm looking at you asshole!

As for getting people mobilized and standing up to a future Drumph presidency, that's all well and good. But sadly, the left doesn't do a good job of actually mobilizing and standing up to political threats, unless it's for some stupid SJW cause, like someone saying a bad thing on Twitter, or with each other, like between mainstream liberals who supported Hillary Clinton and the ones on the far end who supported Bernie Sanders and/or Jill Stein. This is one of the big reasons why the left doesn't go out to vote in big numbers, especially during mid terms where so much can change in a big hurry (see 2010).

Who knows, maybe Drumph winning the presidency and Republicans keeping both the House and Senate will finally be the wakeup call needed for them to get up and do something, because everything is at stake. And they need to fight like never before, because having Drumph win the Presidency but not the popular vote, holding the slimmist of margins. 51-49, in the Senate, and continuing to win an unbelievably gerrymandered House, won't stop Republicans from acting and behaving as if they've got an absolute mandate from the public to do whatever the fuck they want.

I'm not ready yet to yell "FUCK 2016!" because my team Toronto FC has a very good chance of making it to, and winning, the MLS Cup. If they lose, then I'll yell "FUCK 2016!" If they lose in the Eastern Final to Montreal, I'll scream "FUCK YOU 2016 WITH A GODDAMN WHITE HOT POKER UP YOUR ASSHOLE!!!!!"

[fastiller]

22 hours ago, dusang said:

I appreciate John's "THIS IS NOT NORMAL" Post-It, as immediately after watching this show I saw a tweet about "celebrities normalizing Trump" and a clip of Oprah (OPRAH!!) talking about having hope and calming down after seeing Trump meet Obama at the White House. I appreciate the goal of "peaceful transfer of power" and talking people down from violence but ... well ... you know ... FUCK 2016.

Wonder if his Post-It note was in reference to the subway passage lined with Post-Its.  Apparently Gov. Cuomo left one.

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I haven't watched this show in weeks because the election had been stressing me out.  And I stopped seeing Donald Trump as funny.  He's not. 

I loved a lot of this show. I appreciated his call to activism.  I was sad at 2016 blowing up because, had last week turned out differently, that could have been a highly cathartic moment that it ended up not being. 

I feel like his takedown of media normalization was way too late in the cycle.  Maybe it could have mattered earlier when they were normalizing before. Or had it been a drumbeat. It made me think of a think piece that claimed DT likely would not have won if Jon Stewart were still in charge of TDS since focusing on media incompetence was his thing.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I was over JS by the time he left but critique of cable media was largely missed this election cycle when it was needed most.

Hell, it's wrong but I resent him for any joke he told about Clinton because this election was too important.  Wait until after the election. 

@Irlandesa I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "media normalization".  However (& caveat: I didn't watch the 60 Minutes interview, but did hear reports of it) I feel as if there's been a normalization of allowing DJT to slide on certain things and to not be held to a high standard of truth or logic or intelligence.  Apparently DJT feels that marriage equality is settled law but medical privacy isn't.    I thought SCOTUS pretty much settled them both, under Obergefell and Roe respectively.  The thing that really bothers is that -- from what I've heard -- Leslie Stahl never called him out on the contradiction there. 

Also, I can get behind the Fuck You 2016 sentiment too.

[Gulftastic]

7 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

 

I'm not ready yet to yell "FUCK 2016!" because my team Toronto FC has a very good chance of making it to, and winning, the MLS Cup. If they lose, then I'll yell "FUCK 2016!" If they lose in the Eastern Final to Montreal, I'll scream "FUCK YOU 2016 WITH A GODDAMN WHITE HOT POKER UP YOUR ASSHOLE!!!!!"

Quite the reverse for me. In 2015, my team, the Leeds Rhinos, won all three trophies on offer for the first time in our history. In 2016, we nearly finished bottom of the entire league. It's been one long fuck off from me for 2016. And I'm still not over Prince being dead.

[KerleyQ]

20 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I haven't watched this show in weeks because the election had been stressing me out.  And I stopped seeing Donald Trump as funny.  He's not. 

I loved a lot of this show. I appreciated his call to activism.  I was sad at 2016 blowing up because, had last week turned out differently, that could have been a highly cathartic moment that it ended up not being. 

I feel like his takedown of media normalization was way too late in the cycle.  Maybe it could have mattered earlier when they were normalizing before. Or had it been a drumbeat. It made me think of a think piece that claimed DT likely would not have won if Jon Stewart were still in charge of TDS since focusing on media incompetence was his thing.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I was over JS by the time he left but critique of cable media was largely missed this election cycle when it was needed most.

Hell, it's wrong but I resent him for any joke he told about Clinton because this election was too important.  Wait until after the election. 

I think he's been bringing it up here and there during the campaign.  He did the episode where he called out the false equivalency thing (ending in the raisin metaphor).   That was definitely a takedown of the media normalizing his candidacy (and pretending that there was no significant difference between him and Hillary).  Now, with the election in the past, he has to take down an entirely different kind of normalization - the media's current inclination to pretend that this is all fine, and we just need to give him a chance to see what he's going to do.  I saw a perfect response to that - "OK, sure, I'll give him a cha....and he just appointed a white supremacist to his staff."  

I really want one of the late night people to do a full and complete takedown on CNN.  They're the ones who really normalized the shit out of this campaign and, now, his election.  From hiring his still drawing a salary campaign director as a "political consultant," to their coyly referring to Bannon yesterday as someone whose website had "some incendiary headlines."  Compound that with their nearly breathless coverage of his every rally, and they played a huge role in normalizing him, especially contrasted with their more skeptical treatment of Hillary.  

[OneWhoLurks]

Quote

 

Google’s going to ban Google ads from being placed on websites that “misrepresent, misstate, or conceal information about the publisher, the publisher’s content, or the primary purpose” of the site, the WSJ says.

AdSense is the key tool here. Google has had sites that “misrepresent what they market” on the no-no list for AdSense for ages, along with sites that promote hate speech, violent content, or pornography. Fake news sites are now on the list as well, although Google hasn’t made clear how, exactly, it will prevent AdSense from being used on those pages.

Facebook is also going to cut off ad revenue to bogus sites. It already prohibits “misleading, illegal or deceptive sites” from using the Facebook Audience Network to advertise, and now, a spokesperson told the WSJ, it’s explicitly adding fake news to that list.

 

Google, Facebook To Fight Fake “News” Sites By Blocking Them From Ad Money

Quote

Another organization that has greatly benefited from the Trump victory is Planned Parenthood. The women's rights organization has reported an unprecedented outpouring of support, with more than 128,000 people making donations. Almost 20,000 of those were made in the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who as governor of Indiana pushed tough anti-abortion restrictions.

US Progressive Organizations Report Jump in Post-Election Donations

Edited November 16, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[stillshimpy]

I'd have gladly held a damned bonfire for 2015 and can completely understand why John ushered 2016 out in a rather impressive fashion.  The end with the sound of the flames was vaguely eerie to me and overall, the finale was stuck with such a (fittingly) dour tone that it wasn't particularly cathartic for me.  I did really, truly appreciate the list of organizations and suggestions on what to do.  

I don't plan on getting over it any time soon.