S05.E02: 2018 Italian election

[Athena]

Quote

Other segments: Judge dismissing lawsuit by Murray Energy against Last Week Tonight, Trump's proposal to arm teachers, Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump, Jr. in India

 

[Annber03]

That ending was the best :D. Sounds like a valid sales pitch to me!

What a nightmare scenario for Italy, though, honestly. How much fucking political stuff do Trump and Putin have their damn fingers in, good lord?

Loved the 'Forest Gump' line, though. And THIS: "'Trump has arrived' is undoubtedly what Trump Jr. says when he orgasms." OMG. I both love and hate Oliver for that line, 'cause on the one hand, that line cracked me up, but on the other hand, now I need brain bleach. 

Also, if I have to listen to one more person seriously suggest arming teachers, I'm ramming my head through a wall. Stop. It. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Annber03

[Victor the Crab]

Oh dear fuck Italy. Please tell us you're seriously not going to return that assclown Silvio Berlusconi to power. And with a worse supporting cast. That guy is the living embodiment of herpes. Still, I was kind of half expecting Ollie to bring out Andy Zaltzman to talk about this further, seeing as the two of them enjoyed mocking his sorry ass when they were doing the Bugle podcast.

[Lantern7]

I'd say that Italy has some fucked-up politics . . . but I don't think us Americans have room to talk. Canadians? Well, their prime minister was going whole hog in India, but I think that's the nation's greatest PR blunder. Oh, and two of the candidates were on game shows. I don't think that would be bad in the US; Obama could've popped up on Jeopardy! in the Nineties for all we know. And that one guy's fuck-up led to the awesome bit with John getting ridiculed for "Fasta Frimavera." STUPIDO!

How alternative would a band have to be with getting away with "Unfuckable Lard Ass" as their name?

"He is truly the Forrest Gump of human misery." Thanks, John! Also: Rachael Ray's unfeeling fingers, and a volcano! And the giant squirrel returns! Biggest downside is that the should went past thirty minutes. I watch live, but I can see people with DVRs getting pissed even with the repeats.

[biakbiak]

17 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Obama could've popped up on Jeopardy! in the Nineties for all we know

We would know! He was on an episode of Check Please, Chicago a local PBS show (different markets have their own versions) where people suggest their favorite restaurant and than go eat at it and the two other guests recs and review them. 

[Sharpie66]

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

And THIS: "'Trump has arrived' is undoubtedly what Trump Jr. says when he orgasms." OMG. I both love and hate Oliver for that line, 'cause on the one hand, that line cracked me up, but on the other hand, now I need brain bleach.

My brain went there before John said it, and I immediately cringed.

[attica]

We all know that the 'poorest of the poor' who were smiling around DTJ were laughing at him, right? I may have nothing, but at least I don't have Cheetos Dollhands for a dad!

[ganesh]

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'd say that Italy has some fucked-up politics . . . but I don't think us Americans have room to talk. Canadians? Well, their prime minister was going whole hog in India, but I think that's the nation's greatest PR blunder.

A backup dancer from a cheap bollywood movie could do a better job than what we've got now. 

What's wrong with Rachel Ray's fingers? That was odd.

It's kind of sad that Trump jr is peddling a massive conflict of interest and it's basically a nonstory. 

I watched a piece on the real news yesterday about the Italian election. It was interesting to see a different take on it here. The 31 y/o guy they were showing actually grew up doing tons of jobs like working at a soccer stadium, so he's kind of using that to his advantage in the campaign.

[iMonrey]

I know a lot of people won't agree with me on this but the problem I often have with this show is that the main story focuses on something I'm not particularly interested in. I would much rather if they'd done the main story about the Florida shooting, or the NRA, or the student protests. More about that, less about the Italian election or Don Trump Jr. in India. I mean, I get it - they want to do something different, and there's an obvious parallel and a larger story about immigration or whatever. The problem is, we've got so much going on right here at home I just can't bring myself to care that much about the Italian elections. 

[sugarbaker design]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Biggest downside is that the should went past thirty minutes. I watch live, but I can see people with DVRs getting pissed even with the repeats.

I learned a long time ago to add 10 minutes to my DVRing.

[ganesh]

I would have liked more on how Trump is making money off the office of the president, but I think they did that already. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by ganesh

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

 And that one guy's fuck-up led to the awesome bit with John getting ridiculed for "Fasta Frimavera." STUPIDO!

Was this at the end? My DVR cut off right as John handed the lamb back to the stagehand. Usually my satellite provider has an accurate on-screen guide so the extra time is added on, but not this time. So, what did I miss?

 

4 hours ago, ganesh said:

What's wrong with Rachel Ray's fingers? That was odd.

Did she say that she had put her finger on a hot frying pan when she was little? 

Loved the teacher explaining what the gun problem is about, and then John saying this is how she explains things to the dumbest student, in this case, Trump. "One two three all eyes on me."

I noticed that the pic of the teddy bear for Fuck Off Day had an 'fu' tag on it, like the 'ty' tags of beanie babies. :D

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Was this at the end? My DVR cut off right as John handed the lamb back to the stagehand. Usually my satellite provider has an accurate on-screen guide so the extra time is added on, but not this time. So, what did I miss?

He ended basically going, “Berlusconi has a volcano? Guess what?!?” And then a huge volcano got brought out. The whole episode is up on YouTube if you want to see what you missed.

ETA: Well, I think the episode was up last night. The "segment" on Italy is up, though; the lamb comes in around 19:00. That means you missed the "John was on an Italian game show, fucked up, and everybody ridiculed him" bit.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Lantern7

[trow125]

I for one loved the Italian election segment. To be honest, it's a bit of a relief knowing other countries are as screwed-up as ours. And the game show footage and volcano were wildly entertaining.

So this is apparently the deal with Rachael Ray (from an article I found online called "10 Things You Didn't Know about Rachael Ray"):

Quote

Her first day at The Food Network she hacked off her finger and glued it back on
Ray says cameras kept rolling after a painful mishap and her digit hasn't really been the same since. "Now that finger is like a trick finger and at parties I can stick it in an open flame and make money on how long I can leave it there because I can't really feel anything," she revealed. "Yeah, it never fell off but it's pretty dead."

[mojoween]

6 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

I learned a long time ago to add 10 minutes to my DVRing.

Yep yep.  But for some reason the DVR never remembers so I have to manually do it every week.  Bugs me when I forget.

I though the Italy segment was going to bore the hell out of me too but John made it so funny I didn't mind.  I think the “Forrest Gump of human misery” really elevated it.

[Victor the Crab]

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I know a lot of people won't agree with me on this but the problem I often have with this show is that the main story focuses on something I'm not particularly interested in. I would much rather if they'd done the main story about the Florida shooting, or the NRA, or the student protests. More about that, less about the Italian election or Don Trump Jr. in India. I mean, I get it - they want to do something different, and there's an obvious parallel and a larger story about immigration or whatever. The problem is, we've got so much going on right here at home I just can't bring myself to care that much about the Italian elections. 

I think part of the deal here is that they go through an enormous amount of research and investigation into the main stories they cover. I think they would want to do a thorough job of presenting a story that was recent like the Florida high school shootings, and that would take time. And there is something to the Italian elections that are important, like the fact the country has the third largest economy in the EU, and that turning it over to someone like that assface Berlusconi and/or that spooky fascist, with both Drumpf and Putin in the background, is something we need to be concerned with.

[ganesh]

I'd also say with the right wingers getting into the German government and now this, that the outlook for Europe is alarming. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

If I could provide my take as someone who is Indian and who is aware of the culture? Yes, I think Trudeau went a little bit overboard, but I think his intentions were good. And the “media” in India, I have noticed in the past decade, has tried to emulate America, just as Bollywood has for years. They even came up with their own version of Cross-Fire! And the word used by the reporter: “snubbed?”????

Frankly, I’ve never seen this particular designer and there was no chyron to provide his name, but the “fashion” that is popular or rather, the fashion shows of late, are just as tacky and fugly as the runway fashion shows here. Trying too hard from what I’ve seen. So that Indian Gunn can just SHUT IT. Because gone are the days when Bollywood movies will have men dress in traditional outfits unless it’s a wedding song.

And as for that asshat DJ, JUNIOR. Big fat liar. No “poorest of the poor” ever smile despite their poverty. Maybe if you throw a lot of money at them to go away. Otherwise, they panhandle until you give them money.

But I ???????? at John’s game show hair and saying he’d run in Italy. And awwwed when they brought out the lamb.

Edited February 27, 2018 by GHScorpiosRule

[Annber03]

18 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And awwwed when they brought out the lamb.

That was so cute :D. Especially when it started "baww"-ing. 

[Lebanna]

I thought the Italian election report was great, because the US pretty much only ever gets information about itself - because the rest of the world is so boring. 

The problem is, you can't really understand what is going on in the US unless you can see the parallels and influence of the rest of the world (now perhaps more than ever). The US is sometimes kind of like a mouse in a lab - it thinks that it is in isolation because it rarely sees another mouse, but in fact there's a room of scientists outside doing weird things to it. That's true of most other countries as well. It's important to know what's going on outside our little cages.

And also Berlusconi was Trump years before Trump was Trump. And that lamb was adorable.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Lebanna

[charmed1]

I want to like this show, but I grow tired of the “He/She looks like what would happen if a ___ fucked a ____” joke. The lamb bit annoyed me because it looked like it was in distress, especially with the noise from the audience.

[romantic idiot]

On 2/27/2018 at 5:33 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

If I could provide my take as someone who is Indian and who is aware of the culture? Yes, I think Trudeau went a little bit overboard, but I think his intentions were good. And the “media” in India, I have noticed in the past decade, has tried to emulate America, just as Bollywood has for years. They even came up with their own version of Cross-Fire! And the word used by the reporter: “snubbed?”????

Frankly, I’ve never seen this particular designer and there was no chyron to provide his name, but the “fashion” that is popular or rather, the fashion shows of late, are just as tacky and fugly as the runway fashion shows here. Trying too hard from what I’ve seen. So that Indian Gunn can just SHUT IT. Because gone are the days when Bollywood movies will have men dress in traditional outfits unless it’s a wedding song.

The issue was not the Indian clothing nor the design. They were just too formal. If he were a woman it would be like he was walking around in a wedding dress all the time. 

(But I think a lot of him for making the effort).

[b2H]

On the Rachael Ray thing:  dear husband has been a chef for over thirty years.  He has nominal feeling in his finger tips, with regard to heat.  When he checks food, it is feeling the density rather than the heat.

Doesn’t help that he cut two finger tips off with a band saw six or seven years ago (before we were married).  Yeah, those two definitely don’t work.

[OneWhoLurks]

Quote

 

This past weekend, Italians took to the polls to vote for their 65th government in just over 70 years, an event significant enough to warrant its own segment on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Some went as far as to say that the elections “epitomized everything (in current affairs),” though it is unclear to me how a nation that elected Silvio Berlusconi — Mr. Bunga Bunga himself —  four times can be used as a standard for world politics. The real importance of the elections was determining the trajectory of populist movements throughout the Europe — and whether this founding father of the European Union was to join the liberal core of Germany and France, or the eurosceptic periphery of nations including Hungary and Poland.

It ended up doing neither.

Of the 28 domestic parties contesting the 630 representative seats and the 315 senatorial seats up for grabs, only three turned out to be relevant in the end, and none managed an outright majority.

 

 

Quote

 

Given that nearly 50 percent of voters voted for either the anti-establishment or the far-right party, one might wonder how this changes nothing. How can it be that I just ripped into these candidates, yet find everything to be business as usual? Although I’d like to keep a long story short and say Italian political incompetence, there are a couple of more expansive answers meriting attention.

Firstly, these elections are unlikely to lead to an actual government, as both victorious parties want to govern. Matteo Salvini has stated “we have the right and responsibility to govern” and Luigi Di Maio countered that given their vote share the responsibility is theirs. In addition, it is expected that much of the left-wing of the M5S would revolt should there be some sort of alliance with La Lega. Thus, it is likely that the much-feared Milan-Rome Axis will not end up happening. A government of purpose — a temporary government in order to pass immediately necessary policies — would also be highly unlikely as the Rosatellum was just passed months ago and it seems unlikely that taxes or immigration require such immediate attention. It was thought that PD could sell their soul and give their share of the votes to one of the two parties, but that also seems unlikely. In a post-election statement — the hurt of the loss apparently leading to the sudden growth of spine — Matteo Renzi stood his ground: “No compromise, we’ll be the opposition party”. Encouraging words from a man whose own coalition partner, Emma Bonino, expressed no confidence in him.

The more important argument is that in large part, the results of the votes were in protest to no good alternative existing in Italy. It wasn’t the electorate that changed. The nation wasn’t suddenly inundated by far-right activists who held Italian passports from foreign countries. Instead, a giant migration of disillusioned voters moved toward fringe parties to raise their concerns. PD shifted from 40 percent of the vote in 2014 to 19 percent. More than 15 percent of these voters did not turn out, while an additional 34 percent changed their vote, half which ended up voting M5S. Around 4 percent of PD voters ended up voting for a minority party that was composed of old PD rejects, Liberi e Uguali. While immigration was seen as the key issue of the elections, PD constantly refused to talk about the issue and didn’t even put it on the short form of their manifesto. M5S and La Lega weren’t necessarily good candidates, but PD was inexpressibly out of touch.

 

Votta: After the Italian elections, nothing changes whatsoever