Comedian John Oliver has become one one of the most trenchant social observers on TV, although he frequently reverts ro silliness to maintain his brand. This week he is entirely serious addressing the hot topic of the day: policing. He is the first one to explain the concept of "defund the police" to my satisfaction. His show, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" is on HBO Sunday nights, but Oliver's long-form monologue is available shortly after on YouTube. I first became aware of Oliver through his work on the Daily Show. He's a Brit, but is now a U.S. citizen and seems to truly love this country. It's good stuff.
Re: John Oliver on policing
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:21 pm
by pj bennett
Dan, this doesn't really apply to your post, but I've been haunted by the following statement ever since reading it. I feel the need to post it somewhere, so here it is.
"It's a strange sensation to enjoy life in free Europe while reading the news of occupied America."
This was said by a French sketch artist, whom I follow on Instagram.
Re: John Oliver on policing
Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:10 pm
by Dan Alaimo
pj bennett wrote:Dan, this doesn't really apply to your post, but I've been haunted by the following statement ever since reading it. I feel the need to post it somewhere, so here it is.
"It's a strange sensation to enjoy life in free Europe while reading the news of occupied America."
This was said by a French sketch artist, whom I follow on Instagram.
That's OK. Here's another tangential thought back at you. We've learned to despise the memory of a WWII dictator who gassed his own people. Now we have an American president who has done the same. I hope Trump is identified forever with Lafayette Park, a gross assault on the U.S. Constitution and humanity.
I wish they would use a different term than “defunding.” It sounds like they are abandoning the police force when they are really redirecting responsibility and money towards things that the police currently handle and really shouldn’t be bothered with - homelessness, mental health crises, evictions, drug addiction. These are social issues, not criminal. The police should be focused on criminal acts.
“Defunding” is a word that plays into the right wing narrative that DEMS and “lefties” are soft and crime and don’t support law and order and that us simply not true. Why give them ammunition by using this word, especially when it’s not really accurate?
Re: John Oliver on policing
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:11 pm
by Dan Alaimo
Bridget Conant wrote:I wish they would use a different term than “defunding.” It sounds like they are abandoning the police force when they are really redirecting responsibility and money towards things that the police currently handle and really shouldn’t be bothered with - homelessness, mental health crises, evictions, drug addiction. These are social issues, not criminal. The police should be focused on criminal acts.
“Defunding” is a word that plays into the right wing narrative that DEMS and “lefties” are soft and crime and don’t support law and order and that us simply not true. Why give them ammunition by using this word, especially when it’s not really accurate?
Unfortunately, defunding means different things - everything from taking social work responsibilities away from the police to disbanding and reorganizing to disbanding and not reorganizing. It simply meams removing funds from a bloated budget. This seems very Repiublican to me - less government.
Can you imagine Mitt supporting defunding while Joe opposes it? I can, amd never mind the orange man. I think he's toast.