I am a John Oliver fan. His show is entertaining and consistently offers well-researched content that is undoubtedly biased, yet as close to impartial as you can find. I have seen many brilliant segments in the last 6 years from him and his crew, but this piece below is one that they knocked out of the park. Brilliant, well-delivered, carefully researched and on point.
We are all busy and there is so much news floating around that most of us don’t have either time or stomach to digest it. Yet, on important issues around us such as police brutality, we must be informed. Hence, do yourself a favor and watch this clip. It’s worth 30 minutes of your time. The last couple of minutes is both powerful and heartbreaking. You can see John almost close to tears and I am sure he isn’t the only one.
While I am against looting and destruction of properties, especially those owned by hard-working folks who haven’t done a thing wrong, I support the movement and I can see, not understand, where they are coming from. When law enforces who are supposed to protect citizens pose a threat to black people and the judicial system isn’t exactly behind the threatened, what exactly can they do? When the social contract they signed is repeatedly and mercilessly broken, what else can hold them back?
There is also one other reason why I like the mix of journalism and comedy like the clip above. While the cable news media do try to be as precise and honest in their reporting, they often use language, photos and videos to create headlines that intend to grab attention by stirring emotions. Watching a lot of cable news isn’t healthy to anyone’s mind. At least, content like John Oliver’s segments carries some humor that makes the bitter pill easier to swallow.
Minh Quang Duong 