# John Oliver on Mike Pence (YouTube video) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834 "2018-03-19T17:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/41 "2018-03-21T13:42:51Z")
Um… yeah, kinda. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/42 "2018-03-21T22:50:45Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/43 "2018-03-21T23:00:07Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > So you’re 100% convinced, then, that his bitterness and frustration arises out of the fact more people refuse to think like him, as opposed to the fact that he’s just simply incredulous with disgust at Pence and the many other reprehensible subjects that he casts light on? > So this is just recreational outrage for him, and is doing this only because he’s “paid to play the part of another angry man”? I’m convinced that the John Oliver-types are paid to play the part of the angry man. What the heck, it’s a paying gig, and a gig is a gig. Plus, his writers can edit “the news” anyway they wish. _“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”_ -Groucho Marx Especially if you make your living as an actor, or entertainer. Like Oliver. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/44 "2018-03-21T23:05:37Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I’m convinced that the John Oliver-types are paid to play the part of the angry man. What the heck, it’s a paying gig, and a gig is a gig. Plus, his writers can edit “the news” anyway they wish. > > _“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”_ > -Groucho Marx > > Especially if you make your living as an actor, or entertainer. Like Oliver. So the anger can’t be genuine? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/45 "2018-03-22T01:57:01Z")
I don’t want to buy either book. I’ve been burned by executive branch pet books before. Millie’s account of Iran/Contra was both thin and self-serving. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/46 "2018-03-22T02:13:02Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > It also characterizes Mike Pence as “Stink Bug”. Whether Pence will be upset about this or not is kind of irrelevant since, as Vice President, he has the authority to do just about jack shit. …r His authority includes casting [nine tie breaking votes](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/28/politics/mike-pence-tie-breaking-vote-russell-vought-congress/index.html) in the Senate so far. We have Pence to thank for: [ol] [li]the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.[/li][li]a procedural vote to take up debate and subsequently disapproving a rule set by the Secretary of HHS to require subcontractors to abide by title X. (2 tie breaking votes)[/li][li]a procedural vote to take up the Republican health care plane, the American Health Care Act of 2017[/li][li]disapproving a rule set by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[/li][li]passing an amendment to the budget plan.[/li][li]invoking cloture on nomination, and confirming nomination of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as the ambassador at large for international religious freedom. (2 tie breaking votes)[/li][li]Russell Vought, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.[/li][/ol] Like him or hate him, Pence is not irrelevant. We are not in a situation where the VP merely has ceremonial duties like attending funerals (though he has done some of that too.) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/47 "2018-03-22T03:37:32Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Jeebus Christ, I can’t stand Pence either but the proceeds of the book written by his daughter will be going to “an art therapy program called Tracy’s Kids and a nonprofit, A21, that’s working to end slavery and human trafficking.” according to NPR. […] Buy either book, both are supporting worthwhile causes from what I can see. > [@TruCelt](#): > > We are not the only ones concerned: > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/w...eel-angst.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/w...eel-angst.html) > > “A21” is really Christine Caine’s “Equip and Empower Ministries.” > > [Terms and Conditions - Christine Caine](http://christinecaine.com/content/te...ditions/gk0m9s) This. While I am totally in favor of ending involuntary servitude and human trafficking, [it has been noted before now](https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/01/15/Sex-Work-Debate-Evangelical-Women/) that conservative faith organizations have a tendency to use this cause to go after sex work in general, including the legal and voluntary kind: > [@](#): > > \*\*How Evangelical Women Took Over the Sex Work Debate > > ‘Sensationalist’ campaigns trample on rights of workers.\*\* > > Evangelical speaker and activist Christine Caine wants you to know: “Slavery still exists.” > > Her organization A21, which aims to abolish “injustice in the 21st century,” says human trafficking affects 27 million people each year and is a $150-billion criminal industry. […] > > While Caine speaks about human trafficking, in fact, sex trafficking is her primary target, and with it the sex industry. In this, Caine is not alone […] > > […] evangelical women and anti-trafficking feminists come together on this point: the sale of sex threatens a woman’s very humanity. And these groups dominate public discussion of sex work […] > > Even “the most seemingly benign ‘rehabilitation’ programs for sex workers,” writes Melissa Gira Grant in _Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work_ “may be described as shelters, but the doors are locked, the phones are monitored, and guests are forbidden… This isn’t charity. This is control.” > > Critics of these anti-trafficking campaigns have argued that the numbers of trafficked people put forward are inflated, or entirely unsubstantiated. They have asked whether most coerced labour is actually made of up trafficked women and girls, as the campaigns claim. > > Sex-worker rights advocates and scholars have rejected the conflation of sex trafficking and prostitution that animates much anti-trafficking crusades, Christian and otherwise. […] > > Sex worker rights activists offer accounts of women, men and trans-people who migrate to new countries; who turn tricks on the street, acts as escorts, perform sex acts on camera, strip or whatever, to make ends meet; who fear police crackdowns and try to avoid deportation. > > Christian anti-trafficking activists, instead, paint dramatic pictures of millions of innocent, vulnerable (even desirable?) victims: women and girls under threat of the voracious appetites of a cruel and dehumanizing sex trade, and they need you to rescue them. Sex trafficking of unwilling victims is definitely a serious social problem (as is non-sex-related trafficking as well). But I definitely would not trust groups of conservative Christian fundamentalists to respect the rights and autonomy of **voluntary** sex workers while trying to combat it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/48 "2018-03-22T04:03:39Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I’m convinced that the John Oliver-types are paid to play the part of the angry man. What the heck, it’s a paying gig, and a gig is a gig. Plus, his writers can edit “the news” anyway they wish. You think Jon Stewart was doing that also? Who exactly was paying him, and why didn’t they pay Kinnear to do it before him. You think comedians can’t have opinions, and can’t think conservatives are scum? Who was paying Lenny Bruce? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/49 "2018-03-22T04:36:57Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > The geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, and dickheads? They all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/50 "2018-03-22T04:46:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Jeebus Christ, I can’t stand Pence either but the proceeds of the book written by his daughter will be going to “an art therapy program called Tracy’s Kids and a nonprofit, A21, that’s working to end slavery and human trafficking.” according to NPR. Pence has some fucked up beliefs but he is not pure evil like Dick Cheney was. Buy either book, both are supporting worthwhile causes from what I can see. I read that an unspecified “portion of the profits” would be donated to the charities, not all proceeds, so if you have heard differently, I would like a reference. I was rather appalled. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/51 "2018-03-22T06:09:04Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I’m convinced that the John Oliver-types are paid to play the part of the angry man. What the heck, it’s a paying gig, and a gig is a gig. If Faux News paid him a Horton’s Who’s worth of money to jump ship and “gig” for them instead (in a different kinda angry man way, or something), then he’d do it, then? > [@doorhinge](#): > > Plus, his writers can edit “the news” anyway they wish. With your scare quotes around “news”, you think the show’s somehow too biased to be factual? So you take issue with the writers taking liberties with excerpting different news segments to illustrate each piece? Do you think they’re sometimes excerpting out of context? (Responding to final question without a cite in either video or print form will have no merit.) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/52 "2018-03-22T17:56:59Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So the anger can’t be genuine? Do you employ writers to edit/arrange/create/spin your anger-filled screeds? The fact remains that comedians are free to edit “the news” any way they wish. And they can’t be sued for defamation, or slander. They can say whatever they wish because everyone is supposed to be aware that comedians are telling jokes. Even jokes that aren’t funny. I find it odd that so many people chose to get their news from comedians. Don’t they realize that the network newsreaders have feelings, too? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/53 "2018-03-22T18:01:57Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Do you employ writers to edit/arrange/create/spin your anger-filled screeds? > > The fact remains that comedians are free to edit “the news” any way they wish. And they can’t be sued for defamation, or slander. They can say whatever they wish because everyone is supposed to be aware that comedians are telling jokes. Even jokes that aren’t funny. > > I find it odd that so many people chose to get their news from comedians. Don’t they realize that the network newsreaders have feelings, too? And, speaking of screeds… Got something resembling a cite that anything John Oliver or his writers has said is false, other than Fox News or Infowars feeds? (Btw, it’s best not to use clear indicators like ‘lame stream media’ when you’re claiming lack of bias.) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/54 "2018-03-22T18:09:41Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > If Faux News paid him a Horton’s Who’s worth of money to jump ship and “gig” for them instead (in a different kinda angry man way, or something), then he’d do it, then? > > With your scare quotes around “news”, you think the show’s somehow too biased to be factual? So you take issue with the writers taking liberties with excerpting different news segments to illustrate each piece? Do you think they’re sometimes excerpting out of context? (Responding to final question without a cite in either video or print form will have no merit.) Wanting to work for another network is not the same as another network’s viewers actually accepting some asshole comedian as a news reporter. “Scare quotes”? Do they scare you? Are you accepting the fact that comedians take liberties with news stories in an attempt to tailor their comedy routines to the tastes, and expectation, of their audiences and bosses? Comedians tell jokes. That’s what they do. You paid money, or tuned in, to hear your favorite comedians tell jokes. Who do you find to be more credible, comedians or the news readers on the “news” shows? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/55 "2018-03-22T18:28:10Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > And they can’t be sued for defamation, or slander. Patently false. And repeating, “Comedians CAN lie about the news!” does nothing to demonstrate that John Oliver, in particular, lies on his show. Do you have any evidence for a specific lie Oliver has promoted on his show? Because I think it’s safe to assume that everyone here already knows that lying is a thing that people sometimes do. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/56 "2018-03-22T18:34:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You think Jon Stewart was doing that also? Who exactly was paying him, and why didn’t they pay Kinnear to do it before him. > > You think comedians can’t have opinions, and can’t think conservatives are scum? Who was paying Lenny Bruce? Yes, I do. Jon Stewart was disappointed in the job that the lame stream media was doing. I agree with Stewart that comedians shouldn’t be expected to do the job that the LSM isn’t doing. \*Stewart described the “information laundering” as the progressive surfacing of news—fake, or otherwise—from unverified sources into the mainstream. Because second-hand reporting is so common, he said, and is often done without serious vetting of sources, even relatively reputable news organizations will report on something that a blog or platform of unknown credibility has written. While these sites may provide attribution originally, another publication may omit the original source of the news in their reporting of the report. “That piece of information [on where the news came from] has now been laundered,” Stewart explained—and the original news, whether or not its source was credible, has now gained more credibility, especially if it was picked up by outlets known for their high standards. This process was recently highlighted and dissected by The New York Times in a case study of how a falsity in a single tweet became viral news in a day. “Much of the media is fake,” Stewart said, referring not only to purposefully fabricated fake news, but hyperbolic headlines and second-hand reporting from questionable sources. This has contributed to a media landscape that is no longer trustworthy, and given space to alternative news sources that are even less safe to trust, Stewart argued.\* > **[Fake news: Jon Stewart says the media has become an "information-laundering...](https://qz.com/850475/jon-stewart-the-american-media-has-become-an-information-laundering-scheme)** > > "Much of the media is fake." Are you under the impression that Oliver, Stewart, and the other comedians work for free? Of course they’re paid. Their comedians, not socialists. Who buys network shows? The networks. The networks pay the production companies, and the production companies pay the actors, cameramen, makeup artists, etc. Or whatever their contracts call for. Kinnear played a different roll than Stewart. Stewart proved that the angry man character boosted ratings, and the English putz became one of the Stewart clone shows. The attack of the clones proves that there is a gold mine in the angry man/bee character. If you wish to believe that everything a comedian says is “news”, or a fact, I’m certainly not going to stop you. Your choice. I consider everything a comedian says to be a joke. Some jokes are funnier than others. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/57 "2018-03-22T18:41:21Z")
**doorhinge** , everyone here knows Oliver gets a paycheck for his show. You’re the guy who showed up in this thread acting like TV being a paying gig was some sort of a conspiracy theory. And again, if you have evidence of Oliver distorting a story, present it. Saying, “Sometimes people lie!” Is not evidence that this particular person is lying. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/58 "2018-03-22T18:50:29Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > … Are you accepting the fact that comedians take liberties with news stories in an attempt to tailor their comedy routines to the tastes, and expectation, of their audiences and bosses? > > Comedians tell jokes. That’s what they do. You paid money, or tuned in, to hear your favorite comedians tell jokes. > > Who do you find to be more credible, comedians or the news readers on the “news” shows? You write like you’ve never actually seen Oliver’s show. Are you aware that the points he makes are pretty much always backed up by video clips and/or credible news reports? Very often, the humor is in the juxtaposition in the clips of what a politician said last month or last week and what he said today, or a politician’s refusal to ever answer a direct question (Mike Pence’s specialty), or bumbling incoherence in an interview or a speech. Trump is a gold mine of endless examples of all of those, which have been prominently featured on Oliver’s show. Much of the time Oliver hardly even needs to say anything – the clip speaks for itself. It’s understandable that you don’t watch it, but that doesn’t change the reality. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/59 "2018-03-22T19:32:14Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Oh, but you’ve left out the wonderfulness that is his [brother](http://www.therepublic.com/2018/02/08/greg-pence-talks-about-his-bid-for-a-congressional-seat/), who wants Mike’s old congressional seat; he’s expected to win on name recognition. He’s been standing in for his brother at Republican fundraisers for about a year now. Nah - he’s 4th in a 3-man race right now. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834/60 "2018-03-22T21:52:48Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Wanting to work for another network is not the same as another network’s viewers actually accepting some asshole comedian as a news reporter. That was in response to this question: > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > If Faux News paid him a Horton’s Who’s worth of money to jump ship and “gig” for them instead (in a different kinda angry man way, or something), then he’d do it, then? Which you didn’t answer. Try to suspend whatever the viewers might worry about, and actually address what I asked this time. And explain why you think he’s an “asshole” comedian. > [@doorhinge](#): > > “Scare quotes”? Do they scare you? You didn’t know that scare quotes usually get a reaction of bemusement, not fright? You genuinely did not know that?:dubious: > [@doorhinge](#): > > Are you accepting the fact that comedians take liberties with news stories in an attempt to tailor their comedy routines to the tastes, and expectation, of their audiences and bosses? Sure, and in John Oliver’s case, he’s doing it in a perfectly fair and balanced way. Explain how you see otherwise. > [@doorhinge](#): > > Who do you find to be more credible, comedians or the news readers on the “news” shows? Very strangely-put question. Obviously I’ll value the news readers at PBS and BBC _first and foremost_, and, I’ll also take in current events from JO, Bill Maher, and Samantha Bee, being the only comedians in that :eek:news:eek: category. What do you view as viable news sources, then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-oliver-on-mike-pence-youtube-video/810834.md?page=4)