Why Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is needed for GOP tax bill
Every year, Oliver goes on hiatus around the middle of November. With that, we end up missing out on a number of key events. There are clearly two big events over this past week that make this long hiatus all the more painful.
1. The GOP tax bill – This bill, (which was passed well after midnight on Saturday morning), was hundreds of pages long and there was no way that many Democratic Senators had a chance to read it before being forced into voting on it. Given that there is so much to unpack here, it would have been useful for Oliver and his research team to break down what was known about the bill and some of the problems that it could have for Americans. One of Oliver’s greatest skills is that of a storyteller. He has a rare ability to be able to share information in a way that feels compelling and relatable. He also makes it appealing to the mainstream rather than the select few.
Remember that there are many out there who watch Oliver’s show and it’s for the cable-news cycle. Maybe it’s problematic that a comedian is being used as a source of general news, but this is one of those occasions where you shrug and say “it is what it is”.
2. The Michael Flynn investigation – Could Flynn really end up selling out President Donald Trump, or lead to some other members of his team landing in trouble? That’s a question that is certainly worthy of some further discussion without some of the same perspective you get on some other shows. You know that this is probably the sort of subject that would have been covered at the start of a Last Week Tonight episode but by the time it rolls around in the new year, it could be old news. It’s possible that the Robert Mueller investigation will quiet through the holidays, just as it’s possible that something else big will transpire by the time we roll around to 2018.
Once the official return date of Last Week Tonight is announced, CarterMatt will have that news for you!
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