Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Mobile homes, Herman Cain, Catherine Pugh
What did Trump decide to name Cain and Stephen Moore to the Fed, an institution that typically seems to be fairly unbiased in its approach to politics? Well, it’s problematic — and it’s the sort of thing that could send much of the economy into a state of upheaval. Oliver’s segment went into some surprising places, namely that when he was on The Daily Show, Oliver interviewed Cain and basically could convince him to do just about everything that he asked. It’s ludicrous, but also hilarious to look at in retrospect.
Also ridiculous? Herman Cain apparently quoting Pokemon: The Movie in a speech without apparently realizing it.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh – In this segment, Oliver went in on Pugh and how she’s apparently using her Mayoral powers in order to launch some sort of child-care empire … which includes children’s book and various clothing. She also introduced some of these clothing items while navigating a controversy over her book deal!
And now, this – We love that someone on Oliver’s staff spent a significant amount of time finding footage of a guy who was behind the scenes in a lot of episodes of Divorce Court with really excited reactions.
Mobile Homes – The main segment this week revolved around a subject that you may not know all that much about. The mobile-home industry is very much an enormous industry, but it’s also one with a lot of different problems. Take, for example, the presence of large corporations who are charging customers exorbitant fees. Or, the fact that these homes have a tendency to lose money on an extremely rapid scale. Mobile homes are just a way for people to get a roof under their head, not expecting some of the problems that are going to come around on the other side.
As it turns out, some of the executives within the mobile-home industry also come across as very greedy and desperate for power — Oliver specifically went after one executive in Frank Rolfe, who in some video material has referred to customers and residents in very negative terms. Oliver advocated for a number of changes in the laws, including a right of first refusal and an opportunity for customers to get out if the owner of a mobile-home park changes.
This was a funny segment in terms of exposing the ridiculousness of an industry, but also a somber one given how few people probably knew about any of this. The other sad thing about this is that the majority of the people who would benefit from watching this segment are probably people with little money, a.k.a. people who don’t have HBO. Hopefully, they still get a chance to see this online and understand more the dangers before making an informed decision.
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What do you think about this new edition of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: HBO.)