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Watch John Oliver Deliver a Flawless Takedown of the Turmoil in Ferguson

2 minute read
By Eric Dodds

In what’s become a weekly occurrence, John Oliver provided a look at a the week’s top story with ample — and appropriate — measures of outrage and humor. The target of last night’s Last Week Tonight episode was the ongoing situation in Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

A few of Oliver’s best barbs:

  • “If the police wanted to distract everyone with a video that had absolutely nothing to do with Michael Brown’s shooting, they should have just released Ghostbusters instead. It’s exactly as relevant to everything that happened afterwards.”
  • “Here’s the thing the [Ferguson] mayor doesn’t understand: As a general rule, no one should ever be allowed to say, ‘There’s no history of racial tension here,’ because that sentence has never been true anywhere on earth.”
  • “If you are white in Ferguson, you’d need to be snorting cocaine directly off your dashboard to get stopped by the police.”
  • “If you are getting high in your dorm room right now, you are not paranoid. There is a SWAT team outside and they are coming to get you.”

    • Make sure you watch all the way to the end, when Oliver delivers an ultimatum of his own to match the one issued by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on Saturday.

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