John Oliver vs Miss America

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Miss America is primi facia disgusting yet apparently due to amazing PR so many ‘good Americans’ treat that opinion as a personal attack akin to a Jewish person skipping their Christmas festivities despite the bloody historical persecution and genocide under the banner of Christendom.

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Much like their reaction to criticism of the NFL or ESPN. I have to say, the whole culture of aristocratic slavery of women in Europe to the goal of heir-making isn’t much different and indeed has common roots to American pageants. Eurofolk also have strange attitudes to sport-the-ball. Central/Eastern euros even have the ridiculous attitudes about religion.

I don’t mean to say that “All ya’ll do the same shit, so git back on yer side of the moat,” but it does seem like the center of perception for America revolve less around our high points and more around the suburban perverts who style themselves as rednecks, while perceptions about Europeans focus on their supposed high culture rather than their chavs.

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I guess you haven’t paid attention to the near universal criticism of the NFL lately around off-field violence issues, as well as on-field brain injuries. As far as I can see, nobody with an ounce of sense is taking those criticisms as fundamental attacks on their beloved sport. While there is some truth to the stereotype of the drunken shirtless facepainted hollering fanatic (the cameras love 'em,) overall the sports world is not nearly as brainless as disdainful nerds think.

The fact that pro sports are where they are today makes my point for me incredibly well. It didn’t get to this precipice by being honest about steroids, reasonable about traumatic brain injury, or sensitive about social issues.

As to my disdainful nerdness, I actually enjoy sports. It’s the marketing which ruins the play and the shows that present it, the marketing that created the suburban redneck pervert as an American acme, and generally it is ESPN-like marketing which ruins anything good. Corporate and suburban perverts ruin the world as one.

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This man is an international treasure.

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Think of it as our way of trying to make up for Piers Morgan.

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It’s comedy. It’s pretty well observed. It’s also a giant, well-timed distraction from the fact that we’re going to war in the Middle East again.

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So, given that the people competing in Miss America are adult women, what does this say about child beauty pageants?

By that logic anything that doesn’t address the war in the Middle East is a distraction from the war in the Middle East.

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Also, apologies for making you think about Piers Morgan again.

More generally, these pageants seem to be an artefact of when they were created. I don’t think anyone would get support for starting them if they didn’t already exist, but since they are already there, part of the cultural landscape, they carry on.

Wait, wait… I thought going to war in the middle east again was a well-timed distraction from rising inequality?

Or was it global warming?!

Surely it couldn’t be possible that all these things suck at the same time, and each merits attention and discussion.

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Only an American could equate war with comedy. Good luck with that world view.

A war is a politicos’ and banksters’ practical joke during which people of lower classes die of all the fun.

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What? Are you saying the other problems that jjsaul mentions (rising inequality and global warming) are comedies?

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Well, arguably, in a ‘we all fall in a manhole and die’ way.

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I would like this, but I cut the finger that I always use to “like.”

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It’s ok. He’s already been covering that issue - even in the same episode as this segment. :wink:

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