This is exactly what "research" means to the libs.
i.e. running to a corporation for quick infotainment tidbits that either confirm existing prejudices or otherwise make excuses for imperialist tendencies.
All they need to believe anything is a screencap of the title of an article from the Washington Post.
I mean Turkmenistan is what liberals think North Korea is, and they're supported by the US.
Coincidentally, Turkmenistan also has one of the world's largest reserves of natural gas, along with massive oil reserves. make of that what you wll.
Can you elaborate or drop something to read on this? I want to be able to more effectively call out libs.
A lot of the articles I read about this were years ago, but Turkmenistan actually does all the bans people think North Korea does. Beards, video games, car radios, opera and ballet, facial hair, and long hair on men. The president doing this at the time was a big traditionalist who wanted to return to traditional Turkmen values. Sounds very familiar. He ordered the closure of all libraries outside of the capital because he believed the people were illiterate. The only ban to be lifted from his reign was that on circuses and operas.
That same president would say everyday that those who spoke out against the state would have their tongues cut or something like that. Police brutality is notoriously awful as well. Most of Turkmenistans infamous rulings were done under that specific president but the current one isn't much better. He's more about maintaining what his predecessor did while engaging in more weak attempts at looking strong. The John Oliver clip does do a good job at showcasing the amount of stunts he pulls to project his image as being superhuman.
And a John Oliver writer read a reddit comment on it as research. The circle of life.
But I don’t like post soviet Turkmenistan!
Then why did you ask for one?
If you really want to know it makes you look more powerful. Same reason churchs are built to look the way they do.
You walk into a room with a BIG table and the guy in there tells you to sit on the opposite side from him so you have almost yell to hear eachother. If you were friends this would be crazy, you'd sit next to eachother, but you aren't friends, he's your boss. He can make you do that, and you're going to comply. You'll feel small and silly trying to talk to your boss from across the room over this ridiculous table, and that's exactly what he wants. To put real physical separation and psychological separation between the two of you. For you to know your place.
TLDR::bottom-speak: (==BIG TABLE==) :top-use-words:
oh I already know all about that country. It’s where the Turkmen live.
No he isnt, especially for anything outside of America. The fact that he is a better source and analyst for domestic issues from a socdem angle makes his state department propagandistic foreign policy takes all the more dangerous cause even left leaning people trust him and put their "against msm" defenses down
His SocDem-ish analysis of some of America's domestic issues are a decent starting point. It's just that he doesn't ever really propose solutions to any of the problems beyond "vote democrat and maybe they'll help". I was kind of in the same boat, I used to watch his show pretty regularly whenever they uploaded something, but stopped when I realized that he has some horrendous ideas about the rest of the world.
Which leads me to the following thought: John Oliver is only ever as good as his writers and his researchers, and if they have an implicit trust in other american media-orgs, and rely partly on state department directions, then his episode is going to be filled with :brainworms: Keep in mind that this is an extremely charitable take/explanation for why his episodes have so many brainworms, and there is a pretty good case to be made that even if there is 0 intent to be state propaganda, he still should be treated like a state department spokesperson based on the material outcome of his actions.
Yeah, he helped radicalize me too. He's very good at pointing out problems and Lenin is good at offering solutions. A perfect pair
