Lukashenko: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2021
- John Oliver discusses the longtime leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and the many reasons his country’s citizens have not to like him.
Connect with Last Week Tonight online...
Subscribe to the Last Week Tonight CZcams channel for more almost news as it almost happens: / lastweektonight
Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would: lastweektonight
Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news: lastweektonight
Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once: www.hbo.com/lastweektonight - Zábava
Fun fact: Lukaschenko said the sentence "Better to be a dictator than being gay" to the foreign minister of Germany, who was at the time Guido Westerwelle, who was actually gay.
... and it was in reaction to Westerwelle describing Lukashenko as "last dictator of Europe". This at the time was opposite to Lukashenko repeatedly claiming that he's (of course) totally legitimately democratically elected and all that.
Well he's not wrong
@@oldnite3414 For real. If you don't suffer from a guilty conscience, being a dictator must be awesome.
There's homophobia and then there's Lukashenko... he's the last old-school communist. And he really demonstrates something I noticed regarding Eastern European politics vs the Western world, that the left + far-right = love. There's a difference between what we call right and left and what people in the West call right and left. Our right is more like CDU or FDP in German terms (think moderate Democrats or Republicans in the US), while the left is more... socially like the Republicans in the US, but economically left-wing.
There really is nothing equivalent to the Western progressive left or libertarians/market-fundamentalists... probably the right would be closest to progressive social views, not the left. While only the far-right promotes libertarian economic ideas. For example, in my country, Romania, absolutely no party, left or right supports gay marriage. It's not that they're all against it, the main left-wing party + far-right are against it, but no one has that as a policy objective. There was a referendum to ban gay marriage constitutionally a few years ago. I think only 20% of people went to vote... the rest either boycotted it or didn't care about the subject, so the referendum which needed 30% turnout failed. A recent European Parliament decision makes it mandatory for all EU countries to recognise gay marriage... Interviews with people on the street in the media, all said they're against gay marriage, but as one guy said: if that's the rule, then ok...
@@octavianpopescu4776 somehow it's awfully difficult to understand your point while I also feel it is valid and interesting. Could you maybe elaborate what your point is and how Lukashenko demonstrates it? What I took from your comment was that Western & Eastern politics are much different from another (though you should probably distinguish further between Western Europe and US), but I couldn't exactly grasp to which extent.
"If we don't sell all of these bears, I'm in real shit." And...they're completely sold out less than 12 hours after this episode premiered.
really???
Damn it
So if everyone woulda given 20$ directly to the organizations they woulda had double :D
I was gonna check 'em out rn but they were already sold out lol
@@boratsagdiev6486 no, he said 100% of the money was going to the organizations
I can't get over that protester's casual "Well, it feels like shit" in that accent. It's just perfect.
Q
Nothing greater then people being completely casual and blunt on national television
Yeah, I like the szhhj-sound of the word szzhjhit
Hi John Oliver, I'm one of the pilots. Happy to see you liked our stunt. Remember the love goes to the belorusian opposition for their constant resistance!!
o7
Fight!
o7
"Well, it feels like shit" - мost Belarusians absolutely agree with Kirill
Hope I don't sound insensitive but that part, his reaction, made me laugh out loud I had to rewind it a couple of times honestly. Perfectly simply put
and do not run off the path☠️💀👺👹👿😈☻
The wolf thought to himself🌳🌲🌱⚘🌷🌼🌻
‘What have you got in your apron?’💍💄📿⛑🧢🎓🎩💎
97% for sure.
Holy shit, seeing him in front of a set is surreal.
He still talks about useless garbage no matter where he goes.
Climate change makes everything else irrelevant, and ending Cannabis prohibition will stop climate change, but the only way that anyone will learn that is if a celebrity says it, which they won't, so the world is completely fucked.
@@Marijuanifornia also, and this is coming from someone that has smoked weed and is 100% pro weed, how does smoking weed possibly help climate change in any way
@@psychodelogen.9694 Smoking weed has nothing to do with it. _Growing_ millions of acres of industrial hemp worldwide to make everything including food, clothing, homes, cars, fuel for those cars, plastic, paper, and virtually everything else in modern society that isn't glass or metal, will stop climate change by reducing pollution, replacing fossil fuels and ending deforestation. All of this would have happened 75 years ago if Cannabis had remained legal after being legalized to stop the Holocaust. The US government hid the *Hemp For Victory* film from 1945 to 1989, and has ignored it for the 30 years since it became public. There was even a bill in Congress recently titled the *Hemp For Victory Act of 2019* but no one noticed because no one knows what *Hemp For Victory* is or why it's important.
I've spent over 10 years talking about this. I make videos that try to explain it, including editing music videos to try to make it more entertaining, but it just doesn't get through to anyone. At the same time, John Oliver couldn't even mention it in the LWT episode titled "Marijuana." Millions of people know more about fake Japanese mascots than how growing weed in their yards will take in CO2 from the atmosphere.
My country has a border with Belarus, so we see a lot of his interviews in our news and holy shit, they are hilarious xD He is so funny that you can't even take him seriously LOL
@@Marijuanifornia Cannabis, the plant from which THC is extracted, is not the same as hemp, which has innumerable uses as you say.
If you want to avoid the image of a raving, paranoid pot-smoking dudebro, then you'd want to make that distinction. If you were aware of the difference, but called it cannabis anyway to get a reaction, then carry on.
As Belarus has decided to side with Russia in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, I find myself coming back to this video saying “Yeah I’m not surprised.”
Thats why I'm here too
Same.
Me too
*"Russian invasion of Ukraine"...
Putin wants to make us believe there was some conflict from Ukarine, but they were just invaded for not wanting to be "his" anymore...
It's not Belarus it's Lukashenko and his generals.I wish the decent people of Belarus will take this opportunity to take to the streets again and finish him off
I think the journalist who stood "cake out" in the freezer in London found an ingenious way to make sure that viewers never forget the fact that Lukashenko tortures dissidents by forcing them to stand naked in a "stress position" in the freezing cold. 🥶 😆
I don't know what "cakes" are because I have issues, but it was funny as hell.
As a Belarusian, i can tell you that people did not "unleash their fury" and this wasnt about Covid at all. It was about abuse of power, corruption, election frauud, and killing and torturing the innocent which continues to this day. Protesters were never violent, police was. And yes, that Stephen Seagal carrot photo op was pure comedy since day one.
He looks like walrus eating a carrot.
There is a big problem which is WLADIMIR PUTIN. I see his track in my country, and even in Syria and Afghanistan.
Why is the military and police on his side?
Unleash their fury? Belarus police RAPED protestor WOMEN. What should the people do after that? Be silent?
The same scenario that happened here in Belgrade,Serbia. All media reported 2020 protests as Covid protests. Our president is known as Lukashenko of Balkans, maybe even has thighter grip on the media than Lukashenko. Bunch of young people got angry and started rioting which turned into massive protests, our president sent his controlled 'opposition' to claim the leadership of the protests, they were literally all kicked out, some of them literally got kicked in their buts because people are so fed up. So when his people failed to claim protests to themselves, he sent the police which started brutally attacking people and beating up unarmed civilians, even people who had nothing to do with the protests and just happened to be nearby. There is countless material on the matter, police beating up random people who aren't even resisting, police setting aflame their own cars so it looks like they were attacked and so on. All those videos are on youtube.
"Well, it feels like shit."
An understandable sentiment likely shared by many Belarusian denizens.
Probally everyone in the world rn
It's clearly 97% of population who thinks that way!
@@AlinaCalifornia If that were the case, he'd have fallen a long time ago. Dictators are many things, but never was one in power without the support of majority (relative or absolute) of the people. By the very nature of their power, they require popular support. It is only in a democratic system that a person can get in power with minority support - as it happens throughout Europe quite a lot, due to the various coalitions and other political shenanigans.
And while there are people who oppose him, they are not a majority in any shape or form. Not because they hold some special love for Lukashenko personally, but because they know that replacing him and his power structure will bring nothing but suffering, and decades of political vacuum and struggle, dooming a few generations in the process.
For no need - as Belarus, with all its problems, still has one of the highest living standards in Eastern Europe. So majority sees no need to fuck everything up on the off-chance of having to boast that they live in "a democracy" in 30 years.
Aaaand they can see what "importing democracy" did to many nations around the world... so they choose not to play that game. Especially not when the next door neighbor is Russia that does not take kindly to border nations joining the enemy... any more than USA would like Mexico and Canada joining China.
@@Wustenfuchs109 imagine being a lukashenko stan
@@Wustenfuchs109 Aaaaahhh, i like the smell of propaganda and BS.
Man, I wish this piece was done recently. Then, we’d have such classic moments as, “told a state journalist interviewing him that Putin wants to make him (Lukashenko) a colonel in the Russian army”, or, “went on live TV and gave out the whole invasion plan for Ukraine”.
So what you're saying is he's a complete moron who undermines his boss every time he opens his mouth?
Holy Shit! He's Putin's Rudy Giuliani!
Bozo Lukashenklown
czcams.com/video/1JNtiO7nhmo/video.html
I'm sorry, what?! Where is this video? If we forward it to the US military, they might have a use for it
@@ideitbawxproductions1880 here's an overview of Belarus's possible involvement, which includes pictures of him showing the plans: czcams.com/video/sFmugMGl4Uo/video.html
John Sweeney may not have needed to stand there naked, “cakes out” but his report had a much greater impact because he did. He is a brave and heroic man.
😂 John Sweeney is an absolute clown, who is a disgrace to journalism. He works for these BBC, which is full of lies about Belarus and Russia.
I'm no Russian troll-bot like the clown who responded above me, but you have a _really_ generous standard of what counts as 'heroic'. He stood naked in a room in controlled conditions and in a safe country, likely for no longer than it took to get the footage which, if what we saw is any indication, was no more than a few seconds. He wasn't being tortured and the only other people in the room would've been people he trusted and who respected his dignity. It wouldn't have been comfortable, but it isn't "brave" and it certainly isn't "heroic". By that standard, anyone who musters the strength to get out of the house in the morning is heroic. Let's not unnecessarily cheapen that word.
@@Zzyzzyzzs I'm no Russian troll bot either. I'm just aware of Sweeney's and the BBC's bias against Russia and Belarus. I live in a place called Hereford, which is in England. I also refuse to pay for the TV licence, as the BBC is a Whitehall propaganda machine.
But the POINT was about Lukashenko's destructive 'leadership'... not really the reporter.
Is anyone touting that Lukashenko's methods, beliefs, policies, intelligence and more are... fine? As in... is it 'propaganda' that he's (literally) a dark ages plague for both Belarus and the world?
If so, why so? Do tell.
@@Novastar.SaberCombat Where have you got your information on him to form that opinion?
JO: He's been in power for almost 30 years.
Me: Oh so like since the 80s or something.
JO: He came to power in 1994.
Me: :o
This comment hurst so much. Hahaha. So accurate!!
Yeah. Made me realize I’m almost 30yo lol
what a way to make someone feel old.
I was born closer to the end of WWI than today's date. I'm 54. What a bloody depressing thought for a Monday
@@lofnouk Hell I'm 66 how do you think I feel
“i’ve only had this show for 8 years”
oh my god we’re all old
We have been watching since the late 90's on the Daily Show.
@@paulgaither for real. We're all getting old.
Not me. I'm gonna live FOREVER!
My geography teacher in high school 7 years ago showed me the John Oliver segment on standardized tests and now this is just a weekly ritual for me
@@Shepfax the one that got me hooked was me randomly coming across one he did on student loan debt. It was really good. And I just want to reiterate, as so many have already done, John Oliver loves the USA. I think he people here love the idea and the dream of a USA. How we get there is an entirely different story. He ain't no communist.
Watching this a week into the Ukraine war, and I was immediately like "that's not Belarus, *this* is Belarus"
War has always been the best geography teacher.
Average 2nd grade geography lesson
@@MrMuel1205 For Americans indeed it Is.
Bonus points if you also said "that's Lithuania, not Belarus"
@@einhorntaschentuch9404every elementary school student should memorize the location and capital of every country on Earth
I love how Seagal isn't just there, he's dressed like a bad kung fu movie villain too
he is truly an exemplar of how the weakest and smallest men are attracted to autocrats
This reminds me.. WhereTF is Seagal these days? I haven't heard his comment on the matter of his favorite dictator getting crushed on all fronts.. War, propaganda, finance, influence....
Fking with Bugs Bunny’s reputation.
A huge thank you to everyone who participated in creating this piece, people of Belarus really appreciate your work
yes
💯👍✊
@Kitan Mani I'm sorry, what?
@@reinette_croissant It's a bot. Report it.
@@desmondmiles2880 Have been. It's all over the place.
I'm from Belarus and this video literally made me cry. Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this
Stay strong🙏🏽Free Belarus
Stay safe!!
God bless you. I hope soon you will get a democratic government, that do the will of the people of Belarus. All my support for you and your countrymen, from a random person in Norway.
When you put him down, just, please, don't choose some neoliberal hack backed by the USA, please!
Love from Belarus gay comunity 👨❤️👨🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🌈
Nearly half a year later, and this video has managed to become more relevant. Glory to Ukraine
Slava Ukraini! ✊🇺🇦
The Ukrainians are showing the world how to unite, too bad nobody will pay attn enough for it to matter. They have my ultimate respect n prayers
Slava Ukraini
@@maghenshaw8717 nah everyone is funding Ukraine's war effort, they just can't get fully involved since if they get into direct conflict world war three happens
@@cornblaster7003 no shit sherlock
To be fair, my imagination would not have done justice to how unsettling that picture of cold torture turned out to be. It painted a vivid and stark picture and will stick with you every time you hear Lukashenko's name.
Props to that BBC journalist for giving us all a visual representation. He could have just explained it - allowing us to brush past the absolute horror of that situation. Instead he put himself in that awful, humiliating position so we’d have a visual that was much harder to forget and much more visceral. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that on international TV.
Cakes out
That is worst kind of propaganda. BBC should not make a peep about anyone, especially how UK treats Julian Assange and does not allow any media even close to him. Why BBC, CNN and other MSM trash do not make similar "stress position" tests on how U.S and its NATO allies treat prisoners in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram prison and the nameless CIA torture prions in Eastern Europe (and Latin America)? Ah yes, but that is different of course. Certainly not propagandist.
@@user-dp4ok9ox5w I mean we can be mad about more than one thing. That guy got assigned to cover Belarus and so he did it with gusto. Doesn’t mean he thinks everywhere else is just peachy. You’re 100% right that we should give those issues our equal (or greater) attention before throwing stones from our glass patios - I just wanted to give props to the journo for going full send on his story.
Thanks for the insight. Honestly just chuckled at it but this comment helped me revisited my thought
@@mattramen3696 But that is exactly what most people in places like Belarus think when they see this, that you are throwing rocks in a glass house.
"Oh nice he put some decor in his home studio."
*Literally 10 seconds later*
"That's not canned applause, is it?"
Almost did a double take there.
The set is back, baby!
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 and it sounds awful
@@cev12 Imagine, an open space full of people sounding worse than a room in your house.
Wow. This is why I love watching John Oliver. This video, five months later, ended up being incredibly insightful (it was incredibly funny when I originally watched it). This video was the only reason I even knew who Alexander Lukashenko was. Given the recent events in Ukraine, thank you John Oliver - keep up the good fight
Honestly, being forced to get off a plane in a totalitarian country, even with the risk of death involved for you if you comply, sounds about average for a RyanAir flight.
Ryanair are shitbags for giving him up. I hope they can sleep at night for caving in to Nazis
@@GratifyMeNow13 When 2 MIG fighters, which you have reason to believe may be armed, appear next to your plane, you do what they tell you. There were more than 150 people on that flight. Could they sleep at night if all of them were dead?
I'm not sure there was a 'right' option and I don't wish that sort of a decision on anyone.
@@adamsmailes5484 true
@@adamsmailes5484 fucking bullshit. You think they would attack a Ryanair plane so the whole world comes for a visit? It was illegal and absolutely immoral to send the man to his death.
@@raukoring Putin’s friends have shot down an airliner full of people before and gotten away with it
The trouble with John Oliver "insulting" Lukashenko is, that these were not insults as much as honest descriptions
To paraphrase Horace Vandergelder, "All the facts about Lukashenko are insults."
...does that teddy bear have a genuine bald patch 🤔
JO is shitting on Lukashenko from US where Biden hides from nation who didn't elect him behind barbed wire, behind army and national guards backs. And JO supports that dictator. Double standarts?
The best insults tend to be brutal but honest descriptions
@@SirCap15 shut up. We elected him, sure as hell, he was in-ideal, but at least better than the other guy
I'm glad he's back in the studio, but I felt that in the void the points he made in his episodes seemed to hit home harder than with the proceeding laughter from the audience. Felt more impactful in my opinion.
You're right but less funny..
Yeah, I felt like I was the only person who preffered void over the audience. And my mom hates audience laughter so she'll definitely won't see it now.
@@ololo518 You most definitely weren't, I've seen this opinion reflected many times by many viewers (myself included). When there was no audience, I actually *laughed out loud* at John's jokes sitting at home by myself and it felt so much more personal and impactful.
I'm glad they seem to have at least balanced the audio differently, so the cheers and laughter aren't quite so loud and overbearing and we can still hear John. Small blessings - perhaps they saw how many people online were not looking forward to leaving the void.
Well, even with audience before the pandemic he could bring across hard points without problems, then the audience in the studio fell silent too, because he then just got serious and didn't joke at that moment.
Yah i feel u the silence would punctuate & emphasize when he would pause .. & everything had a more serious, deeper tone
this was just 5 months ago. we know even more about how deep his insanity goes. It's just amazing this was allowed to reach this point in these modern years.
Yeah, since this aired, Lukashenko has already bragged that Putin promised to make him a “colonel” and accidentally revealed Russian battle plans to invade Moldova. The guy is a clown.
@@dimetronome Yep, what a world.
You know what they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. So what's the answer when most "Politicians" care mostly about getting re-elected? So that money river keeps flowing? It's the same reason that no matter what's going on in the world the price of everything keeps going up.
GREED & the NEED for MORE!!
I'm now imagining a scenario where an unsuspecting mother has somehow got a hold of one of those teddy bears and given it to her child, completely oblivious to both the context about why that bear exists, and also the configuration of the fruit on the bears shirt. Over time, that bear becomes the childs favourite teddy, and he takes it everywhere with him and forms an emotional bond with it. Many years later, now an adult, that child finds his old teddy bear while rummaging around in his parents attic, he pulls it out, looks at the picture of the fruit on the shirt, and suddenly recognizes what the fuck he had been carrying around with him as a child.
Wow. His "do you see any viruses?" comment means that he is dealing with knowledge from about the 1500's. That's impressive.
The stupidity floored me
Teleprompter
@wnnalis cioov apperantly you don't have oil
500 years a head of a large portion of US Republicans.
@@myrixica4222 a head?....ahead. one word.
Goddamnit, the bears are already sold out. We demand more, John! My girlfriend works at a press agency and has focused on Belarus and the media situation there for a long time. I want to give her one as a gift. GIVE ME MORE BEARFORCE!
Here's the bearforce you asked for:
czcams.com/video/twQlpFrm5iM/video.html
Maaaan! 👻 I am Belarusian and I want more bears too! 🐻🐻🐻
I wanted one too! 🐻
That's a lot of bears.
Donate the money you would’ve spent on the bear to Planned Parenthood instead!
To be fair, somebody has to force-feed vegetables to Steven Seagal.
Fun fact: That was the first time Seagal had ever tasted a carrot. According to him, he found it "enjoyable and crunchy, like a deep-fried chicken tender." Since then, he's added carrots to his diet, but only tempura-battered and deep-fried, smothered in gravy and cheese sauce.
I assure you Mr. Oliver we ALL know where Belarus is now...
I'm from Belarus, left a couple years ago. Thank you for doing this piece, setting fundraiser and raising awareness. These are fun outtakes of grim reality. I was thinking a lot lately what is a cost of human capital when ten million people are forced to live under regime that serves one man and army of police thugs instead of the people. It must be insane.
The people need to overthrow him NOW like they did in Ukraine. GO Belarusians!
Ілля, вы маеце рацыю. Сапраўды, сёння жыць у Беларусі- страшна. І слова " страшна" не агульнае. Кожны ранак пачынаецца з думкі, а не час ужо збіраць заплечнік з ліхтаром і " чыстым" тэлефонам? Але нас падтрымлівае ўвесь свет. І гэтая акцыя з мядзведзямі выклікае ўсмешку) Не, яшчэ не час бегчы. Яшчэ пазмагаемся
It will be part of Russia soon. He forgot to say that all what happening moving Lukashenko closer to Russia and Russia's support let him do whatever he want.
yeah here we just serve bankers instead
You're right! I think all of the Belarusians grateful for speaking up about all of those tortures that happening in Belarus
15:00 It is moments like this when I remember Tywin Lannister: "Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king."
It’s that “well” in that protester’s “well, it feels like shit” that really drives it home
Norman Mailer spent months in Minsk to research Oswald life there when he wrote a book. He said that he found in Minsk the kindiest people on earth although they were also the most scared by the state and the police. Probably the same thing now
i'd avoid Belarussian airspace for a while John
If you stop avoiding it, please take some teddy bears with yourself
So good to see him back in the studio again
Hello verified youtuber
@@jdavis37378 he said the audience was vaxxed and masked meaning that everyone there probably had to show proof of vaccination and mask up just in case.
@@ruairi4901 lol sure, keep on dreaming
For sure - the show was missing that audience and environment
For now
"In no country in the world are you allowed to insult people." Lukashenko obviously hasn't been to Australia where we insult are politicians on the reg.
How is it possible that Lukashenko always looks like he's about to say "this is a nice country you have here, it'd be a shame if someone broke it" every time he's photographed?
After a year in a blank void, the joy in John’s face to have a live audience again is simply infectious (in a good way).
Guess you could call it a….positive
It’s not safe though
If there aren't enough vaccinations to feed this years' end quota (by the time the cold season, which is going to be a murder because another polar vortex is coming) he's going to go back in the void as the variants might double. Already two more are on the way apparently. Delta plus for example.
Good choice of words 😅
you mean casper' ass?
John, we did NEED to see that gentleman bare naked in that humiliating position.
That burns in people's minds, as it should.
I agree.
I respect that journalist all the more for his commitment. Imagining human rights atrocities sometimes isn't as effective as being confronted with them visually.
@@carolyntalbot947 THIS...
it's hard to appreciate TORTURE...if you've never been tortured.
When the fallout over waterboarding happened, I felt it was inappropriate to even comment on it until I knew what waterboarding felt like...
Where are the black rectangles when you need 'em, though?
@@MLennholm lmao
I miss when I couldn’t pick out Belarus on a map.
Sadly, many people can no longer be tricked by maps highlighting countries that are not Belarus.
I'm surprised Oliver only noted the Ukrainian hanging victim, Vitaly Shishov, as a "dissident". He was the head of an organization that helped Belarusians flee Lukashenko's rule. Important to note.
@@aleksazunjic9672 dude really be simping for a dictator 💀💀
@@Jofkos Dictator = someone whom West does not like :P
@@aleksazunjic9672 You’re a fool who gives it up backdoor style to a dictator. You poor wannabe man.
@@isabellaangeline2175 Dictator = someone who does not bow down to the West :P
@@aleksazunjic9672 Aleksa = A dictator’s boy toy.
So back in the early 2000s when I was in middle school, my social studies class participated in an international pen pal project, and I was assigned a girl from Belarus. Now that I've learned more about their situation, it breaks my heart to think this monster was in power even back then. Olga, wherever you are, I'm praying for you and I hope you're okay.
idc if he's a dictator and kills opposition his son mad cute, idgaf
@@TheManinBlack9054 Yeah, well, he'll probably grow up to be fat and bald with a combover just like Dad's.
@@TheManinBlack9054 you have bad taste 🤮🤮🤮
@@TheManinBlack9054 Satan is commonly described as being extremely handsome.
What the fuck is happening here?
It's a wonder Putin didn't chastise him for saying he's the ' only European dictatorship ^😆
Because Putin wants to at least appear like he's trying to pretend he looks like he's not a dictator
Lukashenka admits it. Putin doesn't admit these things, he always lies about everything.
I think JO overlooked what was happening when the journo took his clothes off to stand in the freezer. It's a mad thing to do, sure, and I don't care for seeing a journos bare posterior, but it's also an incredible display of empathy. In the face of entrenched and grossly inflated narcissism, sometimes you have to hold a mirror up to the monster.
Few years ago I went to Minsk and me with friends were laughing about Luka's "office" palace in public transport. Then our guide came to warn us about laughing and saying Luka's name loudly. The fear undertone in her voice hit hard about living in Belarus.
That's terrifying!
this is what I had to live for 21 years prior to escaping to America
all great mind escaping this shit hole, the living there is like in Borat movies.
It feels strange to "like" such a terrifying yet banal description of authoritarianism. I'm glad you and your friends made it through unscathed. And I hope your guide did as well.
@@seanpboyd1968 Thank you for concern, but we were fine without serious problems, if you ignore the man following whole group through the tour of the city center and regular questions from police officers. I'm glad that most of my friends from Belarus have relocated outside the country. :)
Fun fact, he is still in the void we just imagine the studio
And the laughter is just the madness of John Oliver and the audience from social isolation
I miss the void. The last year and a half of no audience has been way more entertaining
Always great when he does foreign topics. New developments now in Afghanistan, found a great video on what Taliban 2.0 rule will be like and which geopolitical players will step into the vacuum left by the US: czcams.com/video/fzZElXS8XRM/video.html&ab_channel=MyTake
I am going so insane, I believe that
We are all insane
When Lukaschenko talks, it feels like I'm getting hit with that good old-fashioned Russian grandpa gaslighting. The mannerisms and the rhetoric make me feel like I'll get the shaking finger with a "старших надо уважать" quip at any moment
“We should be dropping parachuting teddy bears from the sky here all the time” NOPE, I’ve read enough comic books to know that those teddy bears are definitely going to explode. That is a supervillain plot just waiting to happen.
Wow!!! As a long-time Russian fan of this show I am extremely happy that John and the team have finally done the episode about Lukashenko. He is the absolute worst that could happen to the people of Belarus. I hope the situation there changes for the better as soon as possible. Жыве Беларусь!
One third of the Belarusians were exterminated by the Nazis, and now more than 70 years later, they are still oppressed by the dictator...…
Perhaps he should've focused more that he's a self-proclaimed communist with political ties to USSR and the Belarusian communist army. No wait, that'd cancel half his audience!
I honestly find Eastern Europe fascinating.
It's history, culture, all of it....
On one level it is a deeply beautiful region full of wonderful people and culture. It really is.
On another level, it utterly decimates the notion of white superiority. It proves that all the crap people throw at the feet of non-white people....is 100% possible in 100% white communities.
We really should stop this white vs. non-white stupid fight and recognize the common enemy that will destroy us both if only given the opportunity. Predatory authoritarian faith-based cults of power wealth fame and greed.
Lukashenko is nothing more than a white African war-lord turned dictator. And the people in both places....suffer.
While the leaders enjoin the populace to fight against themselves.
This was an unexpected, but excellent, segment. So glad John & Co. tackled this one....
You are a western spy!
Just kidding
Жыве! 🤍❤️🤍
I really ask myself if John has a map in his office, where the countries he should no longer visit are marked ;)
By now the list of countries he can visit takes a little less effort to create xD
He does... it's called a world map
He‘s an American, now - He does not travel anymore
To be fair, the countries he needs to stay out of are generally the ones *no one* should visit, so...
"Big tit-its" 🤣 effing bots
I’m just here to brush up on recent Belarusian political history, given the circumstances regarding Ukraine right now
Didn't Some Of The Invading Troops Enter 🇺🇦 From Belarus?
@@collinkeyser6827
A large number did and they went straight to Kyiv, invalidating most of reasoning for this invasion. Also, as the Russians meet stiff resistance it becomes clear that taking Kyiv is the single most important offensive and they would be even worse off if it weren't for that surprise push from Belarus through the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
As I type this the _Belarusian_ army is massing for a drive on Kyiv and also a push to Lviv near the polish border, likely to block refugees from leaving and preventing weapon delivery to Ukraine.
TLDR; *Lukashenko is just as responsible for this as Putin!*
Well this hits different now
Thank you, John. Belarus is beautiful country with nice people who deserve a freedom and democracy. Gyve Belarus!
Well let's be real, "freedom"/"democracy" with American characteristics is more like it.
That is afterall why this segment exists, whether the writers are conscious of this or not, hell Radio Free Europe was created by Allen Dulles himself, very explicitly a CIA-cutout and cited a few times in this (the bear thing specifically). Which is to say regardless of the veracity of the claims (because like yeah, they are true-ish, Lukashenko doesn't _not_ suck), the actual intention is to manufacture consent for "regime change" ultimately to sell off the state assets to private investors like what happened with the Soviet Union under Yeltsin. Insatiable neoliberal capitalist US empire imposed at the behest of _supranational_ financial/corporate capital knows no bounds, consciously destroying ourselves and the earth for perpetual profit extraction at the cost of literally everything else.
_"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."_ - William Casey, CIA -demon- director under Reagan (see: Operation Mockingbird), also see literally any of the CIA's operational history, as the throughline couldn't be more obvious (Iran '53, Guatemala '54, overthrowing democratically elected Allende in '73 - hey whatdya know, on 9/11 no less, Lumumba in the Congo, Sukarno in Indonesia, etc. etc. far too many to list sadly, Phoenix Program in Vietnam also uh..."cool")
@@Bisquick Maybe ask Belarusians whether they would prefer to live under the tyranny of this fucker or in some form of actual democracy ran by merciless capitalists.
When You get Oil, You will get Freedom!!!
By U.S.A
Freedom is necessary
But not freedom like of Iraq and Libya
European freedom would be fine 🙂
Remember what happened in Afghanistan
OMG, this is the most hilarious way of saying how bad the situation is in my home country! Thank you for that!
I'll show this video to all my English speaking friends and subscribers.
How is the internet situation there?
@@Pengu69420 tons of independent websites are blocked. Hundreds of Telegram channels are recognized as extremist by corrupt judges and government. Internet was off for 3 days starting from the night of elections on 9th of August 2020.
Best of luck. I'm sorry you have had to live with this.
@@Puzzleguy Holy fuuuck dude, would a vpn help? Not for the down internet but for the sites. This "president" is a giant piece of shit, I hope you guys manage to take him down and other countries decide do really help instead of small sanctions
@@Pengu69420 Iirc VPNs are illegal in Belarus.
The perfect sequel to this is the video where Lukashenko explains how Putin promised him he‘d make him Colonel.
"well, it feels like shit"
That dude's incredible ability to deliver an accurate assessment without either exaggeration or understatement is a talent in and of itself.
I speculate that after at least the government of Belarus backed Putin's psycho invasion, he's sitting around feeling like, well, this feels like shit.
Bad administration has a real tendency to drag normal people into problems that they have no responsibility to solve, yet have to do so anyway - and it isn't uncommon for the payment to be their own blood.
There's something sour growing in the world. Trump, Bolsonaro, Xi Jinping, Modi, Putin, Lukashenko... and many others... Authoritarianism is a cancer that kills human rights and smothers human dignity. I try to stay objective, but I do indeed feel a rage... I have for years. How can people be so foolish? How can people not learn lessons from the past? (maybe US specific) Why are people such cowards where they're willing to give up core values for make believe "security"? Backing "strongmen" doesn't make you strong. It shows how weak and insecure you are.
I don't really know where I'm going with this, I guess I started typing without a concise thesis. In any case, people deserve better and if you're in any position where you end up with decision making power for who the next leaders should be, you should *know* better. If you pretend you don't, please let there be a Hell so I can tell you to go there.
More people (3 billion more since 1987 alone), living longer (100 years ago one was lucky to live to 50 even in US and Europe - in Africa it was around 27), reading (literacy went from around 60% in 1950s to 86% in 2019), radio, TV, internet... creating a more connected world...
All that leading to people actually getting clued in that the system the world is running on, where having MORE wealth and power means not only that those having the most live better, longer and more comfortable lives BUT that it all comes AT THE EXPENSE OF EVERYONE ELSE - that such order of things is kinda... BAD.
Add to that the winding down of the sins of the past...
Still present remnants of two world wars and a "cold" one which still resulted in genocides and oppression on both sides of it, for decades creating regimes still alive and kicking today.
Slow crumbling of remnants of old empires and colonialism still enshrined in political geography and arbitrarily drawn maps and borders of countries ALL based on how much, once upon a time, some strongman was able to steal for himself.
Ethnic, racial, national, religious and other imaginary divisions becoming both glaringly, obviously, BAD for humanity - AND at the same time promoted and enshrined as defining traits of an individual by those in power or hungry for it.
That thing that you think that it smells sour? That ain't "sour". The word you're looking for is RIPE.
I know, right? Can you imagine living in a nation that just invades people, even against the will of the nation's citizens and the international community?
Anywho, I hear he's painting now, so I guess he's been forgiven.
@@erisdiscordia5429 Drop the sarcastic roundabout whataboutism. Yes, Bush is a tragic mistake that had horrible consequences for the world. It's also completely irrelevant.
Whataboutism is a logical fallacy. All people should commit to never using it under any circumstance. It doesn't in any way invalidate an opponent's argument - it just *seems* that way... if you are a fool that doesn't know any better.
Also, for the record, whataboutism, as you're trying to call it, is perfectly valid when done right. Pointing out that a war criminal is a fucking war criminal is always good for societies harboring those war criminals.
You don't just get to hide behind whataboutism like "omg, I said a name, and now no one else is allowed to ever add another name to this conversation, or else it's whatbaoutism!"
Let me know if you need any other lessons on how the world works.
@@erisdiscordia5429 you're as wrong as they come. Whataboutism, by definition, is a logical fallacy. It is never valid. Never. Saying someone is a war criminal isn't whataboutism. Rebutting a certain war crime with some sort of counter-example of someone on the other side is also a war criminal in no way makes the first war crime a lesser offense.
Let's go over this again. Whataboutism is a logical fallacy. It is invalid in any logical argument. One more time, repeat after me...
Whataboutism is not a valid argument. No ifs, ands, or buts.
So, no. It seems it is you that doesn't understand how logic, and by extension, the world, works.
That reporter putting his bare bottom out did exactly what he wanted. I wouldn't have known about that if he hadn't then John Oliver reported on it. So good job naked reporter man.
Totally
Democrats/ western liberal politicians think sanctions gonna work on Lukashenko HAHAHAHA
I agree with your assessment
As a Belarusian I've been waiting for this segment a while now
You don't understand who will run your country if this guy leaves.
@@tysonreuter5788 there is no if, there’s only when. Is it that hard to grasp?
@@pavelm9469 100% agreed ✌
@@tysonreuter5788 A very good portion of Belarusians are bright, well educated, have travelled and are building awesome businesses, especially in tech. Just look at how "polite" so many of the demonstrations have been, and how well they've self-organised to provide evidence of election fraud. If there is a country whose people will be very able to run itself its Belarus
@@86damn86 Problem is they would need to overthrow the guy via military conflict and if an anti-Putin puppet military get going in a country that borders Russia they'll have to deal with the Russian military.
There's no way Lukashenko isn't just Kevin O'Leary with a fake moustache.. 😂
Right lol haha
As a designer, photographer, programmer, I have to say that your graphics department is f*cking awesome considering the short timelines and amount of research required. I surely hope they are getting paid more than me.
Totally surreal to see him not inside the white void and in the studio with an audience.
Always great when he does foreign topics. New developments now in Afghanistan, found a great video on what Taliban 2.0 rule will be like and which geopolitical players will step into the vacuum left by the US: czcams.com/video/fzZElXS8XRM/video.html&ab_channel=MyTake
Is he? It sounds like a laugh track.
did you watch the show before 2020
forget to say, “Good morning” 👊✊👎👍👌✋🖐
will get nothing; and when you👧👦🧒👶🙊🙉🙈
The key reason that Lukashenko is still in power is that he has Putin behind his back. It is worth mentioning this fact, John.
And 90% of BELARUS POPULATION!
@@user-by9hr3cy8k 146%
kinda wish they'd have shown videos of police brutality against protesters, I think that would have been much more impactful and evidentiary of how bad the whole situation is in Belarus.
True!
We know how that feels here in the USA.
Thanks to this video I knew more about Belarus than ever during this whole Russia/Ukraine disaster
This guy is just wonderful. Some-Times I think it's only when I watch his show do I get to have a laugh.
GOD, how i have MISSED john’s quirky mannerisms like waving his arms. He never did it in the Void 😭
I know me to. It makes sense though, if I was just talking to a camera I’d find it hard to really get in to what I am saying.
John was secretly made by Jim Henson Studios.
He is a real-life muppet.
He learned it from Jon Stewart. Watch the rest of Stewart's prodeges like Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and others; they all do rants in the middle of their presentations. It does get tiring after a while, though..... These people's presentations are often about very serious things, and it just comes across as very odd that the most respected journalists today, are comedians, while 'real' journalists keep screwing up their credibility (I'm talking about YOU, Brian Williams; once caught in a lie, no one can ever trust that you're giving news instead of made up stories ever again).
@@d.e.b.b5788 A good laugh keeps people watching. And when it comes to awareness of global issues like this? The ends definitely justify the means. I would definitely bet that people will pay more attention now to Belarus and Lukashenko, when they might not have heard of him before.
I'm Belarussian. Thank you for showing people the truth! Thank you for your support!
Lmao..that picture of Steven Segal at 7:03 really accentuates his Bugs Bunny like features.
I have never felt such a strong connection to someone compared to listening to John’s desperate plea for the world to be more delightful
Yes. I wish we could parachute teddy bears to the Ukrainian children.
He is nobody without Putin's money.
🎯💯👍
That's so true and sad. Because basically Belarus is in Russians' pocket.
He is just Papakoli )
Not to mention the foreign assassinations and control over the media as well as the elections are eerily similar to Russia as well, especially that Ukraine rebel leader who was shot close to Angela Merkel's office by a former murderer inmate of a Siberian prison who "somehow" got a legit passport only to carry out that assassination soon thereafter. Only reason that assassin was caught was because a couple of teenagers saw him ride on his bike into the bushes and come out looking very different, and notified the cops who quickly acted on it.
@@zirklutesKerpa in Putin's pocket, not ruasians'. Russian people won't benefit if he annexes belarus (and i suppose he may, lukashenko doesnt mind, it's pretty much the only way lukashenko can save his ass). Saying that belarus is in russians' pockets is like saying that Belarus is in Belarusian pockets' now. Don't confuse the dictator with the people
let's be honest... John was so appalled by witnessing that naked man that he decided to have us all suffer with him by showing it here. That's the most real friendship 😂
Lol
I wasn't appalled. I think that reaction was inappropriate. Sorry but a naked man doesn't offend me. What offends me is that this was done to the Belarusian people.
That real people suffered like this to a dictator. On their soil. The land they grew up in. That they lost their dignity, despite committing no crime.
I think turning men's bodies into a punchline, simply doesn't track. But yes, let's be honest.
---- If you are appalled simply by witnessing such an event, I invite you to seriously, truly, consider your response to being forced to experience it.
"cakes out".... stop.... bravissimo! Oliver is so good.
For anyone wondering, the other country in the intro was Lithuania
I support that BBC journalist that stripped though. I mean, it might seem over the top, but you're not gonna get that image out if your heads, and he put himself in the actual stress position that real people were put in for long periods of time.
yeah, that puch line landed very flat to me. even without considering what the topic was about.
I definitely didn’t screenshot that butt for later.
Came to say the same, that's the level of dedication that I would've had as a journalist
@@yeanah2571 yes absolutely
You're right, I haven't thought about it
I genuinely think that the image of a nude person in the cold is a relevant depiction of such extreme detention.
me too, I mean it's easy to make a silly joke, but it does prove just how humiliating and painful it torture can be.
some form of torture are just too graphic to show on TV and makes it really hard for people to even imagine what people could possibly suffer at the hands of corrupt politicians, and thus might not actually portray just how awfull the situations can be.
I don't mean that news reports should be a BDSM session, but I think that this reporter did a odd but good job at reporting the method of torture.
I Agree 👍
Visualization is much more than just saying
Commitment to journalism. I respect that.
Democrats/ western liberal politicians think sanctions gonna work on Lukashenko HAHAHAHA
Thank you! Now we, Belarusians, are accused for the war with Ukraine, but we didn't want it. We don't support Lukaszenko. We didn't manage to get rid of him , yes. But is it fair to put the blame on us???
No. He Likely Rigged The Election, But You All Are Probably Going To Be Punished For It.
@@collinkeyser6827 " likely " ???
@@marinachichel4077 the world needs to see that the Belarusian people don’t support the war and Lukaszenko. Through more protests and stuff
@@Archo01 Yes Like Russian Citizens Are Doing Right Now.
@@Archo01 If you get a chance, could you show us how to do this please? Come here and stop Putin's army with your bare hands and we will finally know how to do it
This video aged very well.
Thank you, John, for giving attention to Belarus... The situation there is horrible, please, help! SOS Belarus!
Just be cautious on what comes after he's gone
@@kostajovanovic3711 Yes, it also a danger, cause Putin already there and trying to eat Belarus as Ukraine... We need all the help from the world. Don't forget Belarus, do all that you can!
I lived in Belarus for a few months. It's an absolutely beautiful country with a rich culture and such sweet people who are terrified to do or say anything against the government. Please support them
thx for this
Support them by encouraging regime change, sanctions, destabilization?
@@Mubariz yes. That's what people are asking for. For international companies to stop bying from personal Lukashenka companies "his wallet companies."
Belarus survives on grants by EU from road building to cleaning radiation areas.. country profits are non existent and banking system is rated close to 3rd world country.
@@Mubariz You're right, it'd be better to let their dictator torture press and slowly sell their country to Russia in peace.
@@thejudge1728 are you joking? Sell the country to Russia? Sanctions are closing the markets to Belarus, the only way to survive is to sell things to Russia! It is absolutely obvious! Sanctions are made to encourage revolution in the country but since when revolution is something good?
"Sanctions can only do so much here..."
Oowee.
"Do you see any viruses?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's so sad that the people in Belarus were so brave, having protests going on for months, and despite detainments and beatdowns they still kept on going. Just to see nothing happening.
Because of a lack of international support.
It is still happening. The protests were steam rolled, but even Lukashenko understands that they will get back as soon as his ability to exert violence fade.
Don't S4 America or Britain's help. They will invade kill 100000 of you spinned over 2 trillion and then when they leave the dictator will be stronger than ever before.
@@anterogradus Yes, it's still happening. Thanks for these words.
not have given to the child. 😶🙂😎😃
14:42 "The Cockroach" (Тараканище, the "big" one, obviously) is a Russian poem for children by Korney Chukovsky. There, the cockroach takes the power over the forest and every animal (the largest ones, too) is afraid of killing it despite of its size. But in the end, it gets eaten by a little bird.
it is basically "a bug's life" plot.
Damn Disney stealing european stories.
So would Trump be "The Cockroach Orange"?
@@tomaxx1296 Oh, well played! I am so stealing that.
There is also an incredible poem written by Osip Mendelshtam called "Tarakanishe" about Stalin, which eventually got him killed. When Osip asked his friend to review it, his friend said that this poem is a suicide note, and distanced himself from Osip
@@ChronologicalLogic then he had real talent cause art is supposed to have an emotional response to it.
Yay. My dog's first talking button is now "Fascist Teddy." Thanks John
seems like a good time to rewatch this one
I remember everyone commenting on how weird it was when there was no audience to laugh at the jokes at the start of the pandemic.
Now it feels weird having there be an audience to laugh.
NGL
I had to pause my video at the first audience laugh because i thought i clicked on an old video by accident
Thought the same thing...
The laughter seems fake to me, they never panned to the audience either.
@@roge0 I hope it is, since the pandemic isn't over
The void was nice. Empty, yes, but comfortable.
Thank you John and the team. Really.
My granddad died because Lukashenko’s bad coronavirus handling. I’m depressed since August 2020 because of the cruelty happened in Minsk, my home.
Buddy, my condolences on your loss.
I am so sorry for what happened to your grandfather and to your home. Please, find help for yourself, you deserve to have a chance to recover from this. There are psychologists who volunteer, if you can’t afford therapy. Sending prayers.
@@Ana-do8yq I can afford it, thanks. Still deciding if I need to go this deep.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Is the freedom of speech situation really that bad over there?
I am so sorry. He will be with you forever.
It's insane that their first free and fair election ends up in a dictatorship 😂😮💨 they really went for it and ended up dealing with this jerk
that has sadly happened in many place (iran did the same for example). Famous people after a war are usualy those who get elected and they are often used to being in command of everything.
Some keep their engagement toward democratie (george washington, charle de gaule).But many can't see a reason to stop acting like a war officier.
I had an online friend from Belarus in hs. I've been thinking about her a lot since the war started---hope she's okay.
The worst thing is, Russia gives him money, and he keeps on going there and asking for more. Without it, he wouldn't last so long((
How is that the worst thing?
@@austinschumann8376 probably because we can impose as many sanctions as we want, its not going to help, because he will always have the capital to impose force on the people. in the end the sanctions will hurt the people, but not him.
@@austinschumann8376 he's creating a debt bond to Russia for whoever comes next, and probably "cause" for invasion/annexation when the time comes.
Belarusians are losing their freedom step by step
@@CorporateG0th You're absolutely right. Lukashenka has burned the bridges to the west and has given Putin all the cards to annex the whole country and Putin never lets go of what he holds. I fear it is already too late to do anything for the Belorussian people. Pardon my french, but they're fucked.
Maria Kolesnikova, who was sentenced to 11 years is actually the most badass. At first, they tried to forcefully fly her to Ukraine. And she just destroyed her passport in an airport in order to stay in the country, knowing that she deffinitelly will be in jail and maybe worse.
+ 👍🤝💗🙏✝🙌
Small correction - they tried to drive her through the border and even got her out out of belarus but when they gave her her passport to go through ukrainian border she ripped it so they were forced to take her back.
Still badass)
I wish John Oliver included her story
Haha I sat here shouting at the screen, "It's Lithuania, doggonit, Lithuania!!"
If the MyPillow guy were a president.
I’m so glad you touched this topic! The only think you missed out, is that the women in opposition who’s husbanded got arrested was not alone, there were two other women with the same exact situation working with her. Those three women won the actual national election with over 80% of people supporting them. Insanely brave.
They didn't win anything. Estimates based on opposition-run website Golos data put Tihanovskaya at best at 38% of votes with Lukashenko at 51%.
@@sergrojGrayFace Lukashenko, don't you have a country to run (into the ground). Why are you here posting nonsense on CZcams?
@@GummyDinosaursify nice try, troll
@@sergrojGrayFace weak bait
@@GummyDinosaursify l
W
It’s so weird yet welcoming to see him back with a live audience again.
Do you mean to say a background?
yeah, honestly I kinda liked it without the laugh track.
Democrats/ western liberal politicians think sanctions gonna work on Lukashenko HAHAHAHA
No matter what I'm watching on CZcams, I always get sent to a video of last week Tonight that I've already seen 10 times.
I was eating during that cold room bit. Thank you universe.