After acknowledging that gun control was politically impossible, John Oliver moved on to another issue front and center in the South Carolina shooting – the Confederate flag. Oliver is not a fan of the symbol and has an idea for what to do with it.
As John Oliver pointed out, while the American and South Carolina state flags flew at half-mast out of mourning for the victims of the South Carolina shooting, the Confederate flag was still at its top height.
The reason was two-fold. One, it’s not hooked to a regular rope and pulley system, the flag is just attached to the pole. The second is that it takes a 2/3rds vote in both the chambers of the state legislature to touch it.
Oliver quipped, “even they thought 3/5 was a bit too on the nose.”
Despite the difficulty, the growing outcry over the church shooting, where nine black people were killed by 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof, might prompt lawmakers to remove the flag from its perch.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, even former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are calling for it to be lowered.
According to Rolling Stone , John Oliver knows exactly where that flag needs to go when that day comes.
“Now might be a great time, not out of respect to the events of this week, but to the events of the past several centuries, to take that vote and lower that flag to half-staff. When it’s at half-staff, why not keep lowering it all the way down, and once you’re holding it in your hands, take it off the flagpole completely and fold it – or don’t bother – put it in a box, label it ‘Bad Flag,’ and put it somewhere that no one can see.”
Nevertheless, John Oliver admits that the Confederate symbol still has some uses in modern society.
“The Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on t-shirts, belt buckles, and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world.”
There’s only a tiny percentage of Americans who fit Oliver’s definition of “the worst people in the world.” According to 2011 Pew Research poll on the Washington Post , 88 percent of Americans said they either dislike the flag or didn’t care about it.
The largest groups of supporters were whites who identified themselves as “Southerners” and Republicans.
That might help explain John Oliver’s clip of Southern Republican Lindsay Graham’s strained answer to questions about taking the flag down.
Still, there are more extreme examples of Confederate pride in state politics. In Mississippi, the Confederate flag is part of the state flag, which John Oliver shout “holy s***” when seeing it.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
