John Oliver vs Warner: US-based comic buys TV6 airtime; Plus more

Mr Live Wire had a bad dream last night. He dreamt: that the Prime Minister just started the sixth year of a five-year term in office, the country’s Attorney General is so uninspiring that the People’s Partnership once replaced him as minister with Jamal “I am stupid” Mohammed…

That ILP leader Jack Warner admitted his party’s green colours were meant for camouflage, and he has hired Makandal Daaga, Winston Dookeran and President Anthony Carmona for hide and seek tips.

And everyone was so busy discussing Caitlyn Jenner’s transformation that no one noticed Roodal Moonilal left the supper table looking like Sherman Klump and came to breakfast as Heidi Klum.

Photo: Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal poses in his swimwear... Or is that former super model Heidi Klum?
Photo: Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal poses in his swimwear…
Or is that former super model Heidi Klum?

But then Live Wire checked his sock draw, saw a Trinidad and Tobago passport and realised it was probably all true.

No surprise then that popular US-based English comic John Oliver, the satirical host of Last Week Tonight, announced that he purchased five minutes of airtime on CCN TV6 from 9 pm on Tuesday June 9 to make an address to the nation. A TV6 source confirmed the deal too.

Oliver’s broadcast, “John Oliver: The mittens of disapproval are on”, is a comical retort to Warner’s address last Wednesday entitled: “Jack Warner: The gloves are off.”

“Apparently you can just buy time on TV there to say whatever you like,” said Oliver, to raucous laughter from his audience.

The funniest part about Oliver’s claim, sadly, is that it is true.

Photo: English comic John Oliver, who hosts HBO's Last Week Tonight, is about to put his mittens on for TV6.
Photo: English comic John Oliver, who hosts HBO’s Last Week Tonight, is about to put his mittens on for TV6.

TV6 recently showed the lifeless body of former Security Minister Martin Joseph—wearing only a red shorts—on a loop during its news broadcast, the Trinidad Guardian carried a full page advertisement that compared activist Wayne Kublalsingh to a lizard and the Trinidad Mirror, with a poignant middle finger to media watch groups, published a photograph of a naked yet aroused corpse on its front page.

Now, even foreign media houses are flying in to screw with us.

Tourists once streamed in to Piarco International Airport to join in our Carnival or to watch Brian Lara bat. These days, it is “corruption tourism” that fills up the swanky Port of Spain hotels, as journalists come to cover Warner’s woeful impersonation of Dr Richard Kimble.

Justice Minister Prakash Ramadhar yesterday claimed that Warner—the PP’s former acting Prime Minister—had “really polluted the stream of the politics of this nation”, which is especially funny as his COP party was launched at Warner’s Centre of Excellence.

But, as 21st century philosopher Chris Brown pointed out: “these hoes ain’t loyal.”

Photo: Ex-FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (left) and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar share a light moment during the 2010 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. Warner served as Works Minister and National Security Minister for the People's Partnership Government before his resignation in 2013. (Courtesy FIFA.com)
Photo: Ex-FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (left) and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar share a light moment during the 2010 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.
Warner served as Works Minister and National Security Minister for the People’s Partnership Government before his resignation in 2013.
(Courtesy FIFA.com)

And, mind you, the COP chose the Centre of Excellence—which had already been flagged as a controversial property by ex-FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen—just months after Warner became the first executive committee member found guilty by FIFA for violating its code of ethics, after he tried to force Trinidad and Tobago football fans to buy 2006 World Cup tickets at more than a 300 percent mark up.

Let me repeat: Warner was so corrupt that even FIFA felt he was making them look bad; and the People’s Partnership made him National Security Minister and acting Prime Minister.

If there are patriots left in Trinidad and Tobago, you certainly won’t find them in the Cabinet. It is every man for himself these days.

No wonder Moonilal won’t share his Nutty Professor formula with Parliamentary colleague, Stephen Cadiz.

Photo: Mr Live Wire cannot confirm that the Nutty Professor plans to sue Roodal Moonilal for patent infringement.
Photo: Mr Live Wire cannot confirm that the Nutty Professor plans to sue Roodal Moonilal for patent infringement.

Meanwhile, Warner’s slide into farce continues. Once, he ate with prime ministers and presidents and offered advice to Queen Elizabeth on England’s World Cup bid.

Now, he is crossing swords with late night comics like Keith Olbermann and John Oliver.

There was some news from the San Fernando Magistrates Court that might make Warner sit up straight today. Security guard Allan Jones finally appeared before Magistrate Natalie Diop for kicking a man in the head, a whooping ten years ago!

Jones said the matter was postponed over 40 times and the decade-long case cost him just TT$15,000 in legal fees.

What does that have to do with Warner?

Well, UNC financiers Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson were able to hold off extradition with the argument that they were being wanted for the same crime in Trinidad.

Photo: Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan (right) shares a tender moment with UNC financier Ish Galbaransingh who is wanted for corruption by the United States Government. Ex-FIFA VP Jack Warner wants some love too.
Photo: Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan (right) shares a tender moment with UNC financier Ish Galbaransingh who is wanted for corruption by the United States Government.
Ex-FIFA VP Jack Warner wants some love too.

So could Warner also argue that, were he to be charged in Trinidad, the High Court should block his extradition until such a legal matter was completed?

Mr Live Wire has no idea what the legal minds would say about such a theoretical case. But, just in case, if Warner shows up in Parliament sporting a football boots and a crazy glint in his eye, Ramadhar better watch his Prakash!

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About Mr. Live Wire

Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.

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89 comments

  1. Yes Vernal, I call it Island mentality

  2. Ah not watching tv6 an ah doh care.

  3. John Oliver making the USA proud boy!

  4. It is absurd ! Why allow a foreigner to buy air time to heap ridicule on a Citizen, and the Country as a whole?

  5. Trinis ent realise…despite who will say n do whaever….. Jack gonna make some ppl rich….right now i vex cus i not livin Five Rivers next to Jack….u kno how much paparazzi photographers will pay ppl who livin even 200 meters away from him….it is what it is…..ha!

  6. Mittens of Disapproval Are On

  7. Its being played out as a comedy but it is so sad that a country who aspires to be a Developed Nation has been reduced to a laughing stock on the international stage (smdh)

  8. Hahaha!! Lasana Liburd you is a real GOAT ( greatest of all time) Love it!! Think you might get the kick tho!!

  9. And he makes a good point eh.
    All this attention I think would prove beneficial to us, we will at last see ourselves through eyes that have seen the world allowing us to recognize that we have mentally isolated ourselves in a bubble of our own making.

    That bubble is being burst!

  10. The Judge who sentenced Boysie Singh to death, Sir Mortimer Duke, remarked thus … “how long shall the wicked reign ? They shall flourish but for a season” … and Boysie was finally hung after tampering with the jury at the first trial. The darkest night always ends by the light of day !

  11. ““Apparently you can just buy time on TV there to say whatever you like,” said Oliver, to raucous laughter from his audience. The funniest part about Oliver’s claim, sadly, is that it is true.

    Laughin we to scorn, but we just can’t [get] enough eh. . .” Camille Winchester, and the disturbing thing is that we appear to fail to see the insult.

  12. Mr Live Wire the corrupted Jack Warner ain’t and won’t be putting you out of business no way, a matter of fact you will be putting him out of his miseries once had for all because the only way to deal with SOCIOPATHS is to cut them of entirely and put them away in jail for a very long time. Them really good yes.

  13. Anyway, there is a World Cup football match about to begin or probably started already. Catch you guys tomorrow.

  14. Actually he embarrasses countries all the time, Japan immediately comes to mind for their custom of having mascots for EVERYTHING under the sun.

  15. Not T&T, but Warner, FIFA, the UNC and TV6.
    You should have seen what he did to Ecuador’s president.

  16. I don’t think Oliver is coming to purposefully embarrass T&T. We have already embarrassed ourselves by ignoring the many articles and other investigative reports that highlighted, with evidence, Jack Warner’s shenanigans. John Oliver is one of many passionate football lovers who, for years, has been warning the world about FIFA and its fraudulent deals etc. We should have stepped up to the plate but collectively we do not have the will or maybe the finesse nor the skilled investigators to address rampant boldface corruption. So let’s be calm, sit back, learn a few things and enjoy the show.

  17. I feel like Trinidad’s bubble is finally being burst and we will be ushered reluctantly into the real world.

  18. And drink something strong to numb it!

  19. We deserve it Vernal. We just have to hug a pillow and imagine we are somewhere else I assume.

  20. Lasana that is the feeling I have as well, they have no idea what Oliver is gonna say………..they might not even be certain what he does!

  21. Yup in one fell swoop, local media and Warner are being made fun of

  22. And that is what Oliver is lampooning Shiva Ramberran………along with Jack’s absurdity!

  23. I’m guessing they have no idea what John Oliver is going to say as well Vernal.
    I don’t mind one side paying for airspace. The option must be there for other party to do the same and–Sunity has repeatedly made this point–it must be covered as a news stories by competent journalists. Not left for them to run the entire production as they like.

  24. Yup Jack was the one who gave an address that implicated the UNC in the FIFA mess he is embroiled in, hence it was a political ad and so equal time for a response would normally be afforded but not in T&T

  25. Not Oliver, Warner.
    Warner had a paid spot on TV6 where he made accusations against the government. Any respectable media would not allow such a practice, they would give both parties equal time to make statements and they would not have to pay for the privilege Brian.

  26. And I could always do with a lil revenue mind you. Those companies declare millions in profit.

  27. Shiva Ramberran, I was asked to run an ad with “news content” by a major local ad company.
    I said we do have space available but I would need to see the ad to ensure it wasn’t slanderous.
    They refused and I refused.
    Point is many stations and news houses seem to accept ads without vetting them.

  28. But Shiva, is John Oliver running for office in T&T? 🙂

  29. Trinidad is the Wild West of TV media! Hahaha

  30. This is Trinidad, a politician can buy airtime and talk about the government and there is no law that states that the party he directed his message at, must be allowed equal time on that same network to rebutt his position, hell even all the networks that preempt for POTUS’s SOTU, has to afford the other party the same courtesy to air a rebuttal, or even when Arnold ran for Governor in Cali, the airing of any of his films there had to be blocked at it would mean his opponent would be given the same length of time to air an ad as his film was, which in itself was not political, John Oliver basically proved no such thing exists in T&T and he can buy time just like Jack and say what he wants

  31. “21st century philosopher Chris Brown” lol

  32. Love John Oliver but sad that our country is the butt of a comedic newsanchor ‘ s program

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