John Oliver and Lisa Loeb eviscerate Oregon over its monumental ObamaCare fail

Consider this part of the Portlandia backlash? On John Oliver's inaugural episode of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, Oliver and delightful 1990s one-hit wonder Lisa Loeb tore into Oregon over its disastrous website's failure to enroll Oregonians in insurance plans as part of ObamaCare. As Oliver and Loeb note repeatedly, this was a big embarrassment for Oregon, and an expensive one. Although it may be a bit harsh for Loeb to call residents of the Beaver State "stupid Oregon idiots," I guess Oregon has made its bed and now it has to lie in it (or at least put a bird on it). Still, I'd have thought a Dallas native like Loeb would be a little more understanding about caricaturing an entire population based on a TV show. [Warning: Oliver drops one F-bomb — as is his right on HBO.] --Peter Weber

YouTube

Watch On

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.