John Oliver on Paramount: Soulless, ethically bankrupt, ass-kissing corporation'

"Recent lawsuits involving Trump have been settled with Paramount for $16m, Meta for $25m and ABC for $15m with money going toward the president's library in the future. Oliver said that this has become the preferred vehicle for what I'm apparently legally not allowed to call shakedowns or extortion attempts but Trump is merely laying bare a system that's actually been problematic all along."

"He said that calling them libraries is a bit of a misnomer as instead they are part archives part museum. They started after the 32nd president, Franklin D Roosevelt, wanted a place to house gifts and documents as before then much of this was destroyed. They are controlled by the National Archives and Records Administration and the buildings aren't publicly funded, which means the presidents need to raise money themselves."

"After presidents create private foundations, the federal government pays to run the libraries which can cost about $100m a year. He called it a weird public-private partnership which means that the line between shrine and official archive can get unhelpfully blurry. It means that the exhibits can be extremely one-sided with Ronald Reagan's library being known as Graceland for conservatives. He joked: What if Planet Hollywood but more Gorbachev?"

Presidential libraries function as hybrid archives and museums that are privately funded while collections remain controlled by the National Archives and Records Administration. They originated after Franklin D. Roosevelt sought a dedicated place to preserve gifts and documents to prevent earlier losses. Recent settlements have directed tens of millions toward a future presidential library, including payments from Paramount, Meta and ABC. Private foundations are created to support the libraries, and the federal government often covers operational costs, which can approach $100 million a year. The public-private arrangement can blur the line between shrine and official archive, producing highly one-sided exhibits.

Read at www.theguardian.com