Bill Maher is still an idiot

Corbyn think it's a bad idea, too.

Well, he's "old people" in my book. Is Bill secretly a DLer who thinks he can pass for 25?

r7 not at all.

Bill is an "old school" entertainer with stand-up comedy roots who need to perform in front of an audience. Nobody, music acts and stage performers, are too happy about venues closed down or open with only half capacity when touring and live performances are their main income. Most of them keep quiet and leave the COVID narrative unchallenged, even though they need to make money rather sooner than later.

Bill Maher is an unmitigated asswipe. He's a conservative masquerading as a liberal. Other than legal Marijuana and smoking copious amounts of pot, he has no strong political convictions.

Maher is a snarky prick.

I used to like his show and watched regularly, but now I find him insufferable... TOO mr. all know it all, TOO right, TOO pandering for laughs, Too contrary...

R4, they may not be happy about it but the smart ones realize it's necessary

But he IS old

I used to find him smart. Now I just think he is a conservative asshole who pretends to lean left. He is friends with the likes of Seth MacFaglane and Anne Cunter. I hope they all die in a grease fire.

[quote]He’ll never get a booster because he doesn’t see why he should.

SHAME! SHAME!

[quote] He says Covid was always just about old people.

Maher just turned 66 yesterday, just when does he think old happens?

He is a stereotypical Boomer. Thinks he is still young and spry, even though he is collecting his Social Security already.

He's a fucking moron. He's probably certain that the fact that he doesn't eat McDonalds and is obsessed with healthy food is protecting him. It's his Ivermectin.

The COVID antibodies he had either from the vaccination or COVID infection wane as time progresses, so he may end up developing significant symptoms if exposed again.

He’s an asshole. He is always disagreeable and belligerent.

R1, Jeremy Corbyn is an imbecile.

BIll Maher is free to die at anytime.

He's just a contrarian.

Trump is gone so now he has to go after democratic views.

[quote]He’ll never get a booster because he doesn’t see why he should. He says Covid was always just about old people.

Is he on anyone’s death list for 2022?

Do you know how many faded celebrities turn conservative in a last-ditch effort to get noticed? Have some dignity.

He's pretty much spot on. You're chance, even if your old, of dying of COVID is miniscule. And if you're young, dying from it is astronomical. The OP really needs to pull his head out of his ass and look at the data .

[quote]And if you're young, dying from it is astronomical.

I would think that anyone who died from it, regardless of age, would find it "astronomical".

The odds of dying from COVID related illness is not astronomical. In 2021 in the US 386,000 people died from COVID, which is just over 1 out of 1,000 of the general population. But 90% of those were over age 50. COVID deaths are also 15 times that die from the flu, and if you are over age 60 it's 50 times more lethal.

I can do a Schoolhouse Rock version of this for you if you still believe the odds are astronomical.

Maher says Covid "was mostly a disease of the very old."

The CDC says the Covid "risk increases for people in their 50s and increases in 60s, 70s, and 80s."

Bill Maher is 66 years old.

I still mostly like Maher's show, but like certain lefties who constantly (and mostly correctly) accuse conservatives of being scientifically illiterate, he's always flirted with his own particular brand of pseudoscience. He was anti-vax way before COVID. He had on Bret "Ivermectin" Weinstein and his wife Heather Heying pushing their skepticism about the mRNA vaccines right after they were made available. He's had antivax kook of all kooks Robert Kennedy, Jr. multiple times, though not recently. And don't get him started on "Big Pharma" and "Big Food". When it comes to issues relating to health and medicine, he's a total moron (other than his anti-obesity crusade, which is correct, but has become predictable and boring every time he starts harping on it, which is practically every week.)

Bill Maher’s ‘Real Time’ Talks Covid-19, Crime, And A Gay Marriage Between Biden And Obama In His Return From Break:

Covid kills the old, the fat, and the sick.

It is known.

How much science juice do you sanctimony addicts need before you realize that you're being sold your own health on a semi-annual basis?

[quote]Covid kills the old, the fat, and the sick.

Tell that to Nic Cordero, the young, thin Broadway star.

It's kind to f gross but like he's the kind of sleazy guy my mom often brought home from bars and it kind of turns me on.

Dying isn't the only fucking issue dumbfuck. People who catch it end up with a pretty severe illness sometimes for weeks and months of malingering issues afterwards.

[quote]You're chance, even if your old

Oh, DEAR.

As for Maher, his both-sidesing after the horror of the Trump years is painfully out of touch, and no longer works. One party is openly white supremacist and is responsible for Jan. 6. The other isn't.

There comes a time in the career of every comedian when they jump the shark and are no longer in step with the times. Maher has reached that point.

[quote]How much science juice do you sanctimony addicts need before you realize that you're being sold your own health on a semi-annual basis?

People who come from other forums always give themselves away. "Science juice?" Go back to KiwiFarms.

When Bill cited statistics showing Florida has done much better with COVID than some blue states despite being far less cautious, wasn't it rumored that DeSantis was cooking the numbers to hide how many people had actually died? If true, then Bill should know that before he starts singing Florida's praises.

Everyone's known Florida was purposely misrepresenting the actual numbers. That's why they dispatched a swat team on the woman who was tracking the real data.

Heard that lesbian Bari Weiss was on 🤢

R22: "You're chance, even if your old, of dying of COVID is miniscule."

OH. FUCKING. DEAR.

Also, tell that to my dad's not obese, old or sick coworker who was very much anti vax, and died suddenly of covid this month.

I agree @R10

Tonight's season opener was probably one of the worst shows of his I've seen. He flubbed a joke in the monologue, and didn't really recover from it. Asking Congressman Richie Torres (who is half Puerto Rican) about Spielberg's casting of a non-Puerto Rican as Maria in "West Side Story" was awkward, and seemed to put Rhodes on the spot. The commentary about gay Biden and Obama was poorly written and sophomoric.

Smug ugly fuck.

R3 I LOVE Upadhyay! Been following now for 3 months or so? She always has a bracing take on things and I find her delivery so clipped and amusing. She's wry.

R15, multiple studies have shown that antibodies from an infection last FAR longer, and are far stronger than those from the vaccines. Hence, the many booster shots.

I just turned off his show. He was doing some hardvire fear mongering about the imminent end of the country for the first 15 minutes and then...talking about the his time at the Playboy Mansion, cocaine and Kool and the Gang.

Hugh Hefner died in 2017, Bill, and he was 91!

You are old and out of touch. Retire.

[quote]talking about the his time at the Playboy Mansion, cocaine and Kool and the Gang.

Good lord. I guess he's deliberately going for the elderly audience, then?

hi bit about Biden Marrying Obama so Obama can be first lady and run the Federal Government was laughfree and lazy.

He shows his age asking the young handsome PR congressman about West Side Story. (I have to ask YOU this) and the guy gave BM an exaggerated blank stare. And in fact didn't know shit about West Side Story, a what, almost 70 year old musical? And the bubbly white lady blogger pick up on everything and was kinda trying to smooth things over while point it out that she had to be the Jews in Hollywood expert, too. (She was fully prepped and had a good spiel nevertheless.). Who is better at this? The only possibly Seth Meyers. Colbert is too much of a social climber and ass licker. Noah I want to fuck but do NOT want to watch. And not American. Nor is John Oliver. Samantha Bee (also not American) - meh - she doesn't seem to have an original voice.

Seth Meyer took the celebrity interview show and quickly morphed it - soon dumped the opening monologue and just does the zeitgeist punditry - and it seems like a good mix of timing, because he doesn't have to be pundit longer than 15 minutes or so.

Sorry for my ESLese. As for Bill Maher being an idiot. That is certainly NOT true. He's just past his prime, I'd say.

I'm not an advocate for decades long pot consumption. It dulls a sharp wit.

As someone who has watched him for decades, tonight was kind of the last straw for me. He's completely out of touch, and completely wrong, on a number of things. And his style and delivery just aren't amusing anymore. Maybe it's the toll of the pandemic, and the Trump years, but I just don't have the patience to sit through his bullshit anymore. When he gets it right, it can still be refreshing. But when he gets it wrong, he is SO wrong.

Also, can he not book any one worth listening to anymore? He used to get top tier guests...now it's the same old handful of people, season after season, so he can hear himself talk. And jesus christ, enough with that fucking Bari Weiss.

Bill Maher doesn't realize he's old. Covid has fucked his brain

He IS old people.

[quote] Sorry for my ESLese. As for Bill Maher being an idiot. That is certainly NOT true.

That’s always been true.

Does he still get any ratings? Seriously, who watches this shit?

The odds of your house burning down this year or of dying in a car wreck this year are minuscule. Your odds of getting a serious case of polio in the 1940s were minuscule. Why do people take all these needless precautions?!

Does Syphillis protect from Covid? Very germane to him.

His edgy, free-thinking, devil-may-care stance is pretty laughable until he makes a binding commitment to forgo all medical treatment if he catches it. He should commit to staying in his bedroom and seeing what happens. In fact, he should really pledge to forgo any medical treatment for the duration of the pandemic. Hospitals are overwhelmed because of people like him. He can abstain from medical care until he decides he has the time to schedule the booster or he bores of his courageous rebel stance. If he made those pledges I would at least find him sincere and consistent. It would still be stupid of course.

[quote]Covid kills the old, the fat, and the sick. It is known.

COVID also hospitalizes and kills the unvaccinated.

90% of the hospitalized with COVID are the unvaccinated.

Just on a personal level, I know 9 people who've contracted the virus since the summer.

Three if the 9 ended up in a hospital: 2 were unvaccinated, and 1 was.

But the vaccinated guy was both elderly and had a poor immune system that requires weekly blood treatments.

He was in the hospital for less than a week and recovered (thought he caught Omacron a month later - and that lasted less than a week with minor symptoms).

In contrast, of the 2 unvaccinated hospitalized guys, 1 still has no smell or taste (since July) and the other just got out of the hospital after 5 weeks.

All of the other 6 I know vaccinated who contracted COVID (including 2 in their 70s) had mild symptoms and were over it in a few days.

R42, exact opposite.

I don't see why it's surprising that he's going for an old audience - under 40s aren't watching TV anymore, let alone cable networks.

Do oldsters watch him? I can’t imagine who his audience is anymore. HBO really needs to pull the plug, not over his beliefs but because he’s become irrelevant and completely laughable. That’s a lot of money down the drain. I’m sure they would be better served giving it to someone else.

CLOCKWORK

After every SNL episode, the cranks proclaim it the worst show ever and long past its sell by date. Absolutely humorless and waste of time.

Same with EVERY Bill Maher episode.

Why do you keep TUNING IN?

After watching him last night, I knew there would be thread on here about him. He was ragging on Democrats more than usual. I agree with WTF about West Side Story being brought up. It came out of left field and was a...."huh???"

"Why do you keep TUNING IN."

I stopped watching his "show" about two years ago. Doesn't mean i have to pass up an opportunity to rag on this pompous blowhard dickhead

His biggest fear would be living next door to the same people he accuses the Democrats of alienating. Typical right wing Hollywood asshole.

R34 NYC numbers are due to the fact that they were the epicenter of the first wave of the pandemic. The COVID numbers on NY are accurate. A large portion of the Florida numbers (which are obviously significantly under-reported) are after the first wave when we were all aware of proper mitigation to avoid COVID spread.

The other thing about FL is that the air is much warmer than the NYC metro area, meaning that people would be outdoors for a longer time period. And it's known that the virus spreads less easily when people are outdoors.

NY/NJ was hit so early on, masks weren't even available for purchase for the longest time. I remember news shows telling viewers how to make face coverings using cut up t-shirts (which of course aren't as effective as masks).

Good point.^^ Don't viruses thrive in colder weather? I think that's part of it, too. That's why people get sicker during the winter. Florida considers 50 degrees a cold snap.

[quote]When Bill cited statistics showing Florida has done much better with COVID than some blue states despite being far less cautious, wasn't it rumored that DeSantis was cooking the numbers to hide how many people had actually died? If true, then Bill should know that before he starts singing Florida's praises.

I was a bit irritated that the Congresscritter from NY didn't remind Bill of a few things: the NY metro area was the first region to have widespread contagion, testing was practically non-existent, there were no therapeutics or masks and NY got it under control in a matter of weeks... AND...while NY was battling Covid, Florida was locked down tighter than a drum and was even refusing to allow NYers into the state. Florida didn't reopen until the 1st wave was over. And, by the time the 2nd wave hit, which hit Florida and not NY, there was testing, therapeutics like steroids and masks...oh, and DeSantis lied about Florida's numbers. It also doesn't hurt that Florida has a high number of old people who took matters into their own hands and masked up and isolated when DeSantis was reckless.

Last night’s Real Time was terrible.

Bari Weiss is White Girl Privilege.

Speaking of Bari Weiss, what's going on with her and Milky Loads' unaccredited Montessori school for right wingers?

He literally is a cunt...no wait...a quinny.

Ritchie Torres!

If he keels over dead tomorrow we'll all pull through.

Bill was essential viewing during the Trump years, but I gave up mid way through last seson. His obsession with calling out wokeness swallowed the show whole - almost every single conversation, relevant or not, devolved into it. His new rules reeked of "get the hell off my lawns, kids."

He's right about the stupid insanity of the "woke" culture but is dead wrong about covid.

R64, you missed the point. Florida has been anti-mask, anti-distancing during the period you mention, and the study he cited was based on CDC numbers.

He's right about both R75. That's why everyone's so pissed in this thread. They KNOW he's right.

R56, you're right, the unvaccinated (and those who have never had covid) have a higher rate of hospitalization and death from covid.

0.89 percent, vs 0.1 percent.

No, but his critics still are. Stay with Joe Rogan, Aaron Rodgers, and LaBelle Cockgobbler. They’ll keep you warm all winter.

Ritchie Torres was all *Why the fuck am I here?" while Bill and Bari Weiss kvetched about woke this and woke that.

Hopefully covid weakens rumps black shriveled heart more which will make him to ill to run again. 🙏

And just this morning Sunday January 23 on fox "news" headlines of how bill maher is calling out democrats with even mike huckabee on saying he's right! thanks bill you effing moron! You didn't know ahead of time this is EXACTLY what Fox was going to do?!.....

I think even if I didn't disagree with the majority of his politics these days, I would still dislike him intensely. He actually strikes me as being Trumplike in some ways.

When his jokes fall flat, he almost always sneers at the audience and blames them for being too woke and not having a sense of humor, while in reality he is not a very funny standup comic and many of his jokes simply are not funny. Most comedians kind of shrug and move on or if it's a talk show they may say something like, "I told them it wouldn't work!" But he just blames his audience almost every time. It's bizarre.

Likewise, like Trump, when he does attack people (including Trump) he often does it by dehumanizing them and comparing them to some animal or otherwise making fun of their appearance. That's almost never funny to me. It's unsophisticated and juvenile.

He doesn't accept criticism at all. It's likely how he came to the politically incorrect premise in the first place; instead of debating social progress, he just felt like he was being attacked because peers had different opinions and so he found friends like Ann Coulter and got himself a TV show to say "I'm usually liberal, BUT..."

He's smarmy and full of himself and he really seems to think he is beyond reproach. The premise of his show is debating but over the past decade, he has brought on more people who agree with him—often right-wing people who he then fawns over and thanks for being brave enough to come on and agree with him—and when people disagree with him, he has come to the point of not just debating but barking "YOU'RE WRONG. Let's move on."

He's transitioning....

I just watch New Rules,

I knew an r85 who watched New Rules. And then they died.

yes r86 I'm posting from the grave..it's fun. Now I'm going to haunt you every night!

I will do anything for love, but I won't get vaccinated.

- Meat Loaf

People always say that covid is just about old people until they’re dying in the hospital, then it’s “GIVE ME THE BOOSTER!” (Too late.)

He's just the typical "I demand ALL of my RIGHTS but assume NONE of my RESPONSIBILITIES" libertarian asshat.

Whenever he has rightwing Netanyahu shill Bari Weiss on, she eggs him on to greater heights of abject idiocy.

[quote]Ritchie Torres was all *Why the fuck am I here?" while Bill and Bari Weiss kvetched about woke this and woke that.

Yeah, I don't think Rep. Torres will be back anytime soon.

He was awful. ^

It was funny how Weiss and Maher were promoting 'Jews run Hollywood' when that fits right in with anti-Semitic tropes.

Why hasn’t anybody commented about the guest confirming that the LAPD is standing down and not policing crime to teach the BLM protesters “a lesson”?

Well?

Should this be a separate thread series? It was confirmed on this show so it’s related.

He can be a cranky smirking jerk, like John Stewart

Did anybody here watch the episode?

I feel like nobody in here watched the episode. How did you miss this from the former NY Times reporter guest lady:

“LAPD: WE’RE GOING TO WITHDRAWAL”

That is a direct quote from the LAPD. Why isn’t this news. Can someone tweet the Times lady?

32:55 she says it right there.

I had to play it back several times. She is reporting a first hand quote that the NYPD told her they are standing down

Should this be it’s own thread?

I ain’t it illegal for the LAPD to take the money but not do their chartered duty?

Seems like obstruction of justice to me and a civil rights violation.

Isn’t

Her name is Bari Weiss and she has first hand quotes from the LAPD and not a peep from her on Twitter.

Can somebody with social media get to the bottom of this? It will be national news.

How could 100 different posts overlook the LAPD breaking news?

Did you guys go to the bathroom during that segment?

What an egregious oversight. I shouldn’t have to do everything you know.

Why are so many people here mentally ill?

I think all the abuse from republicans is taking its toll.

[quote]Heard that lesbian Bari Weiss was on 🤢

Of course she was, it's been 5 mins since the last time he had her on. They're both rabid Zionist assholes and he doesn't have the guts for a real debate on that topic, so he brings this tiresome cunt on so they talk about the "far left" being snowflakes, meanwhile, the fucking pussy never actually invites on anyone to challenge the both of their stupid fucking, neocon asses.

For r84

What about Bari’s LAPD quote?

Is that bonkers or what?

Who exactly watches his show still? What is his demographic?

Why have you posted a DOZEN times about LAPD quote. Also, talking to yourself in said quotes. For crissakes. Is this your failed humor? What?

This is from November.

His season finale had 0.76 million viewers of whom 0.07 million were 18-49.

So: Boomers watch him, and not a whole lot of them.

R29 he was an outlier whose story and it was followed on the news in the NY metro area daily. But how many others were there like him?

the gay marriage thing was so stupid.

Did make me wonder could Obama or another veteran president be Veep? (they'd never do it but could they legally?)

[quote]His season finale had 0.76 million viewers of whom 0.07 million were 18-49.

He's on HBO so I don't see how live ratings matter. If you miss the live broadcast you can catch it at any point on streaming or on demand.

ratings still matter though on HBO.

I once was standing behind Jonathan Groff in line and asked him why Looking was cancelled. He said ratings were bad.

It's probably measured in something aside from same day, r115. They're most likely looking at 30 days vs same day. Same day makes no sense for streaming.

It's probably measured in something aside from same day, r115. They're most likely looking at 30 days vs same day. Same day makes no sense for streaming.

I don't really know much about the topic. I'm just quoting what Groff said so take that for what it is worth.

This is from 2012, r118, but I'd bet it still holds true for today.

I hate Maher's views on Palestine. I often feel like punching my TV when he spews his pro-Israel shit. He doesn't hit on this topic a lot, but just enough to make me really hate his guts. The man is seriously ignorant.

[quote] Other than legal Marijuana and smoking copious amounts of pot, he has no strong political convictions.

He has plenty of political convictions, including many that intersect party lines which is what mature thinking is all about. I think many of us are like that privately but choose to present a unilateral position publicly to avoid harassment. Mature thinking is what happens when you finally let go your college age black and White thinking and realize that the world is much more complex than Dems vs, Reps, good and evil, etc.

the hospitals are overwhelmed. Medical Doctors and Nurses are exhausted and running on empty, completely depleated. And Covid is a brutal death. It is a horrble, painful way to die. Why would anyone what anyone to go through this? I don't I have 3 vaccines, which protect me and protects OTHERS.

I do not like these view of his. He is way off the deep in on this.

i have 3 vaccines I meant to say. GET all 3 vacccines.

I don't necessary disagree with his criticisms of woke culture, but holy fuck, there are a million other things going on in the world. He drags in into every single conversation and asks every guest. By mid last season, it had become tedious, and by the end of the season , I was done. I've been watching for a decade, but his inability to see anything past wokeness broke the slow for me

[quote] He’ll never get a booster because he doesn’t see why he should. He says Covid was always just about old people.

He's sixty-six.

Does he believe he's still in middle age? People don't live to be 132 years old.

At least he had a different gay man on last night. No Andrew Sullivan or Dan Savage! Thank Gawd.

[quote]Mature thinking is what happens

Oh, yes, he was quite "mature" when he basically told a bunch of dead Palestinians they deserved what they got in Gaza when Israel was killing them and I believe Michelle Goldberg asked him if he had ever actually seen firsthand the conditions they live in to see what he was defending and he "maturely" responded" "I don't have to see it."

Get back to me when he has the guts to actually debate people like Abby Martin. Don't act like he doesn't cocoon himself like a cowardly bitch. He only ever brings on far-right assholes like Ben Shapiro of Bannon or Milo. He doesn't have the guts to bring on those he spends most of his time criticizing or attacking from the left.

He lost his mind during the pandemic. It’s odd he chooses the time republicans and their allies are turning hard towards authoritarianism, fascism, and have otherwise gone batshit insane. He lets republicans get away with spewing their talking points whereas before he would push back hard on them. He goes after Dems with gusto reinforces republican talking points. For example: the vast majority of Dems don’t speak “woke” or whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean and DL trolls push that narrative hard. Bill just keeps on it like Biden on down is speaking “woke”.

I watched his show since 9th grade. I loved Real Time. He’s really a brilliant guy, or was. I no longer watch his show. He now harps on the same shit every week. He’s not funny nor insightful any longer.

He's a narcissist and his advancing age has concentrated that bile within him.

Thirty years ago, he was an outspoken champion of environmental protections. Flash forward to 2020, and it almost never comes up except that he spent more than a season bitching that California bureaucracy delayed his delivery and installment of solar panels a ridiculously long time. There's a point to be made there about bureaucracy getting in the way of innovation and improvements, but his emphasis was ME. It was "I paid for these panels and spent time applying for them and I want them NOW!" John Oliver annoys me, but he brings attention to broad issues. Maher's bitching about solar panels was specific to himself and to his state. It almost certainly dissuaded others from getting panels because they wouldn't want to go through what he did. In the end, he announced they were finally installed and he never brought it up again.

He used to have a fire for environmentalism. He replaced that with anti-wokeism. Why? Because years ago it interfered with the demand for him ("ME!") on university campuses, which is what led him to fawn over Milo Yiannopoulos, whose schtick for some time was touring university campuses specifically to offend.

He used to claim to be anti-relgion and produced a documentary to mock religious people. He was raised Catholic and his heritage is half Jewish. He has revealed that his loyalties lie with HIS religious affiliations, even if he doesn't practice religion, by voicing anti-Islamic opinions that are nearly as radical as those of Donald Trump and his friend Ann Coulter. He doesn't go after Christian sexual abuses with the disdain with which he goes after Islamic terrorism, and conveniently overlooks the connections between radicalized US Christianity and mass killings by gun and global sexual abuses by the Catholic church. The conflation of Jesus Christ and guns is patently insane and has led to mass murder-suicides in the US and I don't see how it is ultimately different from Islamic suicide bombings, but he consistently overlooks the role of Christian fundamentalism in US domestic terrorism and the history of bloody wars in the name of Christ in favor of pointing his finger at Muslims.

He's not an open minded person in any way. He cares about what affects him personally. And he's not even the kind of person whose mind is opened once he is personally affected by something; if his problem is resolved, then his perception is that there is no longer any problem.

And that leads to COVID. People have very short memories. Maher's bitching about COVID restrictions is not new at all. He did it from the beginning of the pandemic. He did some shows from his backyard at home and they were terrible because there was no audience to be cued to laugh at his bad jokes. He was visibly depressed and he complained about HBO not allowing his crew into the studio. He complained throughout. Everyone else except MAGA types sucked it up, many relatively poor people even losing their jobs, and stayed at home because it was life or death. Maher didn't get it even at the beginning of the pandemic. He pointed the finger at obese and old people and basically said they don't matter much, weirdly oblivious to his own senior-citizen status. He was vaccinated and then tested positive and complained from his home that he caught it after being vaccinated. He doesn't get the big picture. He doesn't care that 800,000 people have died because in his mind they are fat or old and so who cares? Fucking asshole.

R115 - out of curiosity, I looked up Looking's ratings, and its finale was seen by less than 300,000 people - way less than the 700,00 someone above said about Real Time.

So while other factors (like subscribers, as was mentioned above) play a major role, it also helps for a series to not have a weak base to begin with.

[quote]I feel like nobody in here watched the episode. How did you miss this from the former NY Times reporter guest lady

You watched the show, but don't know that 'the former NY Times reporter guest lady' is Bari Weiss?

If Bari Weiss weren't so adamantly Jewish, she'd bleach her hair and be hard to discern from Ann Coulter.

r94 They are both self hating Jews..Maher can deny it all he wants but he is Jewish.

I guess its the cool, woke thing to be Jewish but hate them.

He was much better on POLITICALLY INCORRECT. Before the Republicans shut him down.

[quote]He can be a cranky smirking jerk, like John Stewart.

The other Jew?

[quote]Thirty years ago, he was an outspoken champion of environmental protections.

He's railed about it several times this season.

[quote]Because years ago [woke culture] interfered with the demand for him ("ME!") on university campuses,

It more likely had to do with him nearly being cancelled after the flap with Ben Sasse. He used the word house"n". to illustrate a point and the world went crazy. He nearly got cancelled and hasn't had the same quality of guests since. I'm on his side on this issue.

[quote]by voicing anti-Islamic opinions that are nearly as radical as those of Donald Trump and his friend Ann Coulter.

Palestine/Israel transcends religion...and there's no good guy in the Israel/Palestine issue. There's a reason why no Arab country has come to Palestine's rescue.

[quote]He doesn't go after Christian sexual abuses with the disdain with which he goes after Islamic terrorism, and conveniently overlooks the connections between radicalized US Christianity and mass killings by gun and global sexual abuses by the Catholic church.

It's a topical show so he does when it's in the news. Also, mass shootings are a mixed bag...some of the biggest: Pulse, Vegas, Parkland, Newton etc weren't related to Christianity. He does go after Christians and links them to QAnon.

[quote]Everyone else except MAGA types sucked it up, many relatively poor people even losing their jobs, and stayed at home because it was life or death.

Not true. After the boozy Zoomfest got old, people left and right were complaining about staying at home. Pretty much from after the 1st wave until restaurants fully opened NYC news was night-after-night stories of cops breaking up illegal clubs. There was several threads here about the Chelsea gays and neighborhood bars.

I get Bill Maher. I'm a moderate in a swing state so I can completely relate to a lot of what he says. I don't agree with his antivax stance, but I do agree with the comments about wearing a mask to get to your table and then taking it off when you sit down or wearing one outdoors.

[quote][R94] They are both self hating Jews..Maher can deny it all he wants but he is Jewish. I guess its the cool, woke thing to be Jewish but hate them.

Do you even understand what you just wrote? What gibberish. You call them self-hating Jews and then something about it's cool and woke to be Jewish but hate them?

So are you calling these two woke, self-hating Jews?

No, they're not Jewish, they're hardcore Zionists. And you're attempting to conflate the religion of Judaism with the progressive left (or as you say "woke") who no longer buy the narrative or the lies about Israel being this innocent little country. They just killed an 80yo Palestinian who was an American citizen and the media didn't touch it. Have him be killed by any other foreign country and the media would report on it. An American citizen. 80 fucking years old killed and what they did to him was barbaric.

Correction: And you're attempting to conflate the religion of Judaism with Zionism

[quote]They just killed an 80yo Palestinian who was an American citizen and the media didn't touch it.

This guy?

Bill works the deplorable circuit. It is his bread and butter. I think he has to play up the “liberals are just as crazy” thing instead of a nuanced approach that actually differentiates between mainstream liberals and a few vocal wing nuts that many times are not even democrats. He lumps them all together to please his deplorable ticket buyers.

It's not a show for deplorables, it's for libertarian and center left people, and for far left people to hate on.

[quote]It's not a show for deplorables, it's for libertarian and center left people, and for far left people to hate on.

Yup. I'd agree.

Maher hates Christians and he hates Muslims. I'm an atheist and I've got no problem with that. But he looooooooves Jews. He's a hypocrite.

It’s nice to be introduced to this Bari lady but what about the quote?

Doesn’t anybody think it’s alarming?

If even one person could comment on the quote that would be nice.

I always contribute to everyone else’s threads. Am I asking too much?

R144 did Bari Weiss claim that was a real quote or was there some 3rd party confirming it? I don't believe a word Weiss says. She's a rightwing propagandist.

Thank you r145. At least that is something.

It was definitely a quote from the LAPD that told her that they were withdrawing. She says that was her “reporting”.

I’m trying to find the transcripts, so far no dice. or I will transcribe it myself at some point.

If you go to post r100 you can play it back. It’s at 33:50.

If the LAPD are standing down and not responding to acts of crime to prove a point, this is national news and the people of LA need to be on high alert.

I don’t think it’s just the LAPD though. I believe it’s a nationwide stand down in effect.

But right now I just want her to please elaborate on her claims. She actually made headlines in multiple media sources for her other comments about Covid. But not a word about her claims on speaking directly to the LAPD.

Agree with the commenters here. The episode the other night was terrible. He’s like a magician who’s mad because the audience isn’t wowed by the same lame magic tricks he has done over and over. I think the show has run its course.

With cancel culture, the guests come on and have carefully prepared responses, so there isn’t a lot of spontaneity, especially since it’s all against the backboard of the opinions of BM and his pseudo-devil’s advocacy.

I also don’t agree with him giving terrible people a platform. Obviously it’s for ratings, but he uses this supposed journalistic objectivity of presenting both sides by having trolls like Milo, Coulter, or that complicit hag Kellyanne Conway. WTF? None of those people deserve an ounce of credibility or legitimacy.

I’ve watched his show since Politically Incorrect, and his show is the not worth watching anymore. Not funny at all, and sometimes embarrassingly bad. He’s just one more bad media circus act now.

Maher does have a point talking about wokeism but he overdoes it and it winds up being Tucker Carlson 2.0. Wokeism is alienating a lot of moderate Democrats. Hopefully, sticking Trump in there as the standard bearer of the GOP is enough to push them back into the fold. But don't underestimate how much BS about gender non-conforming, pronouns people and good boy college swimmers magically becoming record-breaking girl swimmers is pissing people off.

And as an eldergay, I am absolutely furious when the media talks about how the "LGBTQ" community is being attacked when people like Lia Thomas aren't universally praised. Women's sports have been dominated since the dawn of time by lesbians. Gay men participate in sports successfully. So stick the 'T's in a separate category and don't drag us into their controversies.

R150, the problem with assholes like him (and many DLers) constantly whining about "wokeism" is that he can't actually point to legislation from the left that goes with his hyperbole. And yet he finds time to talk about that shit over and over again and magnify it as if it were a real threat. He ignores the *actual* efforts by the ENTIRE Republican party to take democracy out. Did he talking about DeSantis' bill if he cares so much about silencing people? No, I'm sure he didn't. Does he talk about the very real threat from the right which is where the actual danger to this country lies? No, I'm sure he didn't.

Why is he still on the air?

I have to assume his ratings are pretty good or HBO would fire his lame ass.

Well said. I don’t disagree with his stance that woke extremism is empowering the right. But Bill is obsessed with it and it’s tiring.

I wonder if they might give Jon Stewart Maher's slot on HBO. Though Maher always manages to stir up controversies which I assume HBO equates to relevance and ratings by appearing to be a liberal while constantly attacking liberals.

[quote]"wokeism" is that he can't actually point to legislation from the left that goes with his hyperbole.

Well, "wokeism" is the cancel culture that exists. For example, it's the shutting down of conversations...like trans in women's spaces. Or, redefining things...for example, linking "wokeism" exclusively to legislation when it's way more than that.

When Twitter cancelled JK Rowling for saying people who get pregnant are women, I realized they were out of control. Pure insanity and they're all working to push moderates to vote GOP. THEY are the enemy of Democrats.

Looking was a great series, but appealed to only a narrow demographic of gay viewers. People wanted an series that has more mainstream appeal, something like QAF.

Millennials and Gen Z gays who were raised on TV channels made especially for their demographic in mind didn’t want to watch a show about gays 30ish and older and found it boring. I think incorrect expectations for it led to people being disappointed in what it actually was.

I remember guys saying how they couldn’t watch Looking because they didn’t see themselves in it and therefore couldn’t relate to the characters. Huh? Do some people really only watch movies they can see themselves in?

At least it was a show that wasn’t centered around a trans character, which seems to be the norm for LGBT themed shows these days.

No one knew what "woke" was when Trump ran in 2015. The squad was not there to blame in 2015 when Trump became the GOP nominee. The trans nonsense was not there to blame in 2015.

So when I see people lazily blame "woke" for this or that, they choose to ignore the only reason Trump became the god damned front-runner in the first place. It was when he specifically demonized people simply for what they were - and he did it out loud. And that's where his popularity began. he said the quiet part out loud. Maher can't handle a real debate on his views, that's why he invites on Weiss so many times she's now his co-host.

The Republican party has been a racist, bigoted party for decades. They play on racism, but as usual, they get an out from so-called moderates who take every opportunity to lower the bar to the point that the GOP is looking up TO hell. Karl Rove claimed McCain had a "black kid" to get Dubya the nomination...but tell me again how you get to ignore that ever-present, despicable Republican mindset to whine about "woke."

Again, you can't point to any "woke" bullshit beyond Twitter bullshit or a college hear and there. There is no legislation to make your stupid ass cut off your own dick. There is no legislation forcing you to do anything coming from the left, but you fucking ignore the GOP literally taking rights away from women, taking rights away for voting, taking rights away for teaching certain things. And you think your gay ass won't be next?

R158, JK Rowling is Scottish. The trans who made a career out of suing spas is Canadian. BLM protests started under Obama.

It didn’t start with Trump. Trump was president at a time where these issues came to a head. And in the case of BLM…made a come back due to racist cops.

And nobody is ignoring the GOP’s attempts to deny women the right to abortion or voting rights.

These issues aren’t mutually exclusive. People are capable of hating both.

Oh, and, r158, prior to the word “woke” becoming ubiquitous…it was known as the culture wars.

None of this is new just because it was given a nice, neat word to sum it up.

As an eldergay, I do wonder about people who have pronouns and are 'gender non-conforming' or 'binary' and I wonder if they aren't just insufferable boring assholes who are trying to make themselves seem "special".

R161 they are. It’s trendy cosplay, because they never stick to one thing. As soon as it’s old news, they find a new thing to latch onto.

"Someone used pronouns, so that's enough for me to vote out Dems and let in the people who threw hissy fits and threatened people over masks, tried to kill a governor over mandates, tried to kill MoC because they lost, tried to install a corrupt , orange imbecile, but at least I'll never have to use pronouns again! I'll just have to contend with losing my rights and my job when the GOP gets to rewrite what is considered discrimination and who is actually allowed to even have rights."

The big swing vote for Democrats has been white suburban women. If the GOP loses them for good, they're finished. But a lot of trans activism involves misogyny. We honestly are not attacked like women are. There are no transmen transitioning so they can lose on the boys' team. And trying to claim transwomen = you can't say pregnant women or menstruating women is just ridiculous. People with prostate cancer anyone?

R164, the HYPE around trans issues is what threatens us, not the reality and certainly not the non-existent legislation. Get real. Just because the media or social media covers trans issues like you can't take a piss standing up because you'll offend a transperson, doesn't mean it's actually true. It doesn't affect the actual, every day lives of the avg person in the real world. If your real world is FB or Twitter, then of course you'd be dumb enough to believe it actually affects you.

Whoopi’s had enough of his shit, too.

When in the hell is John Oliver coming back?

Hopefully never.

All true R165 but the Dems are totally outclassed in messaging by the GOP. They're dictating the terms of their idiot culture wars and Dems are too dainty and too afraid of being cancelled on twitter to say it's all bullshit. JK Rowling is as progressive as you can get and yet she got cancelled by nutjob trans and their devoted handmaidens.

[quote]The trans nonsense was not there to blame in 2015.

Is that so?

[quote] Maher hates Christians and he hates Muslims. I'm an atheist and I've got no problem with that. But he looooooooves Jews. He's a hypocrite

Jews have a bunch of nutty Hasids but they don’t have the same kind of fundamentalist component that is behind wars, shootings, suicide bombings, etc. In general they’re (by far) the least religious of all religious groups; a disproportionate number atheists are Jews, in fact (they’re called Jew-atheists, which is basically what Maher is).

[quote] In general they’re (by far) the least religious of all religious groups; a disproportionate number atheists are Jews, in fact (they’re called Jew-atheists, which is basically what Maher is).

That's significantly complicated by the dual cultural and religious identity of "Jewish." Gentiles who are not religious aren't called "nonreligious Christians" or "nonreligious pagans," and Middle Eastern/Arabic people who are not religious aren't called "nonreligious Muslims." There's no conflation of culture or ethnicity with religion except with Jewish people. So it's not exactly comparable.

R170, are you just liking your own bullshit? A GLAMOUR award? That's your justification for Trump in 2015? Now do his birther crap.

This is how pathetic you guys have become. You can't justify your hysterics based on actual legislation. You pass by the neighborhood on fire to point to a single weed in front of a house to bitch about that. Insane.

Why are you so hung up on legislation when it's about cancel culture? You sound ignorant of what's happening.

Maher is a Zionist who cannot justify his support of a nation based on a fairytale, stolen land and the idea that a religious group gets to claim some bullshit about a God these "atheists" don't believe in being a real estate agent. Hypocritical cunt that he is along with every other "atheist" Zionist.

R174, when I refresh for a split second, I see someone I have on ignore. Don't bother responding to my posts, because I won't respond to your bullshit. I haven't put anyone on ignore in a while, so you must be a douchebag going back some time.

[quote]when I refresh for a split second, I see someone I have on ignore.

LOL...no, Toots, just no. This is a laughable lie. You must hit refresh a lot...cause that wasn't the first of my posts you've responded to. 🤣🤣

[quote]Don't bother responding to my posts, because I won't respond to your bullshit.

Fine by me...If you mean it this time. I rather like calling out people's bullshit without having to deal directly with their idiocy. But, understand how DL works, Sweetpea... you tell people not to respond and they're gonna do it regardless...cause you're a twat.

[quote]haven't put anyone on ignore in a while, so you must be a douchebag going back some time.

I find this laughable considering your first lie about refreshing and seeing a post "for a split second". Considering my posts are politically moderate and that upset you....my guess you have an ignore list a mile long.

Anyone who thinks trans issues affect their daily lives more than what the GOP has done and is doing as a whole, has a political form of arrested development.

R178 sadly, that is at least half the country

Bari is married to a girl, she used to be married to a man.

He's a stupid piece of shit who is pushing COVID disinformation/cherry-picked stats that are going to get people killed.

This Bari Weiss episode was his jump the shark moment.

The ER doctor Jeremy Faust — who has written excellent, data-based analysis of the COVID pandemic from the beginning — took Maher and Weiss apart in his latest newsletter.

[quote]Maher and Weiss represent what you might call the Covid Neo-Nihilist movement. These are people who previously took the pandemic seriously but are now giving up on doing anything at all about Covid, not because the crisis is over, but because they’re able to ignore what’s happening in hospitals and other hotspots. With nearly 3,000 Americans dying of Covid-19 daily (whether directly or indirectly), and the healthcare system bursting at the seams from Covid and non-Covid care alike, Covid Neo-Nihilists are failing what amounts to (hopefully) a fourth quarter marshmallow test.

[quote]Weiss main assertion was that our excessive response to Covid will be remembered as a “catastrophic moral crime” because, she contended, it is causing teens to kill themselves. In support of this, she mentioned Flint, Michigan’s recent decision to return to virtual schooling. (For what it’s worth, I’ve written extensively on how closing schools can and should be avoided in many instances.) However, she incorrectly cited a 51% increase in self harm among teen girls during the pandemic as proof of the moral crime of school closures. It’s true that the CDC reported a 50.6% increase in suspected suicide attempts among teen girls from February 2021 to March of 2021. But Weiss conveniently omitted that this increase corresponded to a time when most schools had re-opened. In fact, as we’ve shown in Inside Medicine, suspected suicide attempts in teen girls dropped dramatically during the initial stay-at-home period in early and mid-2020 when schools were closed, returned to normal levels when some schools re-opened in the fall, and reached new highs when a majority schools had finally opened. This comports with decades of data showing that teen suicides increase when school is in session, a troubling pattern.

[quote]Weiss ended the rant saying that “people are killing themselves.” This, frankly, is bullshit. Sadly, people are dying from suicide, just as they always do; but as my colleagues and I reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, US suicide deaths were lower than usual in 2020, and the most recent available data for 2021 suggest no increase, including among children. In sum, Weiss’s attempt to weaponize suicide as evidence of a moral catastrophe around school closures was both misguided and inaccurate on the merits.

Bari is bi? I had no idea. Is she another Milo who uses her sexual identity as a shield for being a horrible person all around?

In a weird way, conservative gay, bi, trans people—Milos, Baris, Caitlyns—represent progress by their identities being mainstream and non-issues to most. But they don't quite represent equality because they can hide behind marginalized status when they say horrible things, or even, as Milo did, convince a community platform like Out magazine that because they are openly gay, their Nazi, misogynist and racist perspectives are totally acceptable and worth promoting.

This may be seen as an odd comparison, but Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin never went off their heads with this insane political fuckery. Why is that?

[quote]The ER doctor Jeremy Faust — who has written excellent, data-based analysis of the COVID pandemic from the beginning — took Maher and Weiss apart in his latest newsletter.

And Bill Maher will never have him on specifically because Maher is a fucking coward. I view Maher viewers the way I do Trump supporters at this point: You really are complete trash or just an asshole.

You're the ones who live in the actual bubble. Those of us outside of it see the glaring hypocrisy of a complete asshole who goes about the "far left" and "woke" and "snowflakes" but he doesn't have the guts to invite on the very people who he actually targets the most.

I haven't watched him in a long time, but i know it's pathetic that he constantly invites on Weiss proving he prefers his echo chamber to being challenged.

who goes off on*

R183 Maher isn't a very funny comedian or a great entertainer without the political antagonism. He sometimes has thoughtful contrarian perspectives others will voice publicly. He failed when he tried to be an actor and he was a middling standup, and he found better response when he got political so he stuck with it.

The problem that came with it IMO is that it emboldened him to think he is and to represent himself as a political strategist and in doing so to influence national politics, yet when he says something stupid he just smirks and says "waddayawant! I'm a comedian, not an expert!" He has his cake and eats it, too.

He is nothing if he doesn't have his script/notes. I recall once there was a much-needed exchange between David Frum and I think Scaramucci who was still in the Trump camp at the time and it was an interesting back/forth in that Frum was finally calling out the Trumpkins for what they had done to the country and Maher couldn't handle it and stopped it from continuing. It was so pathetic.

[quote]and he was a middling standup

He still does standup. He announces where he'll be before he ends the show.

I think he is like Rogan and his podcast—it’s a niche that is also an advert for his touring and keeps him “relevant”. Otherwise he’s just another mediocre comedian.

This thread is a great example of what people mean when they say the left purity tests.

Maher could be an interesting voice against the left's exaggerated fealty to wokedom but he's also an Islamophobe and a misogynist so it isn't like he's some neutral, old-fashioned liberal observer.

[quote]Maher could be an interesting voice against the left's exaggerated fealty to wokedom

The bigger issue is the REACTION to supposed "wokeism" by idiots like him as you witness actual bans on books, right-wing govt overreach and snitch lines against educators created by the right-wing. The enabling, ugly fuck has nothing to say about that. He'd rather whine about left-wing twitter which doesn't actually translate into real world legislation that he's so scared of.

[quote]but he's also an Islamophobe and a misogynist so it isn't like he's some neutral, old-fashioned liberal observer.

Agreed. And I don't give a fuck if he hates anyone, but he's a fucking coward for not having on Muslims to challenge him. He brings on self-loathing ones to agree with him. No one needs to hear from a former fanatic to lecture Muslims who never were fanatics. He'll bring on that Zionist twit Weiss every other episode, but gutless to face the groups he claims are sensitive.

[quote]Agreed. And I don't give a fuck if he hates anyone, but he's a fucking coward for not having on Muslims to challenge him.

Yeah, so, he's no different than Rachel Maddow...who also doesn't bring on people to challenge her. In case you missed it, nobody brings on people that push back in any meaningful way.

What would be the point of having Muslims on? To challenge what?

R194, to challenge his one-sided narrative about them. Do you also believe someone who constantly vilifies gays should go unchallenged or do you just not believe people who have been a constant target of Maher going back years deserve no right to a voice? When in the hell do you ever even see Muslims given a platform in US media? I mean really, that's your response as if they've been given any opportunity to not be treated as some 1D caricature?

Maher was raised Catholic, not Jewish.

[quote]What would be the point of having Muslims on? To challenge what?

Someone is under the impression that these shows are actually debates instead of what they actually are... infotainment.

Maybe the three person panel worked better because it gave Bill more of a role as a moderator and we didn't have to hear him pontificate as much.

Longtime fan here. I am disappointed by a lot of what he has said during Covid but I won't stop watching just because I don't see eye to eye with him on one issue. Isn't that what we're supposed to be against?

[quote] The ER doctor Jeremy Faust — who has written excellent, data-based analysis of the COVID pandemic from the beginning

Thanks for linking to this guy. I don't believe I have heard of him but this newsletter seemed quite reasonable and well thought out. Although what do I know? Someone could link to a column saying the exact opposite and it could seem reasonable and well thought out. It's exhausting trying to sort out who to trust.

r196 Maher always claims he was raised Catholic... by his Jewish mother.

Maher's perceived religion isn't the issue. It's the fact he's yet another hardcore Zionist Atheist and that makes him such a huge fucking asshole and a glaring hypocrite like all the rest of them. They have no justification for defending the very existence of Israel, let alone its brutality, but that douchebag does it every s time and sound like a prick doing it, too. If he said the same shit about blacks or Jews that he does about Palestinians, he wouldn't even have a show.

R200. That’s the problem with the Internet—it’s choose your own adventure, facts edition. People end up aligning themselves with what they believe or the celebrity, opinion, or political or religious affiliations they prefer. Most people don’t have the time or interest to critical thinking skills to discern truth from facts. It’s easier to get behind some cause or ideology than to think for yourself. The author of The Death of Expertise is spot on.

I can see why people think like this. I live in an area where about 80% of the population is vaccinated, but our Omicron wave, which is just hitting, promises to strain our healthcare system more than any other waves. People went out and got vaccinated, wore masks, canceled holiday plans and travel, and the waves keep coming. I got boosted regardless, but I know people are feeling a bit burned in addition to fatigued.

I saw a similar attitude in the 90s with HIV and safe sex. People were very careful for many years, thinking a vaccine would be just around the corner. But many got “condom fatigue”, and as treatment improved, they got more careless and ended up HIV positive. If they had just been patient and waited until Truvada, they would have been in a better position, since HIV meds are hard on your body, have side effects and are expensive.

I always had a lot of sex but I was careful. I always assumed I had it or my partner had it to minimize risk, so I always used a condom, even when a partner said he trusted me.

I find it interesting that at mid life I have to deal with this scenario again, but I’m seeing many of the same rationalizations for giving up. Ultimately it’s not an all or nothing equation. You can still take precautions and enjoy life, and if you decide not to, you simply have to deal with the consequences.

R203.. well done! I highly recommend everyone to read Tom Nichols book "the death of expertise"!...

Serious question for everyone: What percentage of Americans do you think even KNOW what critical thinking is? Much less use it. What percentage of Americans have never even HEARD of the words critical thinking?

Oh no someone toed slightly outside the line of the Progresive Woke Doctrine of 2022 and dared to say (MARY!!!!) he would not get a booster. Let's badmouth him into oblivion and forget every good thing he has said for decades!!

You all are a joke. Look at your lives and your choices.

R204 because of its increased transmissibility the omicron wave is much bigger, yet vaccination is a huge reason why it’s generally much milder, and is still the best way to prevent hospitalisation and death.

Agreed, Tom Nichols’ “Death of Expertise” is an ESSENTIAL read, now more than ever.

I can understand that, R209, but a lot of people can’t.

Isn’t Bari Weiss the one who demanded that a professor be fired for being anti-Zonist? lol.

[quote] I saw a similar attitude in the 90s with HIV and safe sex. People were very careful for many years, thinking a vaccine would be just around the corner. But many got “condom fatigue”, and as treatment improved, they got more careless and ended up HIV positive. If they had just been patient and waited until Truvada, they would have been in a better position, since HIV meds are hard on your body, have side effects and are expensive.

It took two decades to get PrEP, hon.

[quote] If he said the same shit about blacks or Jews that he does about Palestinians, he wouldn't even have a show.

You do remember him saying that he was a house nigger, right?

[quote] Bari is bi? I had no idea.

Kate McKinnon is here ex-girlfriend.

[quote]When in the hell do you ever even see Muslims given a platform in US media?

Why on earth would we want this? We want more religious fanatics?

It’s like having Pat Robertson to talk about gay rights. The Muslim would just get boo’d. It’d be pointless, stupid, and boring.

I watched the video at my post in R216–the Muslim said that being against gay marriage or gay parents was not homophobia because it doesn’t incite violence against gays, then why do Muslims commit so many gay bashings in Britain? I wish Pierce Morgan asked this.

Bill is the ultimate I say tomato , you say tomatoh kind of creature. He's contrary to be contrary. He still thinks he's protesting at Kent State, so to speak. It's just his shtick, darlings.

This is a good podcast

I just hope it's better tonight. Last week just seemed so tired and lazy, a by the numbers scolding, with Bari Weiss there to be the usual anti-woke sounding board. Of course, as someone mentioned upthread, she has her own history of trying to cancel anti-Zionists. Might have made an interesting moment if Bill had asked about that, but of course he never would.

And New Rules was just lazy and stupid, with the longest, most tiresome gay joke about wouldn't it be hilarious if Biden and Obama gay married, tee hee.

Just hope everyone was phoning it in after a long break and this week they're actually trying.

Real Time is the Fisher Price version of “political discussion”.

One thing that's not often mentioned is that Maher is ugly as fuck.

It’s been a week and still nothing about the LAPD quote.

You would think this would be news. WTF?

Does anybody follow Bari on twitter? Can we get some answers about the LAPD quote?

I guess we all have to be the newspaper now since they’ve all gone to private equity. The LA Times is mute.

What would you challenge Rachel on, r193?

Take your pick...

But that's the thing r216. He's willing to bring on some Christian fanatics, like Ralph Reed, and actually treat him well. But when it comes to Muslims, and especially when it comes to Israel, only one opinion is allowed: Israel is always right and no Muslim has any legitimate complaints about anything.

For a lapsed Catholic, Maher sure sounds like a New Jersey Jew.

I suspect Maher has Broken-dick-syndrome. He's having issues getting things repaired and back working to his satisfaction. Has anyone here ever taken a look at the trash he dates? These ladies expect working parts. When a guy's dick breaks it's tough facing facts. The mind temporarily goes out of whack until he is able to properly deal, or worse, accept the idea his junk don't work no mo. He gets overly curmudgeonly and snarked up. Maybe smokes a bit too much weed. We need to give the poor boy some time to adjust. Be gentle with Mr. Broke Dick.

Contrast to Cucker Tarlson:

This show exists for confirmation bias for Maher types only. Same as Tucker Carlson and his deplorables.

His mom was not a practicing jew and his father quit the church when the bill was 13. the reason he is pro-Israel and anti-Muslim is that Muslims are crazy. Jews are not so crazy. I am not pro Israel but I am anti-muslim because of the way they treat women and they hate us.

Then Bill needs to occasionally criticize Orthodox Jews who treat women just like fundie Muslims do. Hell, even Larry David has ripped Orthodox Jews several new ones.

R232 So you're saying that all Muslims are crazy.

That makes you sound crazy.

Oh R234. You think all Christians are crazy. Enough.

I think all religions are crazy. Even religious jews.

He's going the joe monkey ape face rogan route.

I'll opt out this week because last week was so annoying, but I'll take a leap and predict about 35 percent of his remarks will be opposing wokeism and cancel culture, 15 percent will be railing against COVID-19 public health regulations, 10 percent will be insinuating COVID is not dangerous at all anymore, 5-10 percent will be jokes about Trump and his cronies, 5-10 percent will be references to his cool, edgy cannabis addiction, and there'll be at least one obligatory mention of the Playboy Mansion, circa his glory days four decades ago.

[quote] the reason he is pro-Israel and anti-Muslim is that Muslims are crazy.

No, he's a dick like you are. There is nothing remotely normal or logical about anyone who says that almost two billions people are crazy. You thinking that is what is truly crazy. What an abnormal brain you have.

You're saying a population of humans over 4x the size of the US, spanning countless countries all think alike. You, Maher and a lot of DLers are just bigoted idiots. There's no other way to describe you. Fucking deranged.

billion*

R239 Religious nuts are crazy....

R241, yes, religious NUTS are crazy, but not crazier than believing that someone simply being of a certain race, religion, etc means they are automatically some fanatic. I live in an area of Brooklyn with a huge Muslim population. They've been living here for generations. A lot of them are hard-working, well-off and educated. WTF is wrong with some of you that you think in such gross terms about entire groups of people?

Bill Maher does in fact sound practically like a Klan member when he talks about them.

Muslims are the people that throw gays off buildings, why are you defending them.. They hate gays.

R243 Some Muslim people in the Middle East throw people off buildings.

Some Christian people in the US go to funerals of people who die from AIDS and scream "God hates fags!" at their grieving families.

Some gay Muslim people get married in Western countries.

Some Mormon people in the U.S. are excommunicated and immediately turned out into the world and shunned forever by their families.

Some Christians in Delaware stone gay men to death and tell police the Old Testament told them to do it.

Yes, the Middle East is backward, but not all Muslim people are murderers or hate gay people, and a hell of a lot of Christians hate and harm gay people in our own English-speaking countries.

[quote] John Joe Thomas, 28, of Sunshine Road in Upper Darby, spent almost every day with 70-year-old Murray Seidman at Seidman’s Lansdowne home, police say. Days before Seidman’s body was found on Jan. 12, Thomas allegedly beat Seidman to death with a sock full of rocks. Thomas told authorities that he read in the Old Testament that gays should be stoned to death. When Seidman allegedly made sexual advances toward him over a period of time, Thomas said he received a message in his prayers that he must end Seidman’s life, according to court documents.

One of my father's uncles was beaten nearly to death by a marine in North Carolina because he was gay, which of course was sinful to the good Christians down there. He was in the hospital for two or three weeks and then sent home, where he killed himself.

Bill Maher got red pilled. This is like a bizzaro version of him.

Clips from just a couple of years ago show a completely different person.

He is also spiting the anti-NATO talking points. He’s pulled a total flip job.

Bill Maher Fires Back At Those Who Say His Politics Have Changed, Blames Looney Left Policies:

I think Christians are crazy too. if you believe in a magical sky daddy you are probably crazy. Maybe not crazy just stupid.

His interview with the former ACLU President is very important to watch. WATCH.

The ACLU is another org taken over by trans identity.

Lol, at the poor soul trying to convince us islam which hates us and wants us all dead is not so bad. Fuck off.

I don't watch Faux news at all but I can see the attraction people have to it after watching Bill the past two episodes. It's very tempting to get on the "let's stop worrying about Covid" bandwagon because he and his guests sound very convincing and firm in their opinions.

What’s with the fake applause on his last two shows? It’s the same voices so either the audience members who were hooting and hollering last week are there again or they have boosters in the audience. Those applause were very inauthentic and artificial. Not sure if Bill is even aware. Those are frat boy types that never used to be in his audience.

Remember all the episodes where he couldn’t even get his audience to clap? This is going back years.

Now all of the sudden there is this full throated applause and whistles for every joke.

Not buying it.

Damn, another really bad and useless episode. Shit, I still deep down like him and like this show, but he needs to get his shit together and stop being such a dull witted show host. Same shit, different week seems to be his motto right now. Not one real laugh. Not one real point, not even a provocative point I could be mad about but actually think about. Just dull, stupid, by the number Realtime.

Actually, no, I will admit I liked the interview with Ira Glasser at the beginning. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on the current ACLU, but that was all him, and really Maher may as well have been a potted plant there as well.

[quote]I think all religions are crazy. Even religious jews.

But not Muslims.

Most of the world is religious. It may be false, actually most have to be false by definition, because religions all argue with each other about THE TRUTH. But still, most people have some religion.

If you find yourself saying that the vast majority of the world is crazy, you need to reevaluate your definition of crazy.

Bill used to be a trailblazer and now he is a follower, picking at the crumbs that Dave Chapelle and Joe Rogan are dropping. They have stolen his lane. And he is scrambling to out un-PC them.

He should innovate and take a new lane or reclaim his previous one.

More and more moderate and sane democrats and old school liberals are saying the same thing. "I don't want to leave the party, but the party is leaving me." Stop the Bernies and the progressives from trying to take over our party. And learn how to take a joke.

The ones pressuring Biden to pick a black woman for the supreme court are all hard left.

What exactly do you object to in what is actually happening in Congress, r259? Honestly, be specific. Don't just throw out some bullshit about AOC makes me mad cause she's so young and lefty. What actual policies of the Biden Administration or the bills being pushed by Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer upset you? And are they actually being done by "crazy leftists" or are they the mainstream views of the Democratic Party since FDR and LBJ?

And yes, Biden did make a pledge to appoint a Black woman, the way Reagan made a pledge to appoint a woman. This happens. It's always a huge and stupid fake trauma pumped up by bullshit artists, but it happens a lot. Worse was when Trump pledged to outsource his appointments to a wingnut outfit of far right lawyers.

A woman, not of a specific race.

R261, I think Biden is doing a great job. Pelosi continues to do a great job. The Senate is the Senate. Maybe you should read my post again. I said Bernie and the Progressives (not a band name), I mentioned no one else.

R264, he just reacts. He doesn’t read.

[quote]A woman, not of a specific race.

A woman because there were no women on the court - and it was a given that it would be a white woman, so Reagan didn't need to specify.

Oh, I see. ^.

He should have just said a white woman.

This has nothing to do with the supreme court and everything to do with continuing to whip rural, non college educated people into an absolute frenzy.

We need to take our rural spaces and their cousins back from Fox News. These people were the salt of the earth, and before Trump, had gotten over a lot of the racism that flared up in the 60s. After the civil rights act passed, things were improving. Rural people were decent people, at least in public I watched the whole thing go down from Rush to Fox to what we have today. They have turned these people into animals.

manny @mannyfidel one thing I'm confused about the bill maher/bari weiss types and their complaints about COVID "restrictions"... what restrictions? i've been in bars, restaurants, planes, trains, all in jan. businesses are being cautious sure, but they're open. what are these people mad about

[quote] What’s with the fake applause on his last two shows? It’s the same voices so either the audience members who were hooting and hollering last week are there again or they have boosters in the audience.

That's always been noticeable on his HBO show. It drives me crazy and I have actually turned episodes off because there's one woman with a distinctive shrieking laugh who goes "AAAAAAHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA!" when he makes lame jokes. It's totally forced and I suspect it's actually 'sweetening' recordings and not his crew on set faking the laughs because that woman's pattern of laughing and her pitch are always the same.

I have hearing damage in my left ear and it is extremely sensitive to certain pitches. That one just cuts right through me.

[quote] Most of the world is religious. It may be false, actually most have to be false by definition, because religions all argue with each other about THE TRUTH. But still, most people have some religion. If you find yourself saying that the vast majority of the world is crazy, you need to reevaluate your definition of crazy.

I was raised without religion and I have never been to any kind of house of worship except for weddings and funerals.

In college, I took a class on Buddhist art and architecture and I found the philosophies and how they affected arts and culture fascinating. Then I studied Paradise Lost at Cambridge and had to read Genesis and research angels, demons and various deities and religious philosophies. It was peculiar to me and intriguing.

Since then, I've read a hell of a lot about both Buddhism and early Christian sects, as well as Jewish mysticism, Gnosticism and various shamanic beliefs systems and practices, along with ancient European pagan mythologies.

I love all that stuff. It has influenced my life and my worldview, and I don't believe in any giant humans in the sky molding the daily lives of human beings with clay or with clouds.

I respect religious philosophies and traditions. The philosophies almost universally agree on the golden rule when it comes down to it. And the traditions are meaningful to individuals, families, communities and cultures. I respect that and that is part of my life. I celebrate decidedly secular Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and we all have hallmark holidays that make us feel differently connected to the world on those days.

I break down religions into three categories: spiritual philosophy, which excites me to read about; myths, which I find interesting and often deeply incisive about how we think and behave, and how cruel and unfair and nonsensical life really is; and dogma, which I generally ignore and find corruptive and valueless.

Maher seems to equate religion solely with their damaging dogmas (understandably so), and he uses that focuses to mock their traditions and their myths and spiritual philosophies, and as a 'spiritual seeker' who has zero religious practice or community, I find that kind of offensive and I think that kind of reductiveness is insulting enough that it only causes greater friction with religious communities.

I know people who actively belong to Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim faith communities and are not hateful at all. And I know all those orders breed hatred among some of their participants and perpetrate disturbing abuses. There's no monolithic religious practice that warrants hating all people who practice religions.

Seeming tokenism is a valid approach in courts. Judges have the power to determine whether people are free to live their lives, locked up or potentially killed.

That Stanford swimmer who raped a girl next to a dumpster was let off by an old white male judge who said 'give the kid a chance.'

Judges are kinder to people from their own communities or who resemble them or the people they care about. No one is un-biased.

The US Supreme Court is supposed to represent all people in the country. It should include representatives who reflect all people in the country and who understand how they are treated in their day to day lives because that does factor into how they behave and how they make decisions, and intention matters in law.

The SCOTUS is overwhelmingly male and it is overwhelmingly Catholic. Catholics, despite being from a cult so large and influential that we don't regard it as a cult, are heavily indoctrinated by their cults, and anyone who remains a Catholic chuch participant today has willingly determined to look the other way in the face of authorities abusing their powers to rape and emotionally torment children. Anyone who belongs to the Catholic church enables these abuses to go on and necessarily acquits themselves of their complicity. The majority of our Supreme Court justices are these people.

So yes, we need people from different walks of life on the court, and that includes gay people, Asian people, and for God's sake, people who went to universities other than Harvard, Yale and Notre Dame.

The SCOTUS is an oligarchy of corrupt higher education institutions and one corrupt, abusive religious organization.

I DVR'd yesterday's episode because I wanted to hear Fiona Hill's views on Ukraine. Instead, Maher was whining about COVID restrictions most of the time. Such a whiny little bitch.

yup, that too r274. Fiona Hill completely wasted on that episode. Jesus Christ, Bill Maher, give a fuck once in awhile. Don't invite on an expert in something and then dick around about everything except that subject.

He probably 'dicked around' and avoided the topic of her expertise and experience because he doesn't agree with her but didn't want to argue with her because he respects her. Just a guess. He can be confrontational when he doesn't respect people, but I think everyone half decent respects Fiona Hill.

Yes, I'm sure Fiona this week, like Ritchie Torres last week, was wondering why she bothered.

Why doesn't the stupid fucker Maher talk about how the GOP has politicized the Supreme Court? How about discussing the damage to women's reproductive rights with the attacks on Roe vs Wade? How about what the right is doing to prevent people of color from voting? Instead the douche bag talks about the Democrats and Covid. He can fuck off and die.

Personally the "progressives" are doing things I agree with but they are being shot down by 2 members of their own party who are being paid lots of corporate money to thwart any popular aspects of BBB. It's the book banning on the right and GOP looney tunes like Death Santis and his Public Health head in Florida. Why doesn't bill talk about the religious right that are running and ruining this country? He 's a jerk off and egotistical dead weight.

[quote] I have hearing damage in my left ear and it is extremely sensitive to certain pitches. That one just cuts right through me.

Mary!

Maher doesn't have their political bent but he is kinda like BernieBros. They only trash Democrats, never Republicans.

[quote]Yes, I'm sure Fiona this week, like Ritchie Torres last week, was wondering why she bothered.

Clearly you didn't see the episode.

What R269 said. 👍🏼

Jeez you guys, there's a reason his show used to be called 'Politically Incorrect'.

[quote] Maher doesn't have their political bent but he is kinda like BernieBros. They only trash Democrats, never Republicans.

Absolutely incorrect. And this isn't a matter of opinion. He most certainly does trash Republicans.

He is NOT trying to improve the political landscape of the country; however, he IS trying to sell tickets to his live shows.

[quote]Absolutely incorrect. And this isn't a matter of opinion. He most certainly does trash Republicans.

There are people on here on just want to live in an echo chamber. Basically, they want a Democratic Version of Fox News.

R286 They should turn to CNN.