|
Star Man posted:There's another problem with being a conservative comic. Being conservative also means holding back. So if you're conservative with your comedy, it's likely going to be very mediocre and have nothing noteworthy to say or any edge or bite to it. I'm sorry, the  is he's not a comedian. He wasn't being funny deliberately. Neither was he in these albums:   And despite the nazi-ish looking photos, he's rather milquetoast-ish in his speeches. I only bring him up because he's a 1950s predecessor to our current dittoheads, really. He was a career speaker at corporate banquets, on the payroll of GM and Alexander Hamilton Insurance Co. And unlike our current dittoheads, the virtue of moderation worked to his advantage. His claiming Jesus was the greatest salesman of all time was the one point I felt his good judgement slipped a bit. ED: And also, these photos. They would give the impression he's another Joe McCarthy or something, but he sounds more like James Stewart. 
SnakePlissken fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 21, 2014 |
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 17:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:21 |
|
|
Tatum Girlparts posted:
I think his breakdown is it's ridiculous to be zionist for religious reasons but ok if you're pro-Israel because you're anti-muslim. I could be wrong. I agree that the panel exchanges on his show have actual value, and I think Maher sincerely believes in open discourse. But I'm not going to bother defending his personal beliefs, many of which do appear fairly horrible.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 17:33
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I think his breakdown is it's ridiculous to be zionist for religious reasons but ok if you're pro-Israel because you're anti-muslim. I could be wrong. That pretty much sums up my opinion of the man. He has some fairly harebrained opinions about things (food, vaccines, Israel and Islam to name four) and yeah, he tries a bit TOO hard to do the "I'm still a comedian!" stuff on his show even though he's really now just a pundit who USED to be a comedian (like the Bizarro Dennis Miller, who is also no longer funny post 9/11) and yeah, the mid-show comedic bits are usually awful but I still always watch his show because as others pointed out, the panel stuff, with the right guests, is gold. Plus, as mentioned, he does give voice to people writing about the dirty games the US is playing overseas, the prison industrial complex, the worsening environmental situation and etc so there's value to the show, even if Bill himself frequently puts his foot in his mouth.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 17:41
|
|
|
I agree on the guests, though he has a shitload of hack pundits on and it's getting worse. Also, PJ O'Rourke. The man loves PJ O'Rourke, he's on every season and just babbles on humorlessly. It is the only place I'll ever see Jeremy Scahill sitting at a table with Chuck Todd, slamming him. Taibbi's big enough that he gets to make fools out of people on normal TV. The show just needs less Bill Maher. Also, I have no idea if his standup is any good, but he tours pretty constantly. He's definitely still working it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 18:15
|
|
|
Pander posted:I personally don't get a flu shot Get your flu shot.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 18:31
|
|
|
Silver Nitrate posted:Get your flu shot. Actually yeah it's really important to get a flu shot this year. H1N1 is the predominant strain. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/health/flu-hits-young-people/
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 18:36
|
|
|
I used to have that 'get the flu from the flu shot' problem. Started taking them again three years ago, not had a problem with the newer ones.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 18:44
|
|
|
Anyone feel like explaining why Maher's view of Muslims is so horrible? I have watched a few seasons of Real Time and all he really seems to believe is that modern Muslims commit considerably more religious-based violence than any other religion. How is that not demonstrably true? It is not a global condemnation of Islam, it is just a condemnation of Islamic radicalism which seems to either be more prevalent or more extreme than other religious radicalism, which is likely due to many predominantly Muslim countries being politically volatile. He is not saying they are violent because they are Muslim, just that they happen to be violent and Muslim and that it us okay to acknowledge that. At least so far as I've seen. And I recall an episode where they got into it and the main counter to his argument was The Crusades, which is absurd, or abortion clinic bombings, which are extremely rare. I mean I think he's a shithead on a lot of things, but his entire stance on Islam seems to be more rational and evidence based than the non-stop "Islam is inherently a violent religion and inferior to Christianity" team cheerleading bullshit I hear from conservatives but I feel they get lumped together.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:11
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:He is not saying they are violent because they are Muslim He does. I'm sorry I don't have a specific example but I listen to the podcast/audio-only version of his show and he most definitely does not separate normal and radical islam the way you're describing. His show and the discussions they have are juuuuuuust long enough for people to stumble over the incorrect angles on why Bill Maher is wrong about his view of Muslims, which he has perfectly fine answers for, but the actual problem is that he still thinks Islam itself is the source that causes radicalism and all our other Muslim flavored problems. He also thinks plenty of other religions are bad in the same way obviously but he doesn't spend 1/4th of the time thinking about or talking about them because no one really cares about that. In short I think the problem is that Bill Maher wants everyone to admit that all religions and people involved with them are, at their core if not 24/7/365, evil and he views portions of Islamophobia as advancing that idea. Intel&Sebastian fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:21
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:Anyone feel like explaining why Maher's view of Muslims is so horrible? I have watched a few seasons of Real Time and all he really seems to believe is that modern Muslims commit considerably more religious-based violence than any other religion. How is that not demonstrably true? It is not a global condemnation of Islam, it is just a condemnation of Islamic radicalism which seems to either be more prevalent or more extreme than other religious radicalism, which is likely due to many predominantly Muslim countries being politically volatile. He is not saying they are violent because they are Muslim, just that they happen to be violent and Muslim and that it us okay to acknowledge that. At least so far as I've seen. He either fails or refuses to read between the lines when it comes to Islamic extremism. Why are Islamic extremists so numerous and so prolific? Dick Dorkins and other New Atheists often respond that the reason is that Islamic countries are simply more barbaric than us by virtue of being more religious and if we could only lay down The Science hard enough on them such feelings would go away. They give no thought to colonialism in both its traditional or current forms, or the fact that most forms of Islamic fundamentalism are relatively new and largely a response to what is perceived to be the intrusion of western culture on their way of life (see Sayyid Qutb or the rise of Salafism).
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:24
|
|
|
^^^That viewpoint is asinine, but that's Dick Dorkins and we are talking about Maher specifically. I also listen to the audio only version (not sure why it's relevant) and I feel like I've specifically listened for him to say something like that and I can't recall ever hearing it happen. If someone has a link to him unambiguously saying Islam is violent I'd be interested to see it. mr. mephistopheles fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:25
|
|
|
I think most religions promote violence and hatred and islam is just doing a better job for the time being. Christians will catch up soon I'm sure, they held the title for so long it would have been unfair to never let another religion murder the most people in a given year.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:28
|
|
|
WoodrowSkillson posted:I think most religions promote violence and hatred and islam is just doing a better job for the time being. Christians will catch up soon I'm sure, they held the title for so long it would have been unfair to never let another religion murder the most people in a given year. Look, they've got a lot of catching up to do to match the 1618-1648 seasons. I'm not saying they're not good at killing I'm just saying none of this is Hall of Fame material here. Edit: Constantine; Greatest of All Time?
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:30
|
|
|
Most of the people who "get the flu" from the dead- or weakened- virus vaccine are just experiencing the innate immune system response. When the immune system recognizes a pathogen it begins antibody manufacture, but that takes time. In the meanwhile the body has a "standard red alert" sort of thing that includes slight fever, aches, and other "flu-like" symptoms to sort of shore up a beachhead so the infection doesn't get too established before antibody response can kick in. Your immune system has no way of knowing that there's no real danger of infection taking hold from a dead or weakened pathogen, so it goes to battlestations anyway. It lasts a couple days until the body realizes it isn't really sick. Of course some people who get vaccinated do get the flu anyway, either because they were infected before being vaccinated and just hadn't broken out in symptoms yet or because the vaccine isn't 100% proof due to the sheer variety of flu strains. This plus the above innate reaction makes people think they get sick because of the vaccine because the human brain is poo poo when it comes to correlation vs causation. Get your loving flu vaccine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:30
|
|
|
I found a quote by Maher through googling calling Mohammed a warrior and Islam being more otherizing than Christianity.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:32
|
|
|
There's some weird belief by those people that if you removed religion, there would be no wars. Their reasoning? "WELL RELIGION HAS CAUSED EVERY WAR". I think they seem to underrate mankind's ability to find petty poo poo to start wars over. It always seem to stem from someone having a lovely experience in a church, and then becoming a very bitter person.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:53
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:Anyone feel like explaining why Maher's view of Muslims is so horrible? I have watched a few seasons of Real Time and all he really seems to believe is that modern Muslims commit considerably more religious-based violence than any other religion. How is that not demonstrably true? It is not a global condemnation of Islam, it is just a condemnation of Islamic radicalism which seems to either be more prevalent or more extreme than other religious radicalism, which is likely due to many predominantly Muslim countries being politically volatile. He is not saying they are violent because they are Muslim, just that they happen to be violent and Muslim and that it us okay to acknowledge that. At least so far as I've seen. It's not so easy as to categorize it as simple bigotry. He excuses repugnant US policies of drone strikes and needless wars and NSA surveillance, etc just to deal with the "Muslim threat" or as he puts it, "There are actually lots of bad guys out there." It's an idiotic opinion in my book but that's me. VH4Ever fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 19:58
|
|
|
I don't watch Maher's show very often, but it did strike me that he seemed to single out Islam for a lot more than its "fair share" of abuse in Religulous.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 20:00
|
|
|
mr. mephistopheles posted:Anyone feel like explaining why Maher's view of Muslims is so horrible? I have watched a few seasons of Real Time and all he really seems to believe is that modern Muslims commit considerably more religious-based violence than any other religion. How is that not demonstrably true? It is not a global condemnation of Islam, it is just a condemnation of Islamic radicalism which seems to either be more prevalent or more extreme than other religious radicalism, which is likely due to many predominantly Muslim countries being politically volatile. He is not saying they are violent because they are Muslim, just that they happen to be violent and Muslim and that it us okay to acknowledge that. At least so far as I've seen. How often does he mention, say, Israeli defense officials talking about Palestine tempting 'G-d's wrath' by, ya know, existing? It's almost like he focuses one ONE religious aspect of the conflicts, and ignores the others... edit: Also the 'and it's ok to acknowledge that' is such trash. He plays a victim when he does that, oh boo hoo the PC police are stomping on me just pointing something true out. Like, there's no one stopping people from reporting bad things Muslim nations do, so that argument is only invoked when he wants to chortle about the savage ragheads being so stupid and savage and not when he wants to, you know, report on events. sexpig by night fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 20:39
|
|
|
I'm breaking down my anonymity a little bit here, but I want to share this: I actually know this person in real life and know her family very well. She is a caring person. There is a dimension of fame associated with her ideas. I mean, her horrible facebook posts and network feed off each other, they seem to believe they are a sort of underground American protection force, spreading the word on islam. I think she was flown out to do the show. This was about 2 years ago, things on her facebook have toned down the anti-Muslim stuff and taken a more anti obamacare flavour recently. Watch "Do You Believe You Can Be a Good American?" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K34NG2VR7dA&feature=youtube_gdata_player Edit: clip is from Anderson Cooper's daytime show. Example of what bad information and the insulated teafrasphere can do to a person. Infomaniac fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 20:40
|
|
|
pangstrom posted:He's like a 3 on a 1-10 scale of anti-vaxxer, he is overly pro-Israel, he says THOSE middle-eastern countries are backwards in a lot of ways (I basically agree with this even though it's an unsavory issue to be passionate about), and he's probably overcompensating with the women he couldn't get in high school in a semi-creepy way. This concludes my report on what I find lacking in Bill Maher. Still like him. I agree, but what's this I hear about him trying to downplay the Christie scandal like it's nothing? I haven't seen his show recently but if that's true, what the hell Bill?
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 20:41
|
|
|
FuzzySkinner posted:There's some weird belief by those people that if you removed religion, there would be no wars. The angriest atheists I've ever met (in real life) were raised very nominally religious, if at all. What tends to make them really angry about it is the fact many of them just don't get why people would be drawn to religion in the first place, thus making it easier to dismiss all religious people as stupid. At least, this was my mindset when I was a teenager.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 21:27
|
|
|
beatlegs posted:I agree, but what's this I hear about him trying to downplay the Christie scandal like it's nothing? I haven't seen his show recently but if that's true, what the hell Bill?
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 22:08
|
|
|
My Q-Face posted:He's also peaked. Like everyone else on that list.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 22:12
|
|
|
ReindeerF posted:Yeah, his material is really the worst part of the show - especially the bit they do about a quarter of the way through where they have the mocked up posters or book covers or whatever. God those are all like hand-over-your-eyes-groaning unfunny. I tune in for the guests mostly, though I never know whether he's going to drag the interview or panel in some crazy direction. This is getting pretty close to the show being good in spite of Bill Maher. How many of the guests are there because of Maher? I'm sure a show with that much production has a staff to do the research and the phone calls to fill out the panel. HBO can go out on a limb with more radical guests because they don't have to worry about backlash from sensitive advertisers. Would the show still work if they replaced Maher with some other comedian that keeps current on politics?
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 22:39
|
|
|
Today Limbaugh brought up a very popular freeper talking point on-air quote:RUSH: If I may get solemn and serious, as this requires, there is shocking news out of New York. I don't know how shocking it is, but it's really bad, and it's Cybercast news service, but the actual source of this is the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. So this is a city source: "In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion (31,328) in New York City than were born there (24,758)..."
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 22:39
|
|
|
One of the funniest parts of the GOP finally looping in on itself and believing this sort of horseshit that used to be wink-wink-red-meat is how they are genuinely baffled at the fact that black people support the party that treats them like human beings, would like to see them vote, and advocates on their behalf in real ways...rather than reading some Ron Paul newsletter about the abortioncaust and swearing allegiance to the party of Strom Thurmond. Well this is all the evidence I, a rich as gently caress white man, needed to understand that there's a secret plan to kill all black people (but also be as nice as possible to them in every other way) by Democrats. WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM!!?!?!
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 22:52
|
|
|
kik2dagroin posted:Today Limbaugh brought up a very popular freeper talking point on-air Wow, Rush is channeling parody Chuck Asay levels of crazy here:  (by crowfeathers) Mercury_Storm fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 23:49
|
|
|
Dr. Faustus posted:No no no, I just saw that show and it was an off-the-cuff joke about roadblocks to something like legislation and he paused to say, "like maybe Christie will put some cones out" and that was it. It was a completely throwaway line for a laugh (which it got) and they never visited the actual topic. Here's the article I saw: quote:Bill Maher is launching his own personal protest against MSNBC's wall-to-wall coverage of the George Washington Bridge scandal.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 23:55
|
|
|
Probably not the best idea to be quoting Bill's monologues as punditry but if we're gonna play that game he's also quoted at the end of that article from his show where he said Chris Christie is "toast" and won't be sniffing the presidency anytime soon (complete with at least 4 fat jokes). They might be fixated on it like a Benghazi but even Maher acknowledges it's a real scandal.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 00:17
|
|
|
I have to say, I'm 100% on Bill's side on that issue. Seeing Rachel Maddow breathlessly cover the bridge "scandal" EVERY SINGLE loving NIGHT on her show, even going so far as to make sure she tells viewers "...and MORE on the Ft Lee scandal!" after mentioning far more important things like the chaos in Ukraine, or Venezuela or whatever else, as if it DESERVES to be a story of equal weight and importance, has ruined any notion I had of her, or MSNBC, being any more than knee-jerk hack opposites of Fox News. This has actually driven a wedge between me and a friend of mine who usually agree on most political issues. Memo to MSBNC: no one not living on the Hudson River gives even ONE poo poo about the Ft Lee "scandal," let alone TWO shits. It doesn't matter. So it probably ruined Christie's chances of a run in 2016. That's the end of the story. Flogging it like this, to me, ENTITLES Fox News to call you out for being just as bad, or at least in the same ballpark, as they are. I would agree that Fox's sins are way more numerous but MSNBC has made clear what direction they have chosen as a network with their coverage of the events in Ft Lee. EDIT: To give someone credit though, at least Chris Hayes has moved onto covering things OTHER than Chris Christie and Ft Lee. EDIT2: to clarify my "Maher is a pundit, not a comic" comments...yes Maher still does comedy SHOWS...meaning he gets on stage and tells "jokes" and releases comedy specials to DVD, but the "jokes" have long since become basically political "observations" of his written AS jokes, really akin to just longer (and still unfunny) versions of his monologue jokes from Real Time. Just my opinion but there it is. VH4Ever fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Feb 22, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 00:51
|
|
|
kik2dagroin posted:Today Limbaugh brought up a very popular freeper talking point on-air Speaking of Sanger, what's the truth behind some of the crazier quotes I see attributed to her? Are they taken out of context? Here's an example from "Plan for Peace" of what I'm asking about : " [We should] apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring." I know she was a greater fighter for woman rights and started planned parenthood. Is this a smear campaign, or did some crazier thoughts creep into her writings occasionally?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 00:54
|
|
|
Eugenics was a widespread and popular idea (it does have a rational appeal) - but the Nazi application of it in the years since has made it verboten. Really no different than many Founding Fathers being slave owners - it was a different time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 00:58
|
|
|
VH4Ever posted:I have to say, I'm 100% on Bill's side on that issue. Seeing Rachel Maddow breathlessly cover the bridge "scandal" EVERY SINGLE loving NIGHT on her show, even going so far as to make sure she tells viewers "...and MORE on the Ft Lee scandal!" after mentioning far more important things like the chaos in Ukraine, or Venezuela or whatever else, as if it DESERVES to be a story of equal weight and importance, has ruined any notion I had of her, or MSNBC, being any more than knee-jerk hack opposites of Fox News. This has actually driven a wedge between me and a friend of mine who usually agree on most political issues. The Christie scandal is very complex and hard to understand if you're not familiar with it. I think Maddow is doing a great service by explaining it in great detail. Because what I'm sick of is newsmedia dumbing everything down into "digestible" sound bites, which results in low-information voters, which results in lovely politicans getting elected and enacting lovely, destructive policies. Thank god for Maddow, I say.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:01
|
|
|
It's probably not a good idea to be watching that much cable news in the first place, no matter what channel.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:01
|
|
|
But if you're going to watch it, Maddow's one of the best, if you like learning about politics in detail. Otherwise go read yahoo's news headlines, or watch the highly informative debates between David Brooks and Mark Shields on PBS Newshour.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:08
|
|
beatlegs posted:The Christie scandal is very complex and hard to understand if you're not familiar with it. I think Maddow is doing a great service by explaining it in great detail. Because what I'm sick of is newsmedia dumbing everything down into "digestible" sound bites, which results in low-information voters, which results in lovely politicans getting elected and enacting lovely, destructive policies. Thank god for Maddow, I say. "An update on the Ft. Lee scandal: no new information to report" 
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:16
|
|
|
Bait and Swatch posted:I know she was a greater fighter for woman rights and started planned parenthood. Is this a smear campaign, or did some crazier thoughts creep into her writings occasionally? Today's "crazier thoughts" were yesterday's "modern science". All these hundred year old quotes have to be put in context because people are a product of their times. There are no shortage of old quotes from otherwise respected people revealing that they held racist, misogynist, and many other opinions that we would think of as backwards today. In the case of Sanger, some of these quotes are actually her admitting that people might take her promotion of birth control as kind of sterilization program. So it can either be read as her trying to wipe out groups she found to be undesirable, or her trying to argue that that these claims that were laid against her were not her real goal. Either way, this sort of quote mining by the right-wing is stupid. One can easily pick any figure from the past that they idolize and cherry pick some racist or misogynist quotes that would make them unelectable today.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:18
|
|
|
beatlegs posted:The Christie scandal is very complex and hard to understand if you're not familiar with it. I think Maddow is doing a great service by explaining it in great detail. Because what I'm sick of is newsmedia dumbing everything down into "digestible" sound bites, which results in low-information voters, which results in lovely politicans getting elected and enacting lovely, destructive policies. Thank god for Maddow, I say. CC just appointed a new Deputy Director to the NJPA and it's someone named in the list of federal subpoenas which somewhat tickles my Schadenfreude zone. She's on it like a dog on a bone because there's literally more damning or damaging things coming out every day. Now it's new links to Sampson and his pay-to-play real estate deals, and all sorts of other cronyism and graft and I'm sure a ton more will be discovered, and almost as sure that it will eventually lead to a smoking gun. Then, once laws are officially broken and we know by whom, the fun will ratchet up another notch. I watched her last night and, seriously, her coverage of the latest NJ stuff was not that long. She spent as much or more time on the coal ash/McCrory environmental appointee who believes in "abiotic oil" here in NC, and covered the woman who is going to jail for getting her daughter a Plan B pill and the Ukraine, if not more that I can't remember. I think the abiotic oil thing might even have been the lead story. If not, she at least teased it first. O, and she talked about Scott Walker, too. Also, if you look at the video she presents on her show, more and more of it is from AlJazeera! Sorry it rubs some people the wrong way, but there's way more going on than just Bridgegate on her show. e: Sorry, I missed this: Wojtek posted:That's great that she wants to explain it but she was (maybe still is?) drilling on it for weeks and weeks with literally no new information or commentary. It's been the same poo poo over and over and over. This is demonstrably incorrect, as referenced above. In the case of Ft. Lee, in addition to the news I cited above, she has also reported on the 2,000 pages of documents Mayor Sokolov has released, the plight of a homeowner who didn't get Sandy funds while the misdirection of funds to some retirement community Sampson/Christie backed is many millions of dollars worse than originally reported, and a couple of other things I can't remember right now. It has actually been new information every single day of the week. Dr. Faustus fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Feb 22, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:21 |
|
|
Until they have a non O'Keefe video of 4 DNC operatives carrying a black woman into a Planned Parenthood they can gently caress right off with this nonsense. Even explaining why feels like being trolled. I would absolutely LOVE it if they were earnest in thinking 100 year old quotes counting as party policy. I don't even need that long, give me 60 and I'll have Glenn Beck declaring me ACORN reborn within a week. Edit: Joementum change my name to ACORN REBORN tia Edit2: Happy page 
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 01:25
|
|