Real Time with Bill Maher guests - Friday, January 15, 2021 (Season Premiere)

[Rhiannon12866]

Real Time with Bill Maher returns for its 19th season Friday, January 15 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), with a replay at 12:30 a.m., exclusively on HBO.

This week features a one-on-one, in-studio interview with former Senior Counselor to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway. This week's in-studio panel discussion will include award-winning journalist and co-founder of Katie Couric Media, Katie Couric; and founder and host of Kentucky Sports Radio and the author of Mitch, Please!, Matt Jones.

[luv2fly]

1. Bill Maher is a racist and fake liberal

And giving Kellyanne Conway airtime? He should go away.

[JonLP24]

3. He wanted us to stop calling them deplorables

Bill Maher pushes back after guest dismisses all 70M Trump voters as 'racists,' 'tribalists

(Snip)

"They voted for this consciously knowing what Donald Trump stood for, for the last four years! They know him!" Nance double down. "It's almost a level of fanaticism that I've only seen in cult groups and Middle East terrorist groups."

A fellow panelist, Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks, jumped in to "disagree" with Nance, suggesting Trump voters were inside their own "information bubble" and thus lived in a different world than media elites do.

(Snip)

Later on, during his closing monologue, Maher appeared to further repudiate Nance's characterization of Trump voters by calling for unity.

"Let's all stop seeing each other as deplorable," Maher pleaded to viewers.

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bill-maher-malcolm-nance-trump-voters

Sorry for the Fox News source but this is an issue with Maher. Right wing sources quote him all the time.

[Efilroft Sul]

27. I'm waiting to see if he changes his mind on this, in light of the Capitol putsch.

I think he will, but we'll see.

[Paladin]

4. +1000. Fuck Bill Maher for the right-winger he is. (nt)

[USALiberal]

7. Lol, ok! Nt

[themaguffin]

11. oh ffs

[obamanut2012]

12. And a sexist

[HAB911]

2. I wonder when the Kellyanne interview took place

I hope it was after the insurrection

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Can't wait

He's going to hammer Kellyann, so much has happened since he was last on.

[nam78_two]

6. I like Bill Maher-he is a sincere advocate for animals/the environment

I am confused by remarks upthread about him being racist and a right-winger . Ok so he is polite to people like Coulter but that hardly makes him a racist.
And Jon Stewart got flack for saying that it is not ideal to use broad brush smears against all Trump voters.

That is not support of racism. Seriously, with all these conservative creeps who jumped ship yesterday that we fawn over, it seems ott to attack someone like Maher.
Sometimes it is people sincerely aiming for logical consistency.
Now I will

(Also I am all for acceptance of conservatives if it keeps them from violent insurrection. I don't like conservatives, but if they are against violent insurrection/violence in general and are in favor of democracy at least, we finally have common ground.)

[USALiberal]

8. People just like to whine! Nt

[luv2fly]

20. About fake liberals, you bet.

[betsuni]

9. People who don't watch the show.

And don't understand that a show is not your living room, guests will not all be people you agree with. Don't know why this is hard to understand.

[luv2fly]

19. He's been at it for years

He uses the N word.
He rips on Muslims.
He repeats vile stereotypes regarding black people.
He defends calling covid the China virus.

It goes on and on but hey, he likes animals so keep watching.

[nam78_two]

22. Well we will have to agree to disagree

My gut instinct is that he is not racist. As for his saying that characterizing all Trump supporters as racists is not great. Jon Stewart has said the same thing. It isn't support of racist Trump supporters. Broad attacks on large groups of people, even where they are statistically supported, is not a good way of changing minds. It puts people on the defensive and they stop listening.

A devious enough conservative propagandist would be able to gleefully point out that if you swopped out "Mexican" or "Muslim" for sweeping statements made against "Trump supporters" or say "Russians" by liberals, that we have done the same thing we accuse them of doing. It would be bullshit like all conservative twaddle usually is, but they would have us at least on a technicality. We have to be more careful with our beliefs and rhetoric than they do. They appeal to the worst human instincts (the conservatives around these days at least). We have the difficult job of trying to appeal to the better ones and that is a particularly difficult tightrope act for any comedian. Unless you want the 60s style completely non-edgy comedy.

As for his attacks on Muslims-yeah, they are a minority under attack often and that is not great-attacking actual Muslims. But he attacks all religions. I am an atheist. While I respect the religious, I do think they believe stuff that is nutty and it has often caused damage.

You do me in an injustice in saying that as long as someone loves animals, they are fine by me. When the BJP in India brought in a sweeping animal welfare bill, I approved of the bill, but never stopped disapproving of the BJP in general. I dislike and distrust all religions. It is not bigotry because I separate religion from the religious.

I do firmly believe that high technology and science are a bad fit with any but the mildest forms of religious beliefs and most religions are not mild. They want women to have fewer rights; to be more "modest"; they like science to be subservient to religion.

I like Maher and I think he gets a bad rap. So we will just have to agree to disagree. And I really don't see him as racist. He doesn't reign in his dislike of religion as much as I try to.

[JonLP24]

21. I stopped watching years ago because of his Islamaphobia

He lumps all Muslims with terrorists. He hasn't done that much since Ilhan Omar & Tlaib took office because they don't fit his stereotypes.

There all sorts of other things but I'm not going to document all the things Maher has said.

[nam78_two]

23. Surely he doesn't do that

Only someone as stupid as Trump would characterize 2 billion people as terrorists. He is an atheist and dislikes religion. Maybe being a comedian he has been glib at times and come off as though he is attacking Muslims and not Islam. He dislikes all religions.

I do too. I respect religious people, but I do dislike religions. I actually do think they are net a negative force in their current forms often. They do play a significant role in the subjugation of women and in the justification of irrational beliefs. I try to avoid bigotry towards the religious but I do think until religions are utilized very differently, they are all a somewhat bad fit with high tech weaponry.

[JonLP24]

25. I'm an athiest myself

Maher is a lot like other atheists in the US doesn't understand there are many sects and branches in Islam.

I have respect for Mehdi Hasan who is progressive.

-----

Peacock host Mehdi Hasan has accused comedian Bill Maher of "brazen" Islamophobia in a new Daily Beast interview Thursday.

"There is subtle Islamophobia, and I wouldn't put Bill Maher in the 'subtle' category. He's pretty brazen," Hasan, who hosts "The Mehdi Hasan Show" on NBC's streaming platform, said. "This is a guy who says Islam acts like the mafia, and the guy who says stuff like, 'Muslims bring that desert stuff to the West.' I mean, that's not just Islamophobia, that's old-fashioned racism."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/mehdi-hasan-accuses-bill-maher-of-brazen-islamophobia-its-old-fashioned-racism/ar-BB1bo3Br

In the past he said the left forfeited the Islam argument to the right.

Ilhan Omar

Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 4, 1982,[17][18] and spent her early years in Baidoa, Somalia.[19][20] She was the youngest of seven siblings, including sister Sahra Noor. Her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, an ethnic Somali from the Majeerteen clan of Northeastern Somalia,[21] was a colonel in the Somali army under Siad Barre and also worked as a teacher trainer.[22][23] Her mother, Fadhuma Abukar Haji Hussein, a Benadiri (a community of partial Yemeni descent), died when Ilhan was two.[24][25][26][27] She was raised by her father and grandfather, who were moderate Sunni Muslims opposed to the rigid Wahhabi interpretation of Islam.[28][29] Her grandfather Abukar was the director of Somalia's National Marine Transport, and some of Omar's uncles and aunts also worked as civil servants and educators.[23] She and her family fled Somalia to escape the war and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya, near the Somali border.[30][31][32]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar

Saudi Arabia, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda are wahabbi. Ilhan Omar isn't yet she receives a lot of hate including online from the right.

Cenk Uyger once described Maher as renting his brain to Sean Hannity on the subject.

[nam78_two]

28. Thanks for the info

I am 42. I myself have had racist and sexist beliefs (inside my head at least) in the past. But they changed over time with more education, more exposure and so on.

I still think Maher is basically a good guy with good instincts. But you are right that he should not "rent his brain out to Hannitty" on this -an excellent way of putting it. Aside from other things, it reduces the forcefulness of his arguments against the actual problems with religion.
He is to walk a line between edgy comedy and not making communities that already feel bullied and under attack, more isolated. Again, it would not change hearts and minds. Bullying doesn't and he is smart enough to get that at least by now.

But, in spite of his faults, I do like him and wish he would improve.

Thank you for the civil exchange.

[Dem4Life1102]

26. You need to take off your binders about Maher

He’s made many bigoted comments about Muslims over years.

https://deadline.com/2017/06/real-time-bill-maher-maajid-nawaz-contribution-anti-muslim-extremist-1202119139/

https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-bill-maher/

http://www.islamophobia.org/islamophobic-individuals/148-bill-maher.html

[nam78_two]

29. Hmmm

Thanks for the info. I will go over that and figure out what the deal is. There are Muslim liberals though, who do feel like they are caught between a rock and a hard place:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/may/17/losing-their-religion-british-ex-muslims-non-believers-hidden-crisis-faith

Of course that author himself has an agenda I guess. It is a complicated issue.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall-Out

I am an atheist of Hindu origin. I don't worry about other religions as much as my own. I would not want to one day be expected to wear a gunghat and be "modest". People who are against the illiberal people in their own communities and those in others are in a no-win position. To that extent I sympathize with anyone trying to escape backward people from their own supposed community.

I will go over those and see what the deal is. I will admit to still wanting to like Maher and hoping that he does not truly dislike Muslims, just all religions. And that was a very crass remark. But I have made crass, racist and sexist remarks in my life. They just weren't on camera. But I am not crass, racist or sexist-or I hope not-so maybe he isn't either. But I will really read what you posted and try to keep an open mind.

And I think sometimes we are too harsh on fellow liberals-I disapprove deeply of J K Rowling's transphobia very much but still don't see her as an irredeemably awful person. Though I do admit her transphobia seems very nutty. I have been a strong supporter of LGBT rights for as long as I can remember having any views on the subject. And I get how hurtful it is when someone like her turns out to be a bigot on such a thing. But still..she is not Trump or well any GOPer...just messed up.
And of all the hills to die on...Similarly, unlike various actually racist/sexist creeps, I did think Tim Hunt/Justine Sacco etc..were just people who made unfortunate remarks. Even Trevor Noah/Stephen Fry have been attacked and for no reason at all. Of all these people, Rowling is the least defensible because she seems to have some actual problem with trans people. I can only imagine it is some kind of specific type of lunacy because she seems sane in the main.


And that stuff is gold for conservatives who love to use it to make all liberals seem like a pc mob. It is much easier for these actually racist, sexist conservative elites who jump ship at the last minute and then behave like Jesus and Gandhi in one. Still..I will take them over violent insurrectionists but their cynical ploys do make my eyes roll. Their bar is so low that they always "win"..fuck em.

Anyway who cares about any of this? THE GOP's president just tried to pull off a violent insurrection against the United States. And nothing will change that.

[Dem4Life1102]

30. As I said

You need to take your blinders off.

[nam78_two]

31. I will honestly try

Last edited Fri Jan 15, 2021, 05:03 PM - Edit history (4)

I do find I am wrong about a lot of stuff all the time.

Edit: but to be honest I am unlikely to look at this again. The truth is Bill Maher, Michael Moore, Glenn Greenwald, J K Rowling, ....it goes on and on...may be imperfect people. Yes, even Margaret Sanger, who has made such real contributions to the world is tainted with eugenics. John Muire is, Abe Lincoln is......and there are the enternal Bernie/AOC vs Pelosi arguments. But at the end of the day these things do not interest me that much.

Hell, the average dirtbag GOP types - Romney, Graham etc. no longer interest me. And I used to feel a bit sorry for the angry, ignorant, unhip, uncool MAGAts -gullible people who were losers in the globalized economy and were taken in by transparently sleazy and stupid people like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. I am a loser too. Politically, I had nothing in common with them but I understood the anger and humiliation that being a loser brings. I could at least understand their anger while it was at least restricted to moronic non-violent demonstrations and hot air. Of course even before this there was Charlottesville, the Whitmer plot and so on.

But any sympathy I had left for them on the grounds of loserliness changed when they actually stormed the capitol. Most of us losers are ugly, uncool and stupid-but we still don't go and fucking break shit and try to kill people. Now, they just have to get deradicalized. I no longer feel sorry for them. Once you cross certain lines you have burnt your bridges with civilization.
..though legal experts have to figure the whole mess out democratically and work out levels of culpability and all the difficult stuff.

As for me, I have recognized how scary these gullible nuts and qanon types are. I always thought they were like me-
uncool, stupid etc. but essentially harmless. Now, I can see I was projecting.

But they are still not very interesting any more than Fox News is. There are no really bright people in any of this. Really intelligent people tend to be more like Anthony Fauci or Sunitha Williams, not like pathetic alt right gamer trolls turned philosopher.

These horrible creeps are the intellectual architects of this foul movement and for antifascists, they are a more interesting study than their minions (Fox, NewsMax etc) - the intellectual architects of this type of failed killer clown farce are people like Nick Land, Henry Harpending (dead but still), Steve Sailor, Virginia Abernethy, Curtis Yarvin, Peter Thiel, Richard Spencer...
Therefore, I am not going to spend time on Maher's idiosyncracies when these creeps are out there.

And troubled times lie ahead. With climate refugees and so much more. And these people are out their stirring the pot. Park McDougal's article on Land was eerily prescient. I should see if his other stuff is any good. There is this social scientist Victor Tan Chen who covers some of the issues created by a globalized economy well too. I don't think either of them are cryptocons like Jonathan Haidt or Yascha Mounk, who again are obsessed with "cancel culture". And those two will have a lot of shit stirring to do since a lot of people are losing jobs. I have no idea what effect those types of both-siderist cryptocons will have.

But these other creeps are worth tracking (when one is not working). That collection of dirtbags I mentioned. I tried reading some of Land's writings. Except to a cognitive psychologist studying amphetamine fueled psychosis, I could not see them being of interest to anyone. And I put aside the 2 French accelerationist works that were the basis for his drivel with distaste. I have no interest in the perversions of these people. I merely want to understand what their plan or goal is beyond chaos leading up to fascism. This time they failed. Not sure what the next round will bring -with more data science that conservatives and totalitarians can use more effectively. Grim scenario all around. So scary seeing a fascist-led coup in the United States in your lifetime.

[msfiddlestix]

10. seriously?

oh. wait. it's the Bill Puke Show..

Funny, for some reason he popped in my head out of nowhere early this morning, just thinking any future show he'd start having only intellectually honest and serious guests at this juncture.

but no of course he isn't. Guess he's going for the white supremacists audience and the rest of the cult followers for ratings or something.

[themaguffin]

13. Jesus, people, if you don't like Maher, scroll on. Some of us

enjoy Maher and even - gasp - disagree with him on things.

[msfiddlestix]

14. and oh forget to say No fucking way to give Kelly Ann another fucking platform

are you kidding me. Don't know who Matt Jones is but Conway?????

Like i said early, he sees good ratings for trump humpers.

[marmar]

15. I like Maher's show but that guest lineup? I'll give it a miss.

[Pompoy]

24. Same here, was looking forward to this show after the insurrection

I expected it to be the bomb, but with these guests...

[ecstatic]

16. Kellyanne Conway? WTF?

I guess Ann Coulter was busy.

[jcgoldie]

17. Kellyanne Conway oh barf

No way I can stomach watching Bill Maher kiss her ass for 10 minutes.

[betsuni]

18. I love it when Maher has Republicans or third party voters on and destroys them.