What is the point of Bill Maher?

[SocialDemocrat61]

Bill Maher is, allegedly, the last sane voice on the left. But he doesn’t believe in the rights of transgender people, or of Palestinians. He thinks college campuses are hotbeds of liberal indoctrinarian that have gotten “out of control.” Come to think of it, he hasn’t really advocated for any left-wing position in recent memory. An advocate for breaking out of echo chambers, Bill speaks almost exclusively to right-wing activists, and never to the minorities he bashes. He claims to know what Democrats should do if they want to win, but hates the ones who are actually winning. Three decades into his TV career and lost in the delusions that often come with a nine-digit net worth, Bill Maher has never been so useless.

[jaymac]

1. hear hear

true dat........Marc Maron said Maher's trying so hard for relevance he's overdone it.

[Stacey Grove]

2. He's a trained dog

who knows that the right wing financial gangsters butter both sides of his bread and he delivers what they pay for.

[LilElf70]

13. Ruff ruff

I use to like him. Not any more. Haven't listened to him in years.

[tavernier]

3. Who?

Oh that guy. People still watch him?

[SocialDemocrat61]

34. Unfortunately yes

Here’s a pic of them

[Paladin]

4. Couldn't have said it better, myself.

And I've been trashing Maher for decades, here at DU.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. I flick him off like a bug.

[303squadron]

6. Used to be a big fan

Hells bells I was even in his studio audience once. But when he cited the dubious report about masks not working during COVID I stopped watching. Oh, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried to watch a few episodes but after he met with the Mango Mussolini that was the last straw.

Bill, in the off chance that you might read stuff in the DU, can I say - with all my heart:

FUCK OFF

[bmichaelh]

7. Stopped Watching it Years Ago

I used to watch him.

But when he criticized others for still wearing a mask during COVID pandemic and his both sides do it, then I stopped watching.

I watch John Oliver instead.

[Mike Nelson]

8. Easy! ...and I didn't watch the video...

... Himself.

[Historic NY]

9. He's so far left he fell off the planet.

he one of them asshole libertarian types.

[The Wizard]

10. He would occasionally give RWNJs

a platform. It's no longer occasionally. It's standard fare. He will soo be canceled unless Trump puts pressure on HBO to keep him on TV.

[sop]

11. Maher is a stoned out contrarian provocateur who is under the illusion he's being edgy.

[dem4decades]

12. To me, the main point is to completely ignore him.

He just doesn't exist, and that's just great.

[QueerDuck]

18. This is the best response.

[Martin Eden]

14. Bill Maher is a smug prick who's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is

I used to enjoy watching his show despite the man's flaws and his friendship with creatures like Ann Coulter, but I finally started getting fed up a few years ago when he had Steve Bannon on for his opening interview guest.

Bill had what he thought would be some "gotcha" questions, but Bannon responded with a rapid stream of rightwing spin and logical fallacies for which Maher was totally unprepared. He would just say "OK" then go on to the next question and get totally outclassed again by his evil guest who was clearly more intelligent. All that Bill Maher accomplished was to provide a platform for Steve Bannon and undermine his own ostensible cause.

The final breaking points were his war against woke and college students who are genuinely and justly appalled by the wanton slaughter of Palestinian non-combatants, women, and children by the Netanyahu regime.

Maher essentially reinforced Republican talking points by ascribing the most extreme elements of woke culture warriors and the pro-Palestine movement to the broad spectrum of good people who care about justice and human rights. He thusly characterizes the entire "Left" -- and by extension the Democratic Party and major universities -- by the handful of bad examples he loves to feature on his show.

Essentially, Bill Maher is carrying water for the political operatives who made possible the rise of Donald Trump. Either his "sane voice on the Left" has intentionally been a false flag all along, or his brain is too calcified to realize he's become a useful idiot for the fascist Right.

Special hatred is reserved for the enemy within, who pretends to be our ally while undermining our cause.

[Redleg]

22. Well stated!

I have been saying that Bill needs to find new liberal friends if the ones he has are as extreme as the examples he gives.

[Joinfortmill]

15. Whatever he is, he ain't Left..

Personally, I always detected a bit of mean in him.

[QueerDuck]

19. He so far "left" that he's crossed over into the right ...

side of the horseshoe.

[Botany]

16. Simple solution don't listen to or watch him. He knows being an agent provocateur ....

…. is where the money is at and he totally doesn’t care that he is unencumbered by reality and/or the
facts. He is an act and not somebody that gives enlightened, reasoned, or intellectually honest opinions.

I gave up on him when I saw his movie about religion in which he made fun of white southerner truckers
who had bible study and prayer groups in truck stops. @ that point In his movie I was hoping that a good
old boy trucker would kick his ass.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

17. The ol' Bill Maher ain't what he use to be.

[BComplex]

20. It's part of the right wing decision for the past 40 years to trash the left. Joy Reid

was talking about it yesterday during the NO KINGS video. She was saying that, during the Women's March several years ago, the commentators wanted to report it and follow it, and they were not allowed to. Instead, they had to report on trump and whatever he was up to. NO REPORTING ALLOWED on the tens of thousands of women marching!!!

Bill Maher is just part of the same AIPAC (right wing) social circle.

[Prairie Gates]

21. Fuck Bill Maher

[cab67]

23. he jumped the shark for me when that kid in Texas built a digital clock.

The kid brought it to his school to show to his friends and teachers.

The boy also happened to be Muslim. Hence, one of the teachers reported the clock - which, to the teacher, could have been a terrorist bomb - to someone who called the police. The police then arrested the boy.

Maher defended the police, because it could have been a bomb.

A bomb that the builder happily showed off to anyone he could see. President Obama later reached out and congratulated the boy for his creativity and ingenuity.


Maher is also known to fat-shame with gay abandon, and his anti-vaxx rants are inexcusable.

These are the only things he seems to discuss with actual conviction. Te seems to oppose much of modern medical science. The other shit he says reflects contrarianism. He's up there with Alan Dershowitz - it's all about the attention (and money) he gets from opposing mainstream viewpoints.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. I stopped watching this person a long time ago

This person ceased being funny a long time ago

[dalton99a]

25. POS is somewhere between useless and irrelevant

[Sneederbunk]

26. His point is to get noticed and DU obliges.

[mucifer]

27. he's a bully and fits better in the maga world

[Blue Owl]

28. Him getting dope money

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. Who has ever called him "the last sane voice on the left", apart from maybe himself?

It's a ridiculous claim, that no one else could ever have heard without laughing.

I first saw Maher in the late 90s, when I was living in the USA. At the time, he struck me as an "acceptable libertarian". I was surprised how much he was liked on DU in the 2000s, but I suppose he was never pro-Bush, so counted as an ally. But at no point was he "on the left"; socially liberal, but I've never seen him talking about living standards for the working class - the basic requirement to be called "on the left". He'd fit in with Reaganite/Thatcherite economics.

His social liberalness has frequently faltered since then, as you note.

[The Revolution]

30. I'll bite

I watch his show fairly regularly. I don't agree with him on everything, but I find value in it. Here's why:

* I actually think it's good to watch people you disagree with. It helps you understand and evaluate your own opinions, as well as those you might want to persuade. If you find yourself agreeing with everything someone says, watching that person is probably not doing much for you. The exception would be for people who are disingenuous and don't actually believe what they say.

* Maher's more moderate or "anti-woke" views can be an effictive vehicle for introducing people on the right to left wing viewpoints that are not as scary to them, and cause them to rethink things. Send clips of Bill Maher to people that voted for Trump, and maybe they will start to see things differently. I have had some success with this, and would credit it with starting the process of converting Trump voters into Democrats.

[gulliver]

31. He has a lot of clips online

I recommend watching them. See for yourself. I think you'll find that he's largely mischaracterized. Once you observe that, you've found the thread.

Just do a normal, healthy reevaluation of your influencers. Clean house. Be you. Not them.

[SocialDemocrat61]

32. Yes Matt has a great YouTube channel

I highly recommend it https://www.youtube.com/@MattBernstein1

[ProfessorGAC]

33. I Don't Agree

The guy is clearly anti-conservative and any attempts to paint him otherwise is foolish.