If 'east coast persona' = pompous jerk, then yeah, his persona routinely rubs people the wrong way (fyi, I live near DC, have for almost my entire life). Your saying that he typically goes after the more uninformed side of any given issue doesnt make it true; it just means that you find your own politically sensibilities coinciding with his, and assume that means that your side is better informed on just about every issue than others. That doesnt make it true in all cases, and in fact, likely means that you're not as well informed as you'd like to believe.... Newsweek recently conducted a poll where 1,000 people where given the citizenship test and 38% failed. The relevant conclusion of the poll was that Americans, in general, are pretty ignorant when it comes to the inner workings of policies that they feel strongly about, but they're not dumb. Interesting excerpt: The reality is that you simply process Maher's antics through a 'homeristic' lens; when he shouts down invited guests, or calls people high school pejoratives, you probably feel that its deserved, while myself (and others), view it as sophomoric, condascendic, and as stupid as the Becks of the world. Trust me, no ones intimidated by his positions; I actually subsribe to the majority of them myself. I just find him to be a DBag. A bastion of free speech? Maher doesnt shout down guests, or interrupt them while making points, or cherry pick guests who either agree with him or are less skilled at debating on air? I think the comparison is extremely fair. O'Reilly's a demagogue who actively espouses the right wing agenda, no question. But Maher's not much better. Maddow, Stewart, and even more polarising figures like Olbermann are more civil in their discourse. I get it, you're a big fan of his and are surprised that anyone could possibly dislike Maher, but its a personal opinion. I respect your liking the show and finding value in his points of view. I dont find his jokes funny, nor do I like the way he talks/acts/format of show/etc, so I dont watch it. As for CaseyH making a 'better argument,' I really dont care, lol.
Things I've noticed about Maher. 1) Yes, he's smug as hell. He's also a comedian, and his smugness and smartass attitude are part of his persona and his schtick. And it's part of the reason people watch him, because it's funny. He does insult random groups of people (as, you know, all comedians do), but if that is headline news to you, then you're probably not the target market anyway 2) While he is smug, he's not disrespectful or some kind of hot head. He doesn't yell over people or shout them down. He is respectful to his guests, no matter who they are. He doesn't make wild assumptions or accuse people of hating babies, the troops, or america, or any other such nonsense. 3) He's not a news figure, and doesn't pretend to be. Unlike a lot of "commentators". 4) When he is wrong, he publicly acknowledges it and gladly reverses his stance, even if it means he has to agree with someone he doesn't like. Unlike damn near all "commentators". 5) He has his biases, which he openly acknowledges and does not run from. He tries to play issues purely by facts, and when something calls for pure speculation and opinion, he makes sure that a clear distinction is drawn between the two and operates accordingly. 6) My biggest issue with Bill is that he will often single out the most ignorant and outrageous things to attack or scrutinize. While it makes for better ratings, I suppose, it is a cheap trick that gets old after a while. Sometimes I wish he went after the "big fish" more often, instead of sniping at low hanging fruit. I'm not shocked CaseyH has such a problem with Bill, they're about as polar opposite ideologically as you can be, but it's pretty clear Casey has let his disagreements with him cloud his judgment of Maher as a person, which is a shame.
Not at all. For example I am pretty sure my political disagreements are greater with rachel maddow than maher, but she is at least polite. I disagree with Al Franken more also, but at least he is funny. He hides behind this. Real Time with Bill Maher is a political show. On the show he comments about politics. He started out as a comedian but then found out that politics is more profitable. Is Al Franken just a comedian?
If you like politeness, then yeah, Maddow is probably your cup of tea. She is wry and cynical but moreso than that, she's supposed to be charming. She doesn't have guests on usually, and the format of her show isn't about the clash of ideas and personalities and her point isn't to make people laugh. So yeah, it figures that she would be more polite or less abrasive. Al Franken is a Senator first, and a comedian second. As candid as he may be, he's also got to bite his tongue a hell of a lot. Maher's comedy has *always* revolved around current events and politics. I don't get how you seem to think that you can't mix comedy and politics, as if it is either one or the other. Politics isn't always serious business, especially in the entertainment industry. Your beef makes about as much sense to me as somebody jumping on Jon Stewart's ass for "hiding behind" his comedy. What the heck are you expecting?
agreed...he needs a new act. the well has run dry on this troll act he has going. i'm curious what he is going to do to redesign his himself since he has done it many times thru his career.
You are saying that my disdain for him is from political differences clouding my judgement. I showed you two people that disprove this point of yours. You also said something along the lines of "hey he is a comedian, what do you expect?" first I expect funny when he is being comedic (he fails) and decent conversation when not. Stewart and Maher fall far behind Franken (who was political long before he was a senator) because when they get destroyed in an argument, they fall back on "hey im just a guy doing jokes here" like Letterman does. Franken gets serious and makes his argument. I saw him saying pretty factually that Palin's downs baby was actually her daughters.
just curious, is Maher more impolite than O'Reilly? you're right comedy central shouldn't feature a comedian who is not funny to their audience
Both have massive egos. O'Leilly is a screamer and Maher is a dbag face maker. My biggest problem is not with his politeness though.
Eh, even if that is the case, and your disdain has more to do with taste than politics, you're still going way, way out on a limb with your criticism of Maher as some kind of flaming douchebag and attributing a lot of behavior to him (gay jokes? really?) which I personally don't see at all. That is right. For example, Maddow is not a comedian, and not only that, she's on a major news network. If you watch her show, you don't expect her to be so brash. The fact that you're comparing the two shows some really warped and unfair expectations on your part. Franken and Stewart are (or were) on basic cable. Maher is on HBO. Does that speak to you in any particular way? It should. Franken and Stewart, off tv, can be just as much of a smarmy douchenozzle as Maher can be, I guarantee you that. 1) Maher is hilarious to me and many others, I don't think Franken is funny at all. different strokes. 2) Maher has, out of ALL of the people we've mentioned, the absolute BEST and most productive, informative, and civil conversations (given the platform, HBO vs. cable, etc) of any current events show on tv. 3) This brings up my original thought that I never bothered to mention, it really just seems that you don't watch these shows or aren't familiar enough with these guys to make this type of statement. Both Stewart and Maher are *very* much realists and not so high and mighty that they don't think they can be wrong about anything. I've seen them both publicly acknowledge being wrong and reverse course, sometimes even mid-show, sometimes even months or weeks later. The "hey I'm just a guy doing jokes here" defense is what they use to deflect criticism from people who hold them to some kind of bogus "professional news" standard, where being offensive, opinionated, and silly/humorous have no place. They don't use that line to excuse lying or anything of that nature. Maher and Stewart can make a pretty damn good argument, but it seems that you're just not familiar enough with them to know this. I've been watching his show and listening to his podcast pretty regularly for 3-4 years now and I never once heard him "factually" say that. Do you have a link?
He is a dbag and a closet homosexual. I don't see how you can argue on the dbag part. I guess we will have to wait and see if he comes out on the homo part. But on TV they are not so whats the point? Franken is hilarious. Read Lying Liars or Rush is a big fat Idiot. I guess it is just smarter comedy than you like. Watch the clip where he is arguing against vaccines with Bill Frist. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-...ys-claim-sarah-palins-son-really-her-grandson If yu say he was joking then that pretty much seals my idea that he is using comedian as a cover. The guy he was interviewing was totally serious.
This kind of stuff seriously cheapens your argument and makes it look like you have some kind of personal vendetta and you're not looking at things objectively. Ever think that the fact 1) Franken is a Senator now and 2) they're on basic cable running shows of a different format with different standards might have something to do with it? Bill's whole show is based around not pulling punches and doing away with PC nonsense, and the fact it is on HBO gives him carte blache to be as douchey and controversial as he wants, as opposed to Stewart and Franken. I've read them both. Wasn't dying laughing or anything. But hey, feel free to think you're intellectually superior to me because of our different taste in humor. Weak sauce, bro. Vaccinations and PETA are two things I strongly disagree with Maher about. But you can't point to rare exceptions to the rule as some kind of shining example of "See! He's a total TOOL who never admits he's wrong!" I think you're confusing him saying it "matter of factly" (i.e. that baby is her daughter's) with "skeptically" (i.e. I'm not sure that baby is her's and not her daughter's), he couched it in humor (duh) to get a laugh, but it seems he was openly questioning the legitimacy of their story. Is that a douchey thing to do? Yep. Is it him saying it was "fact"? Nope. This is something commentators do all the time, it's the "I'm just asking!" strategy. It's lame and I don't like it, but once again, you're pointing to an exception to make it into your rule. If you think that Maher does this kind of stuff as regularly as other "info-tainment" personalities, then I can't follow you down that road, nor can I sympathize with your expectations, especially considering 1) the format and 2) the platform, as compared to his peers. But hey, in this grand discussion of personal taste, at least we've accomplished two things here, you using homosexuality as a smear tactic and also insulting my intelligence. All in all, a very productive D&D back and forth.
I don't buy that argument because comedy central has some pretty loose standards, and they could just bleep him. I think they are just better people. LOL, ok man. If that's how you took it then I'm sorry. But that is not what I meant. I just picked two examples I saw because the TV was on his show at those times. I have seen Stewart say he was wrong (when he called Truman a war criminal) but not Maher. And I would say you are taking all of the examples I am pointing out, and saying "Yeah but that's just one". That might be true but I guess watch him so much more than Fox, MSNBC etc. that it pisses me off more. I never used it as a smear tactic. It just fits his persona of having such a huge ego he cannot face the public of being bi or whatever he is so he has to date over the top p*rn stars. I didn't say anything about it until all of the pictures started. I think most of my problem is the smugness. O'Reilly, Beck, Maddow, all have it. Stewart, Franken don't. They are based on self deprecation, as most comedians are.
seriously? a) "I dont watch it" doesnt mean "I've never watched it." b) I have to be 'qualified' to hold an opinion? Like I said before, I get it. You find his show funny and interesting. I dont. Really not that big a deal.
