He Thinks You're an Idiot That’s why you love Bill Maher

[question everything]

OC Weekly

He Thinks You're an Idiot That’s why you love Bill Maher
By MATT COKER
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 3:00 pm

(snip)

Maher seems to have that effect on people. They hate him, they laugh at him. And Maher gives it right back: despite being branded a lefty-libertarian who champions pot smokers, Prius drivers and defenseless animals, he opposes moves to make it easier to vote because Americans have proved to be, by and large, idiots. He hates you, he laughs at you.

(snip)

Fans of Maher’s political incorrectness lap up every line he serves—but we must also acknowledge how easy it is to be turned off by his smugness, his nebulous politics and his knack for banging Playmates despite possessing a face that resembles Grumpy of the Seven Dwarfs.

And then there was, of course, those infamous remarks he made on his former ABC show Politically Incorrect shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. For those of you who have just emerged from your spider hole, Maher said it was inappropriate to label the hijackers as “cowards” due to the fact that they sacrificed their lives for their cause — as opposed to the U.S. lobbing bombs from afar. (Bonus points to anyone who remembers that Maher was actually agreeing with a point first brought up that night by his conservative guest, Dinesh D’Souza.)

(snip)

Take this New Rule from four months ago — please!

“New Rule: if you work at an office, you have to take a turn cleaning the office microwave. I opened ours the other day, and a bat flew out. The inside looks like a Jackson Pollock painting. The three settings are now ‘Cook,’ ‘Defrost’ and ‘Hepatitis.’ And if you’re not going to clean the damn thing, at least take out whatever is growing in there so we can harvest the stem cells.” “New Rule: no more cell phones in movie theaters. Please, you’re not a cardiologist on call. You’re a putz whose baby sitter wants to know where the ketchup is. And then you tell her in the middle of the movie theater! Sometimes it’s so loud I can’t hear what the black people are yelling at the screen. There is a simple solution: put your cell phone on vibrate and then up your ass.”

Many would gladly return the favor — once they finished laughing.

http://www.ocweekly.com/culture/comedy/he-thinks-youre-an-idiot/25773/

[Skittles]

1. I can't stand him

he is truly creepy

[NYCGirl]

2. Here's a quote from the article that sums up why I like Bill Maher:

But even with Maher’s smirky attitude and hedonistic lifestyle and penchant for off-putting remarks, there is no denying one simple fact: dude can be flat-out hilarious.

Going back to his days cracking up Johnny Carson through to his club dates, his HBO specials and that cable network’s current program Real Time With Bill Maher, Maher just has a way of rooting out humor both on the world stage and in everyday American life.


THAT'S WHY I LIKE HIM.

[OzarkDem]

8. Sorry I don't get it

I don't find boorish behavior humorous, especailly his. To each his own.

[NYCGirl]

10. What boorish behavior? He's a comedian. He's not running for office.

Yep, to each his own.

[applegrove]

19. These are sad times. You need light and you need dark humour.

It is how we survive. You have to be able to laugh at yourself.. and he is good at that. Nobody makes fun of him more than he does. Teaches us that we are not perfect. Why the GOP had to shut him down.

And really - TDS learnt from that and stayed on comedy central where they are safe. Is that not valuable? That Mayer went through something and in order to stay authentic.. the rest of the comedians learned that you need to be a big fish in a small pond to survive this swift-boating world?

Ann Coulter is an example of a person (if you can call her that) who teaches the humour of hate and tribalism. No self reflection there. No self-effacement. That is her underlying message. Johnny Carson taught people to laugh at their own dam asses..cause none of us are perfect. And Maher is like that.

The only perfect people in the world, or people who think they are perfect, are the neocons and the GOP & their base. Everyone else is an adult. And follow adult humour. Which in tough times is dark. Which in normal times is self-effacing. But which always, always punches through to some truth.

It is obviously election season. It is also the start of Maher on HBO. This sounds so much like the opening of the GOP campaign it is not even funny. Of course they would hate someone who punched through to truths.. made fun of the darkness...makes fun of himself like an adult would..and has a talent for seeing through and putting together the world, and GOP actions in that world, in a holistic way.

GOP will try and keep their mystic messages separate and directed at wedging one group against another. Maher and John Stewart and Colbert.. and hopefully the Democratic Leaders..will collapse that fantasy world into one.

Comedians are the best "connectors" the world ever sees. Perhaps some walking the walk religious types surpass them in effort if not talent. That is what terrorizes the people running the Repuke campaign. Cause the GOP machine..they are dividers.

[Pryderi]

3. He's weak and let's guests get away with too much. For example,

this past Friday he interviewed an author who worked with the Bush administration. The guest claimed that Clinton did nothing about the first WTC bombing, and Maher let it slide.

[AX10]

4. Mahar is weak.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. When I watched "Politically Incorrect", it was so lame

It reminded me of Crossfire ("On the far, far right, I'm Joe Blow(hard)." "On the far right, which around here we call the 'left', I'm Jack Putz.")

[Pryderi]

15. Thom Hartmann...put him on the panel.

[OzarkDem]

6. I've never been amused by people who look down on others

I think I've watched his show once over the years and couldn't make it through the whole show. He's such a smarmy, insulting person. I guess some people are entertained by that kind of thing, but I wouldn't even begin to consider it intelligent political discourse, any more than I would Imus or O'Reilly.

[Mythsaje]

7. Sometimes I think he's an idiot

but sometimes I agree with him.

He's a comic for god's sake. And, as anyone who's ever laughed uproariously at George Carlin knows, sometimes being a comic is about saying outrageous things.

And I'd say anyone who condemns his "hedonistic" lifestyle might be a tad bit jealous.

I appreciate him being an unabashed pot-smoker. If only more of them in the public eye could be so bold as to say so on national TV.

Besides, he's not laughing at ME.

;)

[NYCGirl]

9. Exactly. I love him because he's FUNNY. NT

[NVMojo]

11. I love Bill Maher. I get it, he's a comedian!!

[William769]

12. I'll take Bill Maher over anybody on tv today!

As I use to say in the 90's, YOU GO BILL!

[Evergreen Emerald]

13. I don't like the way he treats women

He is demeaning and sexist.

[Singular73]

14. He's a liberal, just..

and intellectual elistist. They have them on both sides.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Bill Maher is an interesting character.

He makes no excuses for his opinion, nor should he. His guests are interesting, the assholes showcase their own shortcomings, the great ones shine, and I don't expect to agree with him or them on any given issue.

This notion that people must walk in lockstep either hating or adoring entities just doesn't float in my world. I can see the good and less than good in people. Life is much more complex than to summarily dismiss people based on a fraction of their entirety.

Bill Maher is an entertainer. Some shows are better than others. I don't mind wading through the not so good shows because every once in a while the conversation is brilliant and he leaves me laughing so hard I can't catch my breath.

[Red Right and BLUE]

17. I like him, personally. eom

[stopbush]

18. Bill is the proverbial broken clock that's right twice a day.

His show is frustrating to watch because he seems so ill informed and has a cavalier attitude towards the facts. He or
his staff would do well to research background on all of his guests. Bill seems to wing it with every one of them. He lets the
Rs get away with their bogus facts, and he lets Ds get off on tangents that miss the boat. Maybe it's his way of highlighting
their particular foibles. For me, I find myself screaming "wrong" at the screen every couple of minutes.

Don't get me wrong. Bill isn't any worse than Tim Russert or Tweety in this respect. It's just that with his reputation one
expects a bit more.