A thread about Bill Maher: The Good, The Bad, and The UGLY!

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  • Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 40,750
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.
    Just trying to stay relevant. Fuck his pomposity.
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  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,058
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.

    Yeah, true, but boomers in general suck.  :wink:
    :lol:
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  • Lerxst1992Lerxst1992 Posts: 7,292
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.
    Just trying to stay relevant. Fuck his pomposity.

    Damn that sounds just like the obituary for the Democratic Party LOL
  • Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 40,750
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.
    Just trying to stay relevant. Fuck his pomposity.

    Damn that sounds just like the obituary for the Democratic Party LOL
    Which of the nine chapters or sub-sections are woke?

    https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf
    09/15/1998 & 09/16/1998, Mansfield, MA; 08/29/00 08/30/00, Mansfield, MA; 07/02/03, 07/03/03, Mansfield, MA; 09/28/04, 09/29/04, Boston, MA; 09/22/05, Halifax, NS; 05/24/06, 05/25/06, Boston, MA; 07/22/06, 07/23/06, Gorge, WA; 06/27/2008, Hartford; 06/28/08, 06/30/08, Mansfield; 08/18/2009, O2, London, UK; 10/30/09, 10/31/09, Philadelphia, PA; 05/15/10, Hartford, CT; 05/17/10, Boston, MA; 05/20/10, 05/21/10, NY, NY; 06/22/10, Dublin, IRE; 06/23/10, Northern Ireland; 09/03/11, 09/04/11, Alpine Valley, WI; 09/11/11, 09/12/11, Toronto, Ont; 09/14/11, Ottawa, Ont; 09/15/11, Hamilton, Ont; 07/02/2012, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/04/2012 & 07/05/2012, Berlin, Germany; 07/07/2012, Stockholm, Sweden; 09/30/2012, Missoula, MT; 07/16/2013, London, Ont; 07/19/2013, Chicago, IL; 10/15/2013 & 10/16/2013, Worcester, MA; 10/21/2013 & 10/22/2013, Philadelphia, PA; 10/25/2013, Hartford, CT; 11/29/2013, Portland, OR; 11/30/2013, Spokane, WA; 12/04/2013, Vancouver, BC; 12/06/2013, Seattle, WA; 10/03/2014, St. Louis. MO; 10/22/2014, Denver, CO; 10/26/2015, New York, NY; 04/23/2016, New Orleans, LA; 04/28/2016 & 04/29/2016, Philadelphia, PA; 05/01/2016 & 05/02/2016, New York, NY; 05/08/2016, Ottawa, Ont.; 05/10/2016 & 05/12/2016, Toronto, Ont.; 08/05/2016 & 08/07/2016, Boston, MA; 08/20/2016 & 08/22/2016, Chicago, IL; 07/01/2018, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/03/2018, Krakow, Poland; 07/05/2018, Berlin, Germany; 09/02/2018 & 09/04/2018, Boston, MA; 09/08/2022, Toronto, Ont; 09/11/2022, New York, NY; 09/14/2022, Camden, NJ; 09/02/2023, St. Paul, MN; 05/04/2024 & 05/06/2024, Vancouver, BC; 05/10/2024, Portland, OR;

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  • pjhawkspjhawks Posts: 12,762
    PJ_Soul said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    Oh FFS.
    There are so many apt comparisons that can be made between Trump and Hitler, and the Trump administration and the Nazi regime. No, not the holocaust obviously. A ton of other things do totally align though, politically and tactically, whether you like it or not. If you really don't believe that, then you simply don't know enough about the history of the Nazi Party in Germany and how it got to where it did. Anyone who denies it is at best ill-informed, and at worst, completely happy to pretend it's not true when they know it is.
    Would you kindly make your case with specifics to enlighten those of us who don’t subscribe to your point of view that Trump is Hitler?

    And please don’t tell me to “do my homework” as has been done in the past. The onus isn’t on me to prove your point.
    Uh...you are in a cult. There is no homework that will convince you of anything other than trump is perfect and he doesn't poop.
    Guess what pal. You as well.

    Trump did not kill 6 million people. Fact.
    And again...you are making things up that no one ever said.
    I said you were in a cult. Your reply proves just this. This is what Hitler is known for. David played with fire and got burned. And you were supporting that because you cannot see outside your own ideology

    You're using the holocaust to ignore all the years it took for Hitler and the Nazi party to get to that point. It took nearly 20 years to arrive at the holocaust, but for some reason you want to use the disastrous ending to that regime as a reason to pay no attention to how it all began and grew into what it became, and that is all the stuff that is extremely comparable to the Trump admin/MAGA right now. I don't understand why you don't see that.

    Because a lot of the country does not see Trump in this manner. Not yet at least.. All Bill did was have dinner with the guy, and did not deserve a comparison to hitler. And Larry uses the specific phrase "I kill Jews" in his satire. He's not referring to the authoritarian part as much as he is using specific imagery of the most horrible thing Hitler did. In an attempt at humor, which makes it worse.


    If this were an election season, Democrats would be getting hammered for this. This makes us look bad to the rest of the country, which is my cause on this forum. But almost nobody here cares about playing politics intelligently

    And I'll point to the Tariff story this week. There are checks and balances in our system and hopefully they hold for the next few years. But looking bad is one way to give trump more power

    I feel like the way you took the Larry David write-up is off-kilter. Have you ever read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift? It is one of the most famous examples of satire in the English language, written in the 1700s as a response to what he saw as an extremely flawed response by the ruling class to the plight of the poor in Ireland. He suggested, very seriously, that the Irish poor sell their children for food to the rich. He went on to list suggestions as to how to prepare them for the dinner table, lol. Larry David's little article is meant along those same, satirical, ironic lines, in order to make a real point. You can see that, right?
    I appreciate your literary knowledge and perspective. But David is making a political attack here. My main concern with politics is that republicans are incredible at campaigning but horrible at governing, and the dems are the exact opposite. And the direction of the party is not where they think the country is going.

    Dems have lost two elections to trump and they should have won both. They are horrible at campaigning because “trump evil man” does not work outside the bubble. Harris not controlling that turned out to be a fatal mistake.

    The other thing that Dems are great at, and is featured a lot here and in dem circles, making excuses that are not provable. This prevents the party from learning how it can better identify with and communicate to the specific audience that the electoral college and senate elections call for.

    the constitution will not change in our lifetimes to suit the idiotic narrative happening within the party. The rules call for reaching a specific audience, and the dems are proving, in a dangerous manner, they don’t have what it takes to be better. From the David joke about Hitler, to AOC and Bernie fans unfurling Palestine flags, they delayed responses in my city, New York, of migrants overrunning the place and Hamas supporters shutting down its most prestigious uni, to the glorification of reverse discrimination, to the constant crying about trump evil man.

    the dems may get the house next year, but losing three red senate seats in 2024, and the expected movement in five years of about ten blue congress seats and electoral votes to republican states, and a SCOTUS that will never be liberal for decades, the warning signs are blinking. Winning the house provides minimal power.

    but the Dems are too busy in romper room than the important self reflection needed to correct the Hilary Kamala and senate failures. (Dems got lucky imo with the 2020 covid rule changes). The target audience simply doesn’t care about this nonsense 


    edit….this is essentially the story behind Maher and others dems mad at the direction of the party, and why Davids interjection is off base.
    this is great take on the Dems of today and while Maher can be annoying at times I don't think he is wrong on how he views the Dems today.  And I have no problem with him meeting Trump but I thought he did kind of fawn over him in his remarks.  He doesn't see that he was played a bit by Trump.  Trump may be a complete moron but he knows how to play people.
  • Lerxst1992Lerxst1992 Posts: 7,292
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.
    Just trying to stay relevant. Fuck his pomposity.

    Damn that sounds just like the obituary for the Democratic Party LOL
    Which of the nine chapters or sub-sections are woke?

    https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf

    Well since that snooze fest lost the election, here's something new from your fave site... "darkwoke"

    If there's one thing the center and moderate right hate about 47 is his bullying and meanness. So let's celebrate the likes of Jasmine Crockett and give her a high five for being so nasty! And she can be AOCs running mate!


    https://www.foxnews.com/media/resistance-democrats-embrace-combative-profanity-laced-dark-woke-rebrand-combat-trump

    Resistance Democrats embrace combative, profanity-laced 'dark woke' rebrand to combat Trump

    I think they even reference the style of some familiar commenters! Makes me feel like I'm in my community!
  • Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 40,750
    edited April 25
    bill maher sucks. he has sucked for at least 7 years now. 

    trump sued him for 5 million dollars and he still had dinner with him and is doing promo work for trump.

    maher sounds like a boomer now as he realizes his best days are behind him.
    Just trying to stay relevant. Fuck his pomposity.

    Damn that sounds just like the obituary for the Democratic Party LOL
    Which of the nine chapters or sub-sections are woke?

    https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf

    Well since that snooze fest lost the election, here's something new from your fave site... "darkwoke"

    If there's one thing the center and moderate right hate about 47 is his bullying and meanness. So let's celebrate the likes of Jasmine Crockett and give her a high five for being so nasty! And she can be AOCs running mate!


    https://www.foxnews.com/media/resistance-democrats-embrace-combative-profanity-laced-dark-woke-rebrand-combat-trump

    Resistance Democrats embrace combative, profanity-laced 'dark woke' rebrand to combat Trump

    I think they even reference the style of some familiar commenters! Makes me feel like I'm in my community!
    You didn’t answer the question, as usual. And yet you post in other threads about considering opposing viewpoints and finding the middle or however you described it. And it was an easy question.

    I posted long ago how “when they go low, we go high” didn’t work for Dems and I don’t believe you for a second that you think the dems should get down in the mud and wrestle with pigs. So where does that leave the Dems. Trying to fix stupid? Good luck with that. What we have is what a majority of ‘Muricans want, either by direct vote/support of COOTWH or their choice to not vote.

    I hate to be the one to break it to you but there ain’t no fixing stupid. Not in 2026, 2028 or within a generation. It’s going to take serious consequences, in one form or another, before the Dems are able to fix stupid. I won’t live to see it. Enjoy the authoritarianism.

    Edit: to say I don’t click on nor read fauxnews.
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  • Lerxst1992Lerxst1992 Posts: 7,292
    “Bill Maher is the toughest critic of Donald Trump.”

    Former Vice President Al Gore, 4/25/2025




    ok…let the uniformed hate fest continue.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,058
    Naahhhh.  No fun!
    Let's have a food fight instead!
    Food Fight GIFs  Tenor

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  • Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 40,750
    “Bill Maher is the toughest critic of Donald Trump.”

    Former Vice President Al Gore, 4/25/2025




    ok…let the uniformed hate fest continue.
    Al Gore hasn’t been relevant since the internet was invented. Congratulations to Bill for sinking further into irrelevance.

    Uninformed? Stupid. Won the day.
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  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 12,202
    Has Dan Quayle weighed in yet? 
  • DE4173DE4173 Posts: 1,858
    Has Dan Quayle weighed in yet? 

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  • Lerxst1992Lerxst1992 Posts: 7,292
    “Bill Maher is the toughest critic of Donald Trump.”

    Former Vice President Al Gore, 4/25/2025




    ok…let the uniformed hate fest continue.
    Al Gore hasn’t been relevant since the internet was invented. Congratulations to Bill for sinking further into irrelevance.

    Uninformed? Stupid. Won the day.

    Just keep cutting everyone down who doesn’t agree with you. That makes extremism easier.


    people are going to listen to someone who was a VP and senator, serving for decades, and a revolutionary on the environment.


    or … you?
  • dbanthonydbanthony Chicago, IL Posts: 26
    I'm jumping in here and I understand it's foolish to do so. That said, I feel inclined to speak on the matter, so here we go. 

    My issue with the "6 million Jews" argument we're seeing here is that it focuses on the final tally and not the incrementalism that leads to it. I studied the history of the German Weimar Republic in college, so I feel I'm able speak to the fact that many of the culture war elements between the Nazi party and the MAGA movement are deeply aligned. Isolationism, book banning, erasure of queer and trans identities (yes, these people have always existed, but many of their defining works of art and cultural artifacts were banned then burned), a heavy focus on eugenics, all those things, to name only a few, line up. 

    In many ways, to use a sports metaphor, this is like saying that when people compare Aaron Judge having a year that's on pace to match Babe Ruth's that you keep saying, "Well, he hasn't matched Ruth's career totals yet." Yes, because Aaron Judge's career is currently happening and Babe Ruth's career is over. When we're talking about things that draw similarities to paces they were on as they happened, those are fair points. To routinely go to the final career stats of one while the other is ongoing creates a logical fallacy that is keeping this conversation from going anywhere.

    Many people aren't equipped to draw the parallels to other movements globally because we focus only on events that involved the United States. It would be helpful, as tbergs so eloquently did many posts back, draw other parallels and comparison points, many of which exist, but people reach toward what they know. And what most Americans now are events in which America had a stake in it. Do I think Trump will reach those final numbers that Hitler did? I surely hope not. But it doesn't mean that their current pace-setting doesn't have similarities in specific areas. 

    As this all relates to Bill Maher, and now, strangely, Al Gore, the issue is that Maher continues to make this point—as do many other older liberals, Democrats, etc.—is that they haven't changed, the party has. And yeah, duh, that would be true at any point in history. If you were a Democrat in the 1950s, the policies of the 1980s would be different. If you were still holding onto your 1950s ideals that were 30 years in the rearview, people would rightly call you out of touch. Maher, and Gore as well, believing that their 1990s policy positions hold weight in the 2020s is not only egotistical, but patently absurd. There are many new politicians, activists, and advocates who carry many of the same qualifications that these two men had when they came to prominence, but they get dismissed because people don't recognize their names or qualifications because they stopped tapping in and keeping pace with new movements over the past 30 years. It's no less ignorant than when someone says, "There's no good music anymore" but they've been listening to the same bands, and only listening to related projects, instead of doing the work of following what's happening culturally. Just because these are two names that represent liberal thought and consensus to you does not mean they are actively a part of the modern, boots-on-the-ground organizing and thought, and their continued prevalence is emblematic of a larger cultural issue, which is that people tap out and want to still act authoritative. 
  • DarthMaeglinDarthMaeglin Toronto Posts: 2,878
    That’s some really good food for thought, thank you.

    Thank you also for touching on the additional 4 million victims of the Holocaust, they need to be remembered alongside the 6 million Jewish victims.
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  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,058
    dbanthony said:
    I'm jumping in here and I understand it's foolish to do so. That said, I feel inclined to speak on the matter, so here we go. 

    My issue with the "6 million Jews" argument we're seeing here is that it focuses on the final tally and not the incrementalism that leads to it. I studied the history of the German Weimar Republic in college, so I feel I'm able speak to the fact that many of the culture war elements between the Nazi party and the MAGA movement are deeply aligned. Isolationism, book banning, erasure of queer and trans identities (yes, these people have always existed, but many of their defining works of art and cultural artifacts were banned then burned), a heavy focus on eugenics, all those things, to name only a few, line up. 

    In many ways, to use a sports metaphor, this is like saying that when people compare Aaron Judge having a year that's on pace to match Babe Ruth's that you keep saying, "Well, he hasn't matched Ruth's career totals yet." Yes, because Aaron Judge's career is currently happening and Babe Ruth's career is over. When we're talking about things that draw similarities to paces they were on as they happened, those are fair points. To routinely go to the final career stats of one while the other is ongoing creates a logical fallacy that is keeping this conversation from going anywhere.

    Many people aren't equipped to draw the parallels to other movements globally because we focus only on events that involved the United States. It would be helpful, as tbergs so eloquently did many posts back, draw other parallels and comparison points, many of which exist, but people reach toward what they know. And what most Americans now are events in which America had a stake in it. Do I think Trump will reach those final numbers that Hitler did? I surely hope not. But it doesn't mean that their current pace-setting doesn't have similarities in specific areas. 

    As this all relates to Bill Maher, and now, strangely, Al Gore, the issue is that Maher continues to make this point—as do many other older liberals, Democrats, etc.—is that they haven't changed, the party has. And yeah, duh, that would be true at any point in history. If you were a Democrat in the 1950s, the policies of the 1980s would be different. If you were still holding onto your 1950s ideals that were 30 years in the rearview, people would rightly call you out of touch. Maher, and Gore as well, believing that their 1990s policy positions hold weight in the 2020s is not only egotistical, but patently absurd. There are many new politicians, activists, and advocates who carry many of the same qualifications that these two men had when they came to prominence, but they get dismissed because people don't recognize their names or qualifications because they stopped tapping in and keeping pace with new movements over the past 30 years. It's no less ignorant than when someone says, "There's no good music anymore" but they've been listening to the same bands, and only listening to related projects, instead of doing the work of following what's happening culturally. Just because these are two names that represent liberal thought and consensus to you does not mean they are actively a part of the modern, boots-on-the-ground organizing and thought, and their continued prevalence is emblematic of a larger cultural issue, which is that people tap out and want to still act authoritative. 

    Great post, thank you!  I really do hope you will continue to contribute here with this kind of thoughtful post.  Also, thank you for reminding me that much hope relies on the energy and ideas of younger, forward thinking people.  

    I do believe much of the wisdom and experience of old geezers like me can be useful, important, and relevant, and that Maher and Gore are just two people of a generation, not the whole.  There are older people who are staying very relevant.  Bernie Sanders, Joan Baez, and Dan Rather (to name a few) come to mind.  I am not going to give myself kudos, but I strive to stay informed and up with the times and not fall back on old 60's cliches and idealism.  That's how I ended up on a forum like this one and, consequently, why when I mention my favorite bands, most of my peers don't know what the hell I am talking about. The survival of Democracy is going to rely on all of us who believe in it's value to work together.  So please don't write off all of us old fuckers!
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni











  • Lerxst1992Lerxst1992 Posts: 7,292
    That’s some really good food for thought, thank you.

    Thank you also for touching on the additional 4 million victims of the Holocaust, they need to be remembered alongside the 6 million Jewish victims.

    Excellent point. But a dinner invite to the White House being compared to the holocaust can only make the left look more out of touch with reality and middle America, and if anything, hurtful to those impacted so badly by WWII
  • benjsbenjs Toronto, ON Posts: 9,285
    That’s some really good food for thought, thank you.

    Thank you also for touching on the additional 4 million victims of the Holocaust, they need to be remembered alongside the 6 million Jewish victims.

    Excellent point. But a dinner invite to the White House being compared to the holocaust can only make the left look more out of touch with reality and middle America, and if anything, hurtful to those impacted so badly by WWII
    My god, talk about a stretch. Larry David very obviously didn’t compare the White House to the holocaust. At the Passover Seder the other week, I was called a Seder Nazi. Does that mean my Seder was compared to the holocaust? 
    '05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2

    EV
    Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
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