Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevemcgarrett]

Bill Maher, media crank extraordinaire, who is already more incorrigible than his senior Andy Rooney, who lost one cable show for his wisecracks after 9-11, who claims to be a bonafide libertarian but who lately has been pandering to Left, is up to his old tricks again. This pandering enables him to make jokes like this without rebuke (God forbid a conservative would say as much): "We find that one of Al Sharpton's ancestors was a slave to one of Strom Thurmond's ancestors. But they let him go because his big medallion kept getting caught in the cotton gin." Or how about: "When a sweaty Arab man sits next to you in a plane seat, you might want to pay attention."

In one of his countless swipes at Bush--which at times are funny and at times downright crude and disrespectful of the office if not the man--he said on his new show, "If Bush wants to meet any more superstar athletes he needs to stand in line with the rest of the retarded kids." The backdrop to this joke was a photo of Shaq meeting the President in the White House. Now, never mind that all presidents do this as a matter of public appeal or even that Maher is questioning the president's intelligence. But to make a joke at the expense of those with Down's Syndrome is pretty sad.

Someone does need to wipe that permanent smirk off Maher's face, not because he doesn't have the right to speak out but because he is a consummate jerk. And of course, Larry "I'm not senile yet" King, regularly gives up his talk show for Maher. This, too, is not surprising, given that King is also a libertarian, although married to a Mormon half his age. He relishes in Maher's relentless assault on anything moderates or conservatives deem sacred, never calling into serious question any of his quips let alone playing devil's advocate. Aside from laughing at his own jokes before getting an audience reaction--a sure sign of insecurity--Maher almost never castigates himself or his own world view. Little in the way of self-deprecating humor escapes from his mouth. A true comedian he is not.

He is the perennial cynic, and relishes in his lack of hope. We will never succeed in Iraq. O.K., fair enough. Democracy will never succeed in Iraq. Really, Bill, how would you know? If he said half of what he said just to provoke a reaction, we could chock it up to acerbic wit. Sometimes he shines but you have to wade through a whole lot of almost bitter, brooding dark humor. As it is never put in the mix with lighthearted humor, it becomes annoying and then downright offensive. At other times he is simply UNfunny, as in the tired stereotype "look, no one wants to have sex with Republicans because it'd be over in 3 minutes." Golly, that's a knee-slapper, Bill. Wherever did you think of that?

And never mind that he talks about how more lives would be saved if only Bush and Cheney were out of office. O.K., yeah, I'm guessing that's because of Iraq. But then he is perplexed why anyone would want to enlist given the low pay, or reenlist given the risks. Well, Bill, you see, it's because some people aren't self-serving, sniping, whining media hos like you. They actually have convictions in life. So please excuse them their supposed naivete. How foolish of them (echoes of John Kerry).

What chaps my hide, however, about Maher is his revelation on his latest visit to Larry King Live that he's working on a docu-comedy called bluntly "Religion is Stupid." Sure, Monty Python had their fling with Christians in Life of Brian and religious leaders shouldn't take themselves too seriously. Yet Maher has already said he is going to really stab, not jab at Catholics and Jews (no word on Muslims).

Don't get me wrong: I don't have problems with atheists per se. I think they're missing out on a lot in life but their stance does not in itself offend me. What I can't stomach is an atheist like Maher who mocks religious belief with no let up and ridicules believers.

Now that I think about it, I don't want to smack Bill Maher. His reckless and irresponsible, self-absorbed cynicism and smugness will be its own punishment.

[gang ah jee]

[Pligganease]

I like Bill Maher.

He isn't one of those "toe the line" types. He has his own stance on each individual issue. While he does dislike the current administration, he has good reasons for doing so and is well educated on all of the issues that he argues.

Regarding his being fired from ABC after 9/11, he was the host of a show called "Politically Incorrect." Really, though... How do you fire someone from a show with that title for saying something politically incorrect. It shows the mindset that many, including myself, had at the time (although I thought it was a flying crock of bullshit that he was fired).

That swipe about the retarded kids was during "New Rules," which happens to be, in my opinion, the funniest and truest 7 minutes on television. the one great thing about him being dismissed from network TV is that his HBO show is outstanding. His political stance often allows him to play devil's advocate on certain issues that would never be considered liberal, and he certainly has opinions that are converse to most conservatives.

You're right in the fact that he never says he's wrong. However, I think that is because he doesn't toe the line with people who consider themselves to be conservative or liberal. He is able to look at issues and decide for himself what is right or wrong instead of having others do it for him. In that sense, he is never wrong. He believes exactly what he says and, to him, it is the truth.

As for him being the perennial cynic, he did a show begging people to be more cynical. That's exactly what he does.

He makes fun of everyone. He makes fun of Democrats, Republicans, Muslims, Blacks, Whites, Jews... Everyone. Did you ever see, "Victory Begins at Home," "I'm Swiss," "Be More Cynical," or "Real Time?" Did you just watch Larry King today and decide that you dislike Bill? The fact that you're harping on him making fun of Republicans shows that you are insecure, and that you can't take it but can only dish it out.

[VanIslander]

Watch some episodes here: http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/

Not as funny as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but savvy.

[Pligganease]

[huffdaddy]

2 PhDs, 5 Masters degrees, and the guy still can't figure out how to change the channel.

[EFLtrainer]

[stevemcgarrett]

People who go around like snipers in the bush posting little zingers are the trolls. Try addressing the thread topic for a change, EFLintoilet-training and huffnpuffdaddy.

[Octavius Hite]

Me and Pligganease agreeing, totally, that is one of the four horsemen I believe.

Steve, turn the channel buddy, you would much prefer this "laughfest":


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Half_Hour_News_Hour

Which despite appreances from luminaries of comedy like Ann "F@gget" Coultour and Rush "Oxycontin and Carribean Sex Tours" Limbaugh, still needs a laugh track to convince the non-retarded kids the show is supposed to be funny.

And as for firing Maher after 9/11 (And what he said was true and I couldn't agree more) it was the best thing that could have happened to him. He got a vacation and then a great new show with no limits and became a martyr for real patriots not those Toby Keith listening fools who think Raghead is an appriopriate term.

[gang ah jee]

[freethought]

bill Maher is not an atheist. As for the jokes you cite, he's 'allowed' to make them because unlike the conservative right-wingers who would make them, Maher doesn't mean them, whereas they do.

As for the rest of the posters, they have it right on.

If you don't like what's on, change the channel.

[stevemcgarrett]

Hey, gang ah jee:

Why bother posting to a Korean EFL website when you're not even here? Miss your old stomping ground that much? Jeez, how pathetic is that? And if you're so bothered by the thread, ignore it or better yet try posting as many threads as I do that receive lots of hits (not that I really care how many hits I get, contrary to what you imagine).

How about scouting out the Thailand forum for awhile? Small number of posters. You could be a big fish in a small pond there. "Think of the places you'll go!"

Octavius:

As I said before, I'm so glad to know you're not residing stateside. As for Rush or Coulter, you can stick the poker in them all day and it won't faze me. They're (almost) as bad as that loser Al Franken. At least Coulter is witty at times. I realize she offended your sensibilities in a recent talk, so you probably wouldn't give her that much.

Who do I miss on the radio? I miss Ken Hamblin's "The Black Avenger," Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion," and the most sober of the bunch, Jim Bohannon.

Dr. Porn:

That's where we're different. I may dislike Maher but I'm still willing to listen. He can be funny sometimes but he's losing his credibility with me. He used to be more balanced in his verbal assaults and more discerning. Now he's just crude.

No surprise that none of you have addressed HIS glaringly bigoted remarks.

[gang ah jee]

[huffdaddy]

[stevemcgarrett]

Bill O'Reilly was on Oprah recently and even she was impressed, but then she is far more reasonable than the likes of Maher.

Maher doesn't have the guts to engage O'Reilly in real debate.

Lumping O'Reilly in with Limbaugh (or Hannity) is just plain ridiculous.

O'Reilly can hold his own against anyone. If you watched him as often as I have you'd know he can.

And of course Maher doesn't bother you. Your ideology is in the same camp, or close enough.

My beef with Maher is he's not these days what he has touted himself as: a satirist who strikes at both the Left and Right with equal force. Maher is a closet Leftist who can't bring himself to shed his selfish libertarian ways. I have yet to meet a libertarian who had a viable solution to any national problem and if you need proof of their ineffectiveness, just try attending one of the national conventions.