Bill Maher is a sanctimonious ass.

[mr715]

His style of Catskill comedy is as tired as his political pieties.

He doesn't have a friend that isn't on payroll. I'm sick of hearing about him.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Maher ceased being funny a long time ago

[Tribetime]

4. Never was funny just smug arrogant punchable face

[mr715]

10. A few decades ago he made me laugh

I was so naive and mistook smarm and sanctimony for criticism.

Now he is as predictable as he is arrogant. Nothing worse than haughty AND boring.

[Trueblue Texan]

31. Don't forget ugly...he's ugly too.

Just sayin'.

[SheltieLover]

2. Never could stand him.

[Prairie Gates]

3. Fuck Bill Maher

[IA8IT]

5. Bill Maher plunked down one million dallars to pro Obama PAC so I'm a Mahar 50%+ one.

Locally I have a Jill fucking Stein democrat that still walks the earth.

The Dude Abides

Never burn bridges until you're across.

[SocialDemocrat61]

6. Trump donated to democrats

in New York for decades. Doesn't give him a pass either.

[Intractable]

11. Bill Maher never misses an opportunity to tell us he "plunked down one million dallars [sic]" to Obama.

By reminding us, he tries to buy our loyality.

[Bettie]

7. Yeah that covers it

he was funny at one time, but hasn't been for a while now.

[mr715]

8. Good comedy is timeless.

The shelf life on his schtick has expired. He is so desperate to cling to his status as a philosopher-artist. He is not. He is a hack.

And he's another person that has been personally offended by Trump. Be still my bleeding heart. Poor guy, can't catch a break without a producer getting some applause started.

[gulliver]

9. He's a very strong liberal voice

He's among the stronger in terms of audience reach and skill. He's eclectic in terms of liberal and progressive values. He will talk to just about anyone. For example, he talks to Obama and Newsom, and he talks to Trump and Mace. Maher just had one of our rising stars, Talarico, on the show.

Maher has said he has no interest in talking to the prion, Nick Fuentes.

I doubt there is much that Maher has said that the vast majority of Democrats wouldn't agree with. He occasionally makes mistakes, but that's fine. There's nothing and no one that ever got to be strong that didn't make a mistake once or twice.

His big issue, I think, is that some people peg him as "centrist." For them, all I can say is, listen to him a lot. Pay no attention to what other people say about him.

[mr715]

13. He had Talarico and Boebert together.

Which in one swoop diminishes Talarico and elevates Boebert.

He is, to use a technical term, a whore.

He has no values other than the unwavering belief that he is the most significant mind of his generation and that he never gets the deferrance he deserves.

His "liberal voice" is an illusion. He is interested in celebrity, not substance. He is as much steeped in grievance politics as Trump, and he'd happily sell his soul for a smoke and the ability to say the N-word.

I've listened to him my entire life. I'm over him.

And no, he isn't a centrist. He isn't anything.

[gulliver]

20. That was an amazing show last time

I'm not sure how anyone could not want to watch it. I thought Talarico did great. Boebert too. Both of them got some hot potatoes.

I think he's quite strongly liberal. Take just about any position or issue, and, if you disagree with him on it, dig in deeper. I think most liberals and Democrats would agree with him, as I said, on most things. And, on the things with which they disagree, a little deeper thought might show they aren't that far apart in reality. Just my opinion.

[mr715]

21. Obviously, you are entitled to your position and I celebrate it.

Maher is not a Democrat, never has been, never will be.

The label matters but doesn't disqualify him in my eyes. What does is his vanity.

He is basically Joe Rogan off steroids. He is debate club Joe Rogan.

I did think Talerico did great. I think he is a serious person. Boebert is not a serious person.

So, was it a kids table or a grownups table? In my middle age, I see Bill Maher as an entitled manchild that has been so insulated by wealth and celebrity that he has no grounding in politics.

Bill Maher never met a student he couldn't smirk and scorn. He's just someone who punches down, and complains when he gets smacked.

We aren't going to agree, but tastes differ. Experiences differ. I respect and appreciate you.

[gulliver]

22. Same

Good discussion. Yes, we disagree on some things. But I respect and appreciate you too.

[True Dough]

28. I'll throw in a

"I agree with you."

I see Maher reviled here on the DU regularly. I'm not going to argue with anyone anymore that he's more on our side than theirs, but I get that impression when I watch his show.

So he doesn't treat Democrats like they're beyond reproach. That offends some Dems right off the hop.

I listen to his critiques. I occasionally see merit in them. Sometimes I think he's missing the mark. Such is life.

I laugh at some of his jokes, I find others unfunny. But, on balance, I tune in most weeks. I will periodically skip a guest when it's someone I cannot stand to listen to.

I won't be watching this Friday because he's taking this week off. But I'll be back the next week. He mentioned that he's going to respond to Trump bashing him for cracking jokes about Trump. That ought to be good.

[lame54]

26. Woke and Cancel Culture...

Are his obsession
They're both phony issues

[SunImp]

23. Pretty much the only left leaning people who like him

Like him because he trashes people who think like AOC, Palestinian protestors because he bought into the bs against them and has no problems misinterpreting what they believe in, & people who question party leaders. Maher & his hardcore fans that constantly defend him are out of touch with the youth & actual working class people.

[AZProgressive]

14. I think he is further to the right than a lot of centrist Democrats

In terms of who he associates with especially when it comes to right wing guests and his podcast he tends to have even worse guests like RFK JR and the things he agrees with him on which isn't backed by reliable science. Democrats that he think should be President are conservative Democrats such as Fetterman.

He may have been a strong Obama supporter but even during that time I stopped watching him because of his stance on Muslims which is to lump the mainstream ones with the Wahabbi or ultraconservative sects. These days he may even be a shy Trump voter or at least defender but the topics he covers are often to the right of where regular resistance liberals are.

However, Bari Weiss is a self-described centrist so he may be considering where centrists are at during the Trump era.

[gulliver]

17. Good points

I think RFK Jr. is about half nuts. More than half. I still want to listen to him because some of it isn't nuts. When he or Bill Maher talk about vaccines, you might as well look at your phone for a while. But when they talk about Big Pharma, Big Insurance, and the big medical and psychological guilds, I listen.

In my old age, I think I've finally become comfortable with the idea that people are nuts. You people anyway.

Maher would never endorse Trump. Ever. Bill Maher was among the very strongest voices telling us that Trump was going to pull a January 6th. Maher never fails to point out how destructive to democracy Trump has been.

[Ilikepurple]

29. I could listen to half nuts RFK Jr. and Maher 20 years ago, but harder now

They have both had 20 years of insulated engagement that I feel has weakened their abilities to parse facts and reason effectively. That being said, I mainly commented to say I involuntarily chuckled at “you people anyway” and appreciate you taking time to spell out your opinions. It helps me understand why people still listen to either of them.

[nilram]

27. He is also a sanctimonious ass.

More liberal than not. Not as interesting as his guests, but has an interesting talk show at least part of the time.

[MuirHero]

35. Maher is a smug egotistical prick.

Can't stomach the guy.

[Martin Eden]

38. I can no longer stomach Bill Maher

He's not nearly as smart or informed as he thinks he is, yet comes off as smug and righteous.

His platforming of mendacious rightwing vipers is not a virtue of "being willing to talk to the other side." It is normalizing the most pernicious threats to our democracy.

Years ago I was willing to overlook his obvious friendship with Ann Coulter -- a thoroughly poisonous creature whose Fox News rhetoric and books were cutting edge rightwing vile propaganda at the time. He never made much of an attempt to counter her bullshit when she was a guest on his show, but I neverthelss didn't question the sincerity of his ostensible liberal or libertarian political beliefs.

Now, I'm more inclined to assess his schtick as more of an act to maintain his career. Of one thing I'm sure; he's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. The breaking point with me was several years ago, when he had Steve Bannon on as first guest. Bill came prepared with what he thought were some "gotcha" questions, but he was totally unprepared to deal with a monster clearly more intelligent than him. Bannon would respond with a deflection of rapid bullshit that uninformed (or misinformed) viewers would swallow. Mr. Maher would just say OK then ask his next question, only to get his ass handed to him again. MAGAts watching that show were no doubt ecstatic.

I watched several minutes of his recent show with Talarico and Boebert. The latter is not what I'd call intelligent, yet Bill managed to make her look like a reasonable person by falling to call out multiple false statements.

But that's not why I left the room. I've come to detest that smug prick, in part because of his attacks on "the Left" as not liking America or appreciating what we have in this country (compared to horrible regimes around the world). This is a recurring theme with him. He likes to cite examples of what is essentially the fringe, mostly online activity of young "cancel culture" types, and use that as representative of "the Left" in general -- and by extension the Democratic Party. This was especially predominant during college protests against the atrocities Netanyahu's government was committing against civilians in Gaza.

Taken as a whole, it comes off as the old "America - love it or leave it." When our country fails to live up to its ostensible highest ideals, engaged citizens should express their criticism of both our present and our past. And it's not necessary to also call out foreign regimes while doing so.

Sure, he still has some good guests and lively conversations, but seldom if ever enough time to dive very deep on any issue. His closing monologue is occasionally spot-on, but his opening ceased to be funny years ago.

My wife still likes to watch his show, which is the only reason I'm still exposed to it. Most of the time I can't make it very far, because I've come to despise Bill Maher.

[Johonny]

12. The quality of his own material has declined

And become myopic. His writers don't appear to be all that anymore either. Don't really seek him out.

[Maru Kitteh]

15. Don't know exactly what prompted this but

Truthfully, I couldn’t possibly agree with you more. He is . . pathetic.

[mr715]

16. Maher thinks Trump misrepresented their din-din

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5751699-comedian-bill-maher-trump-dinner/


Packaged in this lovely little snippet is some subtle misogyny and a little bothersider-ism for flavor. Couldn't help but get a dig at Democrats!

[MuirHero]

36. Fuck Bill Maher

[Johnny2X2X]

18. Bill Maher is a bigot

He’s a transphobe and gave a platform to and agreed with even worse transphobes than he.

Basically called trans people groomers. Thats when he lost me.

[mr715]

19. He isn't big on Muslims, either.

His sense of decency is hamstrung by his utter inability to conceive of the fact that there is stuff he doesn't know about.

He is, to himself, the greatest mind and critic of his (and any) generation. Socrates reborn.

To me he is the living embodiment of observer biases. And (imagine this in Bill Maher's distinctive voice) his humor is sooo 1993.

[MuirHero]

37. Heard him say that as well

He's a washed-up piece of shit.

[Shermann]

24. You started a thread about a guy you are sick of hearing about? nt

[Abolishinist]

40. If it wasn't for the 'FBM' cult either starting threads about him or disrupting

the weekly OP by one of DU's best-loved members he would be mostly forgotten around these parts.

[wiggs]

25. I will rec this. Bothsiderism every week. nt

[NoMoreRepugs]

30. Maher can go eat a bag of dicks.

[betsuni]

32. "Progress -- real progress that actually changes the lives of real people -- comes mainly from dull,

patient plodders who put in their ten thousand hours mastering the details of public service. It comes from people trapped in tiny rooms at three a.m. with stale pizza and cold coffee, crafting laws line by line that few will ever read or thank them for. I know it's not the sexy answer, but change happens from people like Henry Waxman. What if I told you there was a single member of Congress who brought the tobacco industry to its knees, paved the way for less expensive drugs, expanded Medicaid to include pregnant women and children, put the teeth into the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water acts and wrote most of Obamacare? ... And not just the Affordable Care Act. Nursing home reform. Food safety reform. AIDS research. ... As one top Republican put it, 'Fifty percent of the social safety net was created by Henry Waxman while no one was looking.' And that's the thing about being a workhorse instead of a show horse: no one is looking. Waxman never went on the Sunday talk shows; he didn't do TV at all. ... Kerry, Hillary, Barney Frank, John Lewis, Nancy Pelosi, Obama -- these are the wonks who never satisfy the radicals but know how to make actual progress, as opposed to doing progressive theater. It's not the screamers and the tweeters, it's the worker bees with the name tags and the binders.

"Pundits have always referred to the Republican Party as the Daddy Party, which makes Democrats the Mommy Party... . But Republicans aren't the Daddy Party anymore. They're more like the Absentee Father Party ... . But for so many who are just trying to survive in this American family, they have to come to terms with the reality that the Daddy Party is the Deadbeat Dad Party ... and you know what happens when Daddy's a useless piece of crap? Mommy has to take over. That's why the Democrats are no longer the Mommy Party -- they're the Single Mom Party. They're the party that has to work two jobs because Daddy went out for cigarettes and never came back. The Single Mom Party is the only one that cares about the kids' future."

Bill Maher, "What This Comedian Said Will Shock You"

[mr715]

33. Platitudes

The Daddy party? The Mommy party?

The single mom party, oh how droll.

[fujiyamasan]

34. I just find him tiresome now

I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt even right after the election, but there’s no edge now. He doesn’t hit Trump and the republicans the way he used to either. His tone is boring. He simply lectures democrats and whines about woke. Fine, I get it democrats are weak and don’t come off very forceful or strong. But they’re also not in power so attacking them feels kinda pathetic.

None of that really matters when you have fascists in power, threatening to take comedians off the air (something he has actual experience with) and having roving gangs terrorize and murder people in the streets. Oh, and don’t forget the pedophile president files and his administration’s coverup.

In short I agree fuck bill maher.

[Emile]

39. Maher has always been a centrist

right-wing libertarian.