The right attacking Bill Maher tonight

[brettdale]

Having outrage on twitter tonight, because he said the N word.

[Shandris]

1. Well, I'm sure that'll go over spectacularly with....oh, say, NO ONE.

Another terrible decision in a long line of occasionally terrible decisions. This one, however, might well be the last.

[TheBlackAdder]

19. Here we go... Another issue pushed by Republican influenced press to incite Liberal infighting.

.

And, each and every time, the Liberals fall for it.

It's like Lucy and Charlie Brown, always pulling the foodball away at the last second. and Charlie Brown never learns.


They post some faux tizzie and the Democrats bend over backwards to appease them.

.

[sharedvalues]

26. Yes. Ignore. Do not discuss.

[SledDriver]

30. Agreed. Irrelevant...

A faux pas. Ignore. Do not discuss. This only leads to infighting... meant to divide...

Keep your eyes on the prize...

[Turtlegirl91]

2. Who cares?

I signed up to show my support for Kathy and I might as well start with Bill. This is a nothing burger.

[Beaverhausen]

7. Welcome and I agree

He meant nothing... it was just a semi-bad joke.

[Warpy]

13. Welcome to DU

and fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

He was quoting Gone with the Wind, if anybody's interested. You'd think they'd have seen the movie even if they're young, dumb and on Twitter 24/7.

[HAB911]

22. +++++++++++

[Lotusflower70]

3. It's absolutely ridiculous

Fake outrage over nothing. They don't give context to see who freaks out.

[TheBlackAdder]

90. Gary?

.



.

[Lotusflower70]

91. True that

There are a lot of fights out there. The question is which one to focus on and when do we stop eating our own.

[ecstatic]

4. I don't know or care what the right is up to. It's not just that he used the N word

His comment made light of the atrocities of slavery. Just as it's inappropriate to make jokes about Nazi camps, it's wrong to make jokes about the horrors of slavery.

That being said, we all know that Maher means well but he can get pretty offensive at times.

[Turtlegirl91]

5. I think you're reading too much in to it.

It was a pretty innocent comment and I thought it was hilarious.

[Gravitycollapse]

14. A rich white guy making a joke about slavery using the n-word is not hilarious or innocent.

It's actually really disgusting.

[BannonsLiver]

15. Yes, I'm sure it does when one willfully ignores context

[Gravitycollapse]

16. There is no context that would make it appropriate.

I'm still shocked that this needs to be explained to anyone. White people cannot use the n-word.

[njhoneybadger]

32. I'm half black half white can I use that word?

[LOL Lib]

34. Yes! We are all black when the lights go out...lol

Trying to lighten the mood with that lead in.

We are being ruled by an orange shit gibbon and our liberal friends are freaking out because an old white guy said the n-word in a tasteless joke.

This is the kind of ridiculous bullshit that the evil repukes point at and mock us about.

Pick your battles...this one doesn't even qualify as playground diss by a 7 year old.

SMH

[WoonTars]

39. So much this

...

[ciaobaby]

79. It is good to hear another voice of reason

It is also so depressing to see all the people on this and other post stepping all over each other to defend the use of the "N" word.
It just disgusts me.

[pnwmom]

18. What about the context made a slavery-based joke okay? n/t

[LOL Lib]

40. Tastless, but ok given that Maher was calling himself a slave and referring to

Republican Sasse as the slave master.



I took this to be a dig at Republicans as much as anything. Especially after watching the actual clip, it is clear that this was not meant to be insensitive to African Americans.

[pnwmom]

41. Do you know African Americans who aren't offended by "tasteless"

slavery jokes coming out of the mouths of white people?

Jokes like this minimize the evil of slavery. Maher should apologize.

[LOL Lib]

42. Actually yes I do.

I do appreciate your white hot rage. Please be honest and tell me how many African Americans you live, work, or even socialize with? I get so disgusted by faux outrage. The fact that a rich white guy makes a tasteless joke is not even on the minds of the people I know. They are concerned with jobs, making mortgage payment, and trying to MAKE a better future for themselves. I will just shut up, because I will say something that will hurt feelings soon. Please enjoy your weekend and thank you for your concern.

[pnwmom]

44. I have several African Americans among my relatives, in addition to having

others for friends. I doubt that you personally asked any black people about the Maher joke, since it just happened. Do yourself a favor and ask any actual black friends -- assuming you have any -- how they felt about Maher's joke, before you spout off in front of them.

[LOL Lib]

71. Sure lol, I guess the African American in my bed every morning doesn't count.

Try again honey.

[pnwmom]

77. Did you watch the show with her? You didn't say in any previous posts

that you had talked to a black person who had actually watched the segment. It appeared to be that you think you're extra good at mind reading.

[bettyellen]

54. Jobs - or their "cultural anxiety"? I'm sick of people pretending economics mattered more.

If that were true HRC would be president.

[kcr]

66. Faux outrage?

Right, because getting jobs and making mortgage payments and making better futures will be so much easier in an unequal society. As if racial and economic equality are two separate things. Where have we heard that before?

Claims of faux outrage, when used as a cudgel against social liberals, are almost always just a tool to shut them up. They're based on claims that their motives are suspect, and it's a favorite game of right wingers. It's sad to see it on DU.

[bettyellen]

70. Seen this shit too often not to call it out. If they can't show solidarity w POC and women I don't

Know who the hell they think they're fooling with this liberal label. Nope. We're the base, and we don't like racism and sexism.

[kcr]

78. Yes, and we're certainly not going to be shamed out of fighting it.

They want to stick up for a Libertarian jackass and then cry about infighting and blame us. It's stupid.

[LOL Lib]

72. Is it sad because it hurts or because its the truth?

[kcr]

80. Something is self explanatory alright.

SJW? Dead giveaway.

[bettyellen]

82. That's a RW talking point so please do go on....

[Bigredhunk]

6. -

Link to tweet

[Fluke a Snooker]

55. BINGO! This is actually WORSE than Maher's slip of the tongue!

Bill Maher may have been joking, but for Sasse to laugh like that is FAR WORSE, and represents the defacto racism of the Republican Party. ALL republicans need to be shamed constantly until they are out of political discourse completely.

[rogue emissary]

8. Just another desperate attempt by Maher to stay relevant and tempt controversy.

HBO would never release his ratings but they must be down. Probably can't stand seeing real comedians like Colbert and Meyers dominate the late night political zeitgeist.

[Bucky]

45. What is your basis for saying Bill Maher doesn't want other comedians to do well?

[rogue emissary]

95. Because this is the first time since he had Milo on his show that he's been highlighted by MSM.

At the same time, Colbert and Meyers have been making news for their increased ratings. Last Week Tonight seems to be way more popular when it comes to references in the media and distribution of online clips. Throw in Samantha Bee's show is quickly taking over or even taken over the mantle as the must-watch political satire show from The Daily show. What I'm getting at is no one is in a rush to hear his opinion or write about his show.

It's the reason why I'm not all that outraged that he used the N-word. He's not going to apologize. because he's trying to spike his viewership by getting the Donny supporters that eat up his anti-Islamic and black bigotry rants.

Maher is fading fast as many Muslim and their allies have abandoned him. I think a lot of African-Americans aren't going to excuse not only his language but his attacks on BLM won't be tolerated anymore.

Update:
Didn't see that he made a lame apologize. HBO must have dropped the hammer on him.

[Bucky]

98. You have an impressive talent for making presumptions unrooted by fact

Conjecture isn't reality. Oy. Like I don't have enough grief arguing with Republicans.

[rogue emissary]

99. I'll remember to only express facts and no opinions.

Looking forward to your conjecture free DU. Ah, throw in an insult I'm giving you grief like a Republican so factual.

[lillypaddle]

9. It's not just the "right"

he offended. My twitter feed shows outrage from a number of AAs.

[LOL Lib]

35. The majority of my real life friends are AA.

I haven't heard a single outcry from them yet. To be honest, I don't think any of my friends watch or care about Bill Maher. If there is legit outrage from the AA community I will know by lunch.

The real outrage is still focused on cops killing un-armed black men in broad daylight with zero repercussions. That is a real life worry for AAs.

I'm not trying to crush your twitter universe, just pointing out that twitter is not the mean streets of Oakland, Ferguson, Detroit, Chicago, etc. Please don't take my post the wrong way. I live in an AA dominated area and twitter may not always portray the real world sentiments accurately. You can't even trust that a twitter account is a human, much less an average African American.

[pnwmom]

46. If they don't watch Maher then the fact that they haven't expressed

anything to you about being offended by that joke means NOTHING. I'm not offended by things I've never heard or read about either. Who would be?

[lillypaddle]

52. Just posted this in a similar thread

Link to tweet

And btw, I live beyond "my twitter universe."

[applegrove]

10. Distraction from the fact the AG probably needs an attorney himself.

[grossproffit]

11. But, they said that political correctness was killing our country. They can eat chit!

[stopbush]

12. My 20-year-old daughter just came downstairs to show me that clip

and asked why I and her mom watch his show when he says things like that on the air.

[pnwmom]

17. He appeared to be making a joke out of slavery. Not cool. n/t

[Bucky]

47. It sounded like he was comparing employment in Kansas to slavery

That seems more like a dig on job opportunities in Kansas. I certainly heard nothing there that made it sound like he approved of slavery. Is that what you're saying?

And as offensive as his joke was, it seems more like a poke at himself for being soft

[pnwmom]

49. And making a joke comparing employment in Kansas to being a House N

is MINIMIZING the reality of slavery.

Slavery is not a laughing matter.

[Bucky]

63. I think you missed the joke. The laugh was in his admitting he couldn't handle it

That emphasizes the dehumanization of slavery. It creates a perspective and shows that the toil and mistreatment of the people subjected to slavery is horrific

If you don't see that, you just want to miss the joke.

Of course it's the language choice that was unacceptable. Besides perpetuating the use of an ugly slur, dropping the n-bomb ruined the joke. But it was a misstep on his part, not part of a racist master plan

[pnwmom]

65. Why distort what I'm saying to make your point? I don't think the joke

was part of a racist master plan. I think it was offensive and he should apologize.

[Bucky]

69. We both distorted

I didn't mean to imply that you personally were saying he had a "racist master plan". That was hyperbole.

But you did say that he was making a joke of slavery. And that clearly was not the case. He was using the premise of slavery to make a joke about oppressive work conditions. That's a pretty big distinction

[pnwmom]

73. He called himself a House N. That is making a joke of slavery. If you don't believe me

ask black people you know in real life if it's okay for a white guy to talk like that.

[Bucky]

81. You're still missing the point. Now you're missing a second one

I've already said twice in this sub thread that he should not have used the n-word. I completely agree he shouldn't talk like that.

And I very clearly showed that the joke he made was humorously illustrating the horrible aspects of slavery. I think you're choosing to ignore the very clear contrast he was making between a field slave and a house slave, and which is preferable, as opposed to the one that Senator was saying he should try.

You don't like Bill Maher. That's clear. There's a lot of things to dislike about him, like his elitism and his bigotry against Muslims and his sexism and his apparent dislike for children. In fact there's so much to dislike about him, it seems strange that you have to make up a bogus argument to justify it

[kcr]

88. It's fair to say he was making light of slavery in order to make the joke

Seeing as it was part of the joke. I can see parsing it to make a distinction, but we're not talking a wide gulf, here. Surely you can understand the offense?

[Bucky]

89. Of course

I was only talking out our differences. I said several times up thread that the word choice was wrong and unacceptable

[dembotoz]

93. big time famous speech by malcolm x

more current time than civil war

[Blue_Adept]

20. Eh, fuck 'em. They're generally wrong about everything, why not this?

[HAB911]

23. +++++++++++

God, I miss that man

[Spider Jerusalem]

21. "The right"?

Most of the people I see saying "fuck Bill Maher" on Twitter are black. (And they're right. Bill Maher is a racist, misogynist, Islamophobic, transphobic asshole. I suspect the reason so many white liberal dudebros love them some Bill Maher is because they also tick a lot of those boxes.)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

29. Yup

[m-lekktor]

24. from where I sit it is leftists (on my facebook feed) who are critical of his use of the N word. nt

[onecent]

25. Good Lord it doesn't bother me if some comedian says the N word. He's a comedian....We have

a president in the whitehouse..LET'S LET RID OF HIM. I could call him ALL SORTS OF WORDS AND IT WOULDN'T AFFECT
anything that man ever done.

Let's get rid of the RAUNCHY, DISHONEST, NARRSISTIC SON OF A BITCH WHILE WE STILL HAVE A SHOT.

i DON'T LIKE KATHY GRIFFITH OR ANYTHING ABOUT HER, BUT i DONT WANT HER CAREER TO BE RUINED EITHER.
wHERE'S SHE GONNA WORK.

LET'S at least keep people working where they work....shit not enough jobs for ANYONE.

I hate this president, he's not my president, but I'm too old to fight that fight....

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. So many white people forgiving each other for saying racist shit

lol

I hope maher gets fired

[Mosby]

48. how many thousands of times has eminem used the n-word?

What's the difference?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

50. who said i was ok with eminem using it either? why all the need to distract from maher?

[SaschaHM]

51. "But this white man did it too" - Has become the new go to excuse on DU.

[Mosby]

60. its not an excuse, just a plea for consistency

How come Eminem can joke about killing his wife, raping women, using the n-word and no one cares?

I know why, Mathers is young and hip and Maher is a middle aged. It's ageism.

[SaschaHM]

62. People did have issues w/ Eminem.

If your info sphere was so limited that you didn't see it, then that's on you.

[Bucky]

67. To be fair, Bill Maher also has a track record of elitist humor

He looks down on the working class, he looks down on women, he looks down on foreigners, and he's absolutely bigoted against Muslims.

He's politically liberal enough that we can excuse it sometimes, but no one can argue that he's not an upper-class snob

[bettyellen]

57. I'm amazed so many people feel a Libertarian is "one of our own"! Speak for yourself dudes.

He ain't one of mine, never has been.

[Adrahil]

28. The right has lost the right to criticize anyone over language. NT

[Johnny2X2X]

31. Maher needs to apologize.

Absolutely outrageous.

But there appropriately is a double standard when a Liberal uses that word. Liberals work to help minorities, Conservatives are trying their best to destroy minorities. So it's a bigger deal when a Con uses that word.

Maher called himself the word and that was wrong, but not as wrong as if he'd called someone else that name.

He could lose his show over this.

[WoonTars]

37. Not a chance he loses his show over this remark.

More fake poutrage being whipped up by the reich-wing...

[NutmegYankee]

36. One of the reasons the right is so powerful is the left always forms circular firing squads.

We eat our own happily while the right looks on with BIG SMILES!

God Damn it - We need to fucking stop this!

[Bucky]

59. By circular firing squad, do you mean has honest disagreements?

Or should everyone shut up about being offended by Bill Maher's comments because most of the time he's attacking Trump?

The reason liberals have gone after Kathy Griffin was because we have moral standards. It was wrong for her to make a joke about beheading the president, just like it was wrong for Ted Nugent to make a joke about shooting a machine gun off in Hillary Clinton's mouth.

I have scorn for people who condemn one and not the other. We can make jokes, we can even make edgy jokes, without attacking civility. But that means there are lines you shouldn't cross. What you are calling circular firing squad, I consider having moral standards that we are true to.

Even if Republicans don't mind when one of their own encourages violence against the president, I still think it's wrong, and I will criticize anyone who does it or says it.

[NutmegYankee]

92. Well thank God for our moral standards.

Sure, we don't win shit with them, but at least with those moral standards, we can ignore the damage caused to the planet and people by the right wing.

Saving birth control and women's rights - hey, at least we have standards...
Saving families from poverty and hunger - hey, at least we have standards...
Resolving a long history of racial injustice - hey, at least we have standards...

Maher is an asshole at times, but Griffin did not deserve the collapse she got. I saw her joke as political hyperbole for contempt. But I guess I was one of those who "got the joke". But hey, keep those standards going. I hope they can make you feel superior, because they sure didn't get us the White House.

[SaschaHM]

38. Fuck this shit.

Just because Maher usually hands out morsels for white liberals to eat up, doesn't mean his "house n*gger" slavery comment is fine.

Nope. This is not the hill you all want to die on.

[kcr]

43. The right are attacking him for it? I don't believe it for a minute.

If anyone on the right is claiming to be upset about it, it's fauxrage because they think Bill Mahar is a lefty.

[Bucky]

85. Exactly. It's the Ted Nugent versus Kathy Griffin dynamic all over again

The silence from conservatives about Nugent issuing death threats against Obama and suggesting a sexual assault on Hillary Clinton was deafening

[Ccarmona]

53. LaBron's House Gets Tagged

With the same word, and not a peep from the Right. The HYPOCRISY of the Right is an epidemic.

[oswaldactedalone]

56. We're getting a chance to control the media message

and twits like Griffin and Maher go do stupid crap. A pox on both of them. How about everyone else act like they've got some damn sense while we've got them by the balls.

[SaschaHM]

58. Yup those right wingers like Nina Turner, Shaun King, and pretty much every PoC progressive/liberal

[True Dough]

61. Here's some of what I'm seeing...

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[beaglelover]

64. This country needs an enema.

[bettyellen]

68. So fucking what? He's a Libertarian who trashes liberals himself. Fuck Maher.

I'm not stupid enough to look to them for cues and then "do the opposite". Please spare me.

[Bucky]

74. He's a Libertarian who wants higher taxes and more government regulation?

Like most people, he has a diverse range of political views on different topics. But calling him a libertarian when he categorically opposes most of their political views it's a little silly

[bettyellen]

83. When it comes to social issues (the current topic) he's a Libertarian who trashes Dems constantly.

Gotta love how many people would prefer to derail the conversation into one about economics though! That's funny. Where have I seen that before?

[Bucky]

84. Help me out here. I don't know where you've seen that before.

But implying that another person's thinking is unoriginal is never useful in a conversation. Unless of course, you don't want to have a conversation

[bettyellen]

87. Maher represents a segment of liberals who bend Libertarian when it comes to social issues-

And I think he makes too many dudes comfortable with their mindless "can't you take a joke" bullshit regarding women and POC. Because of people like him, men have the idea that solidarity demands nothing of them- no respect, no decency. Look at all the responses saying me me me . WTF? Where's the respect?

Guys like that think they're still running everything when they're not even the base of the party. It's delusional to think alienating women and POC is smart, but the patriarchal shit is hard for them to shake off. Being liberal means working to shake off this sense of entitlement. We're not in a post racist or post sexist world where these slurs are okay, or truly progressive to defend them.

You know what's weird? People trying to pivot to economics while discussing this. If seen it half a dozen times. It's just bizarre they can't respect us enough to stay on the damn topic.

[JTFrog]

94. +1 nt

[Thomas Hurt]

76. Rightly so - at the hypocrisy

but otherwise many on the right see no problem using the n word. Some of them wish to be able to use it freely on the street as they demand African Americans step into the gutter to let them pass on the sidewalk.

[Orcrist]

96. Nothing Burger

Not a single African American I know has expressed any problem with Maher's comment given the context it was made in. None. And I have discussed it with some already aware of it and described it to those who had not. Just an internet thing with white right wingers trying to hype it into a bigger deal than it is and white far left special snowflakes falling for it.

That's right, roll around and bite each other over this nothing burger lap dog liberals while the rep's watch and laugh. Maybe we can focus on politically correct crap like this years from now when they run Ted Nugent or one of the Duck Dynasty guys for president.

[MiltonBrown]

97. The Disingenuous Party has no shame.

They learn who is involved in a controversy and what political party they belong to and base right or wrong on party ID.