Is There Anyone Here Who Is Actually Dumb Enough

[Exilednight]

to believe that what Maher said was malicious towards African-Americans?

All this handwringing and poutrage over what Maher said, but everyone is deafly quiet about the Right-Wing asshole who laughed like "haha, he read my mind and everyone booed him".

Makes me wonder who people on this board is really fighting.

[underthematrix]

1. Maher's comments are a critical thinking test

I've laid it out in another thread

[leftstreet]

2. Why couldn't Maher quote Malcolm X correctly?

If Maher is claiming his statement was a reference to a Malcolm X speech, why couldn't he use the terminology Malcolm used?

[Bucky]

8. Because he's a shock-value comedian.

He was going for a laugh. It's the same reason most comedians drop the F word in their routines when their jokes might generally work without the gut-punch emphasizer. They're trying to get the best rhetorical bang for their buck.

The N word provokes a reaction. It's usually lame, gratuitous, and overused. But in a crude crowded world, everyone wants the attention.

[leftstreet]

17. He must be insecure, if he's still trying to 'shock'

He's well known, has a venue, makes bigly monies

He had an opportunity to educate

Oh well

[Bucky]

32. Logically, I agree. But you gotta look at what skill set got him where he is

Besides, the vast majority of comedians use "shock" in their routines.

A non-shock comedian is like saying a non-athletic tennis player. It's possible, but it's not lucrative.

[icymist]

57. So you"re saying that one can't be funny today without shock? Could you explain please?

I get the thing with the tennis player. What is funny?

[Bucky]

62. I can't think of any major comedians who don't use swear words or talk about sex and race

I'm not completely well-versed in it, but even the so-called family-friendly comedians like Jim Gaffigan, when you watch their routines, they get into taboo subjects and slip the word "fucking" in for emphasis in their punchlines.

If you ever go to a comedy club, and I've been only a few times comma there's no comedian who doesn't drop the F-bomb just to sell a joke. Frankly I'm surprised it still works given how ubiquitous the word has become.

I think it's become a kind of formality, an invitation to solicit laughter. And so I think it's intellectually lazy. But it definitely works still to tell an audience now you should laugh. And it works because they want to laugh.

[frankieallen]

86. No white comedian should ever use the N word. It's just not funny

[tazkcmo]

58. Bad analogy and I also just disagree.

Bill Cosby, while reviled today and for good reasons, was one of America's favorite comedians along with Pat Paulson, the Smothers Brothers and Jonathan Winters while competing for audiences with other comedic greats like George Carlin, Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor with great success and without f bombs and racial slurs.

Then there's Bob Hackett who never stops trying to shock in his act to the point he stops being funny at times. Louis CK has fallen into this trap, too, albeit not to the same degree.



On edit: Never cared for Mahr's delivery, timing or laughing at his own jokes. His style is almost a direct rip off of Bob Hope. Compare them and you'll see it. I won't defend him as he opened his mouth and can pull his own foot out.

[Bucky]

63. Your examples of non-shock comedians all go back 50 yrs

And had their Heyday in the 1960s. I'm talking about this century. Tell me the name of a comedian who doesn't drop the F-bomb to punch up their lines. I'm sure there are a few here and there, but I can't think of any. And they are vastly outnumbered by comedians who use sex jokes to elicit laughter.

[tazkcmo]

81. lol You're right!

Well, I go back over 50 years, too!!! And yes, they are vastly out numbered. Pablo Francisco doesn't need to drop the f bomb to be funny and he's alive. But I do concede that it's much rarer and mainly because it's harder and takes more effort.

My disagreement is that a comedian that doesn't cuss is like an un-athletic tennis player. In fact, I think the comedian that can get the laughs on wit and not shock is like a world class athlete because it's more difficult and a thing of beauty, ala Sen Franken and that guy that plays Ron on Parks and Rec. Both alive to boot!

[Bucky]

85. I'm over 50 too

And I sure miss non shock comics

[Hamlette]

26. Really, that's it?

the phrase goes back to 1807 and the N word, in my experience, is used interchangeably.

So, no wonder he didn't remember the actual phrasing is understandable.

[MrPurple]

27. He wasn't trying to quote Malcolm X, it was just a retort

to Sasse's comment inviting him to come to Nebraska to "work in the fields". It was a split second attempted comic reply expressing that he's a city guy and "working in the fields" isn't something he'd be into. He was going off the word fields and the Malcolm X/slavery expression was the edgy response that popped into his head.

If someone had run the same straight line past Lewis Black, his response probably would have been about being Jewish and that his people don't do field work or something. Maher knew he'd misfired and apologized right away. Running a live political discussion show (since 1993) that is also supposed to be edgy and comedic, there's bound to be some miscues.

He's had a lot of nuanced discussions about race over the years with many African American guests. I doubt that he'll try to comedically use the N word again, but I don't think the intent/context of this comment or Maher's long history of discussions have been mean spirited toward African Americans.

[Bettie]

71. It wasn't a previously written joke

it was an off the cuff comment in the moment.

No time to parse the words and double check sources, etc.

[DefenseLawyer]

87. Did you actually listen to the speech you posted?

I'm assuming you didn't.

[leftstreet]

88. What are you talking about?

[DefenseLawyer]

90. Malcomb X uses the term "house ni****" multiple times in the speech. n/t

[leftstreet]

91. Right

He uses both terms. He always did.

I just wondered why Maher didn't choose the one that'd be less likely to catapult him into a controversial celebrity shitstorm. Oh wait...

[True Dough]

3. I'm not labeling Maher as malicious or racist

I do think he gets carried away with his Islamophobia. While I, like Maher, endorse no religion, he seems to get carried away in vilifying Muslims. Some criticism is fair, but he goes too far at times, IMO.

As for the highly controversial term he used the other night, it was inappropriate. Many recognize that and Maher apologized for it. I'm moving on.

[Lotusflower70]

76. Hmmm

He repeatedly says that he is not attacking the religion but the distortion of it. He says the radical ideology is the problem and you can't kill an idea. He does attack the repressive aspect of Islam or what is perceived as repression in the west.

[True Dough]

79. And I'm not saying

that there aren't serious problems with the way some people attack Islam. But despite your claims that Maher limits his attacks to distortions and repressive aspects of Islam, he strays into generalizations. Here's an example:

http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/bill-maher-bigtime-bigot-his-outrageous-statements-about-islam-and-muslims-are

[oberliner]

4. White comedians shouldn't really use the N-word on tv

To many folks, the use of the word in a joking context is malicious in and of itself.

[Bucky]

5. It's like asking "Is There Anyone Here Actually Dumb Enough to disagree with my point of view?"

I generally think Maher isn't racist against African-Americans. He's an elitist snob to be sure.

But two things:
(1) Maher has a hell of track record of sweeping prejudices against Muslims that at least borders on racism.

(2) It's not exactly radical to assert that a white guy dropping the N-bomb on TV has some racial bigotry in his heart. I think the context shows he was being humorously sympathetic to how oppressive slave labor could be. But it's also pretty clear that using the single ugliest racial slur in the English language was a serious lapse of judgment and common sense.

So I don't think he's racist. But I don't think anyone thinking he might be is "dumb" as you put it. I think it's remarkably closed minded of you to assume we all have to agree on this point.

[MadDAsHell]

37. Regarding your first point, Islam isn't a race, it's a religion

[Bucky]

40. You should know that race isn't a scientific term. Hatred doesn't have to be accurate.

Race is actually a pretty fuzzy concept. It's based on a raft of social conventions that are themselves fuzzy and fungible over time. Generally speaking, any group of people can be referred to as a race and it's just as valid, as far as scientists are concerned, to call culturally Middle Eastern Muslims a race as it is to call any other group of people walking on North America a race. Race, a biologist will tell you, doesn't actually exist.

The idea that a hatred toward Muslims isn't acted out through a broad spectrum of cultural, phenotypal, and epidermal markers and presumptions is silly. There are cartoon exaggerations that we could clearly identify as Muslim. They're stereotypes, and of course riddled with inaccuracies and distortions. But the same is true for any attempt to identify race. John Adams when he was in Europe announced that there was "a new race of man on the face of the Earth--an American race." To him, race meant nationality.

The Irish and other Celts were categorically considered non-white 150 years ago. No one would make that argument now. In Mexico before the War of Independence, the racial designation "white" meant one was born in Spain. If both your parents were born in Spain, but you were born in Veracruz, you were a different race, a criollo. You could even go to court and have your race legally changed--Father Morellos, the leader of the War of Independence after Miguel Hidalgo died, had himself legally rebranded from mulatto to mestizo just to get better legal treatment.

In the 1940s, Mexican Americans in Texas fought for their civil rights by asserting they were white--emphasizing their European and denying their native genetic inheritance. Since the 1970s more and more have strongly insisted they are La Raza, native to the land, and deemphasizing their European roots. It's all fair game. Race is as fungible as personal identity.

The truth is, we're all blended humans. Who doesn't get a good laugh out of those white bigots who take the genetic marker tests and find out they're part black?

Let me get back to your point. When Bill Maher goes off on a tear about how evil and violent Muslims are, he's not talking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He's not talking about Aasif Mandvi. He's talking about people from a particular cultural and ethnic set, cutting across nationalities from Arab to Palestinian to Iranian to Libyan.

If his terminology isn't precise, well, neither is his hatred. But it's hatred nonetheless and it's hatred pointed at a group of people who are grouped by inaccurate social perceptions, but grouped nonetheless. I'm not going to depend on the perceptions of a bigot to determine the accuracy of my calling out his hatred. It's indiscriminate hatred; it doesn't have to be accurate.

[MadDAsHell]

43. I see you're point, although I'm not sure how you're coming up with what Bill Maher is...

"talking about." I don't think he's ever specifically referenced the nationalities you're talking about, so is that simply who you're saying you think of when you hear "Islam?" If so, I think that's an awfully narrow view; Islam exists in nearly every country and is practiced by every skin color.

[Bucky]

48. Yeah, I'm pretty hip to all that

Besides being a social studies teacher, I live in Houston and frequent the art scene. You don't live here and do that without having a pretty diverse circle of friends.

My assumptions about Bill Maher's prejudices are derived from Bill Maher's statements about Muslims. He generally describes third world Middle Eastern crowds who are angry about their countrymen being bombed by the West, and are sometimes duped by extremists. But like most bigots, you're right, he doesn't go too deep into specifics.

The other advantage of living in Houston, is that you get a pretty good sense of what prejudiced people think too. So yes, I'm aware that there are Indonesians and Canadians and Nigerians and lots of other people who are neither impoverished nor radicalized nor anti-progress nor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who I am using is an example of a well-known non-stereotypical Muslim whose reality and existence is ignored by anti-muslim bigotry.

[Lint Head]

6. And this was said within the frame of a comedic mind and quick

response situation where it is automatic for a comedian to come back with a retort. He was not trying to be historically correct with what Malcolm X said word for word.

[oberliner]

19. Weird that the n-word came so naturally to him

As part of his automatic retort.

Suggests he possibly uses the word from time to time.

[Lint Head]

49. It had to be something common to him.

[pnwmom]

7. It wasn't meant maliciously. But it was still offensive.

Is there anyone dumb enough to believe that making jokes about slavery isn't offensive to many African Americans?

And every OP like yours talking about "poutrage" about slavery jokes is offensive to many DUers who are African American and many who are not.

[Exilednight]

9. What you say would be true, if it were a joke about slavery.

It wasn't about slavery.

It was about Sasse's racial prejudices.

[pnwmom]

13. Any joke about being a House N is a joke about slavery. n/t

[oberliner]

21. It definitely wasn't about "Sasse's racial prejudices"

No idea where you got that from.

[bettyellen]

51. Thanks- I saw this before and thought it was nonsense.

Anything to take gen heat off Maher, I guess.

[brush]

28. Nah, you're way off on that. Sasse was obviously talking about political field work

Where you get his racial prejudices is a mystery.

[Exilednight]

59. How many

political fields (plural) are in Nebraska?

I'd also add that it doesn't matter what Sasse meant, the phrasing he used set himself up.

[brush]

74. Apparently you've never worked on a political campaign. Campaign volunteers are often called...

Last edited Mon Jun 5, 2017, 01:41 PM - Edit history (1)

field workers who work in the field (neighborhoods, precincts or whatever you want to call them) to get people to vote for their candidate.

[Exilednight]

83. it's not called "working in the fields".

They're called volunteers and what they do is called canvassing.

That may be what republicans call it, but I one in the Democratic Party calls it that.

[brush]

84. It is often called working in the field and they do a lot more than canvassing

I know because I've been there and done that on several campaigns.

You're off base. Admit it.

[Bucky]

10. George Carlin said you can joke about anything. And then went on a long cringeworthy bit on rape.

For the record, the context of the joke was not joking in a manner sympathetic to slavery. It was (attempting to be) humorously emphasizing the undesireability and the toilsome nature of field slavery. It was even (ineffectively) attempting some self-deprication (as in "I'm too soft; I couldn't handle being a field slave&quot .

I agree the word choice ruined the moment, the joke, and the point of view. His heart was in the right place and his joke was on the right side of history, but his head was up his ass. Word choices matter. Like when you say "poutrage" instead of "outrage"? Poutrage is not more accurate in this context. You made a word choice to provoke a reaction, to create a sense of intellectual high ground.

Maher screwed up. I'm glad he apologized. The fact that it's still got DUers all stirred up tells me we, as a community, still have a lot of work to do.

[pnwmom]

14. Good post, Bucky. Thanks! n/t

[oberliner]

22. How was his heart in the right place? And his joke on the right side of history?

He dropped the n-word into a conversation for literally no reason whatsoever.

[Bucky]

35. It was both incredibly offensive AND anti-slavery, yes. If you can't see that he had a reason...

then you're just being willfully blind, or are choosing to overlook the obvious.

It obviously was a dud joke because of the offensive word choice. Hardly anyone contests that. But if you can honestly say there was "literally no reason whatsoever" behind his wrong choice, then you're just not thinking objectively.

Which is a perfectly understandable thing. The N-word itself tends to shut off conversation. The question is, do we want to let it shut off our minds as well? Like wisdom and intelligence, judgment and reason are two different things.

[oberliner]

60. Anti-slavery?

Being "anti-slavery" is not exactly a bold position.

[Awsi Dooger]

11. I believe Bill Maher is great

Not too many people are capable of sustained greatness on live television debating serious issues while combining comedy. Maher has rare talent. He can mangle righties and doesn't shy away from defining them. So many memorable segments over the years.

I know dozens of right wingers courtesy of my decades in Las Vegas. They despise Bill Maher. That should be a bit of a hint. There may be an occasional flub or stray. Who cares? I've noted that outliers aren't as significant as the rule.

Threads here not impressive. Humorous a lot.

Bad Bill Maher. You were bad.

[doc03]

12. The part I don't get is why African Americans can be so offended when they use the

N word themselves all the time. A few days ago I was in a restaurant and three young black males sat at the table next to me
I heard them use the word at least ten times talking about themselves and each other. They don't give themselves any respect
then expect everyone else to? I am white and I was offended by their language in a public place.

[pnwmom]

15. When they use it among themselves they know it isn't meant as a racial slur,

because they themselves are African American.

When white people use it the intentions, conscious or subconscious, are much more murky -- no matter how close the white person feels to black people.

[doc03]

18. I get that but why do they do it? To me they are disrepecting thier own race.

We don't call each other Honkies, Crackers, Pollocks or Dagos especially in a public setting.
It just makes them look crude and ignorant. We teach our children not to use such language then
here they are using the word themselves.

[oberliner]

24. Reclaiming the term

A lot of folks do that sort of thing - several gay slurs, for instance, have been similarly reclaimed.

[cwydro]

69. I'm gay, and I don't know any of my gay friends who call each other gay slurs.

I can't imagine doing so.

[oberliner]

70. Queer used to be a pejorative gay slur

The term started to be reclaimed in the 1990s. Now it is nearly universally embraced by the gay community (at least in the US). For instance, the acronym LGBTQ is often used.

[tonedevil]

73. I do not believe...

I have read a more racist rant on DU than what you just typed.

[loyalsister]

23. When white people make this point, I wonder if they're jealous

I dislike hearing it in any context and from anyone. But, I don't have a lot of standing to criticize black people for using it by telling them what it should mean to them.

[doc03]

42. To get respect you have to respect yourself. When I see a person black or white

wearing jeans with their underwear showing and they are using the N word along with profanity in a public place they have no respect for themselves or their race. That is not racial I see plenty of whites just as obnoxious. Jealous wtf would anyone be jealous of I feel sorry for them.

[loyalsister]

44. Jealous of the use of the n word

When white people complain about black people using that word, it sounds like they resent not being able to use it without criticism.

[doc03]

45. Well if that is what you think there is no point of any more conversation with you, that's

just ridiculous.

[cwydro]

68. I don't like hearing the word either, no matter who says it.

Silly to say that's jealousy. I've never had the slightest desire to use that ugly word.

[loyalsister]

78. I remember calling someone out about it

and they said "but they call each other n--" as if he was being deprived of some kind of right. I've had those conversations with other white people who seem to have a similar attitude.

I don't like to hear it from anyone, ever. But I am not in a position school people of color on it.

[LanternWaste]

77. Yours is both a mentally simplistic and ethically convenient allegation

"underwear showing and they are using the N word along with profanity in a public place they have no respect for themselves or their race..."

Yours is both a mentally simplistic and ethically convenient allegation to make in regards to things we merely pretend to understand. I'm quite certain you'll righteously rationalize as to why you are unable to support the statement with any objective evidence.

I get it...

[TDale313]

39. Oh ffs!

Last edited Sun Jun 4, 2017, 10:59 PM - Edit history (1)

If you can't get that there is a difference when someone inside a minority group uses a slur in an attempt to reclaim it and when a member of the majority uses it you're truly dense or intentionally not trying to understand. As a white woman there are plenty of words I get that it would be inappropriate for me to use- whether my intent was hurtful or not it's a small price to pay to show others a little respect.

[ecstatic]

75. The part I don't get is why White Americans

can be so offended by Trump when they voted for him, overwhelmingly.

A few days ago I was in a restaurant and three young white males sat at the table next to me.
I heard them say "make America great again" at least ten times so that everyone could hear them...

[blue neen]

16. He shouldn't have said it.

It was a mistake, and Maher apologized. Let's move on.

[Mz Pip]

29. That's how I feel.

With all the crap the Right dishes out on a daily basis, in actual actions, not just words to POC, I'm inclined to take his apology and move on. I want to mobilize against voter suppression of minoties, against police brutality, against biased sentencing.

[blue neen]

31. Amen to that!

We don't need the distraction.

[TDale313]

38. Yep.

[billh58]

20. K & R n/t

[loyalsister]

25. Disregarding history

and denying the experience of affected people may not be aggressively malicious, but not stopping to think about what using a loaded word and joking about slavery really means in terms of the family trees of African Americans is a denial of humanity that is ultimately malicious. The only thing worse is defending it.

[BainsBane]

55. +1

Add to that the assertion that if you aren't white and unaffected by racism, you're stupid.

[loyalsister]

94. That reveals contempt

Which also has a subtle malice embedded in the disregard and denial of experience and history.

[Hekate]

30. Maher is only intermittently funny, Exilednight. Mostly these days he's just full of himself...

The current criticisms are justified.

[Thomas Hurt]

33. Maher fell victim to the stereotype that all GOP are racists

and never say anything that isn't racist. Could Sasse have meant what he said to be racist, I suppose but I don't think so.

So Maher just expects that Sasse was being racist and shot back with the House n word crack.

and please spare me that Maher knows about the nuances of the difference field slaves and house slaves and used it purposely to insult African Americans.

That is way too big a stretch.

He apologized, let it go, look forward to Thursday when Comey might actually put the hurt to a real white supremacist a-hole.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

34. I'm always surprised by how many people think Maher is important, so there you go.

[MadDAsHell]

36. I keep hearing people ask "What makes him think using using that word is okay?"

Uh, how about every hip song ever...

The word seems to be fine to use...until it isn't.

[bettyellen]

52. Nope, he actually admitted he knows it's not okay. And that's the truth

[Orrex]

67. Ah, yes. The old "THEY say it, so therefore it's okay for ME to say it"

Are you seriously arguing that position?

By all means, say the word as often as you want, and when people perceive you as a racist, you can take that opportunity to tell them why you're perfectly justified in using it. As long as you believe it, I'm sure it'll be fine.

[Bucky]

95. Well, mostly it's race tho

But you know that, I'll bet

[brewens]

41. I've used about the same analogy and called it one of our biggest problems. It's the way the

republican's keep their working class and upper middle class scared and in line. Much like slave owners did to their house slaves, on any other that was given a easier job. Always the threat of ending up back in the fields.

Anything proposed to help poor people or the working class, that we feel should come at the expense of the wealthy, usually by raising taxes, will come right out of their hides. Like raising the inheritance tax. "That's a tax on small business" they say! An income tax increase will kill jobs!

I'm supposed to be afraid of burger flippers getting a raise. So in a few years, they get closer to what I am making now. I'd be perfectly happy to see that, provided they stop the looting at the top and we close the income gap a little.

[nocalflea]

46. Cultural appropriation is often used to blunt the voices of those who's cultural was stolen from.

Maher was disrepectful of the African-American experience. The rationale behind slavery , the lies propagated by my white slave-owning ancestors , sadly are alive and well in America. Think of having to live with these lies everday of your life. Listen to African-Americans when they say don't go there. White America, show some damn respect.

[Lil Missy]

47. No, I don't think it rises to the level of malicious.

He engaged mouth before his brain when Sass invited him to come work the fields.

Having said that, the comment was inappropriate and he owed an apology. Which he did. And the apology seems sincere,unlike the non-apology apologies we see from the right,

[mvd]

50. He's probably not racist. It was definitely no think though

It was insensitive, and I hope he learns that his often politically incorrect style can go too far.

[Kentonio]

53. I think the problem with Maher (and various other comedians and even politicians)

Is that because they're fighters for equality, they forget sometimes that the same rules we ask everyone else to follow also apply to them. Just because you're a strident activist for racial equality doesn't make you a part of the black community, and doesn't give you the right to (even jokingly) use terminology that can be considered acceptable only within that community.

I don't think for a second that he's racist against African Americans, but I think he needs to remember he's part of the majority not a minority, and as such does equality no favours by using words that have such a long and dreadful history.

[ecstatic]

56. What about the people dumb enough to do back flips in

defense of him?

I'll just say this... I've watched Bill Maher since the Politically Incorrect days. I don't think I've missed a episode since he started on HBO... Year after year I watched him become more and more offensive, making ignorant comments about President Obama not being black enough (according to Maher's dumbass stereotypes), disrespectful comments about women, gays, Muslims--basically everyone in the democratic tent except for white guys.

As usual, I tuned in Friday and then I heard that comment. I had to pause and rewind--did this mfcker really just say that? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of the situation, but for me personally, it still would have been highly offensive if he had said "I'm not a house slave." But it looks like he wanted to pack in as much disrespect as possible, so he said what he said.

Let's be clear: The Slavery of Africans in this country is NOT a laughing matter. 400 years of brutal rapes, abuse, murder and torture is not funny. So fuck any ignorant asshole who thinks it's ok to joke about that.

Do I think Bill's intent was malicious? No, but I see now that his disrespect for his fans (many who happen to be African American) has reached the point of no return. I'm not among those calling for him to be fired, but I will not subject myself to his abuse anymore. Enough is enough.
I almost blame myself for watching in the first place in light of his recent unhinged anti-Muslim rants, etc. I'm done!

[AngryAmish]

61. I will not stand for anyone overestimating my intelligence.

[NCTraveler]

64. Yes, I'm dumb enough to think a wealthy white man would say something malicious toward AA's.

I'm also dumb enough to recognize that he might not have even intended it to be malicious. Racism runs deep and is ingrained into the psyche of far too many.

I become even more cemented in my ignorance knowing that said individual has a history of bigotry.

[Bucky]

65. *hat tip*

Well done

[Orrex]

66. Is anyone dumb enough to think that he's not a fucking asshole?

Maher has a long history of sexism, misogyny, transphobia and endorsing child rape. He has also made numerous racist comments over the years.

Rationalize it in whatever way placates you. He's garbage.

[Orsino]

72. Believing his statement malicious is not necessary for believing it execrable.

I think it showed his blind privilege, as well as his ignorance of the denotation and connotation of the term.

His apology was decent, it seemed to me.

[LanternWaste]

80. Not being a fanboy, I count on those such as yourself to rationalize the irrational.

The implication that benevolent racism is righteous and without fault compels me to wonder who people are fighting as well, and that any reponse to bigotry is simply "poutrage"...

Not being a fanboy, I count on those such as yourself to rationalize the irrational. Thank you so much!!!

[Orrex]

92. That was a very solid response

[Azathoth]

82. Maher is already persona non grata with many social justice progressives

So it doesn't matter whether this was malicious or not, they're deliberately going to interpret it in the worst possible light.

[frankieallen]

89. Is there anyone here dumb enough to think anyone that doesn't

agree with them is somehow dumb.
Oh...wait

[logosoco]

93. I don't think he was intentionally malicious.

It was a bad, cringe-worthy joke (many comedians that I enjoy do that sometimes!)

What it really made me think of was how fairly recently in our history those terms were a thing. Thinking on it more made me see how close much of the mindset of those days and places are still too unchanged in some areas of our country.

Also the bad joke deflected from the subject they had been talking about. That was pretty interesting. Maybe some people do need to do some hard work to understand how many people in this world survive and make a living. And some days it does seem like the one percent are taking the attitude of the plantations owners of the past and the workers today are slaves (maybe with the freedom that the slaves did not have, but working hard to get no where nonetheless).