"(Obama) is a terrible negotiator; does he not even KNOW a Jew?"

[Rage for Order]

Bill Maher's show last night was (I thought) very good, with spirited discussion by the panel and good points made by all. However, Maher ruined the point he made about Obama giving up to much to the Republicans with the quote "He is a terrible negotiator; does he not even KNOW a Jew?" What makes him think this is acceptable?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOdF6KoFW4A

[Enrique]

1. it's not acceptable to me

it's awful, and Maher's joke about expecting Obama to be "gangsta" was even worse. :thumbsdown:

[CTyankee]

2. Maher is half Jewish. I guess he thinks that that innoculates him against accusations of anti-

semitism.

I don't think his remark was very helpful. And nobody but him thinks it's funny...

[RC]

7. Well, it was a half ass joke.

[cali]

3. he's a smarmy, smug, sleazy little man.

I've never had reason to change that opinion.

[Rage for Order]

9. I tend to agree

And it's a shame, because I think he puts on a good show, and not just "good" in an entertaining manner. His panel members often say things that the public desperately needs to hear, things that generally aren't said on the cable news shows. His point would have been just as poignant if he had simply stopped after saying, "He is a terrible negotiator!", but he had to cross the line and append a stereotype about Jews.

[emilyg]

11. Yes he is.

[timtom]

16. And, here I thought I was the only one.

[Angry Dragon]

4. When I saw your Op I thought it was your quote and was wondering

why it was not locked yet...........

[RagAss]

5. What a sick thing for him to say.

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Maher's mom is Jewish.

It was a joke.

[Rage for Order]

13. My grandmother is Honduran; can I make crude jokes about migrant workers?

:shrug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. Crude? You think Maher's joke is "crude?" Really?

Why? It's playing to the ridiculous stereotype of Jewish people. He's HALF JEWISH. He's "allowed" to make fun of his religion/mother's religion, if he wants to. I think it's kinda funny myself. :)

[JohnnyRingo]

26. Thanx for all the finger smudges on my monitor

LOL

[in_cog_ni_to]

28. :)

:evilgrin:

[TheWraith]

8. Maher is a massive unrelenting egotist.

He thinks that he has the one and only absolute truth about EVERYTHING, and that anyone who doesn't look at things his way is an idiot. So I'm sure to him it's completely acceptable to say something like that, because hell, HE'S not offended, therefore it can't be offensive.

[TomClash]

10. I didn't watch

Maher has jumped the shark - too many repukes too.

[avaistheone1]

12. One of my Jewish friends jokes like this all the time.

No big deal. imo

[EmmettKelly]

15. You forgot "best"

One of my BEST friends is Jewish. That makes it all better.

[avaistheone1]

17. Actually he is one of my BEST friends

and one of the people I truly think most highly of on this entire planet.

There you go!!

:kick:

Oh and he sends me Jewish jokes on an almost daily basis, would you like some? ;)

[tsuki]

22. I guess that is why I always heard the best Nun jokes from Nuns. nt

[avaistheone1]

23. I would like to hijack as well and point out Mel Brooks' The Producers

http://www.dw-world.de/image/0,,4258295_1,00.jpg

[Rage for Order]

18. Self-deprecating humor is fine when it's about yourself

It's different when it is projected onto other people

[Raksha]

34. Understood, but he shouldn't have done it in public.

I'm Jewish myself and I understand how it works. There are some jokes that are okay if kept private, but not otherwise.

[TahitiNut]

14. Sounds like something Jon Stewart would say.

:shrug:

[Boojatta]

19. Maybe I can hijack this thread for a discussion about a film ...

that I haven't seen.

http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0014

For when the link stops working:
Title: "Blacks and Jews"
85 minutes, 1997

Provocative and absorbing... Blacks and Jews will undermine stereotypes, inspire discussion, and help repair a wrongly damaged relationship."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

Producers: Alan Snitow, Deborah Kaufman and Bari Scott

[hlthe2b]

21. Failed joke based on bigoted stereotypes...but hardly the first...

comedian to use it. Not defending... just sayin. Being that he is the son of a Jewish mother, he can probably get away with it.

Only goes to show that not all jokes "work." :shrug:

[avaistheone1]

25. Failed joke for you, but certainly not for everyone.

Alan King, Billy Crystal, Garry Shandling, Jack Benny, Jackie Mason, Larry David, Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Richard Lewis are a just few who have entertained America for decades, and made a fortune with their self-deprecating Jewish humor.

Did it really harm anyone? IMO I think they were funny and endearing.

[hlthe2b]

32. You missed the point...

I was acknowledging that had he not been Jewish himself, it would not have been self-deprecating and thus merely bigoted stereotyping... The sensitivities have run amok, I think. :shrug:

[JohnnyRingo]

24. Don't watch Tosh.0

I made the mistake of telling kids in my junior high I was Polish back in the early '60s. White socks, penny pinching, and stupid, I heard every pollock joke known to man since the dawn of the stereotype by the time I graduated, but I got over it. It didn't help that my uncles went to the drive-in theater and didn't like the movie, so they cut up the seats. LOL

It may be a fine line between ethnic kidding and ethnic hatred, but a sense of humor is an invaluable tool in discerning the difference.

I still wish I'd said "Croation" back in the seventh grade though. LOL

[pscot]

33. DU is an unpleasantness free zone

[iwishiwas]

27. How can one be half Jewish?? That is like saying one is half-pregnant!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. No it's not. There are many interfaith families in the world.

His mom is Jewish and his dad is Catholic. Many families practice BOTH faiths.

[Keith Bee]

30. He excoriates Islam on a regular basis

And disdains religion in general. No surprise here.

[avaistheone1]

31. Shocking! Jewish comedian tells Jewish joke on American television

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

[OmahaBlueDog]

36. Yes, but if one of the goyim should make the same remark --Oy!

It would be a shanda!

[Misskittycat]

35. It's not even true. I'm Jewish, and I'm the worst negotiator on the planet. n/t

[avaistheone1]

37. Pssst...

Perhaps it was a joke.

[Misskittycat]

39. It was a joke, but also a joke playing up a stereotype.

I was challenging the stereotype, albeit in a light-hearted manner, with the reference to me.

[philly_bob]

38. To me It's within the bounds of American ethnic humor.

Go to a comedy club sometime, where they're always riffing on ethnic stereotypes.

[Juche]

40. LOL

"If I like their race, how is that racist"