Liberals will continue to lose: Bill Maher defends Milo Yiannopoulos booking after panelist boycot

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Journalist Jeremy Scahill, a frequent panelist on “Real Time With Bill Maher,” was booked to appear this Friday but canceled after he found out Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos would also be a guest. Yiannopoulos is known for his provocative stories with such headlines as “Gay rights have made us dumber, it’s time to get back in the closet.” He was also permanently banned from Twitter last year — a feat that takes some doing. Among his transgressions was targeting SNL comedian Leslie Jones, calling her “barely literate,” and rallying his hundreds of thousands of followers to direct racist, sexist missives to her. (She briefly quit Twitter over the abuse.)

Scahill, a founding editor of the Intercept, explained himself on Twitter. He took great pains to express his admiration for the producers and writers of the show. He even sang the praises — with a few big caveats — of host Maher. But he called Yiannopoulos’s appearance “many bridges too far.”

“He has ample venues to spew his hateful diatribes,” Scahill wrote. “Appearing on ‘Real Time’ will provide Yiannopoulos with a large, important platform to openly advocate his racist, anti-immigrant campaign.”

Link to tweet

Maher responded to Scahill’s criticism and doubled down on his decision to have the provocateur as a guest.

“Liberals will continue to lose elections as long as they follow the example of people like Mr. Scahill whose views veer into fantasy and away from bedrock liberal principles like equality of women, respect for minorities, separation of religion and state, and free speech,” Maher said in a statement, according to Entertainment Weekly. “If Mr. Yiannopoulos is indeed the monster Scahill claims — and he might be — nothing could serve the liberal cause better than having him exposed on Friday night.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/02/16/liberals-will-continue-to-lose-bill-maher-defends-milo-yiannopoulos-booking-after-panelist-boycotts/?tid=test_hp_curation&utm_term=.0b133466ccda

[2naSalit]

1. Good for Scahill!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. I might agree with Maher on the last point

If Yiannopoulos is that bad let him hang himself.

I'll probably watch since I've never heard the guy speak. I will however keep some waded up balls of newspaper handy in case I'm disgusted enough to throw things at the TV.

[2naSalit]

5. I hope he's right...nt

[joshcryer]

7. If anyone can make him look terrible it's Maher.

That people seem to think this guy is going to get a softball interview is absurd.

[anneboleyn]

27. Eh. I don't find Maher especially articulate and definitely not "hard hitting." He resorts to jokes

and insults (that was his way of dealing with Anne Coulter and most of the more argumentative conservatives) instead of articulating a great argument and backing it up. He isn't that quick on his feet intellectually. He also is very impressed with himself, and I have a feeling he won't be nearly as tough on Milo as people seem to think.

[TrekLuver]

8. I agree with him too. If I had a show you'd be damn sure I'd bring on these types to

debate them...oh yes I would.

[jrthin]

10. How do you debate deranged people?

Unless you become as deranged as they are, you cannot. It's like having a conversation with a psych patient who has had a mental break from reality. This is the problem: when these sick views are aired, those who are on the mental edge see this a validation.

[TrekLuver]

15. You debate them with facts.

[joshcryer]

22. You quote their exact words and ask a yes or no question.

Then if they try to pull the "it's a prank bro" bullshit, you explain the severity of their actions and words.

[anneboleyn]

33. Milo is a vicious misogynist, racist, "I'm English so I'm better than everyone," little prick who

gets attention lovingly lavished on him by the alt-right because he is gay. That is the ONLY reason. They use his gay identity as a way to legitimize their extremely racist and violently misogynistic views. That is also the ONLY reason he gets cut the rather large amount of slack that he enjoys and abuses regularly.

Milo will likely be on his "good behavior" mode on Friday as he wants to sell his book and score more paid speeches. You can watch any of his talks on YouTube to see his thoughts on matters such as why women DESERVE TO BE PAID LESS THAN MEN, why women are inferior to men, why people of certain races are ugly, why it is okay to conduct witch hunting campaigns on Twitter (for which he was banned). Etc etc etc.

[MFM008]

2. I will not watch

Enough is enough.

[jeanmarc]

4. Deleting that show

Have this set for the DVR but I will not watch. In fact, I'm going to kill the automatic recording.

Fuck off, Maher.

[HAB911]

6. Bill Maher is not the enemy. n/t

[TrekLuver]

9. Nope if a liberal does one thing you don't like then poof you are gone. Crazy right?

[HAB911]

12. there is a very sensitive thread

running through DU that I sometimes run up against, to the point I'm almost to afraid to voice an opinion. I am not threatened by the little troll M.Y. and neither will Bill.

[TrekLuver]

14. I hear ya...and I can't tell you how many times I write a response and then don't send it...

[Orrex]

16. Maher's a Liberal?

When did this happen?

[TrekLuver]

17. It happened about 61 years ago.

[Orrex]

18. You're talking about Bill Maher the stopped clock?

I know that he's a sacred cow around these parts, but I just can't figure it.

[TrekLuver]

20. He's not sacred to me but I realize he's on my team...and I agree with him more than

disagree.

[Orrex]

21. Okay.

IMO his signal:noise ratio isn't all that impressive, and he strikes me as an asshole more often than an insightful commentator. Also, he (or his fans, at least) seem to want it both ways: when he scores a hit, they praise him for his acumen and for speaking truth to power or whatever, but when he fucks up they say "he's a comedian, so you can't hold him to those standards."


YMMV I suppose.

[Hamlette]

11. Maher is right

the type of propaganda Trump got away with in the election with endless coverage of him not allowing questions or answering them is part of the problem but a one on one sit down with a well informed liberal should be aired.

[PatsFan87]

13. I agree with Maher on this one.

Tomi Lahren was on a week or two ago and she looked like a complete mess without her pre-planned script to follow. We shouldn't be scared of taking these fools on. FIGHT.

[starshine00]

41. I am interested to see what Maher will do with Milo

I think Milo is a tragic character and one day he is going to look back and see how the internet ruined his life by giving him an undeserved following of deplorables...he took the easy way out when he had potential to be someone, actually, like Maher.

[NCTraveler]

19. Maher will most likely make MY look like a fool.

Scahill has no reason to be associated with the hateful fool. I see no problem with the actions of either, in this instance.

Not sure why someone always has to be right and someone always has to be wrong. I think both Maher and Scahill are holding true to themselves and I can respect that.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. Good for Maher.

He also provided and excellent response to Scahill. There is no doubt Yiannopoulos is a POS. Were he to be on the panel, I might not watch because I don't know if my blood pressure (or TV) could take it. Those types almost always seem to dominate the discussions with their stupidity, and little is actually discussed. However, in a one-on-one, it is usually more of a conversation and it allows Maher to stick it to him (though he has gone soft on a few and I am hoping he nails this asshole to the wall).

[NewDealProgressive]

24. I'm with Bill.

Kick his stupid ass all over the set of Real Time.

Rhetorically, of course.

[Initech]

30. The thing about Trump and his fans is they talk a good game.

And they talk well in front of their target audience - middle aged white guys who watch too much Fox News and listen to too much AM hate radio, but put them in a real debate situation with someone that knows shit, and they will run away with their tail between their legs. It happened to that Tomi whats-her-name on the Daily Show, and it will eventually happen to Milo. That is one thing that will be good about him being on Maher - that little dipshit will get owned.

[Blue_Tires]

25. Well, it's not like I hate Scahill any less, so fuck him...

Oddly enough, Milo and Scahill probably have a lot more in common than either would care to admit

[choie]

37. what could you possibly have against

Scahill - he's one of the best reporters out there..

[Blue_Tires]

44. Maybe he was good one upon a time

but all he knows how to do now is slant his reporting to fit preconceived narratives and serve his political ideology...

Personally I like to be as consistent as I can, so I must call out cheap demagoguery hack writing on the left, if I already do it for the right...

[Initech]

26. Milo Yiannopolous is none of these things.

" liberal principles like equality of women, respect for minorities, separation of religion and state, and free speech."

Equality of women? Nope, he won't have any of it.
Respect for minorities? He works for a website that gave birth to modern neo-Nazism that put Trump in the White House. He's outed trans women, and humiliated LGBT employees of universities.
Separation of religion and state? Part of their party platform is overturning the Johnson Amendment.
Free speech? Uh, not touching that one.

Milo is a clown and he will get owned, that is one thing I am looking forward to.

[Hoyt]

28. I applaud Maher for having ignorant white wingers on his show. Doesn't help to hide them.

Obviously, a lot of people were fooled by Trump and his white wing supporters this last election.

[JHan]

29. Maher is sounding like the #WhyTrumpWon idiots.

[brooklynite]

31. How many people critical of Yiannopoulos's appearance currently support the ACLU?

...and how many remember that the ACLU defended the right of the KKK to march in Skokie, IL?

[mainstreetonce]

32. I think Maher is right

to book the guest and destroy the guest.

I will watch.

[yallerdawg]

36. Maher frequently has rabid rightwing propagandists on his shows.

Ann Coulter for one (who unequivocally informed us the Corrupt One would win).

It's provocative - which is always in the wheelhouse of edgy comedian/satirists.

I reckon Maher is also reminding us just how much worse it could get if we don't pay attention!

[kcr]

38. Giving a platform to Yiannopolous sure shows his respect for minorities :sarcasm:

I'm not interested in any advice on how liberals win from a non-liberal and a bigot.

[rogue emissary]

39. Maher is wrong on this one.

Normally I support challenging bigotry, as I believe our ideas are better. The problem with Milo is he has no power and frankly no new ideas. The only thing I can see coming from interviewing him is giving him a larger platform to spout his racism.

Maher will probably ask a few softball questions and try to highlight the fact the Milo is gay. He'll spout some half ass jokes like "I guess gays aren't so happy/ accepting after all" which his audience will eat up.

I'd rather see Maher interview and expose a racist like Bannon, who he has had on his show. Bannon has power and is using that power to destroy this country.

[TheBlackAdder]

40. Jack Kingston (Putin suckup) is the shithead I can't stand to watch, and Maher has him on often.

[GoneOffShore]

42. Milo is one of those guys who cries fire in a crowded theater

Good for Scahill.

[butdiduvote]

43. I actually agree with him, except...

Maher is the one who insists on hyper-focusing on issues like weed legalization and the so-called oppression of atheists as his pet issues, even while our house is on fire and there are much bigger things to prioritize protecting from the flames. He is also on tape mocking feminism many times. So he's the last person I would consider a champion of bedrock liberal principles.