Bill Maher is an ignorant piece of dogshit.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

His defense of what was done to Ahmed on his latest show is indefensible. His repeated defense of profiling of PoC is indefensible. He blithely ignores that white people have been out of control in North America for 500 years. White terrorism is alive and well in 2015. Genocide is alive and well in North America in 2015, especially Canada. If racial profiling is at all appropriate, we should start with white banksters, "law enforcement" rapists and murderers who get off scot free and Confederate flag-bearing terrorists.

I agree with Maher on plenty of issues, but his understanding of what is going on is clouded by his weak-minded hysteria. He is a light weight whose main redeeming quality is a great selection of guests. He is rarely right about presidential candidates. For example, his backing of Nader in 2000 and HRC this time illustrate his ignorance of history and reality. Strong message to follow.

[Mass]

1. What's new. The problem is that, even when I agree with him, the way he comes to his conclusion is

just as bigoted. The problem with his guests is that there are usually here as a prop for him, not with the intent of having an intelligent discussion.

[Stellar]

33. You think even Ben Affleck?

I don't have HBO anymore, but I do recall him getting in a spat with Affleck.

[kcjohn1]

2. His views on Muslims

Are not that much different from those of Trump, Carson, Palin, and other right wingers.

What people don't understand is that you don't have to hate all "others" to be a bigot. Most bigots are selective in which groups they target with their hate. Maher bigotry is towards Muslims.

[Skwmom]

12. If that is the case, his views are ignorant. n/t

[musicblind]

26. He is also a bigot toward Christians.

It's one thing to be an atheist, stand by that and not be afraid to explain the facts as you see them. It's another thing to go out of your way to belittle someone for their faith. I like Bill Maher and watch his show, but a select portion of Maher's rhetoric is as bad as the people he dislikes.

[Scuba]

3. Often funny, occasionally correct, regularly stupid.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. And yet you are fine with religions that say horrible things about and do terrible things to LGBT

So your high horse is stolen. Francis says LGBT are disordered and our rights are Satan's idea. You tout him as 'real leadership to save the planet' in OP's you craft to promote him.

You clearly don't count anti gay bigotry as an evil equal to other bigotries. This means you have an inherently immature and self serving mindset about bigotry.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

5. Absolutely false!

The Pope's commitment to historic homophobia in the Catholic Church is an outrage. I support the candidate with the strongest, longest support of LGBT people and that is one of the things I admire very much about Bernie.

Building a coalition to save the planet means being able to disagree with many on some issues in an attempt to save the human species from extinction, pure and simple. LGBT rights are extremely important for the freedom of all. None of us are truly free until everyone is. But those rights become irrelevant if humanity disappears from the face of the earth.

[RiverLover]

9. Well said.

Thank you.

[MellowDem]

36. Then Maher is just another member of the coalition...

And your OP makes no sense. Maher is far more progressive than the Pope.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

38. I disagree.

Maher is just another member of the coalition who happens to have a TV show and bloviates about his racist beliefs under the veneer of a pseudo-progressive.

[MellowDem]

40. The Pope is a fucking asshole bigot...

and the ultimate psudeo progressive. Bill Maher is a comedian and is a far better human than Pope fuckwad. The Pope thinks my loved ones will burn in eternity, he thinks that the devil is behind marriage equality, he advocates against contraception and women's rights, he's a fucking monster, and your support for him shows how ridiculously hypocritical your OP is.

Maher ain't a racist from anything I've seen, he can be an asshole, but nothing approaching Pope level assholerry.

And best of all, Maher doesn't have an army of dishonest apologists on DU that trump every time he says something halfway progressive.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

41. We'll have to disagree.

Peace to you.

[Bluenorthwest]

52. The Pope is an anti gay bigot and you excuse that for reasons of your own, which means that

you don't think anti gay bigotry is all that bad. You are ranting about Bill being a bigot but then you turn around and mitigate and excuse the Pope's bigotry. It is a very obvious hypocrisy on your part. Some bigotry is excused even as you use extreme hyperbole to condemn what you see as another bigotry. 'It's ok if the Pope shits on you people, but no comic should criticize Islamic bigotry'.
You are saying exactly what I first said you are saying. You excuse anti gay bigotry.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

66. I respect your opinion.

I hope I can appreciate your righteous passion in this regard. I strongly disagree with the Catholic position and the Pope's reaffirmation. I also strongly disagree with their official position on abortion, contraception, divorce and inclusion of women in the clergy.

Online definition:

Bigotry
noun: bigotry; plural noun: bigotries

intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.
"the difficulties of combating prejudice and bigotry"

https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+bigotry&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

My wife told me the Pope washed the feet of a transsexual person in prison. While I believe he is misguided, I believe he acts out of love for all. I do not believe he is a bigot. Peace to you.

http://time.com/3752462/pope-francis-gay-transgender-prison/

[restorefreedom]

51. there are different levels of asshole bigotry imo

maher is just a pompous, know it all racist bigot who likes to listen to himself talk, as if he is the authority on all things. he hates all religion (which is fine) but denigrates and mocks people as imbecilles if they have any faith at all (not fine imo). he is one of the reasons why the fox news drones dislike "elite liberals".... he gives them lots of ammo.

the pope is the head of an institution which has foundations and a long history in male dominance, homophobia, and exclusionary theology (my religion is right, the rest of you are going to hell). in his brief time as pope, he has made tremendous inroads in changing the conversations about who is/is not going to hell, embracing and undemonizing women who have experienced abortion, welcoming divorced catholics back into the church, and emphasizing the love we should have for our lgbt brothers and sisters. he is also a tireless advocate for the poor, is almost rabid in his attacks on greed and the grotesque wealth inequality that exists in the world, realizes that climate change is a major global issue, and recognizes the value all life, not just the humans.

you can believe he is an asshole bigot if you want, but he has done more than any pope in history to undo two millenia of catholic bullying and is showing no signs of stopping

peace
shalom
namaste

[MellowDem]

57. It's so dishonest...

This Pope has done none of those things, his views on all those subjects haven't changed. There's been a lot of confirmation bias of people wanting him to be this wonderful Pope, but he hasn't done anything. He airs his bigotry less, and that's about the only difference, which is a good PR move, and that's all.

He advocates for the poor while simultaneously fighting against female bodily autonomy and contraceptives, which means he's also fighting against the poor.

His religion and organization are deeply bigoted and continue to do lots of harm to many people across the world.

It's only religious privilege that allows so many progressives to conveniently ignore these facts.

[restorefreedom]

58. acknowledging progress

is not the same as declaring someone perfect. i said he has made progress.

just because the church has not overnight decided to subscribe to what your views are of social justice does not mean there has been no progress.

he is changing the dialogue of a 2000 year old institution with a history of persecution, bigotry, and discrimination.

would you rather he keep saying or suggesting that gays are going to hell, the earth is here for us to do with as we wish, and the poor can suck it as many republicans do?

[MellowDem]

60. I'd rather he were upfront with his bigotry...

The only thing he's changed is the tone, none of the vile beliefs beneath them. It comes across as incredibly condescending. He made it easier for women to seek forgiveness for abortions? That's not progress, that's a stunningly patriarchal crumb thrown to the masses. Nothing about making it easier to seek forgiveness for abortions addresses the blatant misogyny that underlies needing to seek such forgiveness in the first place.

His views on economics have been part of the Catholic Church for a very long time. That's not progress.

Emphasizing the parts of Catholic doctrine progressives agree with isn't progress. Not one thing has changed. Women won't be priests, gay marriage won't be allowed, contraceptives will be opposed, etc. etc. Homosexuality is still disordered, and celibacy is still the only option, as it has been for a while, but hey, the Pope loves you, so his bigotry doesn't matter. He doesn't have to judge, God already has.

[restorefreedom]

61. do you really expect

that one guy is going to come along and with a simple wave of his hand, change church doctrine?

lets just talk about one example...abortion. it is core catholic belief that a person with a soul is created the second the sperm and egg meet. scientifically, we know the entity is human, obviously. but when that entity becomes a person is a legal, theological and moral question. the law has sided with women. the moral doctrine of the catholic church and their theological position is that personhood is conferred at conception. it is not a simple matter for them to just say that "abortion is ok" in the way they could support a married priesthood. it would involve changing their theological view of human life. ...not gonna happen.

the fact that he is encouraging the church to embrace women who have had abortions is a huge step forward, especially in this current political climate and pressure to criminalize it.

[MellowDem]

62. He doesn't embrace women who have had abortions...

And neither does the Church. They rebuke them until they show proper contrition. The Church will accept anybody that toes their line. It's just that "their line" is misogyny, homophobia and bigotry.

I don't expect the Pope to change anything. I expect progressives to not fall all over themselves in praise of a misogynistic, homophobic bigot who hasn't changed anything and won't change anything. Maybe I expect too much? Maybe religious privilege is too strong for many progressives to not see the cognitive dissonance at play?

I can think of many right wingers who have some progressive views, yet they are never trumpeted like the Pope is. Religion has a lot of power and privilege still.

[restorefreedom]

63. they believe it is wrong

and any wrong requires contrition. that is their position based on their theological view of when life begins and how living beings have a right to live. it has nothing to do with privilege. it has to do with what they believe and how they think God wants them to treat others.

i think they might actually change over time regarding divorce and contraception. but we will be long gone. i do not think they will ever change on abortion. gay rights not likely.

but if you expect to see a catholic gay marriage in your lifetime, you might be disappointed. married priests might be possible, remarraige after divorce, even contraception. other things will take generations if they change at all imo.

[onecaliberal]

6. I tweeted him the facts last night.

Felt the same way. For the record I don't think it's okay for any religion so smear anyone for living their authentic lives. This is a child with high interest in science. He should be encouraged. Bill was proud that Republican presidential candidate and Mark Cuban Agreed with him. Tweety was the only one sounding reasonable. What the hell does that tell you?

[Admiral Loinpresser]

39. roflmao. Good one. n/t

[restorefreedom]

7. i must say, admiral

the title of your thread is the most amusing (and true) i have seen in quite a while....put a smile ln my face.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

13. My wife tells me to stop watching

his show, because I usually end up yelling at the screen about his stupidity. I looked at his guest list this week and took a pass, because Jorge Ramos was the only good guest. But somebody posted a video on the segment about Ahmed and like Charlie Brown, I watched it in the hope of seeing an intelligent discussion, but Lucy won again!

[restorefreedom]

15. didn't anyone tell you....

us wives are always right?

[Admiral Loinpresser]

17. My "inner chauvinist"

hates agreeing with you.

[restorefreedom]

18. lol! nt

[aidbo]

22. I watched it. Jorge Ramos was the most decent guy there. George Pataki came in second.

[cali]

8. this is not a primary related post.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

10. I started to post it in GD.

The reason I changed it correctly, imo, was because I mentioned HRC. But I agree that the appropriate location is debatable.

[treestar]

14. I go back and forth on him

since he's a libertarian, I believe?

He ends up with us on social issues and against us on economic.

I think he is wrong here and that it's not even the issue. The issue of hyper-vigilance in schools.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

16. I believe he styled himself

a libertarian in the '90s. When the weather vane shifted he started marketing himself as a liberal in this century.

If I understand you correctly, I agree with your point about hyper-vigilance in schools. Our nation's hysteria since 9/11 has been about refusing to look at the social costs of such hyper-vigilance.

My wife represented "gang members" in schools in the '90s. One of her kids was labeled a gang member for TPing a neighbor's house. True story.

[cpwm17]

19. Bill Maher hates Muslims

and loves Netanyahu and Israel's wars. He didn't oppose the Iraq War before it started plus he considers the Vietnam War a necessary war:

[Admiral Loinpresser]

20. Beautiful illustration of his gross stupidity. n/t

[MADem]

27. He is ardently anti-religion. He can give the Pope a piece of his mind, too.

The Mormons, the Scientologists, the mega-churches, he has it in for all religions.

He did a film about it awhile back.

[cpwm17]

34. I'm an atheist and I'm all for criticizing religion.

Bill Maher goes much further than that against Muslims. He can be arrogant and over-the-top against Christians, but he completely dehumanizes Muslims, and it is the Muslims that are the constant targets of US foreign policy and wars.

I've seen him say that Muslims only know violence and the way to deal with Muslims is with violence. He has said that he supports Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign at Israel's creation, even though he acknowledged that the Palestinians were the victims. Violence isn't so bad if the right people are doing it and the right people are the victims, I guess.

[Bluenorthwest]

53. Where are your quots to back up your assertions?

I don't believe your characterizations are valid testimony. You condemn him for his words but you offer your own words to convict him, not his own. This is a basic ethical failing on your part.
Of course you do this because you know if you quote him you will not be able to support your characterizations, so you want him condemned for what you said he said. Morally vapid.

[cpwm17]

55. Most of what is said on Bill Maher's shows are not available on the internet.

I've only watched a small fraction of his shows, though I saw him quite a bit back when I had access to cable, and I've seen him make a number of over-the-top bigoted comments. If I've seen them, then surely any regular listeners to his shows have seen such comments. Considering many people have complained about Bill Maher's extreme bigotry, I'm not alone.

My hunch is that you agree with his bigotry, that's why his comments don't leave an impression (if you watch his shows), though I’ve noticed that you do have a bad habit of defending such bigotry.

[reddread]

21. then why do they pay him?

He is a well compensated whore with flagrant tendencies away from decency.
paying your cable bill keeps him there.

[Cheese Sandwich]

23. Bill Maher is prejudice against Muslims.

[GP6971]

24. Locking

This is not the correct forum. Please consider reposting to GD.

[GP6971]

25. This thread has been unlocked.

There wasns't a consensus by the hosts

[Gothmog]

28. I agree that Maher's attacks on Ahmed were stupid

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

29. It's funny how he spends about 60% of his weekly show bashing Christo-Fascists....

....and the silly shit they want to do in this country.

Yet the once every few weeks he rips into Islamic extremists is the only time anyone complains.

Granted, I think the the parallel to Ahmed is specious, but when are people going to learn that Maher distrusts those of all religious stripes? And either accept that, or not be hypocritical and think it's only "problematic" when it's against Muslims.

Once again, DU makes exceptions for some religions.

[BuelahWitch]

30. I stopped watching pretty much because of his

anti-Islamic bigotry. He also treated Bernie pretty shabbily when he was on the show a few weeks ago.

[closeupready]

43. I was never a fan, but I'd never give him even 1 second of my time.

I know plenty about his shitty bigotry from threads on DU.

[One of the 99]

31. Well said nt

[leftynyc]

32. Why?

Because this week he said something about Muslims instead of his usual bashing of Christians? He said Ahmed deserved the apology but that the school was right in investigating. Are we supposed to pretend that some 14 year old Muslim kids aren't blowing shit up?

[Admiral Loinpresser]

42. Because if racial profiling were appropriate,

we should start with white people. Maher's Islamophobic hysteria ignores that white, Christian terrorism has been a plague in North America for 500 years and continues to be the main source of terrorism in the USA to this day.

In my hometown, an abortion provider was gunned down in church. Oklahoma City, Charleston, Atlanta Olympics, AA church burnings and bombings in the South. Innumerable attacks of PoC, Jews, etc. The common denominator? White. Christian. terrorism.

[leftynyc]

44. And if someone was walking

around with an assault rifle, I would have no problem with all the white boys being investigated - would that be racial profiling or just playing the odds? This involved what was thought to be a bomb. This magical balance fairy nonsense has got to stop if anyone on the left wants to be taken seriously about security.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

45. I disagree.

I have seen no report that anyone ever thought there was a bomb. No one ever claimed they thought there was a bomb. Nobody ever *acted as if* there were a bomb. It just didn't happen that way.

[leftynyc]

46. One of the teachers

told him to keep it hidden because it may cause trouble - obviously that teacher had brains. When the clocked beeped from his backpack (could have been something else but it was inside something), that teacher thought it should be investigated. Racial profiling? Maybe. I don't care.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

50. Ahmed commented on previous racism he experienced in the school.

But I heard a lot of kids also supported him. Anyway, there was talk he would transfer.

Bottom line: since nobody ever thought there was a bomb makes calling the cops stupid, imo.

[leftynyc]

64. I know it was determined BEFORE

they called the cops that it wasn't a bomb so I agree with you there - and the behavior of the cops - from handcuffing him to not allowing him to call his parents (or a lawyer) was egregious but I really don't blame the teachers for checking it out.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

65. +1 n/t

[onecaliberal]

48. That school NEVER thought there was a bomb.

They didn't implement any of the policy all schools have in place in the event there was any kind of threat of an explosive. The first and immediate thing would have been to evacuate the students and alert the bomb squad. Had they really believed there was a bomb on that campus those things would have happened very swiftly, erring on the side of safety. I'm also certain the police wouldn't have placed a suspected bomb in their car to take it to their precinct. Common sense tells you everything you need to know about this sad story.

[restorefreedom]

35. maher has an inappropriately high opinion of himself

i can't even stand to listen to him when he is guest somewhere. he speaks with feigned authority on pretty much everything. he is pompous and insufferable.

i am sooo glad to see this at the top again...it is one of my favorite threads ever!

[cpwm17]

37. +1000 nt

[lib87]

47. I Remember I use to Think he was Great

[Admiral Loinpresser]

49. I did too.

Great sig line, btw.

[lib87]

56. Thank you

I was going to put my violin playing smiley in there but...lol

[tabasco]

54. I remember how he backtracked and retreated after his 9-11 comments

He has never impressed me as anything other than a selfish coward.

IOW, I agree with your subject line.

[Puzzledtraveller]

59. I like Maher

because he say's what he really feels regardless of whether it's popular with us, or them, or anyone. I'm long past tired with the lack of authenticity in our culture.