Is Bill Maher just a left wing Ann Coulter?

[Atman]

There is actually an interesting discussion on MSNBC this morning about Ann Coulter vs. Bill Maher. "Mornin' Joe" says, and I quote, "If you're gonna hate Ann Coulter, you have to hate Bill Maher."

Joe is personally offended by Bill because he belittles his Christian faith. But his e-mails so far this morning are 100% anti-Ann, he says. Joe is tossing the words "stupid" and "fool" and "jackass" around a lot. He insists he's not defending Coulter, he's just trying to point out that there are "nuts on both sides."

What do you think? Is Joe just taking Bill's disses too personally in trying to give Ann a pass? To be fair to Joe, he did just do a pretty funny impersonation of a rabid Clinton-hater, complete with deep, deep Southern drawl, saying "'Ah swear, (chomping on his corn dog) Beel Clinton keeled furty nahn paypul,'" and when I ask them who, exactly, did Bill Clinton kill?, they take another bite of their corn dog and say "Anywun who crossed him."

That was pretty good. But I digress...on to the poll question...

[Syrinx]

1. No.

No comparison whatsoever. Not with Michael Moore either. These comparisons are BS.

[Atman]

2. If you expected a love fest from Tweety the other day, wait until Joe gets her!

Ann is going to be on "Mornin' Joe" this morning. This ought to be good, as Joe will likely be revealed as the Coultergeist follower that he is. Joe as much in denial as Ann, insisting he's not "right wing."

.

[Syrinx]

4. let me know how it turns out

I really need sleep.

[last_texas_dem]

10. I agree

If people would actually examine their stances on issues, rather than just believing the media's spin, they would see that Moore isn't anywhere as far to the left as Coulter is to the right politically. And tactically, they aren't the same at all. The worst Moore can be accused of is definitely having an agenda and being persistent in trying to get answers from people. But he doesn't just spew hatred and bile towards others for no real reason other than their being on the other side of the political spectrum; the way that Coulter does.

As for Maher, it hardly makes sense. Maher's views are more to the left than right, I suppose, but he is in NO way a shill for the Dems in the way that Coulter is a shill for the 'pugs. Tactically, he may be similarly over-the-top in his rhetoric, but it's more in the way a stand-up comic who takes on politics would be. He ridicules people, political figures and others, to get laughs; he's not simply being nasty and "funny" to score political points for a certain side as Coulter does.

[Atman]

13. I'm agreeing with everything you said there...

But to here Joe Scab tell it, Joe is just a flaming lefty.

.

[ikojo]

3. Bill Maher is not left wing..if anything he is libertarian

which contrary to popular belief is not LEFT. A lot of people think libertarians are left because they support drug legalization, but they are more right wing than the Republicans, particularly on economic issues.

[Syrinx]

7. I think Maher is more libertarian than Libertarian

Capitalization is important in this case.

[bunkerbuster1]

61. I don't see/hear much of Maher. Is he basically of the "Lionel" school

which is to say, while he isn't staunchly pro-Democrat (not that that's necessarily a bad thing), he basically supports most of the stuff we support?

The only thing I ever heard from Maher that genuinely pissed me off, was during Chimpy's failed Social Security Piratization Tour 2005. Maher accused the left of being unrealistic about Social Security, and basically mouthed idiotic RW talking points about its "crisis."

Just as Lionel has his occasional lapses into cluelessness, usually he's pretty reliably pro-civil rights and utterly scornful of neocon thuggery. Which ain't perfect, but I'll take an ally when I can find one.

[AndreaCG]

5. I'm not too fond of Maher

Especially when he BOOKS Ann Coulter frequently (he drools like he SO wants to get in her pants). But has he ever called for the assassination of a Supreme Court Justice? I don't think so. Even those who need it like Scalia (joke!)

[Atman]

6. Actually, he said we'd be better off if Cheney had been killed in the WTC attack

That's Joe's one reference point he keeps coming back to. He finds that far more egregious an offense than Ann's cute little remarks. He's claiming they're both "extremists."

.

[AndreaCG]

14. He's right but I don't know if he should have said it

But IIRC Ann's remarks could be taken as an inducement to some nutjob to actually kill Stevens.

[rfranklin]

15. But the reality is that we would be better off without Cheney...

And most of the world agrees with Bill.

[frogcycle]

20. nuance

splitting hairs, perhaps, but saying "we'd be better off if..." is different from saying "I wish..."


one is a statement of opinion based upon factual observations; the other is an expressed desire

the only "justification" for coulter's vendetta against Edwards is that he poses a direct threat to the philosophy that big business should run everything. He supports a government "Of the People, By the People, and For the People," and Coulter, along with the criminal enterprise running the country, is strongly opposed to such a concept. They hate him because he successfully tackled big insurance companies, and has shown he is ready to continue the fight. They are desperately trying to gather as many single-brain-cell drooling knuckle draggers as possible into a 'coalition of the hating' to give them sufficient votes to steal another election. And they know that base won't support Clinton or Obama, but could be wooed by Edwards.

[ourbluenation]

36. no he didn't

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/what-i-didnt-say_b_42687.html

What I Didn't Say

Posted March 5, 2007 | 04:36 PM (EST)


On Saturday, the website NewsBusters.org posted a story under the headline "Bill Maher Sorry the Assassination Attempt on Dick Cheney Failed."

There's just one problem: As a fair reading of the show's transcript makes clear, I never said those words. Still, over the weekend, dozens of websites, mostly right wing, picked up the story (with headline intact) thus proliferating the myth that comic Maher somehow advocates the whacking of our Veep.

Don't get me wrong: I've never joined the Dick Cheney Fan Club. But what I said Friday -- and what I believe -- is that the Vice President has presided over a bungled execution of a war in which thousands of our bravest continue to die. And I believe that were he not in power, our troops would likely come home sooner. But I don't wish him dead.

Ironically, I made my comments during a discussion about Free Speech, which is one of the chief reasons that I love my country.

To see a complete transcript from the March 2, 2007 episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" go to:
www.billmaher.com.

[Atman]

38. Distinction without a difference.

He actually doesn't deny the semi-quote I attributed to him, which is basically what he said. Although I think you're right in that perhaps he didn't say "if he'd been killed in the WTC attack." I think he just said America would be better off if he had been taken out...I don't recall the full quote, which isn't shown in your snip. It's just a denial of another quote. What he is denying in the snip you've provided is that he ever said he was sorry an assassination attempt on Cheney failed. That's not what Scab is saying.

.

[DS1]

49. No he didn't

He said we'd be better off without Cheney in power. It's a pretty simple distinction

[Beelzebud]

68. No he didn't. He was quoting a user post from Huffington Post.....

And defending their Right to say anything they want.

Free Speech. 1st Amendment.

To some of us those things are important.

[MonkeyFunk]

66. I don't think

Maher's booked coulter for a long time, and I don't think he will anytime soon - he seems to have realized she's no longer interesting - just crazy.

[ThomWV]

8. I despise Maher, but he's no Coulter

He's not at all funny, he's never informative, his guests generally suck. So its sort of amazing to me that his show continues on TV. I don't like him and I don't mind saying so.

[Lasher]

9. Are you kidding? Maher is a libertarian.

Coultergeist just keeps saying the most outrageous things she can come up with to get attention, because she really has nothing else to say. Maher is quite intelligent and does well in fair debate - totally unlike Coulter, who consistently resorts to disgusting tactics like filibustering and interrupting in attempts to deny opponents a chance to make their point.

Joe must really hate Maher. I can think of no greater insult than to be compared to this waste of air.

[Atman]

12. Actually, I don't think Bill is a Libertarian at all. He just says he is.

I think there about two dozen REAL Libertarians, and they're living in hand made shacks in the woods someplace. Libertarianism doesn't work in real society. I wonder if Bill takes his own garbage to the dump? Oh, wait...the privately-owned waste-management facility (Libertarians wouldn't be in favor of municipal dumps or landfills, would they?).

.

[Lasher]

18. Libertarians are not that easy to classify

Their beliefs range from pure anarchy to something far less extreme. They don't all think the same way. And then there are the many Republicans of not so long ago, who are claiming these days to be libertarians, while spouting the exact same rhetoric as before. See, they think this excuses them from having to defend results of their ideologies in action, currently on display for all to see.

[Atman]

You've described at least two of my GOP friends

One of the even openly bragged about voting for Bush in 04, but now swears he did not, that he's always been a Libertarian. Funny thing is, he did it at the dinner table with eight other people and we all remember it. He insists we're mistaken. Just like a true Republican. Lie, and just stick to the lie until it's believed.

.

[Lasher]

31. Let me guess:

And when you start pointing out the many failures of the GOP, they say both major political parties are bad. Right? This is a blanket attempt to sidestep discussions that compare actual results of Libpublicans to those of Democrats.

[Atman]

33. Spot-on.

Funny thing is, the guy I mentioned above lives in a McMansion, no kids, whopping dual incomes, and insists he shouldn't have to pay any taxes because he has no kids and too much of his tax money goes towards schools. Damned schools. But he's never taken out his own garbage in his life, and I'm not sure he even OWNS a shovel, let alone fills in the potholes on his street all by himself.

.

[Lasher]

50. Here, I have a gift for you.

Here is a collection of wisdom from the late great Steve Kangas. Scroll down almost to the bottom and you will see a heading called Myths about taxes. There you will find some very good ammunition to use in refuting your libertarian friend's claim that he should not have to pay taxes. I like the first one titled, Taxes are theft. I didn't supply a link directly to that article because I wanted you to have the benefit of all the rest of Kangas' work.

[Ian David]

29. Libertarians are just Republicans who smoke pot. n/t

[Lasher]

32. That's an oversimplification but your description is a lot funnier than mine.

And accurate in a general way.

[BootinUp]

11. Coulter to Maher is like

Canine to human.

[liberal N proud]

16. Comparing coulter to Maher is giving coulter way too much credit

She is a political hack with an agenda to attack and attempt to bring down any credible candidate or agent on the left who poses a real threat to the overall ideologies of the GOP. She will allow the insane acts of the right to continue while attacking anyone on the left who threatens those acts with truth.

Maher is a comic who is making a living of pointing out the stupidity in our system today. He has no firm party allegiance and will hit on a stupid Democrat just as quickly as he does the right.

[Lorien]

56. Well said. n/t

[eShirl]

17. since when is Bill Maher left wing?

what did I miss?

[last_texas_dem]

21. I think some have started associating him with the "left-wing"

simply because he is very strongly anti-Bush, and to many people just the fact that someone dislikes Bush makes that person a liberal. Many forget (and Maher himself may wish he could forget himself, seeing what a colossal disaster the Bush presidency has been) that Maher, along with Maureen Dowd and Chris Matthews, was just as hard, and perhaps harder, on Al Gore during the 2000 election season.

[Ian David]

19. You know who is a left-wing Ann Coulter?

Sorry, I can't think of anyone.

Closest I can come is David Spade.

But even THAT is a huge stretch, and unfair to David Spade because he's funnier and prettier and limits his "attacks" to the celebutards, instead of polluting the political debate.

[NashVegas]

26. Sarah Silverman Comes to Mind

I don't quite care for her, either.

[Ian David]

28. But she doesn't do tasteless personal attacks disguised as political debate.

Maybe... MAYBE Dennis Miller circa 1990? And even THAT is a huge stretch.

[NashVegas]

65. Point Taken

Miller didn't really have a political agenda back then (as Silverman doesn't now).

When you think about it, those lefties who have a real political agenda (Franken and to some extent, Shearer) tend not to get as much national airtime when they engage below the belt.

This is why those who say it's beneath Dems' dignity or whatever to go after Coulter are wrong: it's the media that decides whether or not to put a mic in Annie's face.

[NewJeffCT]

22. Bill Maher - the guy whose ideal president is Colin Powell and the

guy who was a big supporter of Ashcroft profiling & locking up Muslims?

Yes, he's really the left-wing version of Coulter

[chelsea0011]

23. Bill Maher? It's interesting that Coulter is using him as her

reasons to throw out hate speech. When is the last time she did a comedy tour? But the new bubble head on CNN in the AM referred to Maher as "extreme" while discussing the two. But anyway it shows that Coulter again is getting her way with the media and has turned around the discussion.

[Ian David]

30. If Ann is a comedian, she should try-out for Last Comic Standing

"Like, the other day I came home and my cat had peed on the rug. So, I told it I hope it's killed in a terrorist attack. Thank you, I'm here all week. Don't tip your waitress, because she should take the personal responsibility to find a better job that doesn't require charity from her customers."

[Nikki Stone1]

54. What is that, the Improv from Hell?

:D

[terrya]

24. I don't quite understand his defense of Coulter.

Or rather, his lack of condemnation in some of her remarks.

I know they're supposed to be friends and all of that. But don't friends sometimes tell each other when they've crossed a line in things they've said?

[uberblonde]

25. Um, Maher's a, ya know, comedian???

Whereas Coulter is only funny in that Anna Nicole Smith kinda way.

[Atman]

27. Ah, grasshopper, but you are wrong according to Joe.

Suddenly Ann is "just a comedian" like Maher or even Rush. Just a comedian, so nothing she spews counts, I guess. But it does if Bill says it because, uh...hmm...well, because he's "left wing" I guess.

:shrug:

.

[Lasher]

34. What, he's saying Coultergeist is a comedian?

She is funny sometimes, but never on purpose.

[NewJeffCT]

51. As I said above

When on Larry King a few years back, Maher was asked who his ideal president would be, and he said Colin Powell.

He also expressed support for Ashcroft profiling and locking up Muslims in Gitmo.

While he may have changed on Ashcroft - and I'm not sure he ever did - I don' think any legitimate liberal really ever would support Colin Powell for president or support locking up Muslims in Gitmo for being Muslims.

[Atman]

35. Maybe here's part of the problem...Scab keeps mis-quoting Maher.

I'm guessing deliberately, since he's received so many e-mails. I have to believe he's been told in at least ONE of those e-mails what the REAL quote was. In defense of Ann's wish that Edwards be killed in a terrorist attack, Scab points out that she was only responding to a part of the exchange which is left out of the quote; that Bill Maher "wished Cheney had been killed in the WTC attack."

Except for that Maher never "wished" any such thing, as Coulter did. He said "The country would be better off today if..." That is vastly different. But don't expect honesty from Joe.

.

[jacjr]

37. Everything before the "but" is a lie

Joe started his show this morning announcing he was not defending Ann Coulter and then repeated it many times. He then spent a good deal of time defending her. We are being unfair in criticizing Ann because she is forced to choose between calling John Edwards the a F..... or hoping for his assassination by terrorists. He then hoarsely criticizes media for misquoting poor Ann. Lets not notice that Ann misquotes her old friend Bill Maher in here feeble defense.

[Atman]

39. Uh...before what "but?"

I don't get your sub-line. But...

Welcome to DU!

.

[jacjr]

44. Thanks let me explain.

My mother taught me at an early age that anything someone tells me before the word "but" is a lie.

First thing out of Joe's mouth this morning was I am not defending Ann Coulter but she is being treated poorly by the press. I am defending Ann Coulter but Bill Maher is bad too. I am not defending Ann Coulter but she should do a better job explaining her references to Pop culture, e.g. calling John Edwards a faggot.

[Atman]

45. Gotcha.

It sounded as if you were referring to the BUT in the last sentence of my post!

But you weren't.

:hi:

;)

.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. no. bill maher is frequently critical of dem candidates whereas coulter thinks cheney is hot.

i think bill isnt as partisan as coulter

also bill does not spread hatred.

he is a little crass but not vile.

[Atman]

42. Also, Maher is alway clear that he's expressing personal OPINIONS.

Coulter will swear three ways till Sunday that her book is all facts and nothing but FACTS. She claims it to be a FACT that "liberals are godless evil doers."

.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

43. very good point.

[blondeatlast]

41. Ann Coulter is a tool and damn proud of it. Naher pimps nothing but Maher. Neither is brave

or loves the country.

[mondo joe]

46. ABSOLUTELY NOT. Maher makes actual points about policy. And he's a COMEDIAN.

All AC does is smear people, and pretends to be serious.

Who the hell could think they're equivalent?

[mitchum]

47. Coulter hoovers the lines of coke on the right side of the mirror...

while Maher hoovers the lines on the left side?
That must be the left/right divide that Killer Joe is referring to in relation to those two coke buddies.

[RedStateShame]

57. Judging by her looks, I'd say Coultergeist takes BOTH lines...

...and Maher has subtly hinted on a few occasions that he enjoys self-marijuanication now and then. BIG difference between coke people and pot people.

[mitchum]

58. Maher is an admitted pot smoker (nothing wrong with that), but there has...

been longtime talk in LA about his fondness for hookers and blow

[RedStateShame]

59. Didn't know about the blow, but it doesn't surprise me.

[DS1]

48. only if you're a willfully ignorant fucking asshole

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

52. ...and darned proud of it!!

What we have here is the last dying screech of a conservative movement that is in full retreat. We've had six years of a country run absolutely and completely by the conservative agenda, with barely a whimper in protest from liberals, and the fruits have been uniformly disastrous. They are desperate to divert attention and to lay smears wherever they can (it worked once, they assume, so maybe it will work again). This has been Ann Coulter's schtick all along, but you can bet that as 2007 turns into 2008, the conservative Mighty Wurlitzer will be playing the same song.

[Fleshdancer]

53. Maher is a comedian

If the closest the left has to a Coulter type is a libertarian comedian, then I think it's safe to say we don't stoop down to her pathetic level.

[Gabi Hayes]

55. the salient point in this bogus, set up, coordinated attack on Edwards is that the ONLY

example of vile left wing diatribe they've been able to come up with....the ONLY one, mind you....is from a comedian! not a left wing pundit, not a dem politician.....a comedian who has been exTREMELY critical of democrats in the past. extremely critical.

and to make it worse, they LIED their asses off about what he said. If they'd actually quoted him, they wouldn't be able to make the case about him at all.

the worst he did on his show that night was to quote comments made at Huffington Post by readers, not bloggers, and to offer the opinion that the world would be a better place if Cheney weren't in it. To equate that comment with their assertion that he said the Cheney should be killed in a terrorist attack, like Edwards, is the height of disingenuousness, and typifies how the MEDIA are complicit in the RW assault on truth.

and, as has been cited today, as well as what I watched yesterday, as there been ONE, single talking head (even that twit Hillary Rosen on Hardball yesterday) that completely supported Mrs. Edwards, rather than amazingly repeating the wingnut talking points about haircuts, using the attacks to raise money (what's wrong with THAT), and various other attack points, rather than give her a platform to discuss just HOW vile this sort of smear is, or to perhaps mention that Coulter could be prosecuted for her wishful thinking concerning Edwards? All the dialogue was designed to put Edwards on the defensive, and, at the very least dismiss Coulter as not worth listening to, all the while trumpeting her swill all over the airwaves.

that said, the Contessa person on MSNBC yesterday seemed genuinely angry at what Coulter said. she was the only person I saw to strike that pose, though.

Stunning, mindbogglin hypocrisy.

[bunkerbuster1]

60. Maher's left-wing?

News to me. I thought he was a Glibertarian, albeit one who's on our side a lot of the time.

[Czolgosz]

62. He's using the same marketing plan to sell himself, but he's not really "left wing" (any more than

Christopher Hitchens).

Hitchens, Maher, and Coulter share the similarity that they are deliberately provocative as a means of self-promotion and their acts are calculated to push boundaries which go beyond party lines. With than said, their target audiences are not identical so Maher appeals less to the far right, Coulter appeals less (not at all) to moderates and the left, and Hitchens appeals less to the sober minded.

[Ian David]

63. Bill Maher's politics are those that are based on compassion, fairness and reality.

And as we all know, those qualities ALL have a left-wing Liberal bias.

[ecstatic]

64. He's definitely not left wing, and though he says offensive things about

women, liberals, and rap musicians, he's got a very long way to go before he can be grouped with the likes of Coulter. Coulter is just a mean spirited, hateful witch. Though I dislike Maher at times, I've never picked up an evil, nasty vibe from him.

[Matsubara]

67. No, because he's not at all left-wing. He's a libertarian, that's why he loves Ann Coulter.

Yes, he's obnoxious at times, but has never been as offensive as coulter, and again, not left wing by a long shot.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

69. Maher is not left wing

He's an opportunist. He has no allegiance to any cause or philosophy beyond himself.

[Beelzebud]

70. Only if you're not really paying attention...

Just like the phony comparisons to her and Michael Moore.

I don't remember Maher or Moore calling on terrorists to kill Republican candidates, or bomb newspapers.

[LSK]

71. because Maher makes his statements with some basis of truth?

:shrug:

[hiphopnation]

72. One engages in meaningful debate

and is an admitted liberal, the other relies on verbal irritants and bombast to shout her way into the public's attention. Her political affiliation really isn't even the point, though she is obviously "deeply committed to the franchise", her act is becoming less convincing. I expect it won't be long before we start seeing her in frothy summer comedy films playing herself as the "acerbic, opinionated conservative". I think it's really apples and oranges here. She's a caricature, nothing more. While it is irritating to see MSNBC continuing to give her a forum to spew forth nonsense, it's all I can do but laugh when I see her crop up for a new set of cartoon-liberal-hate.


edit: removal of word

[Vexatious Ape]

73. Bill's a comedian and Ann is a...a.... oh never mind.

[Penndems]

74. Bill Maher is a comedian. Ann Coulter is an attention-craving hag

Big difference here.