Bill Maher...you can only hold her wrists so long before...

[one_voice]

you have to slap her.


Bill Maher Just Can't Help Being An Asshole

Sometimes Bill Maher says some smart, insightful things, but he's frequently dead wrong on politics. He loves to pontificate, but he won't work hard enough to get it right. (In other words, he's no John Oliver.)

He's a guy who ridicules religious extremism but sounds like the most extreme neocon nutjobs when it comes to Israel, because 9/11, etc. and all Muslims are evil and violent.

Plus, he's just gotta be an asshole. He can't help it. He thinks it makes him "edgy", I guess

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/07/bill-maher-just-cant-help-being-asshole

Bill Maher ✔ @billmaher
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Dealing w/ Hamas is like dealing w/ a crazy woman who's trying to kill u - u can only hold her wrists so long before you have to slap her

backlash immediate:

Connor Mason @conmas
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@billmaher Jesus dude. People are dying as you tweet that.
8:34 PM - 17 Jul 2014 Columbus, OH, United States


Expatriot @Expatriot32
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@billmaher lemme get this right. You're equating group punishment and child murder to domestic abuse? And both have it coming?

more at link...

[hrmjustin]

1. Maher proves once again he is a jerk.

[HERVEPA]

22. Comedians make offensive comments

That's often how comedy works.
and I suspect his anti-religion views inform your opinion of him as a jerk in general.

[Squinch]

23. I'm not religious, and I find him to be tone deaf. And that was humor? Not in my world.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. The last time Maher was funny was in the 80s

when he was in 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death'.

And I'm pretty sure that was thanks to the writers for the movie, not any innate sense of humour.

[Orrex]

27. Hey did you hear the one about the children murdered on the beach?

It's a real knee-slapper.

Did Maher joke about the three murdered Israeli teens, too? Was it funny?

[HERVEPA]

28. non-sequitor

[Orrex]

29. Incorrect.

[HERVEPA]

30. Incorrect

[Orrex]

32. I notice that you aren't much for self-reflection

You wrote:

Comedians make offensive comments. That's often how comedy works.
and I suspect his anti-religion views inform your opinion of him as a jerk in general.

That's both patronizing and dismissive. No shit that's how comedy works, when it works. Offensive comments also come from assholes with an unflinchingly pro-Israel agenda, as Maher has maintained for many years.

My opinion of Maher as a jerk in general is informed by the fact that he is, in general, a jerk.

My point in posting what you attempted to dismiss as a non sequitur is that I suspect you would be less appreciative of Maher's "comedy" if it attacked one of your sacred cows instead of beating up on Hamas.

[HERVEPA]

34. Self-reflection is not possible for me. I am a vampire.

[Orrex]

35. See? Now *that's* funny.

You should give Maher some pointers.

[hrmjustin]

31. Carlin made jokes on religion and I loved him. No he is a jerk because it is his nature to be a jerk

And his statment was not funny considering palestinians are dying.

[clarice]

52. I always thought that Carlin always seems very angry. nt

[seabeyond]

43. purposely make offensive, then offended when he offends? doesnt work that way. nt

[HERVEPA]

45. There's a difference between

Being offensive (Maher per you and others)

Thinking people are worong to be offended (Maher)

Note: I personally would not make that joke or a similar joke. And there were other ways he could have made his point, which was one must fight back, without going the violence against women route.

[seabeyond]

46. he knows his joke is offensive. people get offended. he MEANT for people to be offended.

no sense then whining people had no reason to be offended when he says shit to offend people.

he is misogynist. always has been. does not think much of women and have been on our ass from the moment i heard him

he can be funny. but i am not gonna pretend he is something he aint.

he will NEVER be funny when it comes to his jokes about women cause he has no respect for women and it shows in his jokes.

[HERVEPA]

47. Did he say he was offended

Serious question here.

He may may have thought people shouldn't be offended, but that doesn't mean he is saying he is offended, merely that he disagees with their being offended..

Did he say he was offended? I may have missed that.

I also don't believe he has no respect for women. People can make offensive jokes about a subject, but still have respect for them. That can be and often is part of comedy, not just related to the subject of women.

[seabeyond]

50. i used offensive to make the point, replying to your initial post. yes... he is very disrespectful

to women, always. most women and a lot of men recognize. if you do not think so, fine. but whether he truly disrespects women, or just fuckin puts his foot in his mouth so often, that he leaves that impression, it is on him

and yes... he continually whines about it. does that mean is he offended others are offensive??? he is bothered enough to continually whine about it.

[HERVEPA]

54. Word choice does matter in my opinion. Hels make points clearer.

Whining about something does not necessarily mean one is offended. People whine about a lot of things other than being offended.

And, as I tried to imply, saying something disrespectful on a subject as a joke (espeecially as a professional comedian), does not necessarily mean (s)he disrepects that subject.

[seabeyond]

55. i have heard the man talk plenty in real time. not jsut being a comedian telling jokes. he comes off

as a dweed that never got any. and now only gets it cause he can pay for it. he has a chip on his shoulders and it is pay back time toward women.

and you really are not making any relative point whining all the time vs offended. i mean. who the fuck cares.

[HERVEPA]

59. People who think the correct choice of words matter care.

You may not, that's your right, but the correct choice of words wtrengthens arguments in my opinion, so is important.

As for whether he ever got any before he became a big name, I suspect neither you not I know the answer to that.

(edited for missing the word "care&quot

[seabeyond]

60. i used offensive cause you did. that is not even close to the point, nor the discussion. so, from

here, discussion is a waste of time. but, i agree with orrex... the vampire joke, .... funny

[HERVEPA]

61. Have a good weekend.

[seabeyond]

62. it is friday, isnt it. i have been messed up all week. you have a good weekend also. nt

[Union Scribe]

48. I suspect they make you turn a blind eye

to the fact that he truly is a toad.

[alp227]

65. Humor and a moral conscience aren't mutually exclusive. nt

[dsc]

2. believe it or not this isn't the worst celebrity tweet of the day

that would belong to Jason Riggs who tweeted about giving away his Malaysian airlines miles after the airliner was shot down.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. No, this is worse

[Dorian Gray]

21. definitely

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Jason's 'crime' was, at most, timing.

Malaysia Air has lost 2 entire planes this year. That comment was clearly a joke. And not entirely unfounded, or inappropriate, since in this case, the airline overflew contested territory that all other airlines were spending the extra fuel to fly far around, because of this potential outcome.

What Maher just came up with was wrong on multiple levels. Not just 'too soon, man'.

[Roy Serohz]

3. Islamophobe, Misogynist, Bad Rep for Smart Folks

Yes, he's often hilarious. That doesn't lessen his asshole quotient.

[Ishoutandscream2]

64. Plus 1

You nailed it.

[conservaphobe]

4. Maher is one of those people who irks me even when I agree (generally) with what he's saying. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

6. He needs to use a sarcasm smilie. eom

[sheshe2]

7. WTF!

[Jamaal510]

8. It's not just religious extremists and Muslims

"He's a guy who ridicules religious extremism but sounds like the most extreme neocon nutjobs when it comes to Israel, because 9/11, etc. and all Muslims are evil and violent."

who BM ridicules; anyone of faith can be a target. From his POV, a person who follows religion basically can't think for themselves. Again--I love his show, but here is one of my main criticisms about him. I think he sometimes takes the religion bashing in general too far, and he comes off as so self-righteous that he probably doesn't even stop and consider the possibility that either side of the debate could be correct. Obviously no one who is alive today was around billions of years ago to know for sure how things came into being.

[arcane1]

9. I'm a fan of Bill's but that was a pretty fucked-up thing to say.

This is definitely one of those topics he needs to learn about before commenting on. And then think of a better way to say it.

[DeSwiss]

11. When I read that he once dated Ann Coulter, that was the day I went:

[kelliekat44]

15. Once you know this, that is all you really need to know about him. Never liked the guy.

Many people can be completely rational until it comes to Israel, Obama, race and sex. It all falls apart at those points. You could combine the second and third items in this short list.

[DeSwiss]

16. Agreed.

[Duppers]

25. he said they were only friends

But how???! How could any thinking person be her friend?

Yep, extremely disappointing.

[flamingdem]

12. This one requires an apology

Just not okay even for a humorist there are limits

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. Typical of a former Libertarian who thought Liberals were all about restricting offensive language.

[merrily]

14. I almost ordered HBO, just to be able to watch Maher.

But, let's face it. His basic personality is "arrogant, know-it-all, anyone who faults me for anything is a ridiculous asshole" Maher.

I enjoy his humor a lot, and am close to him on politics, but I am just not a fan club type. No matter how much I enjoy his humor, I see that as his basic personality.

No one is perfect. Very few are 100% evil (though too many come far too close). He is smart and funny and his heart and head are often in the right place. But.....

[PAProgressive28]

17. I don't disagree with Maher on his Muslim comments as much as some here

but he's one of those guys who always defends Israel. There's never a conversation with him on this issue.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

18. I've seen this posistion from too many Jewish liberals --

They are "liberal" -- even close to full-blown Leftists -- on everything but Israel, where they take a hard right I have seen abdominal things posted from solid liberal, Democratic Jewish friends on FB the last few days, including the use of the words "savages" and "animals" in regards to all Palestinians and a call to "fix" the "Gaza problem" once and for all. It disgusts me to my core.

[PAProgressive28]

19. "savages" and "animals"

Hope they don't have a radio show

[PCIntern]

20. Gee...that's strange...

I'm a Lefty Pro-Zionist, have had literally hundreds of acquaintances and friends over 60 years and I cannot recall 5 instances of Jews referring to Palestinians or any of the surrounding countries residents as Savages or Animals, even during the worst of times for Israel: like the Yom Kippur War.

[Barack_America]

42. American progressives for Likud!

For too many of my Jewish friends, the critical thinking cap comes off completely where Israel is concerned.

Then again, I have Irish family who are staunch fiscal conservatives who support Sinn Fein, which is a pretty leftist party.

[Duppers]

24. I've heard similar crap from atheist pundits

They tend to be islamophobes, which is very disappointing to this atheist. I left a local atheist meetup group because of their ignorance and biases in political matters.

Am still a Maher fan in general even though his head is up his ass on this issue.

[Inkfreak]

33. I love Bill Maher.

That said, I totally get it when people say "he's an ass.".

[randome]

36. Um, he said 'woman trying to kill you'. How does that equate to 'domestic abuse'? I don't get it.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[geek tragedy]

38. one does not deal with a crazed attacker by holding their wrists and slapping them

that's how thugs who beat their wives behave

[randome]

40. So he should have said 'punch' or 'kick'?

Sorry, I'm not really a 'fan' of Maher but I think this is a trifle overblown.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[geek tragedy]

41. no, that's the point, he was implicitly placing the reader in the shoes

of a domestic abuser, not someone who was in actual danger from someone trying to do actual harm

that's where his mind went, he was thinking "well, sometimes you just have to smack the b!tch"

because he's a misogynist prick

[redgreenandblue]

51. and in doing so, he accidentally created an analogy that was better than he intended...

irony...

[geek tragedy]

53. exactly, if he really thought Hamas was a great big threat to Israel,

he wouldn't have characterized it as a physically weak opponent who could be dominated easily and dealt with by a slap to the face

[geek tragedy]

37. he's always been a misogynist, racist asshole, and a libertarian

but I repeat myself

[redqueen]

39. lol

Exactly

[seabeyond]

44. yup. nt

[Whisp]

49. Bill can be such an incredibly large asshole.

This pisses me off big time. Why he does this little snotfaced boy thing for attention is beyond me. He knows this will cause griefs but he does it for that I suppose.

Not amused.

[LittleBlue]

56. This is what he always does

Make some ridiculous comment and then sit back and watch the shitstorm.

I've got HBO but don't bother watching Maher. If you want that sort of thing, South Park does it better anyway.

[redgreenandblue]

57. Maher conjured the image of a domestic abuser....

Ironically he is not far off the mark.

[CBGLuthier]

58. Anyone who does not see Mr. Maher as a misogynist and racist

has not been paying attention. I tuned him out years ago because I got tired of his "jivin" shtick and his obvious hatred for women. He could be a force for good but his innate nastiness gets in the way.

[JustAnotherGen]

63. That's disappointing

Sometimes he's funny but sometimes he is just a major asshole.