I have seen this man before but I do not know who he is
So basically imagine a bad takes factory. That’s him. He’s an actual liberal elitist who seems hell bent on being a condescending jackass who’s rarely right
He used to make the occasional refreshing point… decades ago on politically incorrect.
The one that lost him that role honestly, pointing out that you can call the 9/11 suicide attackers a lot of things, deluded, fanatical, etc, but cowards doesn’t fit and there are plenty of derogatory concepts that fit, just not cowards.
I like when people point out that language and words have meanings and your enemies aren’t just all the bad words you know.
Since those days though, his politics shifted rightward from somewhat progressive to Neoliberal in the early days of Real Time to Conservative about 10 years ago, while still calling himself a real progressive. In recent years he’s been doing shrieking the opposite of his once insightful 9/11 point and telling anyone who will listen that all followers of Islam are a dangerous extremist group and a wholesale threat to civilization.
I stopped being able to stand tuning into him years ago.
I’ve tried to stay out of controversial topics on Lemmy for my sanity, but I get the sense that many commenters haven’t watched much of Bill Maher (not just in this thread). I’ve watched him pretty regularly for years, so I have a fair amount of context. I’m about as lefty as it gets fwiw (not a libertarian).
Here’s the way I’ve interpreted Bill Mahers perspective and belief system: he’s a very intelligent, well-informed yet blunt asshole, who genuinely says what he believes, even if it doesn’t fit in a box that’s on a recognizable political spectrum. He is willing to have frank discussions about issues that other arms of the media are afraid to touch, even though he knows it will piss off a big chunk of the public.
He has some opinions that I find appalling, but I very much respect the way he conducts himself and the way he exposes the voices of some truly poisonous people in society, as well as some truly heroic and often lesser known activists and community leaders.
I believe people need to be seen and heard to be understood, and Maher will talk to anyone and try to understand their point of view so it gets some oxygen. Because of that, he has had some terrible people as guests on his show. Though I’ll concede his interviews can be a bit inconsistent, he’s usually pretty relentless in trying to pull the real shit out of people.
I’ve seen some comments that he is conservative. He is not. Please watch a few episodes and report back. He TALKS to conservatives, but clearly is not one. He’s also not what we might call a liberal these days, but that label might have applied to him a decade ago. Now he’s mostly just a skeptic with a traditional left-leaning perspective, but he’s one of the few out there willing to engage with extremists on the right.
He’s a complex individual, and there is a lot of reductionism when talking about Maher. Like I said, he holds some beliefs that make me very uncomfortable, but he’s a great example of the fact that the world is not black and white, and not everybody fits into a neat little box.
It might help if he was slightly less of an asshole, but that’s a big part of his schtick. I value his voice, and hope he stays on the air for a long time.
But also, don’t scab, that’s not cool.
I’m glad to hear from someone else who actually watched Bill Maher. I even kept watching after he dropped the N word to shock an interviewed guest.
But I think in some more recent episodes his pushback against his audience being “too sensitive” and “woke” has been misguided. He’s platformed a ton of grifters since then. His show became downright exhausting, compared to the fun I used to have. He’s bringing on LGB not the T anti-trans grifters. He’s constantly whining about California. The jokes and in-between segments that used to lighten the tension have gotten super corny. The New Rule at the end has him preaching absolute shit.
Absolutely. The way he treats his audience is one of the things that bothers me, and his view on trans folks is another one that I find pretty abhorrent. So yeah, great examples. I still think he brings a valuable and unique voice to an otherwise homogenous and unchallenging discourse.
What discourse: Trans issues? Progressivism? Since then I’ve gone so far left. I think I started with The Young Turks. It’s a lot harder to find people who are having fun and making jokes about leftist issues, though, and that’s one reason I’m here on Lemmy.
I mean discourse in the most general sense. Not specific topics per se, but the way we talk about and engage with societal issues that are not always cut and dry.
I think he’s what we need a lot more of in this country, thoughtful, honest, well intentioned. Regardless of what we may think on an individual topic, being able to discuss it and not being locked into the confines of two radical ideologies is sorely missing in today’s society.
Bingo. Couldn’t agree more.
Very well said. He’s a free thinker that has no bias and for that I respect him.
He’s still doing a couple of podcasts I believe. One being political and the other about chilling with a guest while getting lit.
He’s a well known polticial commentator and talkshow host, known for the shows “Politically Incorrect” and “Real Time with Bill Maher”.
Ahh I see thanks for the info - I’m not from the US so I’ve not come across those shows. They sound awful. Are they as full of right wing apologist talking points as they sound ?
I’ve seen snippets of Politically Incorrect from the 90s, as there were a few guests I was interested in. It seemed to be just another talk show, not right wing apologist at all. I’m chiming in just so you get an idea of the long career on air this man has, he’s been decades on tv.
Whatever he’s said recently that may have caused a reaction, I’m also out of the loop. I’m also not from the US.
I’m also not from the US but I’ve been watching Real Time for many years and I think it’s a great show. He’s an outspoken democrat (at least since the Trump era).
And while he does invite on republicans and right-wing guests, he’s usually quite critical when interviewing them.
But I guess just talking to people makes you an “apologist” in the eyes of some people.
Don’t get me wrong, he has my respect for grilling so many right wingers. But he gave a deliberate platform to anti-trans talking points. No pushback provided. And I really hate him for that. He has since gotten much more right-wing in his New Rules. I felt like I was being scolded for being a leftist and enjoying the show. By the show’s host.
