Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Oblivion said:
Did he even put on the table an argument worth defending? He didn't even replied to their questions half the time, just random babbling.
The Official "Real-Time with Bill Maher" Thread
- Thread starter Flying_Phoenix
- Start date
Did he even put on the table an argument worth defending? He didn't even replied to their questions half the time, just random babbling.
Oblivion said:
I thought the episode was great, especially the panel, and I felt Bannon actually made one or two good points toward the end. Frankly I was surprised given his "credentials" that he could have any moments of lucidity. But this panel was a lot less argumentative - everyone seemed sufficiently upset over the charade that we've been subjected to the last week in politics. I should say that the interview was pretty bad though, that economist came across to me as flaky and disingenuous. Maher could have pushed her some more.
Oh and Bourdain was great to see in the discussion, wish he was on the show more often.
Agree with the above, great episode that wasn't focused on just tons of back and forth. Some very lucid points were made, even from the Tea party guy, specifically when he was talking about the generation coming out of college now (too bad he has the absolute wrong ideas to fix it).
Bourdain came off like a fucking moron detached from reality with his "I've never seen an American kid take a bus boy job" bullshit. Seriously, what aspiring chef is going to accept a job where you can be legally paid less than minimum wage when you are trying to pay off culinary school debts?
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
winter said:
I believe he was referring to "working your way up" approach. Sure you'll be a dishwasher today and tom morrow, but a year from now that won't be the case.
ThisWreckage
Banned
Flying_Phoenix said:
I think that's what he was eluding to as well.
Although, I will say that I do think that a lot of high schoolers (and younger Americans in general) are entitled and lazy. You don't know how many college graduates I've seen that refuse to take a job at a grocery store or at Best Buy just because they have a bachelor's degree. Not to mention that immigrants in this country do the dirty work, they do it well, and they do it without complaining.
ThisWreckage said:
I don't know how many grocery stores or Best Buys would even hire a college graduate. The whole "Americans aren't made of the tough stuff this generation" is such intellectual laziness, underemployment is rampant for college graduates. If we're playing the anecdote game I could just as easily tell you about some of the people I graduated with managing two minimum-wage jobs just to pay the bills. The problem is we teach students that having a college degree is a magic ticket to a job, which is just not the truth in today's economy. I don't they're "entitled" because they believe that, they've been brainwashed on a massive scale by the education industry who are more than happy to prop them up and then kick them in the shins.
Pathetic Basement Virgin
Banned
Cool guy alert!!! You dissed the fuck out of that junior!jaekwon15 said:
You have to be super lame to do what you did homie.
ThisWreckage
Banned
SolKane said:
Fair enough, but Bourdain is well traveled and I think his perspective exceeds mine. Like I posted earlier, immigrants in this country do the work that we don't want to do. I'm sure there are lazy immigrants, but there's a reason why a lot of Hispanics are in construction, landscaping, fast food, housekeeping, etc. They're doing jobs that Americans, in general, do not want to do. So maybe he's onto something.
Maybe it's got something to do with the way we raise our children. I've noticed that children expect certain things now. They expect mommy and daddy to be an ATM. They expect smart phones. They expect a car when they get old enough to drive. This is all anecdotal, but the immigrants I've worked with in the past are humble and no kind of work is beneath them.
This is how I feel as well. I'm a big fan of Bourdain and he seems like a respectable, honest guy, and having read his book Kitchen Confidential I get the sense that he can speak on that subject with authority and that there's truth to what he says.ThisWreckage said:
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Well the show finally came back on last night.
I enjoyed this episode, but the panel agreed too much. Which is good, but not as entertaining.
I enjoyed this episode, but the panel agreed too much. Which is good, but not as entertaining.
dead souls
Member
It was a decent episode, but it didn't really take off until Louis C.K. got brought out.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
dead souls said:
He had the perfect response to that testosterone comment. Wish he posted on GAF (there was a GAF thread on the study).
Flying_Phoenix said:
Agreed. When Maher mentioned at the start of the panel that the dude was a Republican, I was a little surprised that Olbermann would be on with him. But apparently, he was a 'moderate' Republican, which is our current vernacular means he was to the left of Stalin.
New Rules was great, though.
ElectricThunder
Member
Last night was OK, though it is unfortunate that it looks like Moore's latest thing is just a book as opposed to some sort of film for next year.
Felt like there were so many other topics they could have delved into this week as well, damned hour runtime.
Felt like there were so many other topics they could have delved into this week as well, damned hour runtime.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Yeah. I definitely don't see eye to eye on Moore but I do enjoy his documentaries for entertainment purposes.
Learn2read
Member
I wanted to jab my eyes out at the two "centrists" talking about how the real problem is how THE TWO PARTIES CAN'T COME TOGETHER
dead souls
Member
Yep. That shit gets old really fast. Thankfully Bill and Michael Moore strongly disputed them.mamacint said:
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Oblivion said:
Nobody thinks he's sexist but right wingers. Feminists adore Maher's female Republican bashing.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
No post in almost 3 weeks?
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Holy shit. This episode was terrible.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
Haven't seen it yet, why is it so terrible?
Was it the one with Salman Rushdie ? Or is there new one out already ? I usually like Salman Rushdie but he really didn't find any ground with the other two guests and sit there with almost nothing to say. They really should think twice who they are going to put on the panel and what topics they will discuss.Flying_Phoenix said:
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
Salman Rushdie did nothing then, I agree.
Also reading up on Bill Maher's islamophobia, as a guy who was brought up in a muslim household I don't care. Since Bill Maher really fucking hates religion it doesn't surprise me and in a perfect world all religion is eradicated from the human mind, in my opinion.
Also reading up on Bill Maher's islamophobia, as a guy who was brought up in a muslim household I don't care. Since Bill Maher really fucking hates religion it doesn't surprise me and in a perfect world all religion is eradicated from the human mind, in my opinion.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
WrathOfOtaibah said:
It would be better if you just watched it. But I guess I'll try to explain.
The panel consists of two typical republicans and one typical democrat.
Sounds typical right?
Well the problem is that the two republicans are just annoying as all shit. I can't really put it into words so I'll just list:
- They will completely and abruptly change an argument to argue another topic within one sentence.
- Would constantly go after Obama no matter how unrelated the topic is.
- Treated the debates like school cafeteria arguments.
Now this is why I recommend just watching it. I'm sure some poster will quote this and say "So like every other episode..." But trust me it really really isn't.
And I really would like to reiterate on the school cafeteria point because it got so bad that even Bill started doing it.
Now normally you'd have someone on the opposing side (left) to call them out. The problem is that the guy is the shitiest debater EVER. Again the two other guests weren't presenting solid arguments, actually their arguments were shit.
(A sample: Ronald Reagan HAD to ring up the debt. He did it so that he could end the Cold War and succeeded. And that's what we're doing now with Middle East.)
He even lost that argument...
The only good points in this episode are Penn Jillette (fantastic guest). and Maher explaining his "I'm a libertarian" quote from the 90's when he was asked his political affiliation.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
Interesting, I will watch it when I get back from work
It really was a disappointing episode. The two republicans were the typical right-wing guests, annoying as fuck, constantly changing the subject and spewing the same old republican bullshit arguments. I was really looking forward to Thom Hartmann being a guest....he's a really smart guy and should have no problem handling those clowns, but he seemed like he just didn't feel like lowering himself to their level and knew they weren't interested in having an intelligent discussion. He just sat there with this "fuck it" look on his face most of the time.
Maher should stop having two crazy republicans at a time on his show. One is okay because it's fun to watch them get beat up on by sensible people, but any more and the table is just covered in verbal diarrhea by the end of the show.
Also, Jilette is okay but he started going nutso with the libertarian junk. Maybe I heard him wrong though, it was late and I was falling asleep. Did he equate paying taxes for building a library to having a gun pointed at your head?
Maher should stop having two crazy republicans at a time on his show. One is okay because it's fun to watch them get beat up on by sensible people, but any more and the table is just covered in verbal diarrhea by the end of the show.
Also, Jilette is okay but he started going nutso with the libertarian junk. Maybe I heard him wrong though, it was late and I was falling asleep. Did he equate paying taxes for building a library to having a gun pointed at your head?
demon said:
No, I think he meant, that there are certain things, that the government is responsible for, like public safety or punishing criminals, but there are certain parts of government, that are not necessary at all and in his opinion are more like blackmailing or having a gun put at your head, because you have to pay for it.
I understand his position, but in my opinion that's bullshit.
I think there are certain areas beyond the core of government that are still necessary to guarantee equality. For example access to knowledge. Of course the internet changes a lot, but still not everybody has access to the internet, so the libraries are still necessary and will be for quite some time. Else the rich are going to monopolize knowledge as well.
And yes, before some right winger shows up, the government has to guarantee equality almost every modern political philosopher thinks that way. Else the will be real class warfare.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
Never got a chance to respond to spec.Spec, I'm not sure if you're a lawyer, but I'm a clerk at a patent/trade-mark firm, and the lawyers there are fucking weird (well...one of them is 'normal').
Fucking.
Weird.
Latest episode had PENN?! Goddamn! Can't wait to dl the podcast.
Flying_Phoenix said:
Things are simply different now. I know he came up in NYC, and I don't know if it's still like that anymore. But from my experience, the "start off as a dishwasher" thing doesn't work anymore. If you're a dishwasher, you're going to stay a dishwasher, and most who apply to be dishwasher are usually older immigrants or kids that aren't interested in being cooks in the first place.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
demon said:
Nothing is wrong with him having two Republicans on his show. I prefer to not have the shows I watch to be a circle jerk. Its him having a diverse and quality panel. Hartmann just didn't know how to counter arguments.
demon said:
No. He gave a really bad analogy. But he is a guest and it is live television so its not like this is non-typical.
Trokil said:
Am I the only one who thinks that the government should do an internet and laptop program for the poor?
Obviously internet that isn't as speedy as Comcast or Roadrunner, but just good enough.
agrajag said:
I've seen plenty of dishwashers promoted in my job.
Hear say?
I'd rather they have an adult conversation between liberals and conservatives rather than a circle jerk, but I'll take a circle jerk over two republicans dominating the show with the typical loud noises and bullshit arguments, which is exactly what we got from the two repubs last night. It's awful. Thom Hartmann can counter arguments just fine, and he was willing to engage them at the beginning but you can tell he just gave up once he realized the two of them were just BSers who couldn't shut up and would change the subject (but Reagan won the cold war!) whenever they saw fit.Flying_Phoenix said:
dead souls
Member
demon said:
Yep. It was painful to watch. John Fund is a complete tool. I don't know why Maher has him on so frequently. Caruso-Cabrera was another one of those "Bill wants to bang her" panelists. Once Penn got out there with his libertopia bullshit I mentally checked out of the show.
Remember when Maher used to have people like Matt Taibbi and Jeremy Scahill on the panel somewhat frequently? More like that please.
cooljeanius
Member
Apparently he was at my school tonight... never bothered to buy tickets for it though.
demon said:
It was painful to watch 2 people tell lies and change topics constantly. The fake economist lady blamed fannie and freddy but no one ever brought up the fraudulent rebranding of credit that allowed the housing bubble. Whoever the guy on the left side talked about income taxes as if it's relevant to taxes and actually supporting 9% as if that's actually going to keep society functioning. And one of those 2 made it sound like Democrats are big spenders between the two parties, which doesn't hold any truth. Reagan and Bush spent so much.
Oh, and the fake economist lady talked about Reagan doubling the federal income. What she and no one else mentioned is that the dollar had mad inflation in the 1980s. So talking about nominal dollars between 1980-1988 is completely subjective without a reference point.
Edit:
Ah, so 1980-1988 inflation was 44%. The remaining 56% probably had to do with the economic recovery in the 1980s - 1980 was a low point, so 1988 would be better by a lot. It would be like saying that 2011 is fuck awesome because stocks are 50% higher than in 2007. She was being disingenuous by selecting dates to pick a factoid to make a point that didn't really make any sense. Reagan still fucked us with massive debt. This is why I don't pay attention to politics - both parties suck but Republicans as of late are just dumb (and I think intentionally). Just makes me angry.
I kept expecting Bill to blow up or go crazy on them - that's how bad it became. I'm actually really impressed how good he was at suppressing it. Yeah, I know he has to be used to it and it's part of the game for his show, but still I don't know how someone is able to restrain themselves like that. He just kept on debating.
WrathOfOtaibah
Banned
Yeah the panel was awful, like extremely awful. They are the kind who keep talking over your argument with a louder voice to block you, that shit should be illegal.
I'm talking about the typical right wingers, of course. As for the lone democrat well he stuttered too much and wasn't very assertive, making it easy to be "bullied".
I'm talking about the typical right wingers, of course. As for the lone democrat well he stuttered too much and wasn't very assertive, making it easy to be "bullied".