WHOA! Have you seen Maher's guest list tonight?

[radiclib]

Neil de Grasse Tyson, Amy Goodman, and Richard Wolff (the economist)
vs. Tea Party Guy Matt Kibbe and Huckabee/Santorum stooge Hogan Gidley.
Could be a bloodbath!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. For all that Hogan Gidley always kinda makes my

flesh crawl (there's something about him that just comes across as slimy) I have to admit I've heard him be semi-reasonable far more than other frequent RW stooges who pop up on MSNBC.

[Gothmog]

32. Hogan reminds me of Tucker Carlson

He is a really dumb person

[arcane1]

2. That tea-partier keeps coming back for more. I'll give him credit for that.

Unfortunately, he's yet another right-wing sound-biter with no substance. He'll walk out of the studio after the show carrying his own ass

[Scootaloo]

3. I absolutely loathe Maher

He's a self-centered racist war-loving dickhead who's paid far too much for what he's actually worth, and I kind of wish he would choke on some edible underwear

But Neil deGrasse Tyson is always worth my time.

This creates a conflict - is Tyson a panelist or is he a segment guest?

[applegrove]

4. Really? You think Maher is all that? He hosts one of the most

important shows on the left. He has the most diverse panel on tv. He calls out the GOP as well as anyone. I'm just sorry he can't get to more people because he's not on network tv but HBO.

[Scootaloo]

5. The "importance" of "Real Time" on the left is more a symptom of quantity than proof of quality

[truebluegreen]

19. Agree.

He's a misogynist, biased against Muslims, and a libertarian.

He does sometimes skewer the righties, but far too often buys their framing and/or is misinformed.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. I'm always surprised and baffled at what he let's them get away with. He's never forceful enough.

And you're right; there are times where he's VERY misinformed and doesn't have a comeback when the wing nuts make stupid statements and I often find myself screaming at the T.V., "tell them this! tell them that! tell them they're lying!"

[MADem]

31. Some libertarian-he gave a million dollars to POTUS's Super PAC.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/02/bill-maher-donates-million-dollars-to-obama-pac.html

He's also not a fan of any religions--he give Christians as much heat as he does Muslims. He did a movie about the subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religulous He's an enthusiastic atheist.

His views on women are typical of someone who knows he wouldn't be doing so well with the ladies if he were driving a moped and living off a disability check. He has some evolving to do, certainly--he doesn't take issue with women in public life, it's interpersonal relationships that flummox him. I don't think he's very comfortable with the whole male-female relationship dynamic; it may be a function of how he was raised. In any event, it's a personal failure on his part. He's not running for office, he's not representing a plank in a party platform, and most people look to him as a controversial host of an interesting show, not an oracle who issues guidance on how one should think/feel about things.

[cpwm17]

6. I'm with you. He's one of the most loathsome people on the TV machine.

He loves war, as long as the right kind of people are the targets. He didn't oppose the Iraq War before it started, because, you know, Arabs were the target. He considers them inferiors. He's very open about his hatred of Arabs and the superiority his his favorite religious group.

[Scootaloo]

8. He's got that Christopher Hitchens thing going, yeah. n/t

[Hosnon]

9. He was against the Iraq War.

If that misconception is part of why you dislike him, you like him more than you think you should.

[cpwm17]

10. Perhaps he opposed the war after it started

I don't have cable so I've only seen him periodically. But I do distinctly remember him, before the war started, saying that he didn't care if we started the war. His audience is mostly against wars, so the strongest statement he could make is that he didn't care. His mannerisms indicated that he was probably for the war but didn't want to admit it.

He might be the reverse of Chris Matthews who was one of the strongest anti-war voices on TV before the war (not saying much but I remember it well) but wavered afterwards.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. You are simply incorrect, Maher was vehemently opposed to invading Iraq from the start.

You are just wrong.

[cpwm17]

14. I saw him say he didn't care if we started the war

It was one show. I remember it well. I do remember being somewhat surprised (though not completely) he would say that on his show. Perhaps he evolved over time.

Unfortunately I rarely can find links to his shows.

[JaneyVee]

24. His show was cancelled b/c of his opposition to war.

[cpwm17]

29. He lost his "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" show for controversial comment concerning 9/11

ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for Politically Incorrect in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark six days after the September 11 attacks.[20] He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Maher

"Real Time with Bill Maher" started on February 21, 2003 and the Iraq War started on March 19, 2003 so his comment that I heard concerning the Iraq War would have to have happened in the narrow time period between those dates.

[smokey nj]

13. You are wrong. Bill Maher never supported the Iraq war.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. The problem with Mayer is that he often accepts the wing nut framing of arguments simply when

they are winning them on the political stage. It's like he doesn't like being on the losing side, so he condemns the Dems instead of calling the wing nuts out their lies forcibly.

I expect him to be well informed and really go after this assholes.

[Dragonfli]

17. Well, to be fair if you could you should admit he has no favorite religious group

He hates religion quite vocally and quite often.

[ErikJ]

28. He did a whole movie about it, "Religiosity"

I havent seen it yet but heard its good. He especially hits fundy religions hard which is whats needed.

[PCIntern]

34. I'm sorry...

what is his favorite religious group? He is an avowed atheist.

[Archae]

15. Maher even made it into the encyclopedia of American loons.

Due to his anti-science anti-vaccination stupidity.

http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2011/09/247-bill-maher.html

[tularetom]

16. Tyson ain't enough to get me to watch Maher

Neither is Amy Goodman, who I try to catch as often as I can.

I just can't tolerate Maher any longer. He's sort of a creep.

Plus, he keeps on inviting these right wing nut cases on the show, which is his right, but he never does anything to shut them up.

There's four hours of "Modern Family" reruns on USA tonight. Fuck Maher.

[Starry Messenger]

21. Segment guest.

It was worth tuning in for. The Wolff interview was decently conducted too.

I dislike Maher as well, I get dragged back because he gets great guests.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. Anybody have a link for watching online?

[Dragonfli]

18. Yes it will be posted tomorrow morning /nt

[Cha]

12. Kick.. I'm sure we'll hear all about it for those who don't have a tv or access..

radiclib, thanks.

[Efilroft Sul]

20. I'll be seeing him tomorrow night in Pittsburgh!

At long last, a night alone with my wife and sarcasm. Be still my beating heart.

[mountain grammy]

22. I like Bill Maher. He's funny. I often disagree with him, but usually I don't. He definitely opposed

the war against Iraq.

[oldandhappy]

26. Saw the show and enjoyed it.

I really like Neil and Amy and of course the Maher man himself.

[elleng]

27. No bloodbath,

very civil, and no big disagreements.

[jollyreaper2112]

30. I generally like his work

I probably agree with 90% of his positions.

Last week was pretty shitty. He's more than a little Zionist. I get tribalism, backing your guys even if you think the situation is a bit dubious, blood thicker than water. But he was a bit too rah-rah Israel and going with the talking point that the Palestinians can't get their shit together like the Germans and Japanese did. Hello? They never had a Marshall Plan. You can't keep kicking someone's legs out from under them and demand to know why they can't stand up for themselves.

Look, the Jews have been real shits over there. Then again, so have the Arabs of all flavors. You show me suicide bombings by Arab terrorists and I'll show you regular bombings by Jewish terrorists. King David Hotel? Jewish terrorists trying to get a state of their own. Lacking one, they used terror tactics just like the stateless Arabs.

I was pretty disgusted that pretty much all of the guests were trotting out Washington consensus talking points. And what's this about the three dead kids not even being killed by Hamas? Is that right? The cases belli is one big oopsie?!

[Gothmog]

33. Renee Ellmers was added to the Flip a district final four

I am still rooting for Blake Farenthold but Ellmers is a worthy addition