We need Bill Maher and other like minded

[BootinUp]

abrasive media personalities. Yes or No?

23 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	17 (74%)
	No
	6 (26%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[beaglelover]

1. Not just YES, but FUCK YES!!!!!

[True Dough]

2. I don't agree with Maher's use of the term from last night

but I don't want him and others who provide scathing political commentary to disappear. He should apologize for making that comment. He will offend again, in all likelihood, but he will also offer many insightful opinions and astute observations.

[TheBlackAdder]

14. He was referring to Malcolm X, with the GOP types who embrace indentured American servitude.

[NightWatcher]

3. Yes but we need he and Kathy Griffin to not BECOME the story they are protesting.

When the trump administration is crumbling to the ground, we need to let it. Don't become a distraction that the rw can point at and claim equivalency.

[radical noodle]

4. Exactly! N/T

[Beartracks]

8. On point!

That is true. You can't be effective as a critic if YOU become the story. And the right wing media (and fake new machinery) is ALWAYS looking for opportunities to make that happen.

==================

[leftstreet]

38. +1

[killbotfactory]

5. If we threw away every comedians who ever said or did anything offensive

we wouldn't have any comedians left.

[BootinUp]

6. I guess I should confirm my vote is yes.

The guy has a talent for making people think. This is what we need, yes.

[Lotusflower70]

7. Hell yeah

This is an opportunity to find some balance. The word offensive has been diluted of its meaning to come to represent simply whiny or butt hurt. There has been an overkill and a creation of fake outrage. So the pendulum swings the other way in response. Now it's time to get real and swing it back. Not necessarily all the way back but towards a more respectful and honest place.

A lot of people heard it as the n word with an a at the end versus the n word with the r at the end. I think that makes a difference in the reaction. But it also helps force the cretins into the light.

[Hamlette]

9. yes, but I don't think he is abrasive.

[BootinUp]

10. Lol. Really?

[Hamlette]

25. really

see, I saw the show and while I was slightly distracted, I didn't "hear" what he said that everyone is up in arms about.

But then I'm a 3rd generation atheist I am thrilled that he says what I am thinking, that he comes to my defense after a lifetime of not only being unable to defend myself, but I can't even tell people I'm an atheist and up to about 20 years ago, no one defends us without being eaten alive (think Madelyn Murray).

He made me brave enough to say it. And boy, you wouldn't believe the blow back!

Also, it was incredibly unfair that he got kicked off TV last time after the 9/11 hysteria.

[Bucky]

11. Could you include an option for "Some Bullshit Middle Ground"?

Because I think the well-mannered liberal point of view is well covered by Seth Meyers and John Oliver and Samantha Bee. So I appreciate the more abrasive humor from Maher and Colbert. But I still kind of cringe when they go too far.

So mark me down as "Some Bullshit Middle Ground". You cannot silence my nuance

[Shandris]

12. I don't like the wording of the poll, as it's too ambiguous.

'Abrasive' is fine. Failing to not insult the very people we fight for? That's not abrasive, that's just either INCREDIBLY poor judgement, hidden racism, or a cavalier attitude borne from knowing one can't be fired, which reflects poorly on us.

OTOH, I don't really consider Maher a true 'liberal' either, so there is that. And it's just a nitpick. I chose 'no' though and wanted to add some nuance about why, so there we go.

[BootinUp]

13. You stated that very clearly. Thank you.

[TheBlackAdder]

15. Maher isn't a true liberal, he just leans a heck of a lot closer to Liberalism than not.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

16. He has always been an asshole but often a useful one.

[Rustyeye77]

17. He rocks to me.

He's pushes the envelope in a PC world.

Nobody can call him a racist when he has Cornell West on every other week....as well as multitude of other races.

Its sad that we are so PC that even shows like "All in the Family" could never be reborn again.

[pnwmom]

20. He has offered a sincere apology. He regrets having pushed that envelope. nt

[Rustyeye77]

21. OK....he made a mistake.

[Stallion]

18. Its Almost Like He Was Being Politically Incorrect

oh my I hope he's not a racist

[pnwmom]

19. We needed him to apologize -- and he did. So now his supporters

should stop trying to justify his non-funny joke.

[Rustyeye77]

22. Ok...Do you really think...

he's a racist as his critics have stated ?

[pnwmom]

24. I never said he was a racist. I said the joke was offensive

and he should apologize.

He has. Now it's time for his supporters to rethink their justifications of the offensive joke he has sincerely apologized for.

[BeyondGeography]

28. People have defended Maher, not the dumbshit remark

Otoh, his attackers are mostly focused entirely on the remark.

[pnwmom]

29. There was many who defended his use of the "joke." n/t

[samnsara]

30. geez no.. how many times have we women heard the C word from him...

...and I have never though of him as sexist. He and Kathy are the Robert Mapplethorpes of stand up comedy.

[pnwmom]

33. I have always thought of him as a sexist. So there you go. n/t

[Arazi]

23. Yup. We are going to need as many allies for 2018 as possible

And Bill Maher is definitely an ally

[Snackshack]

26. ...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rawstory.com/2017/06/this-is-not-the-way-bill-maher-slams-texas-am-muscular-dystrophy-docs-cruel-dog-experiments/amp/

[samnsara]

27. hell yes..they have offered up themselves as battering rams and we say....

..'no thank you'...are we NUTS?

[still_one]

32. While I am no Maher fan, and do not believe you need to utilize racial or ethnic slurs to make a

point, and really do not like the casual use of such terms in the vernacular no matter who uses it, and though context is everything, the use of such words, and history of such words, most often distracts from any point being made

[SaschaHM]

34. Black turnout this election was down and we still lost.

So frankly if Bill Maher's usage of the word "house N*gger" causes white liberals to rise up in arms to his defense in opposition to black and brown allies, then no we don't need the guy. Pissing on the most anti-Trump voting block that consistently votes for democrats, even if our priorities aren't given the same weight as others, is not what we as a party needs unless we think 85% of the black vote + "house n*gger" aficionados is going to take us over the top.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be fine w/ Maher staying around if DU could rise in solidarity and condemn him over his shit when he fucks up, but we can't even do that. There are folks calling for us to apologize to him. Folks telling black DUers to focus on Trump, as if Black voters weren't the most anti-trump demographic in this country.

Bill Maher even thinks that what Bill Maher said was wrong and there are folks still dying on a hill to defend him.

[flamingdem]

35. I support Bill Maher and think he's brilliant

Yes he will blow it now and then and the apology was appropriate.

[wryter2000]

36. Abrasive yes. Racist sexist no. n/t

n/t

[lib87]

37. I really don't want more Faux news like personalities given a platform.

Pass.