Bill Maher apologizes for using the N-word.

[oberliner]

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[Bucky]

1. Great. Now he can apologize for all his anti-muslim bigotry

I suppose I'm gonna lose a lot of sleep waiting up for him to make that Twit

[Les Cowbell]

4. Funny your post gives lie to your sig

Your post just contained scorn and no facts. You have proof of his anti-Muslim bigotry? I mean he uses facts, as he did last night, to back up his claims.

[Bucky]

13. I think you'd be hard-pressed to say Maher does not have anti-muslim bigotry

I refer you to this article. It goes over several incidents in which Maher said horrible sweeping generalizations about Muslims.

I don't agree with the conclusion that he is categorically racist. But he frequently let's his prejudices against Islam spill over into hateful speech about Muslims as a people

https://thinkprogress.org/bill-maher-racist-history-b1d9c74283cd

And that is where I stand as far as preferring facts over scorn. I don't say I can't have harsh judgments against people. It just means I choose to discuss things rationally and without the coloring of prejudice over reality awareness

[Les Cowbell]

21. Saw a lot of unsubstantiated charges and jokes but no, not bigotry

[Hortensis]

18. You have proof enough if you bother to research

for yourself, Les Cowbell. Ignorance, real or claimed, is not only not an excuse, it's not a weapon on DU.

[Les Cowbell]

2. Unfortunately this won't be enough for many on here

the self-appointed deciders of who is racist or sexist and must make all pay who don't fit their wobbly standards

[SaschaHM]

3. You mean AFam and Female Democrats....

who have to deal w/ this shit from the right and the left.

[Les Cowbell]

7. Blame those who are responsible not

someone who has people of all colors and persuasions represented on his show and calls out true racists regularly. He is not a racist. This is just an easy hammer for those who don't like him to swing and take down the wrong guy.

[SaschaHM]

12. Being a racist and using racist language for an inappropriate joke aren't mutually exclusive.

When black and brown allies tell you this, you're not doing yourself any favors by dismissing it. Paula Deen had people of all colors on her show, but started throwing around the word "n*gger" in private. That didn't make her usage of the word o.k and it doesn't make his.

[Hortensis]

17. I don't particularly care about his use of the word, which

was appropriate in context (joke) and meaning. I'm a true liberal and at 20 was already too old to be shockable by words used without malice for "ooooh!!! purpose," while those who might grab the opportunity to attack me for saying that practically by definition are not.

That includes, btw, a few self-declared POC members who may be registered and genuine Democrats but seem to be using their voice here to focus on division within the party without inclusion. Anger is understandable in the circumstances, but it's important that we understand its various roots and recognize that we are not all liberals by any means.

The Democratic Party contains conservatives of many colors, ethnicities, and religions, and we should recognize, and accept when they, as is their right, express their beliefs. The Democratic Party also contains far-left members who are at least as akin to far-right conservatives as they are to liberals, and. inevitably, behave that way, and the same goes for them. As long as they all truly support the Democratic Party.

But Maher is deliberately appealing to the "low" in the party wherever it comes from, and to me that's not okay. Copying what's happened to the right is foolishly inimical to our party and our national interests. The media are full of people I agree with. I don't him, and I oppose him and all the other "Mahers" who are profiteering by fertilizing the worst weeds of intolerance sprouting on the left and elsewhere in the party.

And, yes, he's only one of the cynical profiteers feeding this newly energized market for the hostile aggression they're peddling.

[Les Cowbell]

22. Your comparison of him to Paula Deen says a lot about you narrow mindedness and

how you are guided by prejudice far more than he is.

[SaschaHM]

24. This is laughably pathetic.

I'm sorry I upset the apple cart by calling out the use of racist language by someone who occasionally supports left-leaning causes. I'll head to the back of the bus and wait for my turn to speak.

[Les Cowbell]

23. Also thanks for proving my point about how an apology wouldn't be enough for some ..

... especially you.

[SaschaHM]

26. I'm sorry that you're offended at the policing of racist language.

[Les Cowbell]

30. when you can't dispute a point, lie about it

Of course nothing I've written would lead a reasonable person to that conclusion but you are obviously not reasonable about this subject - and no I don't mean racism, I mean people like you mischaracterizing what Maher said and acting like he is the enemy.

[oberliner]

6. I'm glad he made this statement

And recognizes that he should not have said what he said.

[Beartracks]

9. IKR? But don't worry - the infighting here will be a big help in 2018 and 2020!!1!

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

[bettyellen]

10. Did you actually read the TOS when you joined up? Because your values seem to be at odds with it.

[Les Cowbell]

25. Do you actually think about what others post instead of just knee jerk reactions?

My values are fine ... yours on the other hand seem to be similar to those who don't allow disagreements.

[bettyellen]

29. The TOS doesn't approve of racist crap like Maher spewed. So maybe we're not

"Tolerant" enough for you here? Did you feel good about agreeing to be TOS or did you "disagree" with it?

[Les Cowbell]

32. Well it wasn't as you describe as many on here have pointed but you can never understand that

so try using the TOS to police me if it makes you feel better. I feel fine with my values and the TOS. You happy now or just like Maher's apology will that not be enough pound of flesh for you?

[bettyellen]

33. No ones trying to "police you" so spare me the Libertarian pity party.

This community has standards and I just wanted to check and see if you actually knew that. It just sounds like that would chafe you- expectations of decency can be so hard.

[Les Cowbell]

34. Maybe you should police yourself when it comes to "expectations of decency.'

And sorry to burst your bubble but I told you to police away not pity me. And I'm not a Libertarian so you are also wrong about that. Voted for every Democratic candidate for prez since McGovern and worked for many and down ballot candidates. But go ahead and attack me and Maher. That should help defeat republicans.

[bettyellen]

35. I know I need to be more tolerant of racist and sexist speech .... /s

[Rustyeye77]

14. I agree

Attack your friends and then complain about your enemies.

[Squinch]

20. You must have had A LOT of trouble with DUers so far in the half-hour since you joined.

Such a lot of suffering you must have experienced in such a short time!

[Les Cowbell]

28. Actually joined last week so there's that

and I've seen a number of DUers who have a problem with anyone who doesn't toe their narrow line. You'll be happy to know, however, that it hasn't caused me any suffering whatsoever.

[JimGinPA]

5. Repubs NEVER Apologize! nt

[Beartracks]

11. That's because they never end up being attacked by their own. n/t

[Bucky]

15. Because they value tribe over moral standards

If we as a political party are going to have moral standards and live by them, there's going to be times that we disagree with each other.

There's going to be times when we listen to criticism and respond with apologies. That's what both Kathy Griffin and Bill Maher have done. That is the hallmark of liberalism. Not that we're morally flawless, but that we are able to correct ourselves when we don't live up to our standards.

That is what separates us from baboons and from Republicans

[yallerdawg]

8. There it is!

"The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven—
All’s right with the world!"

[ADX]

16. Bill's apology is good enough for me...

...and I'm Black. Moving on...

[gulliver]

19. He did good. Now all those who overreacted and turned on a political brother...

...should apologize back to him. I would argue that what they did was worse, but people are fallible. Maher is a professional and riffed a wrong note by accident. Deliberately turning on your own over such slight, questionable provocation is worse.

I hope a lot of people will see they owe Bill an apology and that they will apologize to him. It's hard to imagine not being further disappointed by people in this though. And I'm not sure Twitter even has a mechanism that would allow so many who owe an apology to apologize to just one person.

[bettyellen]

37. He's not a brother to most women or POC dude, so get over it.

[mountain grammy]

27. I'm glad he apologized. Accepted!

[SaschaHM]

31. And I accepted his apology.

But before he apologized and even now, DU (and others on twitter) frankly showed itself ,as it tends to do when issues of race pop up, to be a shitshow when PoC go up against someone beloved by liberals. And that's not acceptable.

Not to mention this bullshit notion that Black voters, solidly for Clinton and Democrats for years, are not aware of the dangers of Trump. Fuck that meme. Fuck that shit. Lecture to your family members and neighbors about the dangers of Trump, because we got that fucking message before you did.

[bettyellen]

36. It's galling to be lectured on what else is important when "cultural anxiety" was an issue ....

You'd think they'd learn to have solidarity with RELIABLE Dems.

[Humanist_Activist]

38. I would imagine that for many people of color, Trump's rise isn't a surprise at all...

particularly when he started appealing to the Tea Party base of the Republican party. They are themselves a wholesale reaction to the fact that a Black Man held the highest office in the land. This is NOT the first time, by any stretch, that whites overreacted to black people getting equality or freedom, from the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction, from the massacre at Tulsa, to the Busing riots and attacks in Boston. Its slightly toned down, and, so far, slightly less violent, but it's more of the same, white people reacting to a loss of privilege, and they also, in the long run, hurt themselves as well.

White liberals, progressives, or however they label themselves, who claim to be for equality, but frankly it's all just showmanship until they are willing to put themselves out there to support the PoC brothers and sisters. Far too many, having little experience in interacting with PoC or their communities, never witness the struggles, or see the challenges, and hence they have difficulty empathizing with PoC as a rule. In a way, it's not their fault, the bubble they find themselves in is one that their parents or grandparents decided for them through white flight and segregation policies. However, as adults, they should endeavour to open their minds and try to learn how other people live, how it's different, and how it's the same.