Bill Maher was NOT funny tonight.

[procon]

Al Franken was on, but Maher interrupted him so often he never got to say much.

Too many insulting and senseless race based "jokes".
Too many rightwing tropes used as criticism of Dems and Dem Leaders.
Pointless segment in defense of his right to fat shame people.

He's been off his game for quite some time, but tonight was bad. I like his guests, and the panelists are usually interesting, but other than Newsom, it was a rightwing love fest. I'm to the point of just skipping his show entirely.

[HopeAgain]

1. Sounds like Maher as usual to me

Maher has to be that smug persona even in the wake of an event and tragedy that makes it inappropriate.

[Tarheel_Dem]

2. I've been successfully "skipping his show" since before last year's election. I never went back. nt

[rusty quoin]

3. I laughed at the one about the guy who broke into a house and took a dump without flushing.

[pangaia]

4. In my highly opinionated opinion, and considering the little I watch the Tee Vee,

Bill Maher has no game..

Or rather, it's all just a game.

[applegrove]

5. He's not off his game...the country is because of Trump and the Republicans. But

especially Fox News like Maher said. And now the internet.These are not fun times. As to the fat shaming thing I agree with it. I'm fat. And dieting. And I need to be reminded every so often that it is a health condition. So I keep on with this diet that is working. I don't need to be complemented on my look. Emotional eating is enough of a falsehood for one life. We didn't see Penn have a problem with it either and he was big. I wish I had woken up to my health issue long before I gained as much weight as I did. I'm all for plus sized models and the rejection of stick insects. But beyond a certain point people should not encouraged. I knew a person as a kid who was a little heavy then. More so into her adult life. She just died at 50 and while I did not know her then, it really affected me.

[Downtown Hound]

6. Maher is a hit and miss

There are times he's awesome, and there's others where he's the world's biggest asshole. I stoped watching him a long time ago mostly because he never has anything new to say. Just the same shit, different day.

[Oneironaut]

7. I like Bill Maher's show, but he's a pompous ass.

He's a bigot and laughs at his own jokes. I think his show is enjoyable most of the time, though.

[Alice11111]

8. I quit recording him when he made fun of the young

girl without arms. He said something like, well at least she can use her talent to give blow jobs. The audience booed. He waived it off, and said, oh, get over it.

[krawhitham]

9. He's been off his game for a decade now

[AlexSFCA]

10. maher means well but there are more talented and funnier people now

Chelsea Handler, Samantha Bee are much more talented and can easily pull off politically incorrect stuff in a non-offensive, genuine way.

[Hieronymus]

12. Agree

[bdjhawk]

18. If you aren't watching Samantha Bee,

you should be. She absolutely skewers tRump, his insiders and followers. She does it in a humorous, clever way but backs it up with facts and tells stories that should really be shared.

[Willie Pep]

11. Wasn't Maher's theory about the Democrats losing elections based on them being too PC?

I know Maher is big on the "political correctness is ruining the world" theory.

[procon]

13. He was throwing out a lot of rightwing talk points. He caught my attention

when he essentially started repeating Bannon's boast that the left is too focused on race and and that is why Republicans will crush Democrats.

[Willie Pep]

14. Ah, I see.

I don't get HBO anymore so I don't watch Real Time. I was never a big Maher fan to begin with but I sometimes enjoyed the discussion panels.

[Gothmog]

15. I stopped watching Maher a while back also

[Lil Missy]

16. I haven't seen it yet but I usually like is shows.

[Awsi Dooger]

17. Same

I didn't see it and I don't care about the summaries of one program. Bill Maher is fantastic. He's supremely confident and is never going to self-edit so no kidding he'll stray from time to time.

My right wing friends absolutely despise him and refuse to watch. That might be a bit of a hint. I always get a kick out of it when Maher is criticized here. Let's put it this way... if he were involved in strategy we'd win many more elections nationwide, not many fewer.

[LenaBaby61]

19. I run hot and cold with Maher ....

The one thing that he says continuously, and I agree with him on is that Democrats are often too SOFT and that most don't stick with and hammer thuglicans over their heads with talking points backed up with FACTS. Gotta begrudgingly give thuglians credit, those folks KNOW how to stick with a talking point and hammer it down to the ground on Dems even if it's a LIE. Not to say lies are good and that Dems need to lie, but I think people get what I'm trying to say--those fools stay on MESSAGE. Most Dems too often have a bad habit of hitting on good talking points, then when thuglicans challenge them with lies many fold like cheap suits. Stay on your damn talking point and challenge them BACK for God's sake


Also, Dems need better surrogates. I mentioned in a post on Thursday that Jennifer Palmieri came on Chuck Todd's show (I never watch him but she's been like a train wreck to me since the early 1990's--I have to see how bad she can BE each time I see her as a surrogate). She almost never challenges thuglicans--sits there like a bump on a pickle and smiles. Even during last years GE when she has FACTS to back herself up she all too often ALLOWES thuglicans to talk over her and lie and she just sat there smiling--not really challenging thuglicans. I recall her saying last year that Hillary really didn't mean to call anyone a deplorable, and when they played the tape of Hillary saying it---yep, sat there smiling. I wish that had been me there in her spot, because I'd have pointed out who the deplorables were and cited examples. Hell, tRumputin IS a deplorable. I'd have tattooed his old racist ass. Well, after their DEPLORABLE Tiki march with them chanting racist Jewish and African-American slogans--and ready to raise holy hell and start a race war, well, there's NO doubt about WHO the deplorables WERE that Hillary was talking about and especially so after last weekend's racist, DEPLORABLE display. Damn snowflakes, selfish assholes. White males like them STILL have a leg up in our society in so many ways, and yet they want it ALL. There's no doubting their deplorableness! They're deplorable just like Hillary SAID they were, and the biggest deplorable of them all, domestic terrorist/Nazi/White Nationalist James Fields MURDERED Heather Hayer with his DEPLORABLE ASS. He's not "nice." He's a murderer, a racist, a NAZI. A DAMN DEPLORABLE.

Back to Palmieri. HOW she's KEPT a job that high up the Dem surrogate food chain for SO long is beyond me. She's not effective at ALL. I remember when she was with Al Gore. Oh God, let me stop

Nice lady, HIDEOUS Dem surrogate.

[greyl]

20. It was hard to be funny this week. nt