Bill Maher responds to Bobby Jindal: Government is good

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Run time: 06:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6sxjfTC-LI   Posted on YouTube: March 07, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 07, 2009 By DU Member: Adenoid_Hynkel Views on DU: 7173

 
Maybe his best segment ever.

From New Rules: The good stuff starts at 2:25.

This is what the complete failure of 8 years of Bush and 28 years of Reaganism gets us to: Even a Libertarian like Maher is now sounding like a wonderful, wise-ass version of FDR and advocates for the positive role government must play.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. I was surprised by that myself.

Guess he isn't a libertarian anymore.

[Lorien]

14. Even a Libertarian can wake up to the fact that human nature makes

Libertarian just as possible as Communism; people are greedy, corrupt, and they want their own stuff. The current times make the former two impossible to ignore.

[DutchLiberal]

37. I've been watching his shows, going back to his debut on HBO in 2003,...

and he never, ever struck me as being a libertarian. Ever. He's a liberal, but he won't admit it. More telling than this clip about Jindall is the conversation he had with libertarian Ron Paul last week. Paul was airing the real, fucking nuts, libertarian view on what should be done about the economy, while Bill aired a very leftist, liberal view.

[bjobotts]

2. Just a start. We are the governmnt. Reagan was never crippled by a hurricane

[bjobotts]

3. Or his family torn away by a tornado,(I'm from the government and here to help)

[bjobotts]

4. Buat not you ya ruthless billionaire who only cares about yourself and screw everybody else.

[ejpoeta]

8. it's not just the billionaire. i hear from my own family members who are NO rich people....

they don't want to have to pay for someone else's insurance. Why should I have to pay for the uninsured!! they automatically think they are uninsured becasue they are lazy and just not trying hard enough, i guess. It boggles my mind, when there isn't anyone in my family who wouldn't be destroyed by one illness. Who isn't two paychecks away from living in their car. Not one!! Though, in the case of my brother, I am pretty sure he would rather live in a car and have his wife and son live in a car and starve then go on food stamps or apply for assistance. Though, as far as I know he has never been that bad off. And he does have family who would not let him live in a car or starve. Like five siblings (including myself).

I just don't get the completely selfish attitude of a lot of people. They are the ones I keep hearing on the internet saying, "where's MY bailout!" why don't you just give ME money. screw the people who are about to be homeless. it must be THEIR fault! it can't be that they got caught in this mess... because that means I too could get caught in it. But i work hard, so it can't affect me. Is it some kind of denial!!?? I am not sure. I try to figure it out, but I am at a loss. We are already paying for the uninsured. Why don't they get that!! Or maybe they just don't care. as long as i've got mine, you can go screw yourself. that seems to be the mindset we are dealing with.

[Enthusiast]

11. They are victims

of a right wing misinformation campaign. And it has worked. And the lower the education level, the more effective it has been.

I know a guy that was born poor. His family didn't starve only because of foodstamps and welfare. Now,as an adult, he is pretty severely disabled yet somehow manages to hold a demanding full time job. I get the impression that he looks down on those that receive 'help' of any kind. He conveniently forgets that he only made it through government assistance.

[liberation]

26. They are not "victims" they are wilfull participants.

We need to accept that this country has its fair share of selfish a-holes. They are not misinformed, they are not victims, they are not innocent. They just don't like you, they just don't like me... and they would rather stick a white hot iron rod up their collective rectums, than even have to contemplate the possibility of any of their precious tax dollars being used to help their fellow citizens.

They are not victims, we are.

That is why the GOP can tap from this pool of selfish pricks and expect them to vote against their own interests...

[dansolo]

27. And they have no problems seeing their tax dollars "help" people in Iraq

[AlbertCat]

30. I "like" the fools (like I read on AOL) who...

....complain about the Libruls living off "Government handouts" from those hard working Conservatives.... All those lazy librul who can't make it on their own.

Of course farmers in the "heartland" get gobs of "Government handouts" not to mention things like everyone who lives in Alaska gets paid by the government to live there. Where does all that handout $$$$ come from? The taxes in those big empty "Heartland" states? NO! It's the populated coastal states (Yep, the "blue" ones) with big cities who support those big square unpopulated states.

[Enthusiast]

36. You are misunderstanding me

I didn't mean they were victims 'in general'. I mean they are victims of a misinformation campaign. And they are.

[JDPriestly]

5. Wow! Amazing.

[quidam56]

6. Health care in Tennessee is pretty screwed up..

see an example of what is deemed, defended and supported as quality health care in East Tennessee - http://www.wisecountyissues.com Nothing at all like what is on public record in Greeneville TN Federal Court case no 2:04-cv-375 in comparison to the slick health care advertisements the snake oil salesmen are putting out. Politicians and Profit Machines come ahead of people.

[ejpoeta]

7. that is so true!! i've been saying that. instead of a bureaucrat in washington

making decisions, we have a bureaucrat in a health insurance company office who has a financial incentive to deny coverage. yes, that's much better!! oh, and i never thought of the post office that way. they are rather efficient, aren't they.

[54anickel]

16. The USPS is sort of a strange bird, isn't it? Half government, half corporation. Not sure I'd use

The term "efficient" though.

In 2006 Congress fell for that "pay big bucks to attract best talent" line of BS when they authorized higher salaries for top Postal Service executives. The writing was already on the wall, volumes had been dropping due to the growing use of electronic billing and automated payment systems not to mention e-mail and internet advertising. Oh yeah, perfect time to bump salaries to attract talent. Like that sort of competition from the outside can somehow be influenced by higher paid management on the inside. :crazy:

That best talent paid themselves well while cutting costs downstream. Postal carriers in my area get paid based on piecework now. They just finished their 2 months of counting pieces of mail that their salaries will be based upon for the year. I'm not sure if they're union (APWU) or not....

So there's the question of executive salaries at a time when the USPS has predicted a possible $6 billion loss for this year.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=6899700&page=1

Now you can add this $1.2 million mansion purchase to the list of executive "perks". Relocating those top executives is getting mighty expensive these days! Wonder if the guy was upside-down on his mortgage?
http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=269865


Looks like a case of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". It's sort of interesting that the Postal Reoganization Act signed by Nixon that created this government-corporation hybrid was the result of the U S postal strike. Workers weren't legally allowed collective bargaining. They felt wages low, benefits were crappy and working conditions unhealthy and unsafe. The workers also felt management sucked - it was out of touch with reality and couldn't care less about how things were run.


Flashback to the 70's: The Strike That Stunned the Country

[AlbertCat]

32. i never thought of the post office that way. they are rather efficient, aren't they.

Imagine Christmas without the PO.

[liberal N proud]

9. If only we could get the conservative idiots to sit down and listen

to that segment. Really listen.

[ejbr]

12. Even if they DID listen, their motives

are too nefarious to care me thinks.

[Enthusiast]

10. Well said, Bill! nt

[soupkitchen]

13. In a government of the people, by the people, and for the people

the people are the government.

When Reaganites say don't trust the government, they are really saying they don't trust the people.

[Froward69]

15. I missed the first airing

As I was watching the whole first season of "Breaking Bad". (As I missed some of the plot line during the first season) I will watch the replay of "Real Time" this afternoon.

[BeyondGeography]

17. "There go the liberals again, wanting to get across the river."

:patriot:

[liberalmuse]

18. Once in awhile, Maher pisses me off, but...

most of the time, he's so crystal clear it's mind blowing. I don't know anyone who makes as much sense as he does. The man is a treasure. I also like his non-political correctness. You know the guy is not bigot, but he doesn't have a problem saying things most liberals would avoid for fear of being seen as a bigot. (The Jindal/cobra joke)

[gristy]

19. Wow. Just wow.

[BklynChick]

20. saw it last night; he hit it outta the park with that one. k/r

[Lorien]

21. HuffPost has just that segment up without the rest of the "new rules":

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/07/bill-mahers-ode-to-govern_n_172724.html for those who want to post it to Facebook, etc.

[ihavenobias]

22. K & R n/t

[NancyBotwin]

23. why is there no sound!

[GinaMaria]

24. use the volume control on the viseo's window

it is probably turned all the way down.

[ChiciB1]

25. Didn't Watch Last Night... But Will Tonight On DISH! Last Week's Program Was

super too, I couldn't stop laughing so I can't wait to see this one. Seems he's getting better and I thought he was going to have a drought!

Many people can't take Maher because of his religious views, but if you are really going to be fair... he has the same rights as the rest of us and I REALLY enjoy his show!

But then, as a one time hard core Catholic, I fell off the bus and understand more from where he's coming these days! I never diss anyone for their religious views, I just don't happen to buy into much of it anymore!

[mzmolly]

28. Killer rant! "the people are the government"

:toast:

[pleah]

29. K&R That is one of his best.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Cha]

31. Yeah, he made a lot of important

points when he got to jindal.

We need more of this from people who care..exposing the way the republicons lie when they frame their shit.

[20score]

33. Love this show. K&R

[burning rain]

34. Well, there's more than one flavor of libertarian...

and Maher seems to me a left libertarian. Also, Jindal, as governor of Louisiana of all states should lay off this hypocritical stupidity. That his state (naturally) has required so much aid stemming from Katrina (and needed more, and faster, besides the levees -- hello, US Army Corps of Engineers?) is just the most immediate smack-yourself-upside-your-fool-head part of it. Louisiana is a state especially dependent on the federal government, receiving much more fedral revenue than it contributes each and every year. Of course, this same hypocrisy is rampant among conservatives in the Deep South -- look at how Governors Barbour of Mississippi and Sanford of South Carolina have grandstanded over the stimulus. More conservative wankers!

[Turborama]

35. This common sense message needs become common knowledge!!

Thanks for the share!


:kick: & R

[Adnihilo]

38. Many here don't show a comprehension of political ideologies

It appears evident from the responses here, excluding 'burning rain', that many, if not most here don't understand various political ideologies likely due to 'conditioning' from America's 1 'political party system of corporatism' attempting to differentiate NeoLiberal economic right economics by calling themselves the Republican and Democratic political parties. Most seem to still be fostering an old antiquated 20th century world of left-right political values that fails to acknowledge the vertical social dimension in politics that is equally as relevant as the horizontal left to right economic dimension. "The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left', established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape." Neo-Liberalism IS NeoLibertarianism just as the real 'liberal' is a left libertarian that is so vehemently vilified by right wing conservatives. "The opposite of fascism is not communism but anarchism (ie liberal socialism), and the opposite of communism ( i.e. an entirely state-planned economy) is neo-liberalism (i.e. extreme deregulated economy)." < http://politicalcompass.com/ >

There's a vast difference between economic right Neolibertarians and the original liberal found in old school left libertarians. "The usual understanding of anarchism as a left wing ideology does not take into account the neo-liberal "anarchism" championed by the likes of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and America's Libertarian Party, which couples social Darwinian right-wing economics with liberal positions on most social issues. Often their libertarian impulses stop short of opposition to strong law and order positions, and are more economic in substance (ie no taxes) so they are not as extremely libertarian as they are extremely right wing. On the other hand, the classical libertarian collectivism of anarcho-syndicalism ( libertarian socialism) belongs in the bottom left hand corner.

"U.S.neo-conservatives, with their commitment to high military spending and the global assertion of national values, tend to be more authoritarian than hard right. By contrast, neo-liberals, opposed to such moral leadership and, more especially, the ensuing demands on the tax payer, belong to a further right but less authoritarian region. Paradoxically, the "free market", in neo-con parlance, also allows for the large-scale subsidy of the military-industrial complex, a considerable degree of corporate welfare, and protectionism when deemed in the national interest. These are viewed by neo-libs as impediments to the unfettered market forces that they champion." http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2

Fact is, I doubt many here are as Liberal in their own personal political values as they might think.. I don't think the overwhelming majority of Americans have a realistic grasp on their own personal political values. The reason being is due to the '1 party system' to keep Americans choosing between 'moderate conservative' Democrats like Obama-Biden, or NeoCon/TheoCon republicans like McCain-Palin. Hence my efforts here in trying to help other Libertarians to at least comprehend that a genuine libertarian, regardless if a right or left libertarian, can't be one by supporting supporting a 'right authoritarian' Theocrat like Ron Paul..

Although Obama talk of change and hope indicated to many voters a softer word in 'revolution' against incompetent, fascistic GOP government misrule, his voting record, platform, and speeches still left him a moderate conservative in the rest of the western world outside the US. Obama is still firmly in the corporatist camp, and the question remains if he will deliver on his promise for real change or he will remain this moderate conservative as his actions have still indicated after taking office.. http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008 >

Find out if you truly voted in support of your own political values and if they even indeed are liberal/progressive values by taking the political compass political ideology indicator test here at http://www.politicalcompass.org/test ...... It's like a personality type indicator except geared toward for political values..

As to Maher, as an atheist I've followed his career with deep interest and would firmly put him in the left libertarian 'liberal' camp from being so opposed to 'right wing authoritarianism' that for the most part still rules America as well as the western world..

[knixphan]

39. Best Yet!

[underpants]

40. chances are your ass isn't covered

perfect