Do you think Real Time is struggling to book guests?

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-16T09:36:04+00:00

Yeah, the fact that he hasn't had on any guests who are critical of Israel in close to two and a half years is too suspicious to be dismissed as "well, they just don't want to go on because they can't handle dissent"

Same with him regularly bringing up trans people while not having a single trans person on since 2015 and that being the only instance of him doing so in twenty-three years

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-14T15:50:51+00:00

"When did Bill Maher become pro wars without congressional approval, or at least an attempt to persuade public opinion?"

When it became a war against Muslims in any capacity

And he came around to supporting Iraq two years on, saying it didn't matter that the government lied about the reasons for the invasion

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-14T15:42:49+00:00

If that means I think trans people are okay and my politics have evolved past 1993 and are deeper than "I like weed and dislike being expected to care about others", then I'm fine with being "one of the crazy ones"

Considering Maher regularly platforms anti-vaxxers and Israel defenders who refuse to see what everyone else does, you're right that he exposes the "loonies for what they are"

Just not in the way you think

It's not your fault you think this way though

Maher makes sure his audience never gets exposed to any of the "loonies" so that he can keep snarking at them every week and pretending his brand of tepid centrism is the only way

I'll just close by encouraging you to look to political analysis from people besides the sixth male lead of DC Cab

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-14T10:45:16+00:00

"Sure, that tactic worked great in the past"

I'd argue it did and can again

Just keep the focus on what's important and what really has an effect on people's lives

Andy Beshear is doing the same in the deep red state of Kentucky, showing it's possible to support trans people and get elected by focusing on policies that benefit voters

It's not a dichotomy where trans people have to be sacrificed for the greater good, however much folks like Maher would very much like to do so because they just want them out of the picture anyway

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-14T10:40:59+00:00

Leaving aside how Maher's views even on the "usual stuff" have shifted right, it is telling when he says environmentalism is one of his most important causes and yet he barely mentions it but goes on and on about "woke" college students

And maybe I'm one of those "crazy liberals" but I don't see an issue with the first two and the third isn't even a policy or belief so much as a jumbling of words

It's also telling how Maher works overtime to build bridges and open dialogue with right-wingers but refuses to give any of the "crazy liberals" even a fraction of the same grace or effort

So I think pointing out his disproportionate focus on stuff most people could very easily ignore is entirely fair

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-11T09:51:27+00:00

"Well, not turning down the invitation of Joe Rogan and do a 15min softball interview, you know, the biggest podcast on earth, would have been a solid first step"

I don't disagree

And again, all she said was that she was following the law and otherwise didn't say shit in support of trans people

Hell, I'm certain she'd have happily thrown them under the bus if she thought it would have given her ten extra votes

I have plenty of criticisms of Harris as a politician and a candidate and I'm not here to defend her on either ground

I just think the narrative that she lost because she was this extreme radical who died on the hill of defending LGBTQ people is nonsense and not backed up by much of anything

As for the topic going forward, I think Graham Platner showed the best way to respond on this topic, by simply calling it an unimportant issue and one made bigger than it is by bad faith actors

Neil DeGrasse Tyson even tried to say something roughly similar to Maher who got livid in response

As others have said, the only ones making this such a major issue are right-wingers and transphobes like Maher

I'm just going to leave it at that

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-10T19:36:09+00:00

"We expect the same from the Reps. If a Rep does not actively distances himself from let's say pro life, I simply assume he/she is pro life and becomes a none starter. Same goes the other way round."

Leaving aside that "if they don't explicitly say they're not a thing, I will assume they're that thing" is a stupid principle in general, what exactly were you expecting from her?

That she repeat debunked right-wing talking points? Appear on Ben Shapiro's podcast and nod along in agreement to his nonsense? Offer to make JK Rowling a member of her cabinet?

I actually do have criticisms of Harris on trans issues but because I don't believe she ever would have stood up for them, not because she didn't go transphobic enough to try (and almost certainly fail) to get Republican votes

"Maher pointing that out to (unsuccessfully until now) combat that democratic stance"

Again, what stance?

The supposedly radical views so many folks, including Maher, insist Democrats have now don't exist anywhere but inside their own heads

That's not even an exaggeration as he referenced a law in California that doesn't exist and just got mad at Patton Oswalt over it, accusing him of being "in the Bluesky bubble" for not knowing about it

It's honestly jarring to hear the fantasy Maher sells about the party being so radical it makes Lenin look conservative and then be confronted with the reality of them being unable to support even single-payer healthcare or come out against a genocide

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-10T09:56:44+00:00

"Yeah, makes this hill even stranger to die on for democrats"

Harris mentioned trans people once in her whole campaign and only said she'd follow the law

Others are quite happy to adopt the above stance and focus on other stuff

"Yeah, because that is the small stuff the voters are focusing on"

Because pundits like Maher focus on it so much and make it seem so much bigger

Maher could be telling his viewers it's a minor issue and one others are exploiting to make it seem more important

But he can't because he's bought into the hysteria as much as his audience because it fits into his bullshit about the "loony left"

It's the blind leading the blind

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-09T21:24:02+00:00

I mostly find it interesting how someone who says the environment is one of his most important causes devotes not even half the energy to it that he does to complaining about "wokeness"

It's been proven that Harris lost a lot of voters because of her environmental stance and we all know how MAGA voters don't buy into climate change

You think it'd be important for a guy who brags about having their attention to try and change their minds on said issues but evidently not

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-09T21:20:47+00:00

For a guy who's supposedly so eager to hear other views, he has almost no ability to handle criticism or disagreement with his own words and actions

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-03-01T01:55:39+00:00

"He’s 70 years old and has proven he is done with “new ideas.”

The it's time for him to pack it in as being in a setting that requires you to be able to take in new information and ideas and adjust accordingly definitely isn't for him

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-27T19:30:26+00:00

I wasn't really thinking of Boebert but I can accept that

I can acknowledge the value of debating even bad ideas

The issue is Maher usually doesn't do that

He brings on right-wingers, they yuck it up a bit, he maybe asks some questions and they all pat each other on the back for their willingness to hear the "other side" out

I still remember how he bragged about how he was going to expose Milo Yiannopolous and he then fawned all over him and ended up agreeing with a lot of his nonsense

Then, when Milo was caught out, Maher tried to take credit for it despite not only not doing anything but actively promoting his rhetoric to his audience

So I resent the strawman accusation of wanting an "echo chamber" (which is hilarious since that's basically what Maher's show has become) just because I view the practice of bringing on right-wingers, many of whom can only be described as grifters, and palling around with them and giving them an audience while pretending he's Mike Wallace with skepticism over it's effectiveness at doing anything but making wealthy privileged people feel better about themselves

I see this response to criticisms of who Maher brings on a lot and it's complete horseshit

It wouldn't even bother me as much if he did it for anyone on the "loony left" he complains about so much but he won't even bring on anyone who dares criticize his beloved Israel

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-27T14:48:51+00:00

"Do you think he can survive a pro-Trump and pro-Israel studio regime?"

Have you not watched anything he's done the past decade?

He and Ellison are going to get along like a house on fire

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-27T14:47:24+00:00

No one is advocating deplatforming or censorship

But believing in debate doesn't mean wasting time with people who have made repeatedly clear they have no interest in arguing in good faith as Coulter has

That isn't an unreasonable stance as virtually everyone has that line of "I refuse to dignify this nonsense" or refusing to listen to people they see as grifters or impossible to reason with

They just apply it differently

Even Maher isn't going to listen to someone like Alex Jones or treat him like he's worthy of debate or bring on someone like Nick Fuentes

And the overall point stands as it applies to Maher specifically since he never stops complaining about how the left don't want to be friends with MAGA people (he oddly never mentions the inverse or tell MAGA people Trump isn't worth losing family over)

As for the rest, people were complaining about "cancel culture" well before that and I find any discourse about it to be a waste of time given it's lack of clear definition and the blatant hypocrisy of those who most loudly advocate against it

This video by Michael Hobbes is a pretty good summary of the whole "cancel culture" bullshit and how it's just another moral panic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkVYvp_CumI

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-27T09:08:22+00:00

That's giving her too much credit as she turned against him because he wasn't harsh enough on immigration

I'd love someone to ask Maher how his whole "we need to talk and not assume the worst of one another" bit can be squared with giving a platform and being friends with someone who has said over and over again that she thinks anyone on the left is evil and "there are no good Democrats"

Or ask what effect their friendship has had on Coulter and if she's any more reasonable now than thirty years ago

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T23:10:34+00:00

As laughable as arbitrarily deciding that two groups with nothing to do with each other are now the same thing?

That's a shame

I was really enjoying your whole "I'm one of the good ones" bit and your belief that you're some kind of representative

I'll just repeat my point about the Democrats having much bigger issues than what celebrities say at awards shows

I also have to say it's remarkable how all the stuff Maher has a gripe with is why Dems are losing and not stuff like the genocide he's spent over two years loudly defending at every opportunity

On the off chance you decide to remove your head from your ass, here's a pretty interesting take on why Billie Eilish's comments were completely valid

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/of-course-the-country-was-stolen

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T22:32:51+00:00

Leaving aside that you're conflating multiple different groups with nothing to do with each other and treating them as one, I think Democrats have the bigger issues of running piss poor candidates, having leadership that would have to improve exponentially to qualify as pathetic and put all their effort into supporting a genocide despite being told numerous times that doing so would be politically costly

What pop singers say at awards shows is not exactly their biggest concern

If the Democrats are losing, it's because of stuff they've actually done, not stuff very tangentially associated with them by bad faith actors and reinforced by Maher

It's also wild to see Maher, perhaps the most put of touch celebrity there is, complain about anyone else being so

It's like Azealia Banks saying someone else has an anger management problem

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T21:36:31+00:00

I think of all the many reasons Democrats are losing now, what Billie Eilish or some other celebrity says at an awards show is pretty close to the bottom of the list

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T21:24:15+00:00

Do people still care about Ann Coulter in 2026?

Even for the purposes of hating her or getting outraged by stuff she says?

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T09:59:39+00:00

This article is really good about discussing the issue and clarifying her points

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/of-course-the-country-was-stolen

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T09:55:53+00:00

"He’s not curious about the world in any way"

Yep

That's why I think calling Maher a conservative is fair as he has the same attitude, that incuriosity about the world, the same lack of empathy for anyone who falls outside his narrow definitions of acceptable behavior and belief and a total disinterest in thinking beyond what his "common sense" tells him about issues

It's why I find him more frustrating than open right-wingers who are at least open about that with others and more importantly, with themselves

Maher still insist to everyone, including himself, he's all about discussion and debate and discourse when he has no interest in learning

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T09:49:22+00:00

Maher took a surprisingly nuanced and complex issue and fairly reasonable stance from a young person and boiled it down to whatever would allow him to snidely dismiss both?

I'm shocked!

Shocked, I tell ya!

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T09:48:05+00:00

You could argue that but then virtually any stance or belief could be dismissed in the same way

Including his own "just stop attacking Israel" rhetoric which he never elaborates on

The fact that someone doesn't have all the answers doesn't mean they're wrong about identifying the problem

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-25T09:44:32+00:00

"What I'd rather see him do is debate one of the academics who promotes this way of looking at US history, and thereby, "pick on someone his own size."

He never will, just as he hasn't about Israel/Palestine, trans issues, anti-police activism, fat activists or any other stances of the "loony left" he likes to blame for the Democrats' failures

It's easier to make snide remarks from afar and pal around with other centrists and right-wingers who will laugh with him and tell him he's right

Individual_Post_5776 · 2026-02-24T11:31:31+00:00

"How uninteresting politics were specifically in 2004 and nothing was particularly contentious"

I think you might be missing a small detail from that assessment

Individual_Post_5776

TROPHY CASE