Maher -- Daily Kos a Vast Circle-Jerk of Pomposity

Yes, that's right, Bill Maher called us that just half an hour ago, after quoting a poster who said he or she would "vote for Hillary and then leave the country."  This was in the context of Maher's continuing theme that no one has the right to tell Hillary to quit.

Aside from that, it was a pretty good show, with three liberals and cute, but air-headed Amy Holmes (Is Maher sleeping with her?).

Actually, by the end of the show, "conservative" Holmes had come out against all corporate welfare, and for financial regulation.  Not a bad transformation in 20 minutes.

Esai Morales, Robert Reich and Barbara Lee were excellent.  Morales (the Latino George Clooney?) kept bringing up the "transfer of wealth" upward through the "wars" on terror, drugs, etc. and Reich picked up on that.

Esai did go a little off the deep end by charging that the Feds actually introduced crack cocaine here (and I think he knew it).

But they hit what needs to be pounded into the consciousness of every American not in the top 2% -- They have been stealing you blind for 30 years -- through taxes, wars, off-shore shenanigans, etc.

•  Actually

  I look at us more as pusillanimous pillars of perversity.  

  But that's just me.

  by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:43:28 PM PDT

  •  But seriously folks

    Just like HRC has the right to keep running, we have the right to tell her to stop.

    It's a free country unless you're sharp crank elitest tailored to the need of those who can afford the premium package.

    by simnyc on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:52:00 PM PDT

    •  The problem here at dKos

      like the problem of the cable news networks, is that we function as if the flow of political news is continuous, when in fact there hasn't been any real news in a couple of weeks. So we become the same people saying the same old crap to the same people who aren't listening anyway. Circle jerk is probably a fair description under the circumstances.

      by RudiB on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:29:09 PM PDT

      •  So 4/22\08

        will be a busy day then? :P

        by RElland on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:31:02 PM PDT

      •  Comment of the week! n/t

        by ZhenRen on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:28:53 PM PDT

    •  Eh... semantics actually

      She has the right to keep trying to run. And we have the right to express our opinion that she should let it go. But we can't make her not run altogether. In the end, it has to be her choice.

      by RElland on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:30:11 PM PDT

      •  but we help her make money

        by saying go...I think the less said about Hillary publicly on whether she should go or not, the better as it only feeds the sharks that are in her tank.

        I think what most people outside of a few blogs don't get is that we are not against Hillary so much as the form of how she runs her campaign and how she would try to stop our reform movement of taking the party out of the hands of the coporations lobbyists who seem to run it now.  Bill and Hillary would bring them back in full force and we who are fighting for a bottom up Party would have a much harder time.  However, the chances of Hillary ever winning if she did bully her way into the nomination would be very small.

        And in some ways, we still would have a lot of work to do to take over the party. Even with Obama in it is an uphill battle for us.  These corporations have a lot of power.

        Watch and see how many are at the Denver convention throwing parties for their favorites... We should demand that Corporte sponsored parties be banned from  Denver.  Everyone is scared even to go that far never mind really saying we should come first and not them.

        by john from vermont on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:29:03 AM PDT

  •  Nattering Nabobs of Negativity nt

    by Gooserock on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:08:08 PM PDT

    •  That was a Spiro-licious comment.

      .
      Are you really running for Veep?

      by llbear on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:43:32 PM PDT

    •  Shit.

      You beat me to it, but mine has a different spin.

      by koNko on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:56:23 PM PDT

  •  And Maher's a soda jerk of Hollywood Babbitry

    who gets paid copiously by Time-Warner to pull his lever.

    Don't fuck with us, Bill.  This blog runs circles around your saggy ass.

    by Mogolori on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:16:12 PM PDT

    •  Pocket Pool Pundit. /eom

      by koNko on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:59:54 PM PDT

    •  I find your lack of alliteration

      ... disappointing

      by dwcal on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 12:16:54 AM PDT

  •  Bill Maher is an idiot

    Watching him attempt to engage in serious dialog about subjects which he has no knowledge is sometimes amusing. But usually it's painful.

    He's like a spoiled child who gets to have a birthday party once a week. And everyone plays along - 'let's not tell Timmy how stupid he is."

    Tonight he wanted to play economist. On a scale where 1 is painful and 10 is amusing, I give it a 1.

    by TocqueDeville on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:30:29 PM PDT

  •  nattering nabobs of neocon necrophillia

    This place is so sick. I'm addicted.

    by koNko on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:53:47 PM PDT

  •  Babbling Brokers of Bona fide Bullshit

    (not).

    by Executive Odor on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:29:54 PM PDT

•  Funny...

  that's exactly what I think of Maher...except not so vast.

  by robroser on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:44:03 PM PDT

•  I laughed my ASS off when he said that!!!

  If we can't take it, then we shouldn't give it.

  by AntonBursch on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:44:31 PM PDT

  •  True that

    Sometimes it is a real circle jerk here.

    But sometimes Maher's show is a bit of a circle jerk, too.  I still love him anyway.  

    by Bailey on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:47:34 PM PDT

    •  his shows a circle jerk, literally

      did you see how many times he mocked at whacking it on the show tonight!!

      i thought it was hilarious that he said what he did, cause he's the biggest pot calling the kettles black, but, what the hell, in the end we are all apart of the same great democratic circle jerk party.

      better a circle jerk, than a circular firing squad.

      it's progress.

      by AntonBursch on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:50:22 PM PDT

      •  I think he has a hard-on for Amy!

        He said he doesn't want to share her with CNN!  I know he likes black women but damn, Bill!  Okay, she's not bad looking for a Repug.

        Seriously, I have loved Maher for so long!  He's the shit and his shot across the collective Kos brow was hilarious!!!  It's like being cussed out by a drunken uncle!

        Really though, what the pundits do not say relative to the 'Hillary quit' phenomena is that many folks became concerned about the Manchurian Candidate of our own creation because we understood intrinsically the damage that it could do.  Not to mention it was becoming painfully apparent that it was no longer responding to the super secret code "BACK OFF".

        by ILean Left on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 04:49:51 AM PDT

    •  This is where I don't mention...

      ...that one time we had FIVE Edwards diary's on the Rec List. Heh.

      But I'd rather be here than watching his mostly lame and only occasionally decent show.

      by justalittlebitcrazy on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:54:22 PM PDT

    •  But we love it!!!!

      by MI Sooner on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:00:15 PM PDT

    •  I hate it when people say "EXACTLY!"

      But -- "EXACTLY!" He's right about dKos, but it's the pot calling the kettle black.

      by Vico on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:20:18 PM PDT

    •  For the record...

          IMHO, I don't see circle jerks as inheirently evil...

      by last patriot left on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:10:26 PM PDT

  •  And I think our Hits just went up 200%

    They say there's no such thing as bad publicity.  

    Unfortunately, it was just horny teenagers.  

    by ruscle on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:42:26 PM PDT

  •  I do find it interesting how

    "dumbing it down" is so valued in this country, though.   DK's supposed "pompousness" is clearly a swipe against intellectualism; however, when I visit mainstream news and politics blogs, I find the posters there aren't any LESS opinionated or arrogant than Kos bloggers - just far less articulate.  In light of the "know-it-all" smear campaign Gore received in 2000, I secretly suspect that our only real crime here at Kos is having gotten too much of our information straight.  

    In contrast to the Gore 2000 model, I've heard that in places like Japan, people running for office actually TRY to make themselves look SMARTER than they really are, because intelligence and even (gasp!) book knowledge is so highly valued there.

    So, it's not that I can't take a joke, but my eyes do narrow a bit when I hear some pundit snob-washing anything that might teach voters to think.

    by delillo2000 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:15:06 PM PDT

•  You Left Off

  ...vas circle jerk.

  by DHinMI on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:44:34 PM PDT

  •  As for Circle Jerks

    by DHinMI on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:45:39 PM PDT

    •  BTW, Bill Maher? He's Still On TV?

      What about Arsenio Hall?  Is Joan Rivers still a regular guest host for Johnny?  What about Barth Gimble?

      by DHinMI on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:50:03 PM PDT

      •  Fernwood 2Night

        The best show on TV ever.  No question.

        [Remember -- Studies of rats wearing leisure suits show that leisure suits cause cancer?}

        by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:52:57 PM PDT

        •  Fernwood2Night. Drowning in your own soup.

          Metaphorically apt now.

          by begone on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:01:24 PM PDT

      •  Yeah but the thing is.... you gotta pay ;] n/t

        by simnyc on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:53:26 PM PDT

    •  Dammit Why am I'm getting nostalgic in this diary

      Memories of text, and sentences mentioning Glittery red jazz shoes, Armando, Bob Johnson, and forgetting to finish that little West Side Story Kos Style Production....

      The Snarks versus the Nets gang fights....

      etc etc etc.....Ho hummm

      by ladydawg on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:28:39 PM PDT

      •  Nothing worse

        Than a nostalgic circle jerk.  

        But we can ask John McCain, he'd know better.  

        by ruscle on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:38:42 PM PDT

    •  

      by johnny rotten on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:52:06 PM PDT

  •  Wait

    "This is also known as peristalsis."???

    Who knew?

    Then what's reverse peristalsis?

    by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:49:49 PM PDT

  •  Why on earth

    would you decide to link that?

    by MissLaura on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:55:39 PM PDT

    •  I'm not the only one who misses RealityBias.

      by DemocraticLuntz on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:36:09 PM PDT

•  I don't know about vast...

  ...but the rest of it...

  ...well...

  yeah.

  It's been really bad around here lately.

  by DawnG on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:45:51 PM PDT

  •  Well..

    Would you settle for half-vast?

    by chautauqua on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:36:47 PM PDT

•  Eh. Bill Maher should look in the mirror

  he's said a lot of stupid shit over the years, and it was people here who were defending him.

  by smash artist on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:45:54 PM PDT

  •  Thank you. And those panels are what?

    Regular-sized circle-jerks on pomposity?

    by dlh77489 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:55:25 PM PDT

  •  Never Me

    He's not a progressive, he's just at heart a libertarian who wants to be seen as hip and thinks that taking a firm stand is uncool.  His "politics," such as they are, always seemed to be "I'm in it for myself, but I won't have any cool friends if I'm a Republican, so I'll just affect a tired air of superiority and mock everyone, because that won't require me to do any work, take any positions, or be a person of substance."  

    I haven't seen his show in about 6 years.  He bores me.  I'd rather watch Nick at Nite than that gasbag.  

    by DHinMI on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:03:19 PM PDT

    •  we have some funny people here

      and we certainly need a little more humor...yikes, but the reality of what is going on makes it hard to climb out our our foxholes.

      HBO is a big corporation and if we had the kind of money they have backing up Bill, we would be able to bring in some funny gals and guys to make funny jokes about Bill Maher.... if only we had twenty writers doing our jokes.

      by john from vermont on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:40:51 AM PDT

    •  Yup. Could not agree more. And anti-Arab ....

      ...to boot.

      by Meteor Blades on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 09:43:13 AM PDT

•  Maher's a vast jerk of circular pomposity

  at times.

  by begone on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:45:59 PM PDT

  •  Beat me too it

    I can see why he's call Dkos a circle jerk, cuz frankly, sometimes it is. But "pompous"? From Maher, that's freakin' RICH!

    BTW, he used to date Ann Coulter. Talk about a circle jerk...

    by gypsy on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:03:02 PM PDT

  •  Isn't that the whole point of his show?

    I always assumed that was what he was going for--like "The McLaughlin Group" with swearing.

    by JR on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:13:43 PM PDT

    •  I honestly don't know. I do know

      The McLaughin Group didn't date Anne Coulter, though.

      ^{At least, I HOPE not.}

      by begone on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:15:52 PM PDT

•  Dang, I was hoping

  for Nattering Nabobs of Negativity.  I guess somebody else got that one already.

  by gchaucer2 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:46:19 PM PDT

•  Election

  In his commentary at the end of "New Rules" he talked about how we shouldn't call the election before it's actually over...It is my understanding that primaries aren't actually elections, more like private functions to pick the party's nominee. Kind of erked me because SCOTUS ruled that the parties were private entities and could set their own rules in the process.  Don't know, any thoughts?

  by jarell on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:46:46 PM PDT

  •  Perhaps some big wig Hillary donors

    took Maher to a hotel suite and fed him h'dourves and then cornered him to talk about how pro-Obama he has been, and threatened HBO to be more pro-Hillary or else.

    by kanuk on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:03:26 PM PDT

  •  Then...

    independents shouldn't be allowed to vote in them.  Otherwise it's no longer private.

    by BruinKid on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:18:40 PM PDT

    •  It's as private

      as the party chooses to be.

      by amRadioHed on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:23:06 PM PDT

•  I acutally enjoyed the panel tongiht

  and found the discussion on the economy to be rather engaging..I usually browse the internet half-way throught the show but this one held my attention.

  by LauraC on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:46:51 PM PDT

  •  me too!

    I actually find Amy Holmes pleasant.  It's nice to se a "conservative" that doesn't appear insane.

    by jarell on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:48:08 PM PDT

    •  I found

      I found it ridiculous that she was debating someone like Reich on the economy. THE GUY Is ACTUALLY AN EXPERT on it.  Not an expert like those wannabee posers on cable TV, but an actual expert.

      Sometimes you just need to sit there and shut up and learn a thing or two..

      by dark daze on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:50:42 PM PDT

      •  But he won her over

        on two major points (corporate welfare and regulation).
        It was a mismatch.

        by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:53:50 PM PDT

      •  Any concern-trolling?

        She seems to do a lot of that whenever I see her on CNN.

        But if someone can go from being Cat-Killer Frist's speechwriter, to being won over by Robert Reich, there is perhaps hope for us all.

        Wassup with this--  Holmes' previous employment with Frist scrubbed from her Wikipedia page.  Why?

        by beabea on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:13:30 PM PDT

        •  Reich leans moderate right

          We need sharper pencils for straightening out the economy.

          I was furious when they fired Maher for saying our country was cowardly and glad when he was hired by HBO.

          Little did I dream, he was a confused republican.

          by relentless on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 04:15:31 AM PDT

  •  too many typos...sorry

    off to bed...:)

    by LauraC on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:48:18 PM PDT

•  Yeah, I whip it out at every

  Opportunity...oh wait...um...got nothing to whip out.

  Oh well...

  by Sychotic1 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:47:08 PM PDT

•  I'd say

  I'd comment but I am afraid Maher may run up the aisle and jump on me.  I am deathly afraid of middle aged 100 lb men.

  by dark daze on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:48:00 PM PDT

•  Heres' what happened to Maher

  He was so violently anti-Hillary that he lost half of his audience. Now he's trying to make up for it.

  by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:48:26 PM PDT

  •  Sounds like Tweety, huh?

    by dlh77489 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:49:33 PM PDT

  •  Not half...

    ...only 48%...

    by Aqualad08 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:54:43 PM PDT

  •  that's crazy talk.

    when did that happen?  and what i mean by that is, when did it happen that anything like half of bill maher's audience ever give hrc anything but knowledgeable disdain?

    by jj24 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:01:03 PM PDT

    •  It's a show for Democrats, obviously

      and 48% of them didn't take well to his NOT-FUNNY bile toward Hilary. I know my wife and I stopped watching for a few months.

      by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:06:02 PM PDT

      •  i think

        there's a general anti-Clinton bias as being "the establishment."  Maher just swipes at Hillary as collateral damage.  

        And she's had a couple bad news cycles.  Makes for the jokes.

        by loralei on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:13:35 PM PDT

      •  it's a show for democrats? really.

        it's a show about politics... and i daresay, way too much reality for anyone who backs clinton.  and - after she and all her surrogates have been sucking fox news' ass, hangin' with mr. scaife, and waxing patriotic about mccain, i don't think it's all that easy labeling hrc as a dem these days.

        who gives a shit what you decided not to watch, at any rate.  hrc supporters - very, very important.

        by jj24 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:18:00 PM PDT

        •  JJ24, you'd do best for your guy Obama

          to hide yourself under a rock

          by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:33:20 PM PDT

          •  Well, it does make some

            sense about why progressives don't like her that much.  I don't even find her pro-rupublican military industrial complex stance as bad as her trying to stop us from taking over the Dem Party.

            Now that is something we need to take on.  

            but HBO corporate's Bill Maher is not the place to do it. Just another major corporation trying to get your dollars or as you would be glad to know, Hillary's supporters dollars too.

            by john from vermont on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:48:25 AM PDT

            •  "Take over the Dem Party"?????

              Is this a coup?
              Is there an new authoritarian mentality for the DEM party that some of you want to share with us?

              Funny, but here all this time I thought people power meant people being allowed to think and believe and support whatever and whomever.  

              When you "take over" how will you make us all become "like you?"

              Scary......

              by Jjc2006 on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 06:15:08 AM PDT

              •  no silly,

                take it over from the Corporations.  Not from you or me... you want to be there, fine.  we can disagree all we want and work on candidates we agree with as long as we are calling the shots and not GE which makes lots of money on the war and has a news outfit etc.  Yes, lots of people have been talking about taking over the Democratic Party from the corporate poltical industrial complex.  The Mark Penns, the DLC leaders, the corporations and candidates driven by the main stream media and pollsters.

                Where have you been these last six years as we started talking about this during the Dean campaign.

                Why are you on the blog?  This blog is all about that.  People like me, and I guess you, unless you are already in charge of the party because you own a fortune 500 company.

                We've been at it for while.  i hope you'll join us.

                by john from vermont on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 11:27:10 AM PDT

        •  JJ lol

          way too much reality for anyone who backs clinton

          Reality: I want a guy who made a great speech as state senator, after 2 years in national politics ambition called, and who would be a cool friend.

          by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:34:31 PM PDT

          •  Well, do you really wanna start a name-calling

            match?  

            Pointless much?

            by dlh77489 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:36:34 PM PDT

            •  sorry, your moron JJ got under my skin

              by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:38:24 PM PDT

              •  Why is he MY moron?

                Just wondering.  LOL.

                by dlh77489 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:43:43 PM PDT

                •  thought you'd take responsibility

                  for your young Obama supporters

                  by NY Writer on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 12:08:43 AM PDT

        •  only if you want him to win the GE, I guess

          hrc supporters - very, very important.

          by NY Writer on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:35:20 PM PDT

          •  as a group, you have overplayed that hand.

            by jj24 on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:25:49 AM PDT

        •  I am going to troll rate this

          due to excessive idiocy and flamage.

          by Sychotic1 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:19:35 PM PDT

          •  frankly, i don't blame you for the hr -

            ny writer got the best of me, in a long line of hrc supporters who have gotten the best of me, with a out-of-whack self-importance that i can no longer tolerate.  it is of absolutely no consequence what programming ny writer and his wife now shun, and certainly no indication of what half the dems in the country are doing.

            i knew it was a mistake to post in such vitriolic terms, but damnit.  is there no end to the HRC supporter's outrage over anyone who doesn't fawn over her?  now bill maher is a problem? keith olbermann's a problem?  come on.  the meme that the media is unfair to HRC is so much shit.  and i absolutely stand behind my comment about her political allegiance if she and her surrogates (rendell, anyone?) are going to ally themselves with the likes of fox, mccain and scaife.  

            there - i've pretty much reiterated my entire comment.  oh well, idiocy prevails, at least in your estimation...  we call can't be perfect, i guess.

            by jj24 on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 02:37:32 AM PDT

•  At least this way, everybody gets off.

  by dlh77489 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:48:54 PM PDT

•  Well, Maher should know from pomposity. n/t

  by MissLaura on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:50:00 PM PDT

  •  Amen.

    by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:51:15 PM PDT

  •  Yep, Bill is funny, but he is also a pompus ass

    by kanuk on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:04:23 PM PDT

  •  Ironic... since his show is a giant circle...

    ahem... of uh joking and umm... bears some similarity to dkos.

    Can't stand the competition.

    by doinaheckuvanutjob on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:40:21 PM PDT

•  "conservative" Holmes kept adopting Dem postions

  I think she likes to call herself a conservative because she thinks they dress better.

  Or maybe she thinks it's like picking a sports team.

  by daulton on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:52:32 PM PDT

•  Easi Morales and "circle jerk" shouldn't be in

  the same diary.  Everyone needs to go wash their hands right now.

  (and no, not Latin George Clooney.)

  by ThatPoshGirl on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:52:53 PM PDT

•  If anyone's interested,

  there's an online poll on Maher's Overtime page asking if Maher's the King of Pomposity.

  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to vote.

  by Dreaming of Better Days on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:55:13 PM PDT

  •  They want me to log in to vote

    Fuck that, I'm not getting yet another account that I'll have to remember the password and username for.

    by Hannibal on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:21:28 PM PDT

  •  I couldn't bring myself to sign up to vote

    sweet Dreaming, but here's a very tiny non-troll diary howdy.

    

    by begone on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:33:48 PM PDT

•  Maher has been smoking a little too

  much dope lately IMHO. After he got shut down by
  Jonah Goldberg, Jonah Goldberg, a few weeks ago when JG asked him to cite even one example of corruption in the Bush administration and Maher was speechless, after that I stopped watching. Maher is like one of those people who never read the book, just the reviews, but try to pass themselves off as an intellectual. He is far from it, and, worse, not really that funny as a comedian.

  by crankyinNYC on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:57:09 PM PDT

  •  Two Things Not to Take from Bill Maher

    1. Medical advice.

    2. Political advice.

    Aside from that, the guy is a great comic, and has pretty good judgment, aside from boffing Ann Coulter. Maybe he has an Adam's apple thing...

    by easong on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:00:36 PM PDT

    •  And Morales was right

      when he said it was really the only place on TV that you can see actual liberals (except KO).

      by Upper West on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:16:11 PM PDT

    •  Are you saying

      he exchanged bodily fluids with AC?  

      I only saw Bill once ...for about 5 minutes and I liked what I heard that one time.  I don't get HBO.

      by leema on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:16:17 PM PDT

    •  I'd trust Bill

      For medical advice before most conventional doctors...

      by sandav on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 05:43:58 AM PDT

      •  I wouldn't.

        What really struck me on tonight's show was when he asked Arlen Specter a question implying that it might be Specter's own fault for getting a brain tumor and lymphoma - it might somehow be Specter's "behavior" that caused a group of his cells to start spontaneously growing into diseased tissue.

        I like Bill. Bill makes me laugh. But he has this bizarrely self-righteous view of medicine where he essentially thinks he can prevent any illness through immune-boosting. His devotion to his own brand of pseudo-scientific medicine is akin to that of Scientologists. He doesn't realize that while his immune-boosting activities may benefit him, he is still extremely lucky to have never gotten sick. When he finally does get a serious illness(because he will in his life most probably) I wonder how long it will take to give in and go see a real specialist.

        When I got seriously sick, I went both to an alternative medicine/Chinese Herbalist healer, who proceeded to make my problem worse with his herbs. Then I went back to my neurologist who gave me the right medication and it worked like magic.  Western Medicine and its doctors have their problems, but that doesn't mean they are a problem. By far the biggest problem with Western medicine is that not enough people can afford access to it when they develop a serious medical issue.

        Bill's way off the mark on medicine.

        by WaveFunction on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 10:49:16 AM PDT

  •  Maher Reading? nah he has people who do that. nt

    by JML9999 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:01:59 PM PDT

  •  Still love the show...

    ...but he's been off this season...timing is bad...I wonder if the shouting match he had earlier with the "protesters" knocked him off his game...

    That being said, I have no problem with the circle jerk analogy...face it, a lot of us support, tip  and rec things we agree with and hope others do the same for us...it's basically a political reach-around...I won't tell my wife if you don't ;)

    by Aqualad08 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:02:25 PM PDT

  •  Bill is one of those guys who thinks

    He is so clever, but he is also a little nuts.  You never seem to know which you are going to get.

    by kanuk on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:05:31 PM PDT

    •  He is clever.

      He's just not the only one in the room who is, and that gets annoying for him.

      by boadicea on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:06:43 PM PDT

  •  That's just sad

    Isn't being outwitted by Jonah Goldberg cause to commit Hari Kari?

    by Hannibal on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:19:38 PM PDT

  •  Perfect characterization except that ...

    ...in Bill's case, I think it's the book-jacket blurbs, not the reviews, that he's read. As I've said elsewhere on this thread, I have never understood why anybody thinks this guy is so politically right on. He's ill-informed, and he proves it every single show.

    by Meteor Blades on Sat Apr 05, 2008 at 09:38:07 AM PDT

•  Well, I'll give him one thing

  He's certainly an expert on pomposity.

  by boadicea on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 09:59:07 PM PDT

  •  oh. snap.

    
    
    ````
    peace
    
    

    by peace voter on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:00:05 PM PDT

    •  He's probably pretty knowledgeable

      about the other thing, too...

      by boadicea on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:02:43 PM PDT

    •  what does "snap" mean? thanks in advance

      by leema on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 10:17:15 PM PDT

      •  Per Ye Olde Urban Dictionary:

        (exclamatory phrase) a playful indication of surprise, misfortune, or insult

        popularized by Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live, OH SNAP is seemingly derivative of oh no you didn't where an insulted person, for example a guest of Jerry Springer or