Real Time with Bill Maher, #354, 05/15/15 "Killing it"

Carsick: John Waters
Hitchhikes Across America

by Catherine Giordano

Bill Maher and guests were killing it on Friday May 12, 2015.  on episode #354 of "Real Time with Bill Maher." We had serious conversation, laced with witty jokes and put downs. And, sad to say, it had not just metaphorical killing, but some real death to talk about.  

 

Presidential candidates

Bill Maher began the show with jokes about Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate who got into the 2016 race for about five minutes. Now that he is out of the race, he can do fun things like have a charity boxing match with Evander Holyfield.  Maher quipped, “I guess he just likes getting beat by a black man.” On Saturday morning, I saw the results of the match. Romney lost. 

“You heard about the big train wreck? But enough about the Jeb Bush campaign. “ Good one Maher. A simple question about the Iraq war turned into a four day-train wreck for Jeb Bush. Maher said, “He’s the only one who could answer a simple yes or no question two different ways and be wrong each time.  

Actually, it was four different ways, but who is counting?  Bush capped it off by saying, “We don’t need ObamaCare. We have the I-watch.” And he’s supposed t be the smart one? He’s killing his own campaign.  

Even the ultra conservative on the panel Chares Murray was amazed that Bush could not answer the question. [Charles Murray is a paleoconservative and paleolibertarian—defined as someone who advocates tradition, limited government and civil society, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity.  He’s also a political scientist, author, columnist, pundit, and scholar at The American Enterprise Institute.  He is the author of several books. His most recent book is By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission.  

Panelist Heather McGhee said “George W. Bush did a lot to this country that his brother will have to answer questions about.” She is President of Demos, a public policy organization dedicated to increasing social and economic equality in America.  

John Waters wants Hillary to win so Bill can be First Lady. He’d like to see Bill be a First Lady like Mamie Eisenhower. [John Waters is always so funny  He’s a film director, screenwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, visual artist, art collector, and author of a (sort of) memoir, Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. Waters is being honored by the British Film Institute in September for his 50-film oeuvre which includes his cult hits Pink Flamingos and Hairspray.]

John Waters was the mid-show guest  in June of 2014. He discussed his book, Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America, on that show. Read about it in my review and recap titled, “Spinning.”

The train wreck

The train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight people. Yet, the next day Congress voted to cut Amtrak funding. Maher said that they objected to subsidizing transportation with taxes “as opposed to the interstate highway system which is a natural-occurring geographical formation.”  



Heather McGhee

Heather McGhee said, This is no way to run a country.” While we are refusing to repair crumbling bridges from 100 years ago, across the pond, our competitors are doing broad-band, wind farms, etc. They are doing the things we taught them.”    

Maher said, “We can’t have victory for America because it might be seen as a victory for Obama. Murray tried to blame the problems on regulations. Maher pointed out that the stimulus package Obama managed to push through got things done.  

McGhee delivered the knock-out punch. “They are killing programs because they are afraid regulations would hold back the projects. That makes no sense.” 

Progressive Programs

Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York wants to organize progressive leaders.  Progressives want common sense programs to improve the lives of the middle-class: A living-wage minimum-wage, sick leave, family leave, universal pre-K, etc. Republicans say it costs too much, but Maher pointed out the country had plenty of money for useless military aircraft. The F22 cost $67 billion and was never used; The F35 cost $1.57 Trillion and it doesn’t work.  

Murray said, “If they adopt this agenda, they will get wiped out.”   

Maher said that Republican citizens support these proposals, even though Republican politicians don’t.  He said, “The donor class is the gatekeeper.” 

 

The interview

"Heretic" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The interview was with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born American human rights activist, writer, and politician. She is critical of female genital mutilation and Islam and Muslims. She supports women's rights and atheism. She is the author of several books. Her newest book is Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now. 

Her personal journey is amazing. She suffered genital mutilation at age 5. Her father tried to force her into a marriage, but she managed to escape to the Netherlands. She later emigrated to the United States.  

Maher and Ali agreed that liberals must stand up for women’s rights and not hid behind claims of cultural difference. Ali said, “Yes, some women like the burka, but millions do not like it.” 

She is calling for Islam to have a “reformation.”  She said, “We must stop investing in life after death instead of life before death. We must give up Sharia law. Holy war must be replaced with holy peace.”  

Calls for an “Islamic Reformation” are making an analogy with the Protestant Revolution. I don’t remember my history all that well, but how long did it take to “reform Christianity, how many wars, and how many dead? Religious reform does not go down easy. 

Religion

Perhaps religion is dying a slow death. The Pew Poll on religion is done every seven years. The 2015 poll shows that in the United States, the proportion who say they are Christian has gone from 78% to 70%.   

The “Nones,” people with no religious affiliation, are now at 23%. Among Millennials, 35% are “Nones.”  

This led to the mid show comedy segment –The King James Franco Bible.

• Honor your father and mother… so you can live in their basement. 
• Thou shall not steal.. except for music online.
• When our Lord returns…Uber will be there.

Killer Mike

"Run the Jewels" with Killer Mike

The mid-show guest was the rap artist known as Killer Mike. He is a rap recording artist and activist against racially- motivated police violence. He has several music CDs including Run the Jewels. 

Mike talked about the problem of cops killing black men. He said we need community policing. It’s not enough to just have black cops, the cops must live in the neighborhoods they police. And good cops must turn in bad cops. 

Maher mentioned that Bill O’Reilly is always going after rappers. He blames the decline in the numbers of Christians on rappers. Maher pointed out that blacks are the least likely group to leave Christianity. 

 

Jesus was a black guy with a posse of homies. He was against government. And everyone like him better when he was dead.

 

Brit for Brains

Bill Maher’s final New Rules bit was about the use of British accents in American culture to convey gravitas. Things just sound better with an American accent. Maher said, “They have the gravitas; we have the swag.” 

“Face it,” Bill said. “We are not a serious people. We drink wine out of a box. We invented Mormons. And Bill O’Reilly is a best seller. And the Iraq war sounded a whole lot better coming out of Tony Blair’s mouth “

 

Killing it, Maher!

When comics are funny, they are said to be killing. Bill Maher kills every week. But not for the next two weeks. He’s on tour in Europe so there is a two week hiatus of the show. He’ll be back on Friday, June 5, 2015.

 

Bill Maher’s Guests:  May 15, 2015  

The interview

 Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Somali-born American human rights activist, writer, and politician. She is critical of female genital mutilation and Islam and Muslims. She supports women's rights and atheism. She is the author of several books. Her newest book is Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now 

The mid-show guest 
Michael Render, aka Killer Mike: Rap recording artist and activist against racially- motivated police violence. He has several music CDs including Run the Jewels. 

The panel included: 

John Waters: Film director, screenwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, visual artist, art collector, and author of a (sort of) memoir, Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. Waters is being honored by the British Film Institute in September for his 50-film oeuvre which includes his cult hits Pink Flamingos and Hairspray.
 

Heather McGhee: President of Demos, a public policy organization dedicated to increasing social and economic equality in America.  



Charles Murray"By the People"

Charles Murray: Paleoconservative and paleolibertarian political scientist, author, columnist, pundit, and scholar at The American Enterprise Institute.  He is the author of several books. His most recent book is By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission. (A paleoconservative is someone who advocates tradition, limited government and civil society, along with religious, regional, national, and Western identity.)

HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher" #315 "Scary, Really Scary"

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Annabelle Gurwitch's book

by Catherine Giordano

Bill Maher, you’re scaring me, just by discussing the news. You made the news funny on episode 315 of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” which aired on April 25, 2014, but I’m still scared. Here’s my review and recap (with commentary) of the show.  If you are not scared you should be.

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What’s scary--Global climate change.  Maher discussed this with his guest Tom Steyer, a billionaire who is using his super power [money] for good and not evil.” Global climate change is scary and it is going to get worse and worse faster and faster if we don’t do something. Steyer is trying to do something. He plans to spend $50 million to do something, because as Maher said, “What’s more important than money? Breathing!”  Steyer also said, like Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, he plans to give away half of his fortune to worthy causes.  

Maher said that Steyer is sometimes called the “liberal Koch brother.”  Steyer gave three main reasons he is not like the Koch brothers.

            1.  He is acting on behalf of the people, not in his own self-interest.

            2.  He accepts science.
            3.  He’s transparent; he doesn’t try to hide his goals (unlike the Koch brothers who set up a slew of organizations in an attempt to remain anonymous.)

Stayer also offered to debate the Koch brothers on Meyer’s show. Steyer said, “They will have the advantage in numbers; I’ll have the advantage in facts.” Both Maher and Steyer agreed that the Kochs would be too scared to come on Maher’s show.

What’s scary—guns. In the monologue Maher spoke about the Georgia legislature passing the “guns everywhere” bill.  But there is still one place in Georgia where guns are not allowed—“the capitol building…where they work.” Practically every day there is another story about some nut randomly shooting people. It’s getting to the point where I scared to leave the house.

 

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The panelists included Charles Murray. He is a scholar at the conservative think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute, and the author of the Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life.  And he is indeed exactly as advertised--a curmudgeon with an opinion on everything.  Nonetheless, he somewhat likeable because he says it with a smile and occasionally makes sense. When Maher reported that John Paul Stevens, retired Supreme Court judge, said the words “when serving in the militia” should be added to the 2^nd amendment, Murray said, “If they ever did that, every state would set up militias which would change the relationships between the states.” I gotta give him credit for that one, even tho I believe Justice Stevens has it right about the meaning of the 2^nd amendment.

What’s scary--people like Cliven Bundy and his supporters. Bundy is a free-loading law breaker. The militia groups who have come out to support him have the people who live in his area literally afraid to leave their houses.  And Republicans, especially on Fox News, are calling him a patriot. However, his racist remarks—The Negro would be better off as slaves picking cotton—went too far even for the right-wingers and Fox News is no longer part of his fan club. Bill joked that Bundy is no longer their patriot hero—he is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.” 

 

Later Bill joked that racism is the “black lung disease” of the conservative movement.  “They always make common cause with the racist.”  Bill showed a picture of a sniper poised to shoot the law enforcement officers at Bundy’s camp and then a picture of two skinny black men just standing in front of a polling place wearing Black Panther berets—just standing, the way someone might stand while waiting for a bus. Conservatives look at the black men just standing there and say “scary”; they look at the sniper and say “not scary.” That scares me.

 

What’s scary—getting old, especially if you are a woman. Maher’s mid-show guest was Annabelle Gurwitch a comedian, actress, and author of the book: I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50.

Maher assured Gurwitch she had nothing to worry about—she was still loveable. Only he didn’t say love, he used a four letter word beginning with “f” that is sometimes used instead of love.

In truth, Gurwitch is very attractive--we should all look so good at our 50’s. Gurwitch said that “52 is 72 in actress years.” She also said something like “If 70 is the new 50, how come no one who is 50 wants to be taken for 70?” She’s really funny—I bet her book is really funny too.

What’s scary—being middle aged/old without enough money. Gurwitch talked about middle-aged internships as middle-aged people try to retrain in order to get a job. John Avalon, editor in chief of the Daily Beast and a CNN contributor, said “A country is only as strong as its middle class.” He recommended a book, Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty, a book so popular that amazon was sold out of it.  (It’s in stock now.) Avalon said that the book discusses how “under capitalism, income inequality is inevitable.” (BTW, reducing income equality does not mean that everyone should earn the same amount, it means the gap between low earners and high earners should not be so great.)  According to Piketty, the tendency of return on capital to outpace the rate of economic growth produces income inequality and eventual leads to political unrest.  I have often said that moderate amounts of socialism help close the gap and Avalon apparently agrees saying that the socialism in post war America lead to the rise of the American middle class.

The third panelist was Christine Quinn, an openly gay former Democratic candidate for New York mayor and the author of With Patience and Fortitude: A Memoir. She is a bold person, who boldly speaks her mind, and hope she eventually succeeds in winning an election for higher office.

The mid-show comedy segment was about the Clinton’s daughter and pregnancy.  Conservatives instead of just saying “congratulations,” are busy discussing conspiracy theories about “Fetal Clinton.” Maher showed a spoof campaign ad about all these conspiracy theories and ended it with “where’s the birth certificate.”

In New Rules, Maher did a segment titled, “November Reigns.”  He mused about how Republicans are winning elections these days, given that the Democrats have the issues on their side—by wide margins according to polls. The answer is CHEATING! They have gerrymandered, suppressed the vote, and worse of all, they tap into a deep vein of hatred. (And I would add, they lie, bald-faced lies.) Republicans strongest voting block is low income whites without a college education the very people who need ObamaCare and other Democratic programs that give people a helping hand the most. Now that scares me.

 Maher posits that liberals being so sanctimonious may contribute to aliening this voting bloc.  He berates atheists for suing over crosses on public property saying “We’re atheists not vampires.”  Maher concludes that for every liberal who says, in exasperation, “ ‘oh, just shoot me,’ there is a conservative with a gun who will.”

Laughter can keep the scared feeling at bay.  So, Bill Maher, keep us laughing.

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