Real Time with Bill Maher #368, 10/16/2015 Excitement

Bernie Sanders
CLICK HERE

by Catherine Giordano

It was an exciting night on Real Time with Bill Maher, episode 368, on Friday October 16, 2015. How could it not be exciting with Bernie Sanders on the show? Sanders is excitement personified. His campaign for the Democratic nomination for president got a real boost from the CNN Democratic Debate on Tuesday 10/13. I’ve been a fan of Sanders for many years—He used to have a regular interview slot on Air America Radio, but most Americans had probably never heard of him prior to his entry into the Democratic race for the nomination for president.

Hillary Clinton

Sanders is closing in on Hillary Clinton some of the polls of the early states, but Hillary has a commanding lead over Bernie nationally. I expect that lead to grow now that Joe Biden is no longer a possible candidate and the Benghazi congressional hearing is over. (I’m sorry that there was not a new Real Timeon Friday October 23 due to Mayer’s travel schedule. He would have had fun with it.) Hillary removed any doubts during that marathon Inquisition that she had the temperament, experience, and endurance to be president.

[I’m very late with this review partly because I was busy preparing for my radio appearance on Mythicist Milwaukee on Sunday and in part because I watched virtually all of the so-called hearing on Thursday.]

Maher declared Hillary the winner of the Democratic Debate on October 13. He said she had stiff competition. Then he named the three “stiffs” who were her competition—O’Malley, Webb, and Chaffee. (By the way Webb and Chaffee have dropped out of the race, but Webb added a face-saving claim that he might run as an Independent. I wish Maher had been on the air to lampoon that assertion.)

Bernie Sanders

Bernie is a long-time Senator (VT I) who runs as an Independent and calls himself a Democratic-Socialist. He caucuses with the Democrats. He was born in Brooklyn, my old home town.

Maher began by telling Sanders that “the last man your age to get this kind of attention was Mick Jagger.” It’s a good comparison—Sanders is a kind of rock star.

Maher said that Sanders should teach America that we are already a socialist country. Sanders said that the U.S. is socialist in some ways, but he listed the ways in which we are not, compared to other “major democratic countries” because in those countries health care and medical leave are rights. He added that we have more people in jail than any other country in the world. He advocated for free college (also a right in some European countries) and higher taxes on corporations and the top 1% of Americans.

Maher suggested that someone who calls himself a socialist could not win because polls show that 47% of the country (according to polls would never vote for a socialist. (Maher compared it to herpes.) Sanders countered that he gets 25% of the Republican vote when he runs for Senate in Vermont and that he has received 650,000 contributions from individuals—more than any candidate in history.)

Bernie said, “We can bring them [Republicans] into the movement. We must stand up to the billionaire class and build an America that works for everyone. Democrats win when the voting rate is high.”

For more about Bernie Sanders read: The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America. 

The Democratic Debate

The Democratic Debate led to an exciting discussion on the show. Maher mentioned that 15 million people watched it—five times more than expected. (It was nonetheless lower that the 23 million the first Republican debate had, but then the Dems did not have a reality TV star on stage to provide entertainment.)

Panel member Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, columnist for the Washington Post, and author of several books including, The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama and Dictionary of Republicanisms: TheIndispensable Guide to What They Really Mean When They Say What They Think YouWant to Hear. She said, “We heard ideas, not insults.”

Even the Republican on the panel, John Feehrey, had to admit that Hillary’s poll numbers in NH went up after the debate. (Feehrey is a columnist for The Hill, chief blogger for The FeeheryTheory) He also tried to build up the Republican slate, saying “We have good candidates too. We just have to winnow the field a bit.

Maher confronted Feehery saying, “But they really aren’t [good candidates]. Bush and Rubio want to repeal all financial regulations. We will have another crash.”

Maher said that he is going to vote for Sanders in the primary and will donate to his campaign. But if Clinton wins the primaries, he will vote for her in the general election. He appealed to his viewers: “If you can’t get the fish, eat the chicken.” Maher repeated this later in the show, saying he had learned his lesson with Ralph Nader.

Lawrence Lessing—Mid-show interview

Lawrence Lessig

Lessing is the Democratic candidate that nobody has heard of. He is a single-issue candidate who is very excited about getting money out of politics. He should have been on the debate stage.

Lessing is also a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of several books. His most recent book is Republic, Lost: The Corruption of Equality and the Steps to End It.

Lessing pointed out that members of Congress spend 70% of their time raising money. Money and gerrymandering has made our government like a car with four flat tires and someone stole the battery. Lessing promised that if he were elected president he would pass the legislation that gets our democracy back.

Campaign Funding

In addition to Lessing, Maher and the panelists weighed in on campaign funding.

Maher told us that Marco Rubio is funded by a group called the Conservative Solutions Project and that is a bigger scandal that Hillary’s emails. Vandal Huevel added that 158 families are providing halve of the funding for the Republican candidates. Panel member Johann Hari: (author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs) mentioned Sheldon Adelson, who is a major contributor to Republican candidates, calling him out for getting all his money from gambling—“he produces nothing.”

Republicans

Republicans get very excited about war—they can’t wait to get the U.S. into one. They talk a lot about how tough they would be with foreign leaders. Maher said, “For instance, “Chris Christie said, ‘I’ll call Vladimir and say ‘Don’t you try me. I’ll do it.’ Maher added “War is their campaign prop.”

Vanden Huevel said, “Strength is not the bullyboys. It is diplomacy.”

Hari brought global warming up. Republicans refuse to recognize that global warming is a problem that we must deal with. Hari said that global warming will lead to more war. “When there is no water people will do terrible things.”

Mid show comedy bit

This was a great comedy bit about how excitable Republicans are about socialism. Maher first repeated something Bernie Sanders had said and then showed what Republicans heard. Of course, what they heard was so distorted by their own hatred of “socialism” that it was nothing like what Sanders actually said.

BTW: Was this done as a nod to Vandel Hueven's book Dictionary of Republicanisms: What they Really Mean When they Say What They Think You Want to Hear. 


This deserves to be seen in its entirety to I will link to it

New Rules: Lord of the Spree

Maher took on the increase in killing sprees in the United States. The attacker is usually a young man. He claimed that these men attacked because they can’t get laid. One even left behind something he had written, “I am going to die a virgin. I’ve never even kissed a girl and I will punish you for it.” Maher called it "The worst e-harmony profile ever."

Maher said no one ever went on the attack saying “Sex! Sex! Sex! It is all I do. Where is my gun? I am mad at the world.”

Maher went on to say, “In America, it seems like everybody is having sex but them.” He then showed some advertisements that were full of sexual imagery, with the implication that this was raising the frustration level of young men who aren’t getting any.  Maher said, “Wake up and smell the testosterone.”

He also blamed that attacks by Muslims on the lack or appropriate sexually outlets. “What is the sexual frustration level of men who only see men who look like this?” as he showed a picture of a woman in a burka, completely covered from head to toe. “How do you masturbate to that? I know masturbation requires imagination, but that is ridiculous.”  

Bill Maher’s Guests, #268, October 16, 2015

The Interview:

Bernie Sanders: Senator (I VT), former Congressman (I VT), Democratic candidate for President. A 2015 biography of Bernie Sanders is The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America by Jonathan Tasini

Mid-Show Special Guest: 

Lawrence Lessig; Professor at Harvard Law School, champion of campaign finance reform. Democratic candidate for President, author of several books. His most recent book is Republic, Lost: The Corruption of Equality and the Steps to End It

The Panel:

Johann Hari: Writer, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs 

Katrina vanden Heuvel:  Editor and Publisher of The Nation magazine, columnist for the Washington Post, author of several books including, The Change IBelieve In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama and Dictionary of Republicanisms: TheIndispensable Guide to What They Really Mean When They Say What They Think YouWant to Hear

John Feehery: Columnist for The Hill, chief blogger for The FeeheryTheory

Real Time with Bill Maher #368, 10/16/2015 Excitement

Bernie Sanders

by Catherine Giordano

It was an exciting night on Real Time with Bill Maher, episode 368, on Friday October 16, 2015. How could it not be exciting with Bernie Sanders on the show? Sanders is excitement personified. His campaign for the Democratic nomination for president got a real boost from the CNN Democratic Debate on Tuesday 10/13. I’ve been a fan of Sanders for many years—He used to have a regular interview slot on Air America Radio, but most Americans had probably never heard of him prior to his entry into the Democratic race for the nomination for president.

Hillary Clinton

Sanders is closing in on Hillary Clinton some of the polls of the early states, but Hillary has a commanding lead over Bernie nationally. I expect that lead to grow now that Joe Biden is no longer a possible candidate and the Benghazi congressional hearing is over. (I’m sorry that there was not a new Real Time on Friday October 23 due to Mayer’s travel schedule. He would have had fun with it.) Hillary removed any doubts during that marathon Inquisition that she had the temperament, experience, and endurance to be president. 

[I’m very late with this review partly because I was busy preparing for my radio appearance on Mythicist Milwaukee on Sunday and in part because I watched virtually all of the so-called hearing on Thursday.]

Maher declared Hillary the winner of the Democratic Debate on October 13. He said she had stiff competition. Then he named the three “stiffs” who were her competition—O’Malley, Webb, and Chaffee. (By the way Webb and Chaffee have dropped out of the race, but Webb added a face-saving claim that he might run as an Independent. I wish Maher had been on the air to lampoon that assertion.)

Bernie Sanders

Bernie is a long-time Senator (VT I) who runs as an Independent and calls himself a Democratic-Socialist. He caucuses with the Democrats. He was born in Brooklyn, my old home town.

Maher began by telling Sanders that “the last man your age to get this kind of attention was Mick Jagger.” It’s a good comparison—Sanders is a kind of rock star.

Maher said that Sanders should teach America that we are already a socialist country. Sanders said that the U.S. is socialist in some ways, but he listed the ways in which we are not, compared to other “major democratic countries” because in those countries health care and medical leave are rights. He added that we have more people in jail than any other country in the world. He advocated for free college (also a right in some European countries) and higher taxes on corporations and the top 1% of Americans.

Maher suggested that someone who calls himself a socialist could not win because polls show that 47% of the country (according to polls would never vote for a socialist. (Maher compared it to herpes.) Sanders countered that he gets 25% of the Republican vote when he runs for Senate in Vermont and that he has received 650,000 contributions from individuals—more than any candidate in history.)

Bernie said, “We can bring them [Republicans] into the movement. We must stand up to the billionaire class and build an America that works for everyone. Democrats win when the voting rate is high.”

For more about Bernie Sanders read: The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America. 

The Democratic Debate

The Democratic Debate led to an exciting discussion on the show. Maher mentioned that 15 million people watched it—five times more than expected. (It was nonetheless lower that the 23 million the first Republican debate had, but then the Dems did not have a reality TV star on stage to provide entertainment.)

Panel member Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of The Nation magazine, columnist for the Washington Post, and author of several books including, The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama and Dictionary of Republicanisms: TheIndispensable Guide to What They Really Mean When They Say What They Think YouWant to Hear. She said, “We heard ideas, not insults.”

Even the Republican on the panel, John Feehrey, had to admit that Hillary’s poll numbers in NH went up after the debate. (Feehrey is a columnist for The Hill, chief blogger for The FeeheryTheory) He also tried to build up the Republican slate, saying “We have good candidates too. We just have to winnow the field a bit.

Maher confronted Feehery saying, “But they really aren’t [good candidates]. Bush and Rubio want to repeal all financial regulations. We will have another crash.”

Maher said that he is going to vote for Sanders in the primary and will donate to his campaign. But if Clinton wins the primaries, he will vote for her in the general election. He appealed to his viewers: “If you can’t get the fish, eat the chicken.” Maher repeated this later in the show, saying he had learned his lesson with Ralph Nader.

Lawrence Lessing—Mid-show interview

Lawrence Lessig

Lessing is the Democratic candidate that nobody has heard of. He is a single-issue candidate who is very excited about getting money out of politics. He should have been on the debate stage.

Lessing is also a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of several books. His most recent book is Republic, Lost: The Corruption of Equality and the Steps to End It.

Lessing pointed out that members of Congress spend 70% of their time raising money. Money and gerrymandering has made our government like a car with four flat tires and someone stole the battery. Lessing promised that if he were elected president he would pass the legislation that gets our democracy back.

Campaign Funding

In addition to Lessing, Maher and the panelists weighed in on campaign funding.

Maher told us that Marco Rubio is funded by a group called the Conservative Solutions Project and that is a bigger scandal that Hillary’s emails. Vandal Huevel added that 158 families are providing halve of the funding for the Republican candidates. Panel member Johann Hari: (author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs) mentioned Sheldon Adelson, who is a major contributor to Republican candidates, calling him out for getting all his money from gambling—“he produces nothing.”

Republicans

Republicans get very excited about war—they can’t wait to get the U.S. into one. They talk a lot about how tough they would be with foreign leaders. Maher said, “For instance, “Chris Christie said, ‘I’ll call Vladimir and say ‘Don’t you try me. I’ll do it.’ Maher added “War is their campaign prop.”

Vanden Huevel said, “Strength is not the bullyboys. It is diplomacy.”

Hari brought global warming up. Republicans refuse to recognize that global warming is a problem that we must deal with. Hari said that global warming will lead to more war. “When there is no water people will do terrible things.”

Mid show comedy bit

This was a great comedy bit about how excitable Republicans are about socialism. Maher first repeated something Bernie Sanders had said and then showed what Republicans heard. Of course, what they heard was so distorted by their own hatred of “socialism” that it was nothing like what Sanders actually said. 

BTW: Was this done as a nod to Vandel Hueven's book Dictionary of Republicanisms: What they Really Mean When they Say What They Think You Want to Hear. 


This deserves to be seen in its entirety to I will link to it

New Rules: Lord of the Spree

Maher took on the increase in killing sprees in the United States. The attacker is usually a young man. He claimed that these men attacked because they can’t get laid. One even left behind something he had written, “I am going to die a virgin. I’ve never even kissed a girl and I will punish you for it.” Maher called it "The worst e-harmony profile ever."

Maher said no one ever went on the attack saying “Sex! Sex! Sex! It is all I do. Where is my gun? I am mad at the world.”

Maher went on to say, “In America, it seems like everybody is having sex but them.” He then showed some advertisements that were full of sexual imagery, with the implication that this was raising the frustration level of young men who aren’t getting any.  Maher said, “Wake up and smell the testosterone.”

He also blamed that attacks by Muslims on the lack or appropriate sexually outlets. “What is the sexual frustration level of men who only see men who look like this?” as he showed a picture of a woman in a burka, completely covered from head to toe. “How do you masturbate to that? I know masturbation requires imagination, but that is ridiculous.”  

Bill Maher’s Guests, #268, October 16, 2015

The Interview:

Bernie Sanders: Senator (I VT), former Congressman (I VT), Democratic candidate for President. A 2015 biography of Bernie Sanders is The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America by Jonathan Tasini

Mid-Show Special Guest: 

Lawrence Lessig; Professor at Harvard Law School, champion of campaign finance reform. Democratic candidate for President, author of several books. His most recent book is Republic, Lost: The Corruption of Equality and the Steps to End It

The Panel:

Johann Hari: Writer, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs 

Katrina vanden Heuvel:  Editor and Publisher of The Nation magazine, columnist for the Washington Post, author of several books including, The Change IBelieve In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama and Dictionary of Republicanisms: TheIndispensable Guide to What They Really Mean When They Say What They Think YouWant to Hear

John Feehery: Columnist for The Hill, chief blogger for The FeeheryTheory

Real Time with Bill Maher #330 09/26/14 "Safe"

Naomi Klein

by Catherine Giordano

There was some lively debate on Real Time with Bill Maher, episode 330, on Friday September 26, 2014. The big issue seemed to be safety—how to be safe, who is not safe, and who wants to be safe.

 

To bomb ISIS or not to bomb ISIS

Bill Maher apparently disagrees with Obama’s decision to bomb ISIS.  “You can’t destroy an idea,” he says. He says Obama is getting his full George Bush on because he is ordering airstrikes of ISIS. As a liberal I am anti-war, but I also think that thre is a time for military action. I feel that if ISIS and other groups like Khourson (Bill said it sounded like a new restaurant) are not stopped now, they will eventually become too big and strong to stop. 

One of the penelists, General Anthony Zinni, a retired United States Marine Corps General and author of several books, including his latest book, Before the First Shots Are Fired: How America Can Win Or Lose Off The Battlefield (with Tony Koltz) somewhat agrees with me. Zinni  supports the bombing, but he seems to be saying its about morality because of ISIS’s acts of barbarism and genocide. 

This is a weak argument because it leaves Zinni open to questions: Why here and not there? Why now and not then?  There are plenty of morally corrupt regimes committing geneocide and we are not attacking all of them. Why should the U.S. the world’s policeman.

I agree with the arguments about going not going after ISIS for moral reasons. However, I do think we have to go after   ISIS is a matter of  national defense. 

Maher thinks that the threat of ISIS is limited and attacking them over there so they won’t attack us over here is nonsense—they could still attack us. Maher seems to be taking both sides of the argument. They are not a threat and they could attack us. No one mentioned that if ISIS is not stopped they will take over the entire Middle East. That is their goal. If they do that, they will be a threat. Maybe there wouldn’t have been a WW II if Hitler had been stopped early on.

Another panelist, John Feehery, Republican political commentator, President of Quinn Gillespie Communications, Director of QGA Government Affairs and former aide to former Republican Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, approves of Obama’s military action.  He said, “Keeping those guys on the run, keeps us safe.”  Maher said Republicans are conflicted on the issue because oil refineries that ISIS has seized are being bombed--Republicans love bombing, but they also love oil. He said it was like “John Boehner fighting his bartender.”

Ebola

ISIS may or may not be a threat, but there are some big threats to our safety are looming. One is Ebola. It could become a global pandemic. Maher said the United States has spent trillions on wars, and the U.N is trying to stop Ebola with only $1 million. Here’s a thought: maybe Ebola could wipe out ISIS for us. Of course, if it did, it could very well wipe out most of the world’s population at the same time. That’s the problem—there is always a downside.

 

Capitalism vs. the Climate

Another major threat to safety that not too many are taking seriously is climate change.  The interview was with Naomi Klein, a critic of corporate globalization and author of several books, including The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and her newest book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate.  She says that capitalism, because it is based on short-term growth and profit, is destabilizing the planet’s life-support system.  She says we are not going to be able to fix it by changing our light bulbs.  However, she sees the threat as “a great once-in-a-century opportunity to build a better society.” It is giving us the chance to address raging inequality, create jobs, and rebuild the public infrastructure.  I think she is right about that, but I also think that it is not going to happen.  Klein points out there is no leadership on this issue at the top. The leadership is coming from below, from the people. She cites the big protest march in New York City this weekend as an example of that bottom-up leadership. Can a protest march really make a difference? Maybe, but it will take lots of protests and lots of time, and we don’t have that kind of time on this. (I also remember a lot of peace marches before George Bush took us into the Iraq war and it didn’t stop the war.)

 

Out-of-control Police

Charles M. Blow

There is a large group of Americans who are definitely not safe—black people, especially black males. There are more reports this week of policemen shooting totally innocent black men.  The third a panelist was  Charles M. Blow. He’s a journalist, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, and author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a memoir. He’s also a black man. He said that we made some racial progress, but we are drifting back—blacks are being disenfranchised and incarcerated in record numbers.  And blacks are being shot by the police in record numbers.

 

Maher said that he can understand these trigger-happy cops.They feel that every encounter could be the encounter that ends their life. I have had the same thought. I’ve heard about a cop getting shot when he makes a routine traffic stop.  Maher says the job of a policeman is dangerous, but that is what they signed up for.  The police are putting too much emphasis on protecting themselves instead of protecting the public.  They seem to be far to quick to shoot and taser. I’ll just quote former President Truman:  If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.  Also, I’d advise black people to buy their guns mail order because if they have a gun in a store, they will be shot dead. On the other hand, the white guys from the NRA do their open carry strut armed to the teeth, and nobody shoots them.

For more about Blow's new book, see my "Bill Maher Rules" blog for: Charles M. Blow Talks with Lawrence O'Donnell

 

Mid-Show Comedy Segment

Remember George Zimmerman. He was the wannabe cop who shot a black teenaged boy because he looked suspicious. The mid-show comedy segment was about hiring Zimmerman to keep intruders out of the White House.  He has “a 6^th sense” about who is dangerous and is skilled at noticing, following, stalking, etc. “With Zimmerman, our president will be truly safe, unless he wears a hoodie.“

[By the way, Maher had two jokes on the subject of intruders in the White House. 1) That is how Fox News describes Obama, and 2) it wil embolden the Jehovah Witnesses.]

 

Vote!

Alexandra Pelosi

The mid-show guest was Alexandra Pelosi, a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of several books including Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows and Citizen U.S.A.: A 50 State Road Trip (Citizen USA is also available on dvd). She said it was her job to stand around parking lots all over America talking to people. What she is hearing is not making her feel safe.  People don’t even know there is an election this November.  She says, never mind about Republicans who vote against their own interests, what about liberals who don’t vote for their own interests because they don’t vote. 

 People who can’t be bothered to learn the issues and learn who the candidates are and what there stands are on the issues is making us all less safe. Maher said, the Flip-A-District loser, John Kline, was taking advantage of this voter apathy.  His campaign strategy is just to hide and run out the clock. Maher plans to do a show in his district in the hopes of getting 29,000 voters to vote against Kline. Feehery said that Maher’s appearance would help Kline and that Kline as a good man who will win. Maher you have to flip-this-district! It will be such an embarrassment to you if you fail and it will embolden Republicans to think they can get away with anything.

New Rules

Maher began New Rules with a bit about this woman who supposedly had a third breast implanted in her chest. Maher said men would find three boobs fascinating. How else can we explain the popularity of Fox and Friends.

The final New Rules segment began with a mention of the teenaged boy who faces two years in jail for disrespecting Jesus. (He took a picture with a statue of Jesus that made it look like Jesus was blowing him.) He says his heart swells with pride when he sees that picture because in America a kid can pull a tasteless stunt like that without being killed for it. (Maher doesn’t believe the kid will go to jail. I don’t even understand why he was arrested. What law did he break?) 

(Read more about this and see a video clip: Blasphemy is Not a Crime.) 

Maher said we need to stand up for American values of free speech, separation of church and state, and respect for minorities. He spoke about Saudi woman who can’t vote, or drive, or even leave their house without being accompanied by a male relative. He spoke about genital mutilation. He castigated those who claim multi-culturalism as an excuse to overlook this violation. He said toleration of this behavior in the name of cultural diversity was the real problem and not Jonah Hall calling a paparazzi a faggot or Mel Gibson calling women “sugar tits.”

Freedom is what makes us safe

Once again Maher used New Rules to address a serious subject. Freedom means we tolerate stupidity, and we stand up against those who violate human rights.  Freedom is what makes us safe.

 

BILL MAHER'S GUESTS FOR 09/26/14

 

General Anthony Zinni: Retired United States Marine Corps General, author of several books, including his latest book, Before the First Shots Are Fired: How America Can Win Or Lose Off The Battlefield (with Tony Koltz) 

Naomi Klein: Critic of corporate globalization and author of several books, including

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Her newest book is This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate 

John Feehery: Former aide to former Republican speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, President of Quinn Gillespie Communications, and Director of QGA Government Affairs. 

Charles M. Blow: Journalist, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, and author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Alexandra Pelosi: Journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of several books including Sneaking Into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows and Citizen U.S.A.: A 50 State Road Trip (Citizen USA is also available on dvd)

 

 

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HBO Real Time with Bill Maher #276 “Charming Truth-Sayers”

by Catherine Giordano

I’m titling my review of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” episode 276, which aired on March 23, 2012, “Charming Truth- Sayers” You can always count of Bill Maher to get the truth out despite the best efforts of his Republican/Conservative panelists and guests to obfuscate and even outright lie.

The interview was with Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago and the former chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors.  He’s erudite and charming, brimming over with enthusiasm for his topic. If he had been my economics professor in college, I’m sure I’d be an economist now. Since he resigned from his position with the Obama administration I haven’t seen him on TV. I was so glad to see him again because when he explains complex economics, it is all so easy to understand. And did I mention that he is so charming.

Almost all the guests were charming on this episode. If I was having a party, I’d love to have all of them present. Only one of them would not get an invitation, and that one is

John Feehery. He is the exact opposite of charming.  He wasn’t actually obnoxious, just at best, a lack-luster personality. If I met him at a party I probably wouldn’t spend more than a minute talking to him.

Feehery is the former spokesman for Dennis Hasbert. (Dennis Hasbert is a former slime-ball Republican Speaker of the House who had to resign in disgrace. Really, Feehery, you need a more respectable and more recent credential.) We didn’t get too much truth-telling from him. His most notable line of the night was “Why has it taken so long for Obama to give this speech.”  He said this during a discussion of president Obama’s speech in Israel. This is so typical of the Republicans—they berate the president for not doing something, and when he does it instead of saying how great it is that he did it this thing that they wanted him to do, they berate him for not doing it sooner.

Another panelist was MariaTeresa Kumar, the President of Voto Latino. She looked great in a red wrap dress. (I apologize for always commenting on how the female panelists look, but I’m a big fan of fashion, and I always notice how a woman is dressed.) Maria is also very vivacious and charming. And she knows what she is talking about, especially on immigration issues.

The third panelist was Jim McGreevey, the former governor of New Jersey who came out as gay and resigned. This happened quite a few years ago and I have heard nothing about him since. It turns out he has been putting his time to good use. He has been working with women in prison, and he told a lot of truth about the penal system in this country.  A new documentary about his will be out soon. It is about his work with women’s prisons and it is called “Fall to Grace.” He is also very charming; he has an easy-going manner, and gets very intense when he talks about his work with women in prison.  It’s so nice when there is a scandal and afterwards the person does something really redeeming with his life. 

One topic of discussion was President Obama’s trip to Israel. Everyone agreed that Obama was right to tell the Israelis the truth-- a two-state solution is the only solution. Bill said that the right wing of this country has done Israel a great disservice by telling the Israelis that everything they do is perfect and the U.S. will support them in whatever they want to do. (Bill pointed out that the right-wingers have an ulterior motive—The second coming of Christ requires that Israel exist as a Jewish state according to their interpretation of prophecy.)  Obama got a standing ovation from his Israeli audience.  He told the truth, and he did it with charm. (Obama can be so very charming—I love his smile. His smile seems so honest.)

Speaking about the president’s speech, McGreevey pointed out that “the easiest thing to do was nothing.  But he stepped up. Political leaders won’t take risks unless the people push them.” Later McGreevey reiterated this point.  He said FDR, before the New Deal, brought in Democratic leaders and told him he agreed with them on social security, etc., but he wasn’t going to do anything about it unless they made him do it.  If we want something done in this country, we have to make our politicians do it. (I used italics or emphasis.)

There was a wide range of topics on the show.

They spoke about Congress voting on the repeal of ObamaCare for the 34^th time. Austan said it was like giving someone 40 life sentences. Plus it would never pass the Senate, and even if it did Obama would never sign it. Give it a rest, Boehner, and do some real work for a change.

They spoke about the sequester. Austan said people haven’t felt it much yet, and when they do, it will be mostly poor people. Economic growth is going to decrease and the unemployment rate is going to rise again. The defense budget is so bloated, the defense department will never feel it.

They talked about Alexander Pelosi’s new documentary. She went to of Sandy Hook, to one of the most Republican districts in the country. She asked people they wanted to cut spending. Yes! What did they want to cut?  Military? No! Education? No! Social Security? No?. Disaster Relief? Oh, God no! She asked about everything and they said no to everything, everything except foreign aid and the salaries of Congress. “Cut it where it won’t hurt us.” “Cut stupid stuff”  When Alexander asked what specifically they wanted to cut, they said, “I don’t know.”  Now try to tell me that the average Republican voter is capable of rational thought.

They talked about the Ryan budget. Maria said it was shortsighted.  The economy needs investment to be strong.

They talked about Head Start. Jim maintained that it worked in New Jersey. Maria said, that if they want to abolish Head Start, what is the alternative? None of the critics of Head Start have offered something better.

They talked about the Republican party and the report that the party commissioned to study what went wrong in the last election. (Everything!)  John said the Republicans have to be less offensive. (Never gonna happen—1) they don’t know they are offensive, and 2) they like being offensive.)  Maria said that the Libertarians and the Tea Party won’t let the Republican party change.  

They talked about gun control. Bill said he thought 20 dead white kids would have turned the tide, but it apparently has not because both parties love guns. Ninety percent of the people in this country want background checks, and it still can’t pass in the House or the Senate. The problem is people who don’t want gun control won’t vote for you if you vote for it, but the people who do want gun control will vote for you even if you don’t vote for it.

They talked about how prisons are about making a profit and not about treatment. Here’s a starling truth. America has the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world.  (Can you believe it? Russia is second.) Jim spoke about how they made a huge reduction in recidivism in the prison where he works by offering treatment for addiction, sober housing, and jobs. Maria underscored the point about profit by telling us about how the “papers please” law in Arizona was only about making a profit for the business of detention centers.

They talked about the change in attitudes towards homosexuality. Bill attributed it to TV shows, like “Will and Grace.” Jim said it happened because of AIDS. Gays had to come out, and when people saw that their uncle, their brother, their neighbor was gay, attitudes changed. (Case in point: Senator Rob Portman just came out in favor of gay marriage because he has a gay son.)

Clive Davis was the special guest. He is a legend in the business-side of the music entertainment industry.  He promoted and/or discovered all the big names, Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and so many others.  Also, he’s very charming. He is definitely invited to my party. 

The comedy bit was about mayor Bloomberg and his new mission for New York City.  He has put posters in the subways about teen pregnancy. The posters show cute kids with a message of the negative consequences of teen pregnancy. Bill did a few posters of his own.  The kids on these poster were shown saying things like “I will poop in the bathtub,” “Only celebrities lose the baby weight, and you are not a celebrity.” and “I will grow up and steal your weed.” Actually, I didn’t see that much difference between the real posters and the parodies.

“New Rules” was very funny, ending with a tirade about religion.  Bill exhorted us to stop saying the job of pope is so hard.  “He’s selling an invisible product. Everything he says is right by definition. You can run a child sex ring and still keep your customers. The leaders of the Catholic church are just a bunch of guys sitting around making “New Rules.”  Confession—12 the century new rule.  Holy Ghost –3^rd century new rule. Celibacy for priests—4^th century new rule.  Infallibility--1870 new rule. First we (Bill was raised Catholic) couldn’t eat meat on Friday. Then, “This just in. Meat is OK on Friday.” Bill said, “None of this is in the Bible.  The Pope is not in the Bible!” Bill concluded with a great line—the “tell-it-like-it-is” moment of the week. “Religion is like Wikipedia. Anyone can write something.”

A lot of truth-telling on this episode. A lot of charming people.  Which got me to thinking, is Bill charming enough to get invited to my party for charming people?  No, Bill is not charming (too abrasive), but he is funny and he is a truth-sayer, so he can come to my party. But he has to promise not to sit on the deck all night smoking weed . And he has to promise not to and hit on all the young pretty women, and that includes Maria Teresa Kumar.

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