Real Time with Bill Maher #367 10/09/2015 “Speaking Truth”

Speaking Truth

by Catherine Giordano

Truth is funnier than fiction. You will know the truth, and it will make you laugh. Here is a recap and review of Real Time with Bill Maher episode 367, which aired on 10/9/2015, and provided an hour’s worth of truth wrapped in a layer of comedy. 

The truth about the Speaker of the House

The truth is that being Speaker of the House is an impossible job in today’s Congress. It seems like no one wants the job and everyone wants the job.The smart ones don’t want it because it is impossible to bring the so-called Freedom Caucus (formerly known as The Tea Party) under control. It will be a career-killer for anyone who takes on the job. The not-so- mart ones want it because they think they can use the position to bring down the government. Who knew conservatives are the new anarchists?

Maher mocked Kevin McCarthy for his abrupt decision to withdraw himself from the race. McCarthy said the Republicans needed a “fresh face.”  Maher said the McCarthy’s face was so “fresh” no one even knows who he is. Maybe the real reason he withdrew is because he’s been a bit fresh and frisky with Congresswoman Renee Elmers (R, NC). Their affair, going back to 2011, is described as the biggest open secret in Washington D.C.  His political enemies were prepared to let the whole world in on the secret if he did not withdraw. The race for speaker is now a free-for-all barroom brawl. Just like the race for the Republican nomination. How can anyone take the Republican Party seriously anymore?

The Republican Party is collapsing and it is the the Republicans’ own fault.  They were quick to embrace The Tea Party as a way to win elections. Now they have reaped what they have sown. The Tea Party anarchists are destroying the Republican Party from within. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in the Congress are just sitting back and enjoying the show. I am hoping that there will be enough left of government when the Democrats pick up the pieces. Maybe they will be forced to elect Nancy Pelosi Speaker. She knows how to get things done. There’s no rule that the Speaker has to be a member of the majority party.

Maher pointed out the truism that the problem is due to gerrymandered districts. Republicans know they can’t lose their election to a Democrat in their tailor-made districts with an over-whelming number of Republican voters crammed into them. What they fear is a primary fight and losing their cushy job to a candidate who is even more extreme than they are. So they move further and further to the right, no matter if they destroy the country.

The true Republican agenda

Panelist Rob Thomas is a singer, songwriter, and co-founder (with his wife Marisol) of Sidewalk Angels, a charitable organization which supports animal rescue and advocacy efforts. He iscurrently on tour for his new album, The Great Unknown. Thomas said, “Their whole job is to foul things up” and then “their idiocy is rewarded in the polls.” (He actually used a different four-letter word in place of “foul” but I try to keep things “clean.’.)

Panelist Anne-Marie Slaughter was the Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department under Hillary Clinton. She is President and CEO of the New America Foundation and the author of several books. Her latest book is Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family. She said “Their sole objective is to blow government up.” 

Panelist Andrew Sullivan is a blogger (The Dish) and author of several books including The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and The Future of the Right .He said, “It is all about venting, tantrums, and temper. I’m a Libertarian, but I know I have to compromise.”

Andrew Sullivan went on to say, “Obama is kicking their ass at every turn. He’s playing the long game.”

Andrew Sullivan has it in for Hillary

Andrew Sullivan was making so much sense, and then he had to go and ruin it with a diatribe against Hillary Clinton. It was an out-of-control rant. Maher tried to josh him out of it. “Why do you hate her so much? Were you molested as a child by a real estate lady?” Sullivan was undeterred.

When Sullivan said, “Hhalf of the country doesn’t believe her about the emails,” Maher put that statement in context when he reminded Sullivan that “Half the country also believes the Noah’s Ark story is true.” 

Slaughter defended Hillary (when she could get a word in edgewise) and said, “Hillary is incredibly smart.’ Sullivan countered that she is a “calculating politician.”  Maher topped him, saying, “I’d rather have a calculating politician than someone who can’t calculate.”   

The truth about addiction

Patrick Kennedyis a former Congressman (D, RI) and author of an new A Common Struggle: A Personal Journal through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction.  He said that his book is not a tell-all about the Kennedy family; it is meant to educate people about addiction.

Maher feels that people are over-medicated, but Kennedy said that addiction is a true illness and it needs to be seen as such by the health-care insurance industry. Alcohol was a way of self-medicating for his father Ted Kennedy—he had two bothers murdered [and, I will add, another killed in war] and he was probably suffering from PTSD. Thankfully, it is a different time now and there are medications. Slaughter agreed, saying, “It’s not character; it’s chemical.”

Sullivan was back to being reasonable, and he sided with Kennedy. “My mom is bipolar and the pills she takes are essential. Sometimes she doesn’t want to take her pills. I told her ‘If you won’t take your pills for depression, I won’t take mine for HIV.’”  

Maher went off about Big Pharma, but Sullivan shouted him down, saying “If it wasn’t for Big Pharma, I wouldn’t be here today.”

I just know it is true

The mid-show comedy routine was one of the best segments ever. It was titled “I don’t know it for a fact…I just know that it is true.” People just “knowing something is true” when they actually don’t know anything at all is all too prevalent.

Here are some of the things Bill Maher said.  “I don’t know for a fact, but I just know it is true that… 

• The owner of this giant truck has a small dick.
• Ted Cruz is wearing a bra and panties under his suit.
• Obama and Pope Francis are atheists. [That is one that I “just know” also]
• Donald Trump’s father is an orange-haired orangutan.

And

• The Benghazi hearings are just an excuse to take down Hillary---wait a moment, that one I do know for a fact.”

Barack Obama and Pope Francis
share a moment 

New Rules—Yes, we cam

Maher thinks the camera phone has totally gotten out of hand. He said, “You know how the people in some primitive tribes think that pictures steal your soul. They are right.”

He then railed against the practice of constantly taking pictures instead of being in the moment. For instance, taking pictures of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre or having ten seconds to actually see the Pope and missing out because you are snapping a picture instead. (You can buy a post card with a picture of the Mona Lisa and download a picture of the Pope.) 

People are checking their phones even in intimate situations. He joked, about getting a text during sex saying “Are you close?” And if he were to get a “no service” message on his phone, the sex would end anti-climatically.

“Virtual reality—virtual means almost.” Maher wants us to put down the phone and experience true reality.    

Bill Maher’s Guests October 9, 2015

Interview:

Ernest Moniz: United States Secretary of Energy, Professor of Physics, Emeritus at MIT, founding Director of the MIT Energy Initiative, Director of the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment .

Mid-Show Interview: 

Patrick Kennedy: Former Congressman (D, RI), author of A Common Struggle: A Personal Journal through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction 

Panel:

Andrew Sullivan:  Blogger (The Dish), author of several books including The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and The Future of the Right

Rob Thomas: Singer, Songwriter, co-founder (with his wife Marisol) of the charitable organization which supports animal rescue and advocacy efforts, Sidewalk Angels. He currently on tour for his new album, The Great Unknown.

Anne-Marie Slaughter: Former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department under Hillary Clinton, President and CEO of the New America Foundation, author of several books. Her latest book is Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family

Real Time with Bill Maher #336 11/14/14 "Revelations"

by Catherine Giordano

Obama is in Ninja mode.

It was a night of revelations on Real Time with Bill Maher, episode 336, which aired on 11/14/14 on HBO. I’ll reveal what I heard and learned from Bill Maher and his guests in this recap and review.

Obama as ninja

Maher began his opening monolog by revealing that “Obama went all ninja on them” and “He was like Pacino at the end of Scarface. He compared Obama to the idealist President Bartlett on the defunct TV series The West Wing. (I always wished we could have a real-life president like President Bartlett.  

Here is what Obama did that earned Maher’s (and my) respect.  

• He went to China and got a carbon-capping deal that can help reduce global warming.
• He came out strongly for net neutrality.
• Obama announced that he is going to use executive action on immigration. 

Obama will allow illegal immigrants who have close relatives who are citizens—this usually means the parents of children who are citizens because they were born here—to obtain green cards and will not deport them. This is a family-values policy because it keeps families together.

Republicans are going ballistic at the mere thought of this action. They are threatening to shut down the government and to stat impeachment proceedings in retaliation. Ninja Obama is fearless. He has nothing to lose and he has finally realized that Republicans will never cooperate with him on anything.  It’s a shame that it took the loss of majority control in the Senate for him to let his inner ninja out.

Maher also joked about “fake outrage.” The President was chewing gum.  And walking at the same time. Maher quipped, “It’s a blatant attempt to show up Bush.”
 

CLICK HERE

The interview with Rand Paul

Maher began the interview with Rand Paul by showing the cover of the Time magazine that featured Paul with the headline “The most Interesting Man in the World”. The introduction set the tone for the whole interview. Maher said he was open to voting for Paul if he ran for president.  (Maher began his political career as a libertarian.  He has since matured into a liberal, but he still sometimes has a weakness for libertarians.)

Rand acquitted himself well in the interview.  He said, “It’s a low bar” about his title as “most interesting man in the world.” 

 

Rand revealed his progressive side to us. He came out in favor of restoring voting rights to felons. There are 200 million people who can’t vote because they are felons.  He is also in favor of prison reform.  H objects to prisons as a for-profit business.  He also objects to the expense of keeping people in prison when it does not add to the public safety.

If Maher was going for a gotcha moment with a question on climate change, he didn’t get it.  Rand said he favored a “balanced solution.”  He said we should pursue renewable energy, but not shut down one source of energy [coal]. Darn. Why aren’t Democrats saying that? Of course, we can’t shut down the coal industry overnight; it has to be phased out while coal-miners are trained for new jobs in renewable energy.  I can’t imagine there are many coal miners who wouldn’t jump at the chance to earn a comparable wage without having to do the dirty and dangerous job of coal mining.

Rand is for ending the drug war and ending the shooting war in Iraq and the Mideast. He pointed out that every time we topple a secular dictator, things get worse.  

If he keeps talking like this, I might be open to voting for him. However, I’m hoping the Democratic candidate will take the same stands on these issues because Paul is wrong about a lot of other things. Also with common sense rational views like this, I doubt he can win the Republican nomination.   But you gotta give Paul credit--he tailored his message to his audience.  Let’s see what he says when he is talking to Republicans in the primary debates.

 

The mid-term elections

Maher bemoaned the fact that Obama waited until after the elections to reveal the good news.  If he had done if before the elections, he might have motivated some more people to vote.



CLICK HERE

Panelist Margaret Hoover, a Republican political commentator and author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party was magnanimous. She said “The map was just not in your favor this year” because the majority of the elections were in red states. 



CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panelist Andrew Sullivan is Blogger- in-Chief at The Dish and author of six books.  (His most recent book is Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival.) He said, “Show that you believe in something. No one wants to vote for the guy mumbling and shuffling away.”



CLICK HERE

Panelist Jeremy Scahill, an investigative journalist and author of two books. (Blackwater and his new book Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield, said, “It is like an acting troop that comes out for the encore, but they never did the show.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immigration

Hoover said that the Republicans are “quietly back-channeling” that they are will to move on this.  Maher retorted with disbelief, “VERY quietly.”  Sullivan was also skeptical. He said, “When have they ever won out over the crazies.”


The mid-East and ISIS

Maher said it would take 30,000 ground troops to defeat ISIS. Scahill said this war was a continuation of the war against Bushes troops and that the Bathists had joined a coalition with the Muslim radicals. Sullivan said we need a president to say “This is not our problem.” Maher agreed that we should just let them fight it out among themselves.  

Religion

Maher said that there are power struggles in the Vatican as Pope Frank (as Maher calls Pope Francis) tries to move the church into the new age.  He canned Cardinal Raymond Burke, a very conservative cardinal. (Actually, you can't fire a cardinal. The Pope just transferred him to some minor post.)

Pope Frank has to serve in the unusual circum stance of having another living Pope, the retired Pope Benedict. Maher said Pope Benedict was the Dick Cheney of the Catholic Church. Maher then launched into the mid-show comedy segment where he showed a mock war-of-words on twitter between the two popes. 

The conversation about religion continued when the mid-show guest, Martin Short—comedian, actor, and author-- joined the panel. Maher said the he and Short and Sullivan were all raised Catholic and the only one stuck with it.  “The gay one! “(Sullivan.)

Sullivan said, “We can leave room for doubt.  If you have never doubted, you have never really believed.”

Scahill said Pope Frank is trying to push for economic change.  Hoover said he is trying to go back to “the simplicity of Christ.”  Maher pointed out that after he does these things, he comes out for exorcism. “He’s a good politician, throwing a little something to the base.”

Maher brought up the Mormon religion. The Mormon Church has been trying to modernize by being honest about the history of the church.  They are admitting that Joseph Smith, who founded the religion in the 1930’s had 30 to 40 wives, one of whom was a 14 year-old girl and others who were already married. Maher called it “a sex-cult.”  Maher said, “They can’t hide the facts because this history is so recent.”    

Sullivan then tried to claim that the stories in the Bible wee history true.  There was a virgin birth and Christ did come back from the dead—it can’t be empirically disproved.  Maher said that none of the Bible stories about Christ were written until 40 years after his death.  “It is like no one noticed the Beatles until 2010.” 

Martin tried to end the discussion by saying that the truth of religion is not important: “Who cares if it gives you strength.”   

Maher had one more point to make.  He said that the Mormons have Revelators who get messages from God and that even the Mormon missionaries will no longer go to Syria and Iraq. 

CLICK HERE

Martin Short

The mid-show guest was Martin Short, an actor, comedian, and author of several books. Maher discussed Martin Short’s new book I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend.  Maher praised Short for his beautifully written memoir and for his honesty in talking about the losses in his life the death of his brother, his parents, and his wife of 36 years. In the book Short reveals a lot of personal details about his life and career including the fact that Gilda Radner was his first real love.

New Rules: The Importance of Voting

Maher was on fire about people not voting. He started with the little stickers that say “I voted” that are given to people after they vote. Why should people get a sticker just for doing what they are supposed to do? It is like getting a sticker for flushing the toilet.  Instead, there should be stickers for non-voters that say “I couldn’t be bothered.”


He castigated people like comedian Russell Brand who made a statement saying don’t vote because the system is broken. (It got broken because people didn’t vote.)  Politicians are all the same? Tell that to the 700,000 people in Florida who would have gotten health insurance if the Democrat had been elected governor. Obama didn’t deliver? Maybe you missed it because it wasn’t on TMZ.

 

President Mitt McCain

Maher asked us to imagine life if we had elected President Mitt McCain instead of Obama. (He morphed pictures of the two into one. It was very funny.)  Maher revealed what would have happened.

• There was no stimulus and the auto industry was allowed to die.  We are in the sixth year of Great Depression II.
• Paula Dean and Joe the Plumber is on the Supreme Court.
• The Attorney General is Dick Cheney’s head.
• The nearest abortion clinic is in London.
• There is no renewable energy but one trillion dollars was spent on an electrified fence on the Mexican border to keep out the one Mexican who still wants to get it.
• Homeland Security chairman Ted Cruz deported all 12 million Mexicans and now we have no fruit.

“No fruit, no jobs, your girl friend is having a baby you don’t want, no health insurance and your tap water is on fire!  But you didn’t dirty your hands in the gutter of politics.” I think the bit should have ended with this line. 

The last line seemed a little weak to me. Maher ended with, “If your hands are not dirty, it is not because you are pure. It is because you are not helping.” The writers should have battered that one around a little more. 

Yu cn read more about this and see the video clip at Bill Maher: President Mitt McCain

 

Martin Short

Bill Maher’s Guests: November 14, 2014
 

Rand Paul:  Senator (R, KY), and author (with Ron Paul) of Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Fed  

Martin Short:  Actor, comedian, and author of several books. His most recent book is I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend

 

Margaret Hoover: Political commentator and author of American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party

 Andrew Sullivan: Blogger-in-Chief at The Dish, blog and author of six books.  His most recent book is Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival

Jeremy Scahill: Journalist and author of two books.  His most recent book is Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield 

HBO “Real Time with Bill Maher” #266 “It’s Odd”

By Catherine Giordano

Last week Bill Maher said that if Obama is elected America wins and if Romney is elected comedy wins. Well Obama was elected and America won, but comedy is still alive and well on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” The episode airing on 11/09/2012, episode 266, had lots of great comedy moments. I’m going to name this episode “It’s Odd.” Read on, and you’ll see why.  

Bill began with a funny monologue. (Actually doesn’t everything seem funnier now that the pall of a Republican win no longer hovers over us?)  Bill said “Mormon has broken and we are black in the saddle again.”  Puns may be the lowest form of humor, but this one rocked. 

Talking about Mormons, Romney got a lower percentage of the Mormon vote than Bush did. Romney also lost all of his home states (Massachusetts where he currently lives, Michigan where he grew up, New Hampshire where he has a summer home, and California where he has another home.) As has been stated many times, the people who know Romney best, like him least.  P.S. He also lost Paul Ryan's home state of Wisconsin. It's odd when candidates lose their home states.

Bill also made a joke about the Secret Service dropping protection as soon as the election was called. Romney arrived in a 15-car Secret Service motorcade, and went home in the back seat of his son’s car.  

OK, now I’m just piling on. Buh Buh bye, Romney. I hope he finally disappears from public life--maybe goes to live with his money in the Cayman Islands--so I never have to look at his ugly face again. Yes, I know, he has movie-star good-looks, but he has an ugly soul. Somewhere, in an attic someplace, a Dorian Gray-like portrait shows him looking like something from “The Crypt.”    

The interview was with Mason Tvert the co-director of “The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol.” Marijuana won on election night too. Several states, including Colorado, have moved marijuana closer to full legality. Mason told Bill to make a generous donation to his group (referencing Bill’s $1 million dollar donation to Obama) and he would move to California and make MJ totally legal there. Bill promised to do so.  Medical marijuana is already legal in California, but people shouldn’t have to come up with medical conditions just because they want to get high.  

In Colorado, the marijuana referendum got more votes than Obama did. Maybe Obama got elected on marijuana’s coattails. 

The panel included Andrew Sullivan, who writes The Dish’ for the “The Daily Beast”. Sullivan is an odd duck. He describes himself as a political conservative, but he is increasingly at odds with the Republican party. He’s a Catholic, but he is also openly gay.  

Another panelist, James Carville, a Democratic political strategist and CNN contributor is not so much an odd duck as just plain odd. He’s a funny guy, a fierce Democrat, and he speaks his mind straight out. 

The third panelist was S. E. Cupp. a columnist for the New York Daily News and is a co-host for the “The Cycle” on MSNBC. This woman just has odd opinions. For instance, on “Overtime” she said that Obama has the same foreign policy as Bush and that Obama’s actions in Libya (where we had no boots on the ground) equates to Bush’s undeclared war in Iraq. Everybody started yelling at once when she said that, and any hope for reasoned debate was gone. It’s odd, isn’t it, how conservatives always say the most outrageous things in order to avoid serious debate. I do not like this woman. I wonder if she has a portrait in an attic someplace.  

Talking about outrageous statements from conservatives, consider this one from Bill O’Reilly, a Fox News host. Maher mentioned that O’Reilly commented on Obama’s win by saying “50% of the people in this country want stuff.”  And the Democrats promise to give them stuff.” (He was echoing Romney’s infamous 47% comment and the Republican “takers vs. makers” comments.)  “Yeah”, Bill said, referencing ObamaCare, “they don’t want their little girl to die of leukemia.”  Bill went on to point out an odd fact: The blues states (where “the takers” supposedly live) subsidize the red states. Yes, the blue states pay more in taxes than they get back in federal aid, while the reverse is true in the red states. 

Andrew Sullivan pointed out that health care was originally a Republican idea.  He described Republicans as “completely nuts.”  

The talk turned to reproductive rights and Todd Akin. Andrew Sullivan said that Catholics believe human life starts at conception.  Bill interjected, “At erection!”  

Cupp said that the Democrats message to women is that they can’t survive without government.  Again, Cupp was being so outrageous that everyone started screaming at her, and she just kept talking louder and shriller. Bill had to interrupt and change the subject. 

James Carville pointed out that “Never have so few, spent so much to effect so few.”  He was referring to the hundreds of millions that Repubican billionaires donated to Super Pacs and how just about none of their candidates won. They got about a 1% return on their investment. Obama won, the Dems gained 2 seats in the Senate and a bunch of house seats. Republicans retained control of the House only because of gerrymandering. 

This was a great segue for Bill’s “In Memorium” segment.  He ran through the list of the politically “deceased”—McMahon, Morris, Koch Brothers, Murdock, Walsh, West, Sununu, the dressage horse, Brown, Akin, the empty chair, Trump, Rove, Romney-- and ended with “Farewell Douchebags.”  This was the “you-had-to-be-there” moment of the week. It doesn’t sound that funny when I write it, but if you watch the bit, it is hilarious.

The special guest was Samuel L. Jackson, an actor. Bill suggested that the election of Obama to a second term was even better than if he had just been elected once.  If he had not been re-elected, it would have been like saying “Ok, we tried” but it just didn’t work out.  

Cupp went to the Republican argument about the liberal media not taking the president to task. Carville retorted that Republicans never take responsibility. “Who prepped him?” he said referring to Romney. They blame Candy (the moderator of the second debate), but he stepped in it. Carville has it right. Conservatives live in “the bubble;” they refuse to believe facts (like polls), and so they lost. 

Andrew Sullivan talked about Romney and how Romney said that he knows how to run things, but Romney couldn’t even run get-out-the-vote efforts. Odd isn’t it, how this supposedly great businessman who claimed he knew how to run a country couldn’t even run a campaign. Obama was mocked for being a community organizer. True, he didn’t make a lot of money, but he learned how to get out the vote. Thank you Sullivan for saying on national TV what I have been saying throughout this campaign. Romney ran a bad convention and campaign; Obama ran his convention and campaign successfully. So who showed the country that he knew how to run things?   

Bill brought up the government report that showed that lower tax rates for the top incomes does not create jobs.  Clinton raised taxes and created 22 million jobs, GWB lowered taxes and created only 1 million jobs. (And “The Great Recession”.)  

New Rules. 

Nate Silver was right, Fox News was wrong. Next time, Fox News talks about polls, they should cut to a shot of Sarah Palin winking. 

 

Ted Nugent said that if Obama won he (Nugent) would be either dead or in jail. “Sounds like a plan to me,” Bill said.

 

Donald Trump-if you had a golden retriever who howled like that, had a mangy coat and fat deposits like that, the phrase your vet would use is, “the kindest thing to do …”

Bill closed with a riff about white people only voting for white people. Obama got only 39% of the white vote for his re-election. Obama has won an election four times. The only time he won the white vote was when he ran against another black guy. Do you find that odd?

 

 

 James Carville cracking up over a joke by Bill Maher.

 

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