S18.E06: Anne Rimoin, Nicholas Kristof, EJ Dionne, Buck Sexton, and Jane Kleeb

[Guest]

Airs February 28, 2020

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Anne Rimoin, Nicholas Kristof, EJ Dionne, Buck Sexton, and Jane Kleeb

 

[Robert Lynch]

Buck Sexton......ughhh. 

[HelenBaby]

What makes people the way they are? Why is it that people enjoy, maybe even thrive on negative attention? The POTUS has no idea what he’s doing and for sexton to try to defend his reaction to the health issue facing our country really burns my biscuits. I couldn’t blame Bill for going off on that guy. I AM SO FRUSTRATED BY THIS WHOLE SITUATION. 

[Milburn Stone]

That episode was one of the most gripping ones in living memory, but unfortunately not because it was funny.

[bobbyjoe]

For once Bill appeared to feel what his audiences have felt for years:  you’re trying to have an adult conversation— the conservative professional shit-stirrer adds nothing and his whole role is to derail you talking about anything intelligently.  Bill actually looked angry at Sexton a few times, but I kept thinking “well, you invited him.”

Years ago Bill stopped having comedians or movie and tv celebrities on the main panel and instead has them pop in in the last twenty minutes or so obviously because (particularly with comedians) they tended to out-talk and sideline the panel conversation; maybe he needs to start doing the same with people whose whole job is just to obfuscate.  Thoughtful conservatives, fine, have them on the panel, but people whose job is only  “deny basic reality” or “I know you are, but what am I” need to either go or if Bill absolutely has to have them just give them their own segment at the end.

All that being said, it was ultimately a pretty good episode.   I like that 90% of it was focused on the same subject and most of the guests were there to actually add some insight.   The ending monologue on New Rules was idiotic (pretending death threats are about anything other than messed up individuals is pretty damn low, but Bill proved that there is absolutely no subject he won’t stoop to try and turn into blitheringly dumb both-siderism).  But much of the rest of the show reminded me of why I still watch.

[Pike Ludwell]

38 minutes ago, bobbyjoe said:

For once Bill appeared to feel what his audiences have felt for years:  you’re trying to have an adult conversation— the conservative professional shit-stirrer adds nothing and his whole role is to derail you talking about anything intelligently.  Bill actually looked angry at Sexton a few times, but I kept thinking “well, you invited him.”

Yeah I was pleasantly surprised at the way Bill and the others pretty much kept Sexton under control. He's one of those folks with stupid ideas, but 100% sure they are right, who think they are the king (or queen) of the panel and try to monopolize the whole thing, (And his idiotic, out of touch with reality smirks were annoying.) Only reason to have someone like that on is to immediately destroy his arguments and also keep on shutting him down, which they pretty much did.

Bill started talking about people eating bats and then started saying that people ingesting horrible food is the reason for so many problems today. I was wondering do that many people eat bats? Then I realized he was talking about hamburgers and such and he was going off on one of his goofball "things". Then he asked if sugar is the most dangerous food today? The woman equivocated but she should have said sugar is fine, as are most foods, if eaten in moderation.

 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Pike Ludwell

[Robert Lynch]

20 hours ago, Pike Ludwell said:

Yeah I was pleasantly surprised at the way Bill and the others pretty much kept Sexton under control. He's one of those folks with stupid ideas, but 100% sure they are right, who think they are the king (or queen) of the panel and try to monopolize the whole thing, (And his idiotic, out of touch with reality smirks were annoying.) Only reason to have someone like that on is to immediately destroy his arguments and also keep on shutting him down, which they pretty much did.

Bill started talking about people eating bats and then started saying that people ingesting horrible food is the reason for so many problems today. I was wondering do that many people eat bats? Then I realized he was talking about hamburgers and such and he was going off on one of his goofball "things". Then he asked if sugar is the most dangerous food today? The woman equivocated but she should have said sugar is fine, as are most foods, if eaten in moderation.

 

 

There was a segment about that on the Jim Jeffries Show from Comedy Central that kind of mentions that when he did one of his trips. But I was wondering if it was Hong Kong or China. I believed it was one of those markets that sells shark food or something no human being would eat, but it is something Jim did a couple years back and it made me go blech. Then when I see the news today about the virus, I just can't believe people would eat something that might be a carrier of disease. But that is the reason you have to cautious now because something like this is unexplainable.

[DB in CMH]

The epidemiologist was awesome. Under a different administration, she might be the face of the response. How great would that be?

[sugarbaker design]

7 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

I just can't believe people would eat something that might be a carrier of disease. But that is the reason you have to cautious now because something like this is unexplainable.

Aren't all living things potential carriers of disease?  

[Robert Lynch]

19 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Aren't all living things potential carriers of disease?  

Pretty much.

[UnknownK]

3 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Aren't all living things potential carriers of disease?  

Scavengers and blood suckers more then vegetarians (bats, skunks, raccoons foxes, coyotes),

 

[wknt3]

On 2/29/2020 at 9:24 AM, bobbyjoe said:

For once Bill appeared to feel what his audiences have felt for years:  you’re trying to have an adult conversation— the conservative professional shit-stirrer adds nothing and his whole role is to derail you talking about anything intelligently.  Bill actually looked angry at Sexton a few times, but I kept thinking “well, you invited him.”

Years ago Bill stopped having comedians or movie and tv celebrities on the main panel and instead has them pop in in the last twenty minutes or so obviously because (particularly with comedians) they tended to out-talk and sideline the panel conversation; maybe he needs to start doing the same with people whose whole job is just to obfuscate.  Thoughtful conservatives, fine, have them on the panel, but people whose job is only  “deny basic reality” or “I know you are, but what am I” need to either go or if Bill absolutely has to have them just give them their own segment at the end.

All that being said, it was ultimately a pretty good episode.   I like that 90% of it was focused on the same subject and most of the guests were there to actually add some insight.   The ending monologue on New Rules was idiotic (pretending death threats are about anything other than messed up individuals is pretty damn low, but Bill proved that there is absolutely no subject he won’t stoop to try and turn into blitheringly dumb both-siderism).  But much of the rest of the show reminded me of why I still watch.

 

On 2/29/2020 at 9:53 AM, Pike Ludwell said:

Yeah I was pleasantly surprised at the way Bill and the others pretty much kept Sexton under control. He's one of those folks with stupid ideas, but 100% sure they are right, who think they are the king (or queen) of the panel and try to monopolize the whole thing, (And his idiotic, out of touch with reality smirks were annoying.) Only reason to have someone like that on is to immediately destroy his arguments and also keep on shutting him down, which they pretty much did.

The reason Bill has these guests on is to play the heel role in the pseudo-intellectual pro wrestling show that is way too much of panel television. Basically it's to provide the set up for zingers and to make sure you'll have a lot of shouting. I've mentioned before that it was probably an unfortunate necessity back in his Politically Incorrect days when he was in a volume business and needed something conventional that the network execs could wrap their brains around ("it's The McLaughlin Group with jokes"). It also helped that most of them were just playing a role and were fun off camera, especially the pretty young women desperate to be on camera anywhere. Now he does it because he is lazy and it's easier to have a blowhard on to fill up the air time between the scripted bits and set up his lines despite all his high minded explanations of intellectual freedom and open debate between all POVs.. He was annoyed this week because he was actually engaged and because this week's blowhard was particularly incapable of pretending to care about actually debating the topic at hand. I'm sure within a show or two we'll be back to normal.
 

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Bill started talking about people eating bats and then started saying that people ingesting horrible food is the reason for so many problems today. I was wondering do that many people eat bats? Then I realized he was talking about hamburgers and such and he was going off on one of his goofball "things". Then he asked if sugar is the most dangerous food today? The woman equivocated but she should have said sugar is fine, as are most foods, if eaten in moderation.

Yeah this was his usual pseudo-scientific nonsense when it comes to medicine. I'm not sure I would call her response equivocating so much as refusing to get dragged in to the nonsense and stay off topic, and not wanting to get in to the weeds while not agreeing with him.

[Hanahope]

Wonder how Buck feels about how Covid-19 was handled now.