S18.E10: Al Gore, Bill de Blasio, Ian Bremmer, and Nikki Glaser

[Guest]

Airs April 10, 2020

Guests

Quote

Al Gore, Bill de Blasio, Ian Bremmer, and Nikki Glaser

 

[Medicine Crow]

Is this show on HBO or Youtube?

[Broderbits]

4 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

Is this show on HBO or Youtube?

According to my tv guide it's on HBO tonight @10. It may show up on Youtube later.

[GoldenGirl90]

I’m really tired of these JoE bIdEn HaS dEmEnTiA jokes. They’re especially offensive to people who’ve actually witnessed someone suffering from dementia first hand. 
 

And De Blasio is... blah. Ugh. No thanks.

Edited April 11, 2020 by GoldenGirl90

[Robert Lynch]

Every time I see Al Gore, I think of that South Park segment on Man Bearpig.

I'm super cereal!!

[Milburn Stone]

I thought his sermon at the end of New Rules was excellent.

[sugarbaker design]

11 hours ago, GoldenGirl90 said:

I’m really tired of these JoE bIdEn HaS dEmEnTiA jokes. They’re especially offensive to people who’ve actually witnessed someone suffering from dementia first hand. 

I've experienced dementia up close for years and it didn't bother me at all.  It's just a joke.

Like last week, the monologue was awful, but unlike last week the guests and New Rules were entertaining.  Nikki Glaser was a bright spot in a long week.

[arachne]

Last night was Good Friday, in the middle of Passover. Normally Bill would take a break on this occasion -- not because he's observant himself, but because much of his staff would want the holiday off. So I wonder, has Bill's staff been cut? Hopefully this is just temporary. 

[lurkerbee]

Does Bill not know that the Spanish flu didn't originate in Spain or did it just not fit his argument? He lost me when he brought it up.

[kicksave]

2 hours ago, lurkerbee said:

Does Bill not know that the Spanish flu didn't originate in Spain or did it just not fit his argument? He lost me when he brought it up.

For all his smarmy snark he's really not that knowledgable about historical facts....or maybe it's just that his brain has been fried by so much pot smoking.

[Victor the Crab]

17 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

I thought his sermon at the end of New Rules was excellent.

I thought Bill was being his usual dickish ignorant self. We all know where the virus came from and why. Trying to re label it the Chinese virus is petty, vindictive, and racist. Asian Americans are already getting harassed over this.

7 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

I've experienced dementia up close for years and it didn't bother me at all.  It's just a joke.

It's a bad joke. Biden's so called dementia is like Hillary Clinton's email server. Nothing. Bill is of no help to Democrats. Never has, never will.

[SG429]

8 hours ago, arachne said:

Last night was Good Friday, in the middle of Passover. Normally Bill would take a break on this occasion -- not because he's observant himself, but because much of his staff would want the holiday off. So I wonder, has Bill's staff been cut? Hopefully this is just temporary. 

I think, normally, they'd all be working a live show Friday at 7PM PT. With show elements all recorded randomly earlier in the week to be edited together, it's probably not as much of a staff imposition to produce a fresh one.

[IvySpice]

Best episode in a while. Both Nikki Glaser and Al Gore were good interviews. This is as good as it gets in quarantine.

[scrb]

Nikki was the only interview that was entertaining.

She seemed more relaxed and spontaneous than I recall her being on those MTV shows.

 

I wonder if shaming will work on the Chinese.

[GoldenGirl90]

9 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

It's a bad joke. Biden's so called dementia is like Hillary Clinton's email server. Nothing. Bill is of no help to Democrats. Never has, never will.

And there’s a certain group of people who are seriously pushing the “Biden has dementia” narrative. That’s my main issue with it. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by GoldenGirl90

[monakane]

16 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

I thought Bill was being his usual dickish ignorant self. We all know where the virus came from and why. Trying to re label it the Chinese virus is petty, vindictive, and racist. Asian Americans are already getting harassed over this.

Agreed.  I don't know why he felt he needed to die on this particular hill when there is so many other issues going on.

[deirdra]

His staff are probably happy to have work and a break from 24/7 family time.

[Marci]

I thought his point on the New Rules was simply that illnesses have been named after locations for many, many years, so why all fake outrage over this one?

[Victor the Crab]

3 hours ago, Marci said:

I thought his point on the New Rules was simply that illnesses have been named after locations for many, many years, so why all fake outrage over this one?

Because not only that, not all viruses are named after the place they came from - and sometimes incorrect, see the Spanish flu - but that this virus has already been named for quite some time now. Trying to rename it now, by some groups of people in a dickish attempt to stick it China and its people only exposes how low the character they truly are. Just like Bill.

But, if Bill's that adamant and pissy about it, then by all means, let's all call COVID-19 the Chinese virus. But only on the condition we rename hemorrhoids after Bill.

[Hooper]

Quote

I thought his point on the New Rules was simply that illnesses have been named after locations for many, many years, so why all fake outrage over this one?

 

Well, I think people can be genuinely outraged even if I don't share the outrage.  My lack of understanding or agreement doesn't necessarily make someone else's outrage fake.

I 'spoze there is some logic to Bill's argument that naming the current virus pandemic after its place of origin isn't new, and therefore isn't racist.  True, some geographically named diseases are misnomers (Spanish influenza), and not all widespread contagions are identified by their place of origin (HIV, SARS), but still, the practice of applying a geographic name isn't something that was invented just now to stir up anti-Asian fervor. 

But, still...   I haven't heard of a single Colorado ski bum being beat up because some asshole decided to blame him for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  I'm reasonably geographically literate, but I didn't think about Ebola, Zika, or Hanta viruses being named after rivers or forests, and I doubt that your average white supremecist is running around using "you look like one of them thar Ebolanians" as an excuse to harass and threaten someone buying groceries.  But "China flu" is being used as an excuse to harass and threaten Asians, and that seems to me like a pretty good reason not to identify this particular disease with a nationality or geographic location.  Covid-19 is a perfectly crommulent name, and just as there is  precedent for naming viruses after places of origin, there is plenty of precedent for NOT naming viruses after their place of origin (mumps, measles, small pox, polio).  I think the nuance of considering the consequences of continuing a very  inconsistently applied tradition to this particular case is beyond Bill's reasoning ability though.

 

[Milburn Stone]

11 hours ago, Marci said:

I thought his point on the New Rules was simply that illnesses have been named after locations for many, many years, so why all fake outrage over this one?

I think his point was more than that (and I agree with it). He's saying there's a positive value to naming it the Chinese Virus, because this will focus the world's attention where it should be: pressuring China to stop these wet markets where all these viruses are originating. I don't think it's about shaming, to use another poster's word. China is not going to be shamed. But China can be induced to act, if enough economic pressure is brought to bear by the rest of the world. Language can be part of building that world-wide consciousness.

[Victor the Crab]

6 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

I think his point was more than that (and I agree with it). He's saying there's a positive value to naming it the Chinese Virus, because this will focus the world's attention where it should be: pressuring China to stop these wet markets where all these viruses are originating. I don't think it's about shaming, to use another poster's word. China is not going to be shamed. But China can be induced to act, if enough economic pressure is brought to bear by the rest of the world. Language can be part of building that world-wide consciousness.

We all know what Bill's attempt is, which has been his insufferable schtick for years. And there's never been any sort of positive value in how he does it. By all means, turn up the pressure on China and hold them accountable to this crisis, and the times they've handled other viruses before. But not this douchy act. A sign that Bill has gone too far is how many right wing news sites and columnists are applauding him.

4 minutes ago, UpTooLate said:

To me, renaming it is just like when we all were supposed to call french fries "freedom fries." I'm too old and jaded for jingoism.

Exactly!

[Guest]

Just a reminder for this thread -- and forum: If Bill talks about the president specifically, it's on topic. If Bill talks about something the president talked about but doesn't mention the president or what the president said, then it's off topic politics. 

Keep your comments to what Bill and/or his guests said only.