S18.E13: Eric Holder, Bret Stephens, and Matt Taibbi

[GoldenGirl90]

Guests: National Democratic Redistricting Committee chairman Eric Holder; New York Times columnist and MSNBC contributor Bret Stephens; Rolling Stone contributing editor and podcast host Matt Taibbi 

 

[Robert Lynch]

Bad form, Bill. That Biden joke just fell flat.

[monakane]

I'm sick of that argument about herd immunity.  Say, we can protect the elderly and vulnerable.  (Although protecting the elderly inside nursing homes is not working out well.) The problem is that many people don't know if they have an underlying condition that makes them vulnerable and there have been young, healthy people that are getting very sick and sometimes dying.  The other problem with that is that if you get a lot more people sick, the health system gets overwhelmed and possibly collapses. 

I'm through with Bill.  He sounds like a cranky old man.

[yellowjacket]

Eric Holder would not have appeared on this show if he knew Maher was going to trash Biden. 

[Milburn Stone]

I didn't find anything objectionable about Bill's sermon. Just derivative. He's obviously highly influenced by David Katz, one of his guests from last week.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Milburn Stone

[iMonrey]

I simply don't understand why Bill can't have a virtual panel. They have panels of talking heads on cable news shows every single day. It's where the expression "talking heads" came from. Are you going to tell me HBO just doesn't have the technology?

I get that it's easier to record one guest at a time on a schedule of their convenience, rather than trying to wrangle three people at once, but sheesh. That's what the show is supposed to do.

[Milburn Stone]

15 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I simply don't understand why Bill can't have a virtual panel. They have panels of talking heads on cable news shows every single day...Are you going to tell me HBO just doesn't have the technology?

Pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that Bill & Co. have thought about this, and made a calculation that without live studio audience feedback (which can put a guest in his/her place), and the ability for Bill to control a guest with a devastating remark that gets a laugh, he will be unable to stop the conversation from becoming a shouting match.

[Victor the Crab]

58 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

Pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that Bill & Co. have thought about this, and made a calculation that without live studio audience feedback (which can put a guest in his/her place), and the ability for Bill to control a guest with a devastating remark that gets a laugh, he will be unable to stop the conversation from becoming a shouting match.

Since when has Bill ever been successful in controlling his panel? He seems to get off on the chaos they create.

What a fucking shitty and dangerous show that was. Between Bill's Biden bashing and his goddamn ignorant view on quarantining, and that we should all just allow the virus to infect us because our immune system is so awesome, I swear he's getting his info from the likes of Fox News. How much longer is HBO going to keep putting up with this asshole's destructive POV?

[BrownBear2012]

1 hour ago, Victor the Crab said:

Since when has Bill ever been successful in controlling his panel? He seems to get off on the chaos they create.

What a fucking shitty and dangerous show that was. Between Bill's Biden bashing and his goddamn ignorant view on quarantining, and that we should all just allow the virus to infect us because our immune system is so awesome, I swear he's getting his info from the likes of Fox News. How much longer is HBO going to keep putting up with this asshole's destructive POV?

Couldn't agree with you more...that is why I stopped watching last year. I was tired of his long winded rants on the same topics over and over and his move towards the right. I guess it's true that the older you get, the more conservative you become.

[littlecatsfeet]

5 hours ago, BrownBear2012 said:

Couldn't agree with you more...that is why I stopped watching last year. I was tired of his long winded rants on the same topics over and over and his move towards the right. I guess it's true that the older you get, the more conservative you become.

Not necessarily...there's something to be said for that, but I'm a few years older than Bill and he's much, much further to the right than I am, and good lord, I'm tired of his "kids these days" whining. He referred to himself as "a liberal" at one point in last night's show and I just snorted. 

I'd prefer that things worked out that we had a younger candidate than Biden, but we don't,  and that's the reality. I'm not doing cartwheels over it, but I'll support him 100%. To hear the nonstop age bashing ("he smells like pee"?? Really????) was horribly disrespectful and destructive. And yeah, I have a great sense of humor. That whole bit wasn't humor, it was stupid and unfunny. I'm sure Bill missed the audience groaning so he could snottily tell them to fuck off.

 

[BrownBear2012]

3 hours ago, littlecatsfeet said:

Not necessarily...there's something to be said for that, but I'm a few years older than Bill and he's much, much further to the right than I am, and good lord, I'm tired of his "kids these days" whining. He referred to himself as "a liberal" at one point in last night's show and I just snorted. 

I'd prefer that things worked out that we had a younger candidate than Biden, but we don't,  and that's the reality. I'm not doing cartwheels over it, but I'll support him 100%. To hear the nonstop age bashing ("he smells like pee"?? Really????) was horribly disrespectful and destructive. And yeah, I have a great sense of humor. That whole bit wasn't humor, it was stupid and unfunny. I'm sure Bill missed the audience groaning so he could snottily tell them to fuck off.

 

OMG! Is that what he said??? He didn't say all those ageist jokes when Bernie was in the picture...in fact, he told Bernie that people were being ageist towards him! And he will be whining that no "liberals" or Democrats will go on his show come this Fall...do you blame them? His dislike of anyone under the age of 40 alienates a huge audience of people that normally would watch his show but have decided to watch John Oliver instead. Now he's alienating people over the age of 65, like me, who find remarks like those he made about Biden offensive and mean spirited. He needs to be dropped by HBO but he's under contract until 2022 I believe...ugh. I'll just continue to boycott his show and watch a movie instead.

[arachne]

5 hours ago, UpTooLate said:

and basically agreeing with the guest that killing the weak is necessary for the country to survive.

A sentiment that, in a historical context, sounds anything but liberal. 

[12catcrazy]

I usually only lurk on this forum rather than posting comments (I save those for other shows) but I was so appalled by this show that my teeth are set on edge with outrage.

One of the things that liberals are usually accused of are of being "elitist" and Bill brought that attitude in spades.   Maybe if he actually ventured into the "real world" most of us live in, he'd realize that not everyone is able to shop at Whole Foods, have the time and money to join a gym or have a personal trainer, and live what he feels is a "healthy" lifestyle.    

Unfortunately, junk food is cheaper (and faster!) than good food and many people in this country live in whats called "food deserts".  They don't have good access to fresh fruits and vegetables and can't afford quality meats.  Not to mention the time it takes to prepare such foods (I'm a failed vegetarian - I know all about healthy food and how much time it takes to shop and prepare it).   Kind of hard to eat like a rich person living in So. Cal when you're working 2 jobs and having long commutes.  And there is also more to many health issues that are beyond people's control.  Genetics play a part and science is finding viral infections may play a part in autoimmune diseases,  but don't tell Fat Shamers like Bill all that. 

Oh and as far as Bill wanting the world to get back to normal (cause, God Forbid, he wants to go to a restaurant and hang with friends), maybe he should get off his high horse and come to NY for a visit.   He can see the newspaper stories about U Haul trucks with rotting bodies because a funeral home became overwhelmed and didn't know where to put them.  He can read the first hand accounts from the folks who work in hospitals and what they've been dealing with.   Part of the reason for the "NY Pause" was not only to save lives but to prevent the hospitals from being totally overwhelmed, and to be honest, the "Pause' really came a few weeks too late to prevent that from happening.   But people like Bill Maher really don't care about that - they care about their entitled "wants" and if the old people and the "sick" people (who apparently in Bill's view bring that upon themselves), and the working folks who man the kitchens where Bill likes to eat, and pick up the garbage, and clean houses, and work at hospitals, and meat packing plants,  die, well, hey!  People gonna die any way!   I'm really sorry to see that Bill Maher seems to be a believer in Social Darwinism -    I always wanted to see Bill live - but after this - the guy won't ever get a dime of my money. 

[BrownBear2012]

On 5/3/2020 at 7:21 AM, UpTooLate said:

I found this show so distasteful. Bashing Biden and old people, getting in a dig about fat people (I wish he'd just admit he finds them unattractive rather than pretending to be concerned about their health), and basically agreeing with the guest that killing the weak is necessary for the country to survive. Eric Holder is the only thing I found interesting. I'm sorry I wasted my time watching.

It sounds like more and more he's morphing into someone who should be on Fox News if he's expressing the whole the "thinning of the herd" opinion that was expressed over and over again by Hannity and others on Fox. I couldn't beleive that I was actually hearing these people right, like the Lt. Governor of Texas, when they said it would be a good thing that older people should die and let the younger, stronger people survive... but Bill is now embracing this Nazi like view of human life??? Wow...just wow. I guess when you lead a life with no one to share it with and are devoid of having love in your life, except a love of weed, this is what happens. 

[sugarbaker design]

4 hours ago, BrownBear2012 said:

but Bill is now embracing this Nazi like view of human life??? Wow...just wow. I guess when you lead a life with no one to share it with and are devoid of having love in your life, except a love of weed, this is what happens. 

Now, now, don't blame Bill's assholery on his singleness.  There are so many committed singletons, like myself,  who have yet to endorse eugenics.  His singleness is more a consequence of his assholery.

[BrownBear2012]

4 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Now, now, don't blame Bill's assholery on his singleness.  There are so many committed singletons, like myself,  who have yet to endorse eugenics.  His singleness is more a consequence of his assholery.

True....but I wasn't really referring to his single status. Just his lack of any kind of relationship with meaning in his life. Even his other single celebrity friends have kids from ex wives or family that they can hang with while sheltering in place. He just seems very angry and bitter. Maybe he should start eating some real food instead of the nuts and seed paste he eats...he seems hangry.

[For Cereals]

Angry and bitter is right.  And why?  Because he can’t go out or time his jokes to a live audience?  Bill just gets increasingly whiny each week.  Judging by the looks of things, he’s got his own personal park on his palatial estate.  I hate woke statements, but man, check your privilege and count your blessings.  

Maybe Superhead Karrine can make a house call...