S18.E17: Killer Mike, Frank Figliuzzi, Michael Steele, and Rosa Brooks

[GoldenGirl90]

Guests: Killer Mike, Frank Figliuzzi, Michael Steele, Rosa Brooks

[Medicine Crow]

This show is Bill's "last chance" with me!!!

[cali1981]

Last week's show was very good but tonight Bill is so far off the rails on Covid-19 that it's frightening.  He is spouting the same crap that you hear from those who are Covid deniers.  His trying to equate the 109,000 Covid deaths to the alleged 100,000 who die from hospital infections is absolute nonsense. Yeah Bill, even if the 100,00 number is true, it is spaced out over the course of a full year. Covid-19 has killed more people than that in a little over three months with no end in sight.  His complaints about the lock downs are entirely self-serving.  I'd like Bill to tell us how exactly he would have handled the situation once it it was known how deadly the virus was and how efficiently it was transmitted. Maybe he would have had the country conduct business as usual with, perhaps, some mild precautions.  The death count would have probably been two to three times what it currently is.  I'm just getting tired of Bill's oversized ego producing this kind of gibberish.

Edited June 6, 2020 by cali1981

[FoundTime]

Finally a (mini)panel that pushed back on Bill's nonsense, and did it in a calm, rational way. I noticed that he stopped trying to engage them after a couple of tries where it became clear that they weren't buying what he was selling. Michael Steele has become one of my favorite Republicans and though I hadn't heard of Rosa Brooks before, I thought her perspective was interesting.

Also appreciated the props to our police chief here in Houston, Art Acevedo, in New Rules. He's one of the good apples (though I am growing to hate that trope, as this is clearly a systemic problem).

[Robert Lynch]

Enough with the If Trump loses thing! It’s getting to the point of repeating the same diatribe over and over. Let it go!

[Caseysgirl]

Did I understand “Killer Mike” correctly, does he suggest that all Americans  arm themselves?

[BrownBear2012]

13 hours ago, cali1981 said:

Last week's show was very good but tonight Bill is so far off the rails on Covid-19 that it's frightening.  He is spouting the same crap that you hear from those who are Covid deniers.  His trying to equate the 109,000 Covid deaths to the alleged 100,000 who die from hospital infections is absolute nonsense. Yeah Bill, even if the 100,00 number is true, it is spaced out over the course of a full year. Covid-19 has killed more people than that in a little over three months with no end in sight.  His complaints about the lock downs are entirely self-serving.  I'd like Bill to tell us how exactly he would have handled the situation once it it was known how deadly the virus was and how efficiently it was transmitted. Maybe he would have had the country conduct business as usual with, perhaps, some mild precautions.  The death count would have probably been two to three times what it currently is.  I'm just getting tired of Bill's oversized ego producing this kind of gibberish.

Didn't watch because I quit watching him months ago...glad I did! I just don't have any patience for this kind of debate from people who refuse to acknowledge the seriousness of this virus. Bill is an anti-vaxxer and believes that everything can be cured by eating nuts and seeds. Maybe he should have some regular people on the show who are on the front lines of this epidemic and have actual experience in dealing and caring for the sick people who have the misfortune of getting this disease...Bill has turned into someone who would be unrecognizable to the Bill Maher of 2004.

36 minutes ago, Caseysgirl said:

Did I understand “Killer Mike” correctly, does he suggest that all Americans  arm themselves?

He has said this on other shows...he's quite radical. Earlier this year he gave a speech where he encouraged people to NOT vote. 

[sistermagpie]

11 hours ago, FoundTime said:

Also appreciated the props to our police chief here in Houston, Art Acevedo, in New Rules. He's one of the good apples (though I am growing to hate that trope, as this is clearly a systemic problem).

That's the thing that's so frustrating about the expression is people keep saying "it's just a few bad apples" as if that means it's isolated when the whole expression is "a few bad apples spoil the barrel." Because bad apples in a barrel really do spoil the rest of the apples in the barrel. You have to throw out the barrel! It's about systemic rot!

[Guest]

A reminder to not use a subject discussed on the show as a jumping off point to make political commentary that was not mentioned on the show. Stick to the show content only.

[Hanahope]

I appreciate Figliuzzi’s segment about the right wing groups actually being the source of violence during the peaceful protests.

[I Want My MBTV]

I had stopped watching this show sometime after last election. I would watch here and there and always regret. Bill always has his like 3 bullet points he will not let go of.  

I  have no idea why I started watching again but I did and, yep, I regret it.   This week was especially infuriating.  I'm so sick of him saying we're on "Lock-down"  I live in LA (in an apartment not a house with a big fancy yard) and I've gone outside nearly every single day.  That is not lock-down.   Just because you can't go to all the places or tape your "essential" show around other people does not mean you're cooped up in your home.   

Then, when he's starting to echo Trump "the cure can't be worse than the disease" and talking about the 109,000 deaths - he does realize that was the amount WHILE we've been on lock down. Who knows what the number would have been if we hadn't issued the stay at home orders. Also, every country (with the exception of Sweden of course) implemented a similar strategy so....  

I might check the boards but I think I'm done with the show.  I just can't with him anymore.  

 

 

[cali1981]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:34 AM, Caseysgirl said:

Did I understand “Killer Mike” correctly, does he suggest that all Americans  arm themselves?

If I remember correctly didn't Mike also say that some destruction of property was OK because it was for a good cause?   He's a bit of an idiot.

[iMonrey]

Quote

If I remember correctly didn't Mike also say that some destruction of property was OK because it was for a good cause?   He's a bit of an idiot.

Look, Killer Mike was wearing a T-Shirt that said "Kill Your Masters" and had a cartoon head of what appeared to be a king with a knife sticking out of his head. He says he and his wife sleep with 2 AR-15s on either side of their bed. I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm just not sure this is the kind of messaging we need right now.

[littlecatsfeet]

What I found particularly infuriating is Bill's "theory"  that quarantine instigated the recent and very widespread protests in the streets. 

“People don’t have much to do now. There was a lockdown. They’ve been cooped up,” he said. A quarter of the country that was working in February is not working now. You have no jobs. There’s no economy to come back to. Why not be in the streets?”

Because, you know, systemic racism and black people being arrested and killed completely disproportionally by law enforcement, doesn't really have much to do with it. *eyeroll* People are just bored is all. 

And Killer Mike doesn't impress me despite his "organize, mobilize" etc rhetoric, which sounds great on the surface, but the gun fanaticism just turns me off.  He was a member (not sure if he currently is) of the NRA as well. 

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by littlecatsfeet

[Victor the Crab]

No one is denying Bill his right to go outside and do whatever he wants. Hell, I'd recommend he do that. And once he gets hit with the coronavirus, he can experience first hand how dangerous it really is, and that it's not like getting chicken pox, and that there are extremely serious side effects that come with the virus, like clotting of the blood which would lead to heart attacks and strokes. And if he should die from it, FUCKIN' YEAH! No one will ever have to put up with his clinically diagnosed narcissistic personality anymore. Bill is acting just like those right wing crybabies who storm state capitals, like Lansing Michigan, demanding he go to a restaurant, or get his haircut, or see a movie. Self entitled, self privileged, and a no nothing know it all.

I was with Bill on the dangerous behavior and attitudes the entire police community carries around with them, until he declared the root problem to be being bullied in their youths and taking out their revenge behind a badge. These bad cops are more likely to have been the bullies tormenting others, like wee Bill, and feel they can continue acting that way with authority behind them. Most victims of bullying don't feel the need to act out their revenge fantasies on others the way Bill uses his platform of a TV show to sadistically attack those that are trying to make things better for others (see Jon Stewart).

And Killer Mike is a Grade A fuck stick! The kind of asshole who's when they go low, we go lower turdpile does more harm than good for those around him.

[b2H]

On 6/9/2020 at 4:46 PM, Victor the Crab said:

until he declared the root problem to be being bullied in their youths and taking out their revenge behind a badge.

I just had an officer on a local website say that this is a primary problem with the hiring process for officers and that those that had been bullied in their youth were coming to the force to settle scores.   Not for all of them, but for enough of them.

I'll take the officer's word for it.

On the other hand, I'm good friends with a now-retired police chief and he was nothing like that.

[heatherchandler]

On 6/9/2020 at 4:46 PM, Victor the Crab said:

sadistically attack those that are trying to make things better for others (see Jon Stewart)

Bill went after Jon Stewart??  When was that?  

[Maherjunkie]

On 6/9/2020 at 5:46 PM, Victor the Crab said:

. Most victims of bullying don't feel the need to act out their revenge fantasies on others the way Bill uses his platform of a TV show to sadistically attack those that are trying to make things better for others (see Jon Stewart).

And Killer Mike is a Grade A fuck stick! The kind of asshole who's when they go low, we go lower turdpile does more harm than good for those around him.

When did he go after Jon Stewart?

[heatherchandler]

11 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

When did he go after Jon Stewart?

@Victor the Crab clarified to me, he just meant that Jon Stewart was bullied but doesn't use his platform of a TV show to sadistically attack those that are trying to make things better for others.

 

[ADRz]

On 6/5/2020 at 10:43 PM, cali1981 said:

Last week's show was very good but tonight Bill is so far off the rails on Covid-19 that it's frightening.  He is spouting the same crap that you hear from those who are Covid deniers.  His trying to equate the 109,000 Covid deaths to the alleged 100,000 who die from hospital infections is absolute nonsense. Yeah Bill, even if the 100,00 number is true, it is spaced out over the course of a full year. Covid-19 has killed more people than that in a little over three months with no end in sight.  His complaints about the lock downs are entirely self-serving.  I'd like Bill to tell us how exactly he would have handled the situation once it it was known how deadly the virus was and how efficiently it was transmitted. Maybe he would have had the country conduct business as usual with, perhaps, some mild precautions.  The death count would have probably been two to three times what it currently is.  I'm just getting tired of Bill's oversized ego producing this kind of gibberish.

What he is doing is unacceptable and HBO should fire him and shut down the program.  This is no laughing matter, some of those who may be influenced by Bill may well die of the disease.  I was ready to excuse his Islamophobia and other transgressions, but his is way over the line and I have stopped watching his show