S14.E36: Van Jones, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Michael Moore, Rick Lazio, Chelsea Handler

[GHScorpiosRule]

Political Commentator Van Jones, Political Strategist Kristen Soltis Anderson, Documentarian Michael Moore, Former NY Rep. Rick Lazio, Comedian Chelsea Handler.

First: BOO! That Van Jones is not on the panel!

UGH to Chelsea Handler.

Oh, the panel is going to be a mess.

[Victor the Crab]

50 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

UGH to Chelsea Handler.

Ditto with Michael Moore.

The panel IS going to be a hot mess.

[scrb]

Are we sure Van Jones isn't going to be on the panel?  That's all he does on CNN.

Maybe Moore will be the one-on-one guest at the start, since he just released a movie.

Of course Chelsea will be the mid-show celebrity guest.

Edited October 28, 2016 by scrb

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, scrb said:

Are we sure Van Jones isn't going to be on the panel?  That's all he does on CNN.

Maybe Moore will be the one-on-one guest at the start, since he just released a movie.

Of course Chelsea will be the mid-show celebrity guest.

The Scoop where I get the list of who's going to be on and who will be top of the show interview, has Jones as the top of the show interview.

Edited October 28, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[Maherjunkie]

Why no Chelsea love here?

[b2H]

No mention of how the POTUS is making an appearance next week?

Color me shocked!!!!  Honestly, I wonder how this happened, what went down?

[CaliCheeseSucks]

Just watched overtime (haven't seen the main event yet). Rick Lazio looks like he's spent the last few years baking in George Hamilton's tanning bed. Given where he was situated, Van was definitely not on the panel but the one-on-one guest. Now to watch the show in reverse!

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, b2H said:

No mention of how the POTUS is making an appearance next week?

Color me shocked!!!!  Honestly, I wonder how this happened, what went down?

He did mention it after he introduced the panel. And then again when the show ended.

Let me just say that I love Van Jones. I'm glad that he was on Overtime, when Franken wasn't on Overtime a couple weeks ago.

I have to say I'm disappointed that Bill and his research team, and yes, even Van Jones, didn't mention how this new "email scandal" of Hillary's is a whole bunch of nothing and hot air. In that, they are NOT Hillary's emails, and she's not even mentioned in them. It's all over the interwebs how it was debunked.

And yep, a hot mess of a panel. I was hoping Lazio would have kept his mouth shut, like it seemed he would be doing for the first part of the panel, but nope. Once Chelsea came on, it was nothing but talking and yelling over each other.

I swear, my jaw LITERALLY dropped open when that asshat Lazio actually said "What has Hillary done?" The whole panel exploded. I loved how Jones set him straight. I mean, fucking seriously? He's totally ignorant of her years of service as a civil servant? Just like everyone else, Syria and Libya is like the bone they won't let go. Did love how Bill mocked him for it.

Overtime should have been longer.

I'm really looking forward to next week and Bill's interview with President Obama!

Edited October 29, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[briochetwist]

Is Chelsea Handler supposed to be funny? I lost any interest in what she had to say when she decided we all needed to experiment with drugs or we're not trustworthy. Was she kidding? Kinda didn't come across that way. This was a hot mess at a time when the panel should have something relevant to say.

[Kenz]

9 hours ago, briochetwist said:

Is Chelsea Handler supposed to be funny? I lost any interest in what she had to say when she decided we all needed to experiment with drugs or we're not trustworthy. Was she kidding? Kinda didn't come across that way. This was a hot mess at a time when the panel should have something relevant to say.

Yes, the whole show was derailed when Bill and Chelsea discussed the merits of drinking and trying different hallucinating drugs. That was stupid and not funny. I'm not a fan of Chelsea Handler anyway. She seems bitter and mean.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Kenz

[TVcritic]

11 hours ago, b2H said:

No mention of how the POTUS is making an appearance next week?

Color me shocked!!!!  Honestly, I wonder how this happened, what went down?

IMHO it's part of Obama's campaign effort to get people to vote and to avoid an all-crazy, freaked-out dictatorship. Maybe the interview isn't live but filmed earlier on. It would be good enough for me, though.

[iMonrey]

First of all, I could watch/listen to Van Jones all day long. 

Second of all, Rick Lazio is so full of shit his eyes are brown. The reason "60% of voters" don't trust Hillary Clinton is not because she's a "scandal factory." It's because every time she blows her nose, Republicans go on TV and rant and rave about what a terrible, evil woman she is. They've been doing it for 30 years, so by now everyone just accepts it as fact. Because where there's smoke there must be fire, right? I mean, 60 out of 100 people might say they do not trust her, but if you ask them why, can they give you an answer? Or is it just that they've "heard" she isn't trustworthy, and don't really know why?

Honestly, Republicans have been bat-shit terrified of Hillary for 30 years, as though they always knew this day was coming, so points to them for prescience, I guess. But if, after 30 years of trying to destroy, the best they can come up with is e-mails? Then there's no there there. 

Also, Lazio's claim that Democrats don't care about economic growth, small business or empowerment? Utter bullshit. Those are three things Hillary spoke of at length during all three debates, when she wasn't shooting down Donald Trump's ridiculous boasts and lies. Where does Lazio come up with this crap? 

At this point, it feels like the right wing pundits and politicians don't know what else to do but lash out at Hillary Clinton, because they're left playing defense on a team that's all but dead. They're like wounded, dying animals.

Geez. Usually it's Kristen Soltis Anderson who's the insufferable one on the panel but she had nothing on Lazio. Although whatever bullshit reason she gave for why health insurance premiums were going up was total crap. They're going up because every Republican governor in the country has spent the last eight years determined to destroy the ACA at any cost, including refusing the paid-for medicaid expansion. 

I agree the chat between Chelsea Hander and Bill about drinking and drugs was pointless and a waste of time. I'm definitely going to try to catch Bill's Facebook special though.

[atomationage]

I don't think Van Jones does as well in an interview as he does on the panels, but he's great anyway.

I agree with Chelsea Handler that not drinking is a red flag, unless the person is in recovery.   I loved The Doors reference.   One song, Break on Through, quoted John Rechy, "made the scene, week to week, day to day, hour to hour."

I hope Bill will be able to behave himself while interviewing the President of The United States.  

"a tiny orange hand comes out of the grave",  "nightmare on email street", "let's go to the video tape"

Edited October 29, 2016 by atomationage

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, TVcritic said:

IMHO it's part of Obama's campaign effort to get people to vote and to avoid an all-crazy, freaked-out dictatorship. Maybe the interview isn't live but filmed earlier on. It would be good enough for me, though.

Bill is going to record his interview with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday Nov. 1.

https://tvline.com/2016/10/28/president-obama-real-time-with-bill-maher/

[TVcritic]

2 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Bill is going to record his interview with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday Nov. 1.

https://tvline.com/2016/10/28/president-obama-real-time-with-bill-maher/

Good to know! It would be great, for Halloween, to have a 'spook-in', with Obama scaring the shit out of Bill before the interview. ;-)

[Mystery Author]

Quote

I have to say I'm disappointed that Bill and his research team, and yes, even Van Jones, didn't mention how this new "email scandal" of Hillary's is a whole bunch of nothing and hot air. In that, they are NOT Hillary's emails, and she's not even mentioned in them. It's all over the interwebs how it was debunked.

That was egregious! Shame on Bill! I don't watch CNN, aka Fox.2, so I didn't know Van Jones, but I liked him a lot. Maybe he could move over to MSNBC and replace the flip-flopping "I'm going to talk over you because I like the sound of my own voice" Chris Matthews.

[ganesh]

On 10/27/2016 at 8:02 PM, Maherjunkie said:

Why no Chelsea love here?

I haven't watched yet, but I'm a fan. 

[UYI]

1 hour ago, atomationage said:

 

I agree with Chelsea Handler that not drinking is a red flag, unless the person is in recovery.   

 

Which is interesting, considering that Bill's (and Chelsea's?) long time friend, Kathy Griffin, is a lifelong non-drinker, although a lot of that has to do with how much her Irish Catholic family drank.

And me personally? I only drink red wine, and not very often, and I would hate to be compared to Trump. ;) 

Edited October 29, 2016 by UYI

[atomationage]

1 minute ago, UYI said:

I would hate to be compared to Trump. ;) 

I rarely drink, and don't encourage others to drink, but I do think it's suspicious in drumpf's case.  He's afraid of himself, and probably with good reason.   God knows what else he would do or say  under the influence. (also, I don't really even believe that he doesn't drink)    I like Chelsea Handler, but only watched her program when she had a specific guest who interested me.  With Bill Maher, I'm not likely to be watching much after the election, and didn't watch much when he was pimping Bernie.  Politics makes strange bedfellows. 

[briochetwist]

1 hour ago, atomationage said:

I agree with Chelsea Handler that not drinking is a red flag, unless the person is in recovery.  

With all due respect, WTH?  I don't drink and I'm not in recovery, but there are 12 siblings in my father's family, and including my grandfather, five of them were alcoholics. My brother is an alcoholic. Not only do I not enjoy the taste at all, I'm tiny and I'm a shitty drinker who gets bombed after half a glass of wine.  I'm not really sure how my not drinking is anyone else's business and how it would raise a 'red flag' about my personality or integrity.

Watching Bill and Chelsea discuss it felt like some stupid peer pressure health film from high school. "Oh come on, don't be lame, try it...you'll like it and it will make you cool."  It was lame.

And like everything else out of his mouth, I don't believe that Donald Trump doesn't drink. But even if he doesn't, he's still a douchebag and whether he drinks alcohol or not doesn't change that.

[atomationage]

3 minutes ago, briochetwist said:

With all due respect, WTH?

Like you said, I doubt that drumpf doesn't drink.  In fact, since he says he doesn't drink, that could be considered proof that he does, since he lies about everything.  I agree with what Chelsea said about the red flag, and about people having some good reason for not drinking.  On the peer pressure, all it would indicate to me is that he has never in his life done anything that he didn't feel like doing in the moment.   I bet his wives drank a lot. 

[cpcathy]

Normally I think Chelsea is a no-talent, but I've liked what I've seen of her Netflix show, and I liked her here. I do NOT trust Ivanka either. I also tend to be wary of the "I don't drink at all" crowd, if you do,  just say so, if you're trying to cut back or not rely on it, just say so.

[Maherjunkie]

Why validate yourself either way?  It shouldn't matter to anyone.

[briochetwist]

13 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

I also tend to be wary of the "I don't drink at all" crowd, if you do,  just say so, if you're trying to cut back or not rely on it, just say so.

How is it any of your business if I'm trying to cut back on alcohol or not rely on it? Seriously? I don't need to explain myself to anyone. You are not entitled to that information.

OT, Van Jones was the only highlight of the show for me.

[atomationage]

2 minutes ago, briochetwist said:

OT, Van Jones was the only highlight of the show for me.

That would be the actual topic, the rest was OT.   My posts were about the show, and what was said on the show by Chelsea and Bill about drumpf, the topic on the show.  It's funny how the discussion for this show always goes.  You read a few, maybe respond, then you might as well just "mark as read" after a while.   I suppose it's better not to respond on this show at all.

[briochetwist]

Just now, atomationage said:

That would be the actual topic, the rest was OT.   My posts were about the show, and what was said on the show by Chelsea and Bill about drumpf, the topic on the show.  It's funny how the discussion for this show always goes.  You read a few, maybe respond, then you might as well just "mark as read" after a while.   I suppose it's better not to respond on this show at all.

You know what, you're right, that was OT, I just thought it was significantly less important than the actual election stuff, so I guess that's my bad. Not trusting people because they don't drink, and needing to offer reasons to why they don't is utterly ridiculous to me. I'm not really sure how the discussion for this show always goes, as I think this is my first time in here. 

I responded to you, and my last response was to someone else, not sure why you're upset. I'm offering my opinion on the show, as is the point of a message board. I don't believe I've attacked you, or am being unreasonable at all, just offering my opinion.

[atomationage]

3 minutes ago, briochetwist said:

I responded to you, and my last response was to someone else, not sure why you're upset.

I'm not upset, and you are not responding to someone else, you're responding to all of the posters and readers here.  There is private messaging available if you need to respond to someone specifically.  

I agree that Van Jones was the best segment on the show, but I still think he's much better elsewhere.  Here, he did not seem that comfortable being interviewed one on one with Bill Maher.

[briochetwist]

1 minute ago, atomationage said:

I'm not upset, and you are not responding to someone else, you're responding to all of the posters and readers here.  There is private messaging available if you need to respond to someone specifically.  

I'm pretty sure that when I use the quote feature and highlight a segment of what that specific poster has said, I'm responding directly to them, at least that is my intention. I'm not sure why I would have to use private messaging to voice an opinion about something that was said on the show. 

Anyway, I'm done. I've said all I need to about it and don't intend to drag this on any further. 

[ganesh]

Sorry, Bill. I agree that climate change is the most important issue. The Pentagon even says so. But you are far, far from a 'climate change warrior' or whatever ridiculousness Van Jones called you. Every prominent climate scientist is on record supporting nuclear power. Bill doesn't. He's wrong and doesn't really grasp the complexity of the issue imo. I've said before, Bill is one of those smart stupid people he talks about. Remember when he had on the quack doctor? It falls in the same hole imo.

Sorry to you too Van Jones. Closing the nuclear power plant in CA has caused emissions to rise. And CA intends to close the Diablo plant too. CA will not meet the CPP standards without nuclear power. It's not even debatable. And how about the gas leak in SoCal that's been emitting methane for *over a year*? Keep giving out those bus passes though. 

I don't really care if people drink or not. I like to, and I make no bones about it. I have younger colleagues that don't. The problem is just about all of our networking and working at the conferences is at socials at a bar. Some will come out with us and just not drink and that's fine. But some just don't come out at all. Their doing themselves a disservice because they're wasting a valuable opportunity. Whether you drink or not isn't the issue. It's that you won't even socialize and that's the problem for me. So I think they missed the point there. 

Edited October 29, 2016 by ganesh

[Kenz]

Donald Trump's brother died an alcoholic at a fairly young age, and I think that's the main reason he doesn't drink. I think that's a pretty good reason to abstain if you've seen what it does to a family member. (This is the only time I've ever agreed with any action of Donald Trump.)

[ganesh]

The word "scandal" is thrown around way too much, not just in terms of Clinton.

"Democrats calling out Clinton" is yet again this ridiculous false equivalency canard. Bill at least try to put that down. 

Edited October 29, 2016 by ganesh

[briochetwist]

33 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I've said before, Bill is one of those smart stupid people he talks about. Remember when he had on the quack doctor? It falls in the same hole imo.

 

So true. I have to change the channel when he goes off on vaccines and big pharma. 

[ganesh]

Yeah, same with nuclear power for me. 

I didn't have much of a problem with the panel. They shut down the dumb guy on the left seat well enough. Hey, can you say small business one more time? As I've said before, you want to get people the right skills to fill those 3 million jobs? Free community college. And so what if that means taxes have to be raised? Then raise them.

I didn't have a problem Chelsea outside of the weird Doors conversation. Then again, she's my age, and we both like to drink. I always think we would totally hit it off. 

One thing I don't get about the ACA. Are the state marketplaces doing ok, and is it just the federal marketplaces that aren't? Because it seems to me that the governors who refused to take the federal money or the medicare extension are more the problem. 

I liked Bill's ending commentary. We've said this here a lot: perfect is the enemy of good. It's the root of this false equivalence garbage. Yeah, Clinton isn't perfect. Neither is Obama. So what? These people who think that are just ignorant. This was a strong one. 

Edited October 29, 2016 by ganesh

[Duke Silver]

Glad to see Bill throw the smack down on Lazio w/ the false equivalency argument.  "Evil" Hillary is the most laughable thing ever for eff sake.  She's as centrist as can be.  I'm not expecting much from the Obama interview tbh, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Gemma Violet]

Quote

Not trusting people because they don't drink, and needing to offer reasons to why they don't is utterly ridiculous to me.

Me, too.  I don't drink because my dad was a life-long alcoholic.  I've tasted alcohol two or three times in my life and I never cared for the taste, so why bother.  

Never cared for Chelsea Handler.  I don't know what she brought to the program except adding to all the shouting.  Although I will say that the one time I saw an episode of her Netflix show on Youtube (she had a guest that I like), her interview style was ten times better than her old show.  

[Victor the Crab]

Agreed wholeheartedly about Van Jones being the best part of the show. He certainly delivered the funniest lines of the night.

I wish Obama had continued holding off Bill's request to interview him. Bill had better fucking behave himself.

[Cyranetta]

Quote

Agreed wholeheartedly about Van Jones being the best part of the show. He certainly delivered the funniest lines of the night.

Particularly loved his comment about "for once, the black guy isn't the one in trouble..."

[Mumbles]

Quote

I rarely drink, and don't encourage others to drink, but I do think it's suspicious in drumpf's case.  He's afraid of himself, and probably with good reason.   

Trump's older brother died of alcoholism. Even people who hate him say it affected him greatly. There are plenty of reasons not to like Trump, I don't think his teetotalling is one of them. And when it's coming from Chelsea Handler - who has her own history of saying racist shit and whose sidekick was a Mexican dwarf whom she made fun of) it is even more outrageous. Bill has some friends who make me go wtf, and Handler is right up there with Ann Coulter and Maureen Dowd.

Some serious eyerolling when Kristin Anderson actually argued that transparency in government is actually terrible because it encourages angry populist reactions when people learn about shady shit going on. Here's a better idea - STOP DOING SHADY SHIT. What an elitist, hacky view of governing - the people can't handle the truth, so it should be hidden from him.

[ganesh]

I don't think I'd put Handler in that same company. 

[ruby24]

I hope Bill doesn't spend the entire Obama interview congratulating himself and chiding Obama for putting him off for so long. It'd be just like him to do that.

[scrb]

Never watched Chelsea Handler's show.  She doesn't seem political but she was pretty outspoken about what a monster Trump is and how Ivanka is hiding the truth.

Maybe her Netflix show would be worth checking out.

[Rapunzel]

5 hours ago, Kenz said:

Donald Trump's brother died an alcoholic at a fairly young age, and I think that's the main reason he doesn't drink. I think that's a pretty good reason to abstain if you've seen what it does to a family member. (This is the only time I've ever agreed with any action of Donald Trump.)

I can see how this would affect someone, however, if it had such a big impact on Trump, why did he try to launch his own Vodka? Trump Vodka ultimately was yet another, in a long line of business ventures of his, that failed. Why try to market and sell alcohol if you've seen it harm and/or kill a family member and do not drink yourself? This was purely for money, and as long as he can line his pockets, he doesn't care about anything else.

It just makes me question his morals and beliefs more and more. I really do not think he has any outside of making money. Whether he drinks or not is irrelevant - he's still trying to profit off of people that do regardless of what happened to his brother. It's hypocritical, just like everything else about him.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Rapunzel

[Medicine Crow]

1 hour ago, ruby24 said:

I hope Bill doesn't spend the entire Obama interview congratulating himself and chiding Obama for putting him off for so long. It'd be just like him to do that.

... and I hope he tones down the vulgarities ... not that Obama is a saint, but I don't think he'd want his daughters watching the show if Bill uses his "go to" language.  Just sayin'.  (Personally, I don't care, one way or the other!!)

[maraleia]

9 hours ago, UYI said:

Which is interesting, considering that Bill's (and Chelsea's?) long time friend, Kathy Griffin, is a lifelong non-drinker, although a lot of that has to do with how much her Irish Catholic family drank.

And me personally? I only drink red wine, and not very often, and I would hate to be compared to Drumpf. ;) 

Also, Hal Sparks has never had a drop of alcohol, done drugs or smoked cigarettes and he's a raging liberal with a radio show on Chicago's Progressive Talk so Chelsea and Bill are full of shit.

[ruby24]

I tolerated Rick Lazio until Overtime. Holy shit. I can't believe he chimed in with the whole "what has Hillary ever done?" bullshit right AFTER the sexism discussion!

Like, the second after they were talking about sexism, he goes in with that?? Because to me, questioning Hillary's experience and accomplishments is the very definition of sexism when you're looking at her record. I firmly believe that no man with Hillary's resume would EVER be asked, not once, "yeah, but what have you really done?" I mean, seriously? After all these years? What an ass.

[BetyBee]

I love Chelsea and I thought she was great on RT and I love Van Jones too.  Michael Moore was ok, though he doesn't look well to me.  The other 2?  Pfft - just shut up with your false equivalencies and lack of regard for facts!  I don't drink and I don't agree with Bill & Chelsea with their opinions regarding drugs and alcohol, but then I don't agree with anyone 100% of the time.  They are more often right than wrong and that works for me at this moment in history.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Not only do I not enjoy the taste at all, I'm tiny and I'm a shitty drinker who gets bombed after half a glass of wine.

So you have had a drink before, in order to know that, I'm assuming. I think Chelsea's point was about people who say they have never taken a drink before in their entire lives - not people who tried it and decided they didn't like it. 

Quote

I tolerated Rick Lazio until Overtime. Holy shit. I can't believe he chimed in with the whole "what has Hillary ever done?" bullshit right AFTER the sexism discussion!

I know, and then Van Jones tried valiantly to point out two very important things Hillary accomplished as Secretary of State and could barely get them out because Lazio kept interrupting. So he didn't even really want an answer to that question. It was just another right wing talking point for him. "What has she ever done?" "Here let me list the things." "Blah blah blah I can't hear you!!"

[ganesh]

That let Van Jones get in the "WTF have YOU done bro!" though, so it was worth it.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I didn't like the bullshit that if someone doesn't drink, it's a red flag. My mother doesn't drink. Never has. And she's not a delusional, hateful, racist person. And I don't have a history of alcoholism in my family, either. My father drinks occassionally, and so do I. So they were full of shit, agreed.

[sistermagpie]

I think the whole "don't trust someone who never drinks" was like a private joke you'd say with your small circle of friends that just didn't play at all as an actual statement. I don't believe for a second that either of them honestly thinks it's a mark of bad character if someone doesn't drink. They were probably talking about a certain type of person that they, as people who like to experiment, have shorthanded as a type who doesn't drink.

It was annoying that it was a waste of time to even throw it out there since it wasn't really an insightful way to talk about anyone, let alone Trump.