S16:E32: Stormy Daniels, Jonathan Haidt, Max Boot, Anthony Scaramucci, and Betsy Woodruff

[GHScorpiosRule]

Quote

Stormy Daniels, Columnist Max Boot, Anthony Scaramucci, Political Reporter Betsy Woodruff, Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt

Edited October 26, 2018 by saoirse

[GoldenGirl90]

I give up on The Mooch going away. The media obviously enjoys having him on their talk shows.

The Mooch: I'm not an apologist -

Maher: Yes you are [crowd erupts]

bahahahaha. Yes, Anthony Scaramucci, you're an apologist - specifically a Trump apologist. Clown.

And the Stormy Daniels interview in the beginning was full of sexual innuendo. Kind of off topic but I read a book by a 90s Hip-Hop groupie who dated Maher (I read all kinds of books, including trashy ones lol) and she said he was very much into models and strippers. I think this is common knowledge lol, anyway... the interview with Stormy reminded me of what I read in that book.

And boy oh boy was The Mooch getting testy with Maher. This is why they (the media) need to stop having him on their shows. He talks as if he's still on the payroll.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Alexis2291

[TVcritic]

So, Bill thinks he can have anybody on his show if the ratings are good enough or why does he have people like Stormy and Mooch on? A waste of time, money and energy... :-(

[CaliCheeseSucks]

Why on earth does he give Anthony Scaramucci air time? He served negative ten days in the White House (never officially began at the time he was fired), he doesn't have any tangible political experience yet yammers on about Trump's political strategies as if he's some kind of James Carville. I just wanted him booted off stage. A complete zero.

Stormy is another waste of space.

Enjoyed the monologue for once, and would have liked to have heard more from Boot and Woodruff. 

[Caseysgirl]

I agree with all the people who are sick of the Mooch and to a certain extent Stormy Daniels. The Mooch sucks up all the oxygen in the room and won’t shut up!  I enjoyed both Betsy Woodruff and Max Boot.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Caseysgirl

[Milburn Stone]

I was frustrated by Scaramucci not so much because he kept talking (which he did), not so much because he was an apologist (which he was), but because he never delivered what he promised! He kept saying, "If you just let me, I'm gonna give you the insight into Trump that will allow you to defeat him"--and then, permitted to speak long enough to make good on that, he never did. 

[wknt3]

What made Bill think inviting a vapid whore who is desperate to extend their 15 minutes fame from getting screwed by Donald Trump was a good idea? And beyond Scaramucci, the Stormy Daniels interview was a clunker. I would have put the Mooch as the top of the show interview where you could at least get him off the stage after he's done filibustering and then had Stormy as the midshow guest since I think she would at least allow the other panelists to speak. The rest of the show was largely Bill beating his favorite dead horses and seeming completely uninterested in anything but telling us to get off his lawn. And we didn't even get an Overtime where perhaps there might have been an actual interesting question for one of the smarter guests because Bill wanted a few extra bucks from playing Vegas. Other than the opening monologue which was solid, this show was a complete waste of time.

[childeroland]

Insight isn't Mooch's intention. He's trying to get liberals to stop calling Trump out on his lies so that will stop hurting Trump. It's the whole "Trump Derangement Syndrome/Liberals Are So Hysterical Look How Calm We Are" scam.

[Milburn Stone]

11 minutes ago, childeroland said:

Insight isn't Mooch's intention.

Yeah. I wonder how much of his career has been built on boring platitudes disguised as blinding insights.

[Tanichka]

5 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

I agree with all the people who are sick of the Mooch and to a certain extent Stormy Daniels. The Mooch sucks up all the oxygen in the room and won’t shut up!  

Let's not forget Stormy's lawyer, who was everywhere (haven't seen him lately, I guess because of his troubles).  These people have nothing to offer, so can we stop seeing them.  Same for Ann Coulter.

[littlecatsfeet]

I actually like Stormy (her Twitter feed is pretty funny) but I saw no point of that "interview" or her appearance on the show. The definition of "motor boating" and the future of the porn industry are not exactly subjects that begged an in-depth analysis, especially this week of all weeks.  Bill came off as the skeevier of the two, I think.

Everything I would have to say about Mooch has been said here already, and more articulartly than I could.

Oh god, Bill and another one  his "political correctness" rants. Hasn't that bug up his butt reached its life expectancy? Will he now have Megan Kelly on, so he can tell her how she's a victim of the PC police?

[CaliCheeseSucks]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

Yeah. I wonder how much of his career has been built on boring platitudes disguised as blinding insights.

He missed his calling as a mediocre motivational speaker for corporate retreats.

1 hour ago, Tanichka said:

Let's not forget Stormy's lawyer, who was everywhere (haven't seen him lately, I guess because of his troubles).  These people have nothing to offer, so can we stop seeing them.  Same for Ann Coulter.

Yes, I thought it was amusing Bill didn't mention at all Opportunatti's eviction and $5 million judgment. I thought those issues were far more timely than, "Tell us again about having sex with Donald Trump," which she's kicked to death at this point.

[Victor the Crab]

What a waste of a show. Only Bill would think it would be a good idea to interview Stormy Daniels. And Anthony Scaramucci was everything he was advertised. Loud, obnoxious, and sucking the oxygen out of the room.

And yet another whinefest from Bill about political correctness run amok in lieu of other important stories this week that matter. Geez, does that tiresome crybaby actually think that by being rude and saying offensive names and other things to people that right wingers and independents are going to start voting Democrat?

24 minutes ago, littlecatsfeet said:

Will he now have Megan Kelly on, so he can tell her how she's a victim of the PC police?

Don't give him any ideas.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I actually like Stormy (her Twitter feed is pretty funny) but I saw no point of that "interview" or her appearance on the show. The definition of "motor boating" and the future of the porn industry are not exactly subjects that begged an in-depth analysis, especially this week of all weeks.  Bill came off as the skeevier of the two, I think.

Double like for this, and agreed.

I did like Bill's joke that for Halloween he's going to put a tiny orange dick in his mouth and go as Sean Hannity.

Just, Ugh, on the Mooch. It's the same old excuses and rationalizing Trump voters. Oh, blue collar workers haven't had an advocate in the white house for the past 20 years. Sure. And what exactly has Trump done for blue collar workers except take away their health care and cause their property and sales taxes to go up so states could pay for his income tax giveaway to billionaires? Yes, I know Trump voters like what he says because they believe his idiotic lies. They want their biases and bigotry validated. That isn't telling us anything we don't already know and it isn't telling us anything constructive or useful either.

Again with the snowflake thing, enough already Bill. I do believe what Haidt is saying about today's youth, because I see it myself in my friends' kids. They really don't go out and do stuff like we used to do, and they have a surprising lack of interest in getting drivers licenses and learning to drive. Maybe because they have everything they need at their fingertips. But I don't think  than necessarily leads to them being snowflakes. Being over-coddled is a completely different thing than being isolated and socially stunted.

[GoldenGirl90]

45 minutes ago, littlecatsfeet said:

I actually like Stormy (her Twitter feed is pretty funny) but I saw no point of that "interview" or her appearance on the show. The definition of "motor boating" and the future of the porn industry are not exactly subjects that begged an in-depth analysis, especially this week of all weeks.  Bill came off as the skeevier of the two, I think.

I don’t have an issue with Stormy either but yeah, that “interview” was pretty pointless. 

[ganesh]

I thought Bill was rather derisive of Stormy. He's right that sex workers are marginalized but he seemed to fall right into that. 

Bill always strikes me as quite the prude too. So he can knock it off with the kink shaming. Rather judgy for a liberal. 

I was good with Scaramucci until he said "both sides." Nope. So I lasted about 10 words. 

The other two pushed back though. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by ganesh

[ganesh]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

They want their biases and bigotry validated.

The first words out of his mouth to start the campaign were racist and he literally said this week he was a nationalist. That's the main reason he got votes. And Russia. It's not 8that complicated. There's no insight. 

The whole "college kids" are snowflakes is such a canard. First, it's not all of them because literally none of my students are. Second, maybe because they do have access to everything they might be a little more culturally dialed in because they have more diverse friends, and I would count online friends as actual friends. Third, maybe they are just sick of everyone's bull and don't feel the need to just sit there and take it. Sure, sometimes it goes too much one way, but I'd rather they have the confidence to speak up and demand to be heard. 

So kids don't drive, drink, and fuck as much? Because they're talking to their friends online. That's a national emergency? 

As a professor, I highly doubt any student who screamed at a professor got the better end of that. I'm also highly doubtful of that happening. 

The guest is completely wrong. I don't hate the other side. There's only one side that says "both sides" because it validates poor behavior. It's not true. Holding people to facts and reality isn't tribalism. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by ganesh

[Tanichka]

The tiny orange dick/Sean Hannity joke is gold, so I’ll cut him some slack for some of his other sh*t.

[cali1981]

11 hours ago, Caseysgirl said:

I agree with all the people who are sick of the Mooch and to a certain extent Stormy Daniels. The Mooch sucks up all the oxygen in the room and won’t shut up!  I enjoyed both Betsy Woodruff and Max Boot.

I've seen Scaramucci a number of times and it's always the same well rehearsed act.  He presents himself as the calm, sophisticated, reasonable Trump buddy who disagrees with the Orange King at times.  It's all BS.  If you listen closely, it's the same tired talking points presented in a smoother, well tailored suit package.  To top it off, he gets very condescending at some point, something that Bill should have called him out on.  The Mooch is nothing but another Trump stooge pretending to be something else who tries to monopolize the discussion.  Bill, at times, fails to manage his guests very well.  Max Boot has a lot of important things to say and Betsy Woodruff is a great freaking reporter but they had to fight for time.  I love Bill but he continues to make the same mistakes in regard to booking guests.

[ganesh]

Bill was never a good moderator though. 

Scaramucci was on before and was effectively useless so I don't know what warranted a return. 

[Victor the Crab]

4 hours ago, Tanichka said:

The tiny orange dick/Sean Hannity joke is gold, so I’ll cut him some slack for some of his other sh*t.

Agreed.

[MsTree]

15 hours ago, littlecatsfeet said:

Will he now have Megan Kelly on, so he can tell her how she's a victim of the PC police?

I enjoyed his Halloween bit in "new rules"...and tend to agree with him. Megan Kelly's show was tanking and NBC found the perfect excuse to fire her. The PC police are getting way out of hand on this one.

[ganesh]

I don't think Bill and Kelly are on the same level though. She was talking about white people in blackface from what I understand.

Bill was talking about fairly banal halloween costumes, though I'm not sure how much of a thing it is. I'll concede that the handmadien costume recall is a little much, but I'm finding it hard to believe that racy costumes for women are being met with a backlash, and dude costumes aren't really a thing. If you're a grown man, you're wearing whatever your wife/gf wants you to. We're going as pirates. Ok. 

[lovinbob]

14 hours ago, MsTree said:

I enjoyed his Halloween bit in "new rules"...and tend to agree with him. Megan Kelly's show was tanking and NBC found the perfect excuse to fire her. The PC police are getting way out of hand on this one.

I can't agree with this. I mean, you might be right about an excuse to fire her, but there is just no excuse for a talk show host in this day and age to be this ignorant about blackface. She is 47 years old--has she never had a conversation with an educated person about the historical implications of black face? Has she never actually listened to a black person talk about why it's not acceptable? It's as if she has spent her entire adult like surrounded by white people who think just like her! [smirk] Did Bill actually address the Megyn Kelly thing explicitly? It was a weird treatment of the issue.

 

On 10/27/2018 at 5:17 PM, cali1981 said:

I've seen Scaramucci a number of times and it's always the same well rehearsed act.  He presents himself as the calm, sophisticated, reasonable Trump buddy who disagrees with the Orange King at times.  It's all BS.  If you listen closely, it's the same tired talking points presented in a smoother, well tailored suit package.  To top it off, he gets very condescending at some point, something that Bill should have called him out on.  The Mooch is nothing but another Trump stooge pretending to be something else who tries to monopolize the discussion.  Bill, at times, fails to manage his guests very well.  Max Boot has a lot of important things to say and Betsy Woodruff is a great freaking reporter but they had to fight for time.  I love Bill but he continues to make the same mistakes in regard to booking guests.

Agree. What was interesting is that the Mooch typically filibusters, talking over the other guests with his sanctimonious homilizing about how no one gets Trump and how the left is sinking itself. You can't really hear him; he just obscures the other speakers and appears (sort of) the voice of reason. He didn't really do it this time -- the other guests let him talk. So we actually got to hear his meaningless drivel and to witness how ineffective it was.

Edited October 28, 2018 by lovinbob

[Cyranetta]

I suspect that there are relatively few actual women clamoring for a "sexy Handmaid" costume. It showed up in an online costume catalog and was promptly yanked after it got a reaction.

I really wonder if Bill agrees with what Megan Kelly said - his New Rules edged pretty close and may have been inspired by the Kelly controversy, at least in part. I must admit that I will never understand why people fight for the right to be offensive just for being offensive's sake. 

Can't add much to the commentary concerning Scaramucci, but his constant overtalking is one of the things that makes me tune out what he actually had to say.

[ganesh]

21 minutes ago, Cyranetta said:

I really wonder if Bill agrees with what Megan Kelly said - his New Rules edged pretty close and may have been inspired by the Kelly controversy, at least in part.

I fairly sure he does the same Halloween themed "politically correct" monologue each year, so I don't think Kelly affected him either way.

22 minutes ago, Cyranetta said:

Can't add much to the commentary concerning Scaramucci, but his constant overtalking is one of the things that makes me tune out what he actually had to say.

It was kind of funny because the camera is on Bill as he's moving to a new topic and you can hear him offscreen rambling "I just telling you buh buh buh" and trailing off as no one is paying attention to him. 

[DXD526]

You know the 'wah wah wah' like the adults sounded in the old Peanuts cartoons? That's how the Mooch sounds to me. I just tune him out because he's so annoying. I have no idea what any of his 'points' were, I just wanted him to STFU. For the life of me I can't imagine what Bill sees in him or why he invites him on the show. He adds nothing and detracts so much. 

[littlecatsfeet]

He (Mooch) was on either CNN or MSNBC this morning too, can't remember which because I shut it off so fast. TPTB *really* need to stop booking him. He's apparently fooled them all into thinking he has these super-intuitive and exclusive insights into Trump; when it's all (as was noted above) sanctimonious homilizing. When he was on before he wouldn't shut up about his father's lunch bucket. That was like his main focus, the bleeping lunch bucket. And still Bill invites him back, why?

[cali1981]

2 hours ago, littlecatsfeet said:

And still Bill invites him back, why?

Because Bill sees himself as the champion of "fairness".  Unfortunately, in his quest to give all sides their say, he often will have on guests who are nothing more than lackeys for Trump who lie, blowhards who always have get in the last word or intellectuals who want to wow us with their self perceived brilliance.  An example of the Trump shills would be former Congressman Jack Kingston who twists himself into knots defending the Criminal in Chief.  The Mooch is an example of the second type and Professor Cornell West exemplifies the third type (even if his heart is in the right place).  The problem is that, no matter what political/educational goals Real Time may have, it's still a TV show and entertaining is a critical part of its mission. Guests like these just make make for bad TV.  I've actually skipped an episode when I know that a guest will dominate and disrupt the flow of the show.

[Caseysgirl]

Add Andrew Sullivan to that list.

[ganesh]

I don't even think it's that much thought out. Scaramucci had a book out. 

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's remember to stay on topic, please - the episode itself. Thank you.

[MsTree]

12 hours ago, lovinbob said:

I can't agree with this. I mean, you might be right about an excuse to fire her, but there is just no excuse for a talk show host in this day and age to be this ignorant about blackface. She is 47 years old--has she never had a conversation with an educated person about the historical implications of black face? Has she never actually listened to a black person talk about why it's not acceptable? It's as if she has spent her entire adult like surrounded by white people who think just like her! [smirk] Did Bill actually address the Megyn Kelly thing explicitly? It was a weird treatment of the issue.

I'm a bit older, so I guess I'm ignorant because in the context of a Halloween costume, I would never equate a one-day portrayal (like the housewife who dressed as Diana Ross) with historical implications. I think if Megyn realized what she was saying would be viewed as racist, I'd like to believe she wouldn't have gone there. Otherwise, she'd be sabotaging her show because clearly in today's PC world she would have to realize the negativity that was about to happen.

Bill did not explicitly say Megyn's name, but since he is extremely topical with weekly news, one would have to be uninformed not to realize his rant alluded to the recent issue with Megyn.

[Victor the Crab]

Megyn Kelly has a history of racist views with her Jesus and Santa are white comments and her continuous reporting on the New Black Panthers, who were more bumbling than threatening. That may have been okay on her old network Fox News, but not on a traditional mainstream network like NBC. If Bill was using Kelly's firing as an example of political correctness run amok without bringing up her name, than he's a coward.

[sistermagpie]

20 hours ago, MsTree said:

I'm a bit older, so I guess I'm ignorant because in the context of a Halloween costume, I would never equate a one-day portrayal (like the housewife who dressed as Diana Ross) with historical implications. I think if Megyn realized what she was saying would be viewed as racist, I'd like to believe she wouldn't have gone there. Otherwise, she'd be sabotaging her show because clearly in today's PC world she would have to realize the negativity that was about to happen.

I don't see what the difference is--blackface was never anything but temporary in the past. Dressing up for a minstrel show, a costume party, a skit. There's also actors playing roles of different races that added another dimension. I can't believe Megyn Kelly didn't know what she was saying would be viewed as racist and she has a long history of gleefully going there in the past--and that was in the same "PC World" she's living in now.

Still, as always it seems like Bill loves to magnify this alleged scolding even when meanwhile there's fraternities still throwing blackface parties and dressing up however they want.

Scaramucci was insufferable. I couldn't stand listening to the constant drone of his voice. He kept acting like he understood what Trump was doing in ways the others didn't and it's not that hard. We can all see what he's doing. We can all see how he's appealing to his base. But no matter how much he talked he never got to his alleged advice for how to beat Trump. He seemed to be just saying the same as every other right wing person--you "beat trump" by letting him say and do whatever he wants and never challenging him or getting angry. Which is weird since apparently Trump's whole winning strategy according to him is to appeal to these frustrated people who don't feel heard. Well, if that's the way to go then why is it automatically a lose when regular people get angry at Trump (and others' like Scaramucci's) constant trolling and teasing.

Edited October 30, 2018 by sistermagpie

[lovinbob]

19 hours ago, MsTree said:

Bill did not explicitly say Megyn's name, but since he is extremely topical with weekly news, one would have to be uninformed not to realize his rant alluded to the recent issue with Megyn.

I guess one would be "uninformed" to not know that Bill was referencing Megyn, but then why didn't he say her name? Suddenly he is shy to call people out by name? Did he not want to explicitly identify himself with a former Fox host? It was an odd choice.

[MsTree]

4 hours ago, lovinbob said:

I guess one would be "uninformed" to not know that Bill was referencing Megyn, but then why didn't he say her name? Suddenly he is shy to call people out by name? Did he not want to explicitly identify himself with a former Fox host? It was an odd choice.

I have no idea why he didn't utter her name, but the topic of his rant as it relates to being PC with Halloween costumes was obvious to me.

I agree that it WAS an odd choice (clearly he is not shy), but perhaps Megyn's disposition wasn't confirmed at the time of this taping and he was trying to steer around it. I don't know, but you might be on to something re: not explicitly identifying with a former Fox host.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 hours ago, MsTree said:

 

I agree that it WAS an odd choice (clearly he is not shy), but perhaps Megyn's disposition wasn't confirmed at the time of this taping and he was trying to steer around it. I don't know, but you might be on to something re: not explicitly identifying with a former Fox host.

That has never stopped him before. He also has mocked her in the past.  And he identifies PLENTY with other FOX hosts.

[wknt3]

9 hours ago, MsTree said:

I have no idea why he didn't utter her name, but the topic of his rant as it relates to being PC with Halloween costumes was obvious to me.

I agree that it WAS an odd choice (clearly he is not shy), but perhaps Megyn's disposition wasn't confirmed at the time of this taping and he was trying to steer around it. I don't know, but you might be on to something re: not explicitly identifying with a former Fox host.

 

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

That has never stopped him before. He also has mocked her in the past.  And he identifies PLENTY with other FOX hosts.

Perhaps he thinks not calling her out by name will help his chances of booking her for her first TV interview once the lawyers and agents are done negotiating? She is right in his wheelhouse - conservative blonde pundit who doesn't seem to really believe in most of what she says and might be fun to hang out with after the show, provides an opportunity to bash Trump, talk about how brave she is to come on the show (since he has mocked her in the past and is such a tough no bullshit interviewer) while spending most of the interview sucking up (repeating all the nice things he said about her after the Trump debate) and engaging in mutual self pity (talking about how they were both treated unfairly by the networks before Bill starts yammering about Berkeley). Of course given how shoddy the writing was for everything but the monologue in this episode perhaps we are reading too much into this and they just screwed up an edit on the intro and Bill was just reading the prompter?

[One Imaginary Girl]

When Scaramucci was droning on while Bill was trying to introduce Haidt, I really wished Bill would be as sharp with him for stepping on his toes as he had been with Michelle Goldberg a couple of weeks ago.  Sharper, even, since I didn't think she deserved that.

[ahpny]

Quote

I really wonder if Bill agrees with what Megan Kelly said - his New Rules edged pretty close and may have been inspired by the Kelly controversy, at least in part.

Quote

I fairly sure he does the same Halloween themed "politically correct" monologue each year, so I don't think Kelly affected him either way.

But that’s odd given that the quintessential PC-shamming example of Megan Kelly all but gratuitously fell into Bill’s lap. Why not use this recent example to make his point? Maybe even Bill agrees that Blackface by white people is indeed unacceptable. But he can’t take that position and still retain his mantle of unPC-purity.

Stormy came off as poised, unexpectedly thoughtful and sympathetic in her 60 Minutes interview a while back. Not so much here, where she came off as vapid and trashy. (But she did look great!) Bill’s demeanor didn’t help either. Despite his professed sympathy for strippers, he didn’t seem to know what to do with her and he came off as pervy and befuddled. Not good for either of them.

And the Mooch, yes we’ve all had more than enough of him. Does he really think we believe that if we just be quiet and listen to him drone on long enough that he’s going spill the secret to dethroning Trump? Why would he want to help a bunch of liberals? None of it makes sense.

[Hanahope]

Geeze, this whole episode was nearly a waste of time.

Agree that Stormy was a waste, just there for porn titilation.  she knows exactly what she was with trump, she got an indirect economic boost.  trump may not have paid her directly, but she got money out of it (even before the NDA)

Mooch also was a waste, we know why trump says what he does, he wants the attention and chaos and telling lies isn't hurting him.  Nothing said about how to combat that - though we know what it is, starve him the media attention.  yeah, good luck with that.

Haidt - the reason students need 'safe spaces' is because their peers are allowed to bully.  They've learned that from our politicians and parents.  There's an overall lack of civility in our society these days.  its not because they are 'coddled' too much.  But I'm sure a lot of people buy that.

Woodruff was wonderful, one real bright spot.  Articulate, clear, and no one can claims she was "shrill."

Boot was good too, but Woodruff got more spotlight, I thought.

New rules - really Bill, going to bitch about halloween costumes and not being able to see all the sexy whatever female costumes?  Maybe our country is slowly realizing that making all women out to be sex object isn't right.  And if you can't figure out why sexy handmaids tale costume is offensive, I have no words.