# Bill Maher 11.05 (Alan Simpson) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387 "2004-11-06T20:39:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/21 "2004-11-10T17:05:56Z")
I just read the transcript. It was kind of sad to read. Strangely, however, I think Simpson was right on one key point–Mahar was in fact making fun of homosexuality in that first quip that started it all. He was offering the suggestion that Simpson had participated in homosexuality as an act of disparagement. Simpson’s subsequent comments that “making fun of gay people” was part of what lost the Liberals the election was bizarre to say the least. But perhaps it can be explained if we consider that Simpson was more concerned w/ his own more local politics than he was w/ national politics. Maybe things in Wyoming are different than things elsewhere–maybe because of semi-recent events everyone tries to be a little more sober about homosexuality, and maybe because Simpson was _for_ gay rights even though a republican, he himself is especially sensitive to that issue. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/22 "2004-11-10T20:16:33Z")
I think **KidCharlemagne** hit on an overlooked point. Susan Sarandon not only came off as an utter idiot…she proved herself an incredibly sore loser. And thankfully Maher called her on it. I’m as disgusted as the next “blue state” person, but let’s not just call “cheater!!!” And how 'bout Pat Schroeder was pretty useless. All she did was agree with everything D.L. said. Except for that absolutely inane comment about flame-retardant flags. My. Friggin. Word. I’m ready for the next season already. ---
**Author:** ![Survivor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Survivor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survivor)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/23 "2004-11-11T03:40:57Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > I think **KidCharlemagne** hit on an overlooked point. Susan Sarandon not only came off as an utter idiot…she proved herself an incredibly sore loser. And thankfully Maher called her on it. I’m as disgusted as the next “blue state” person, but let’s not just call “cheater!!!” I thought Sarandon was great… and Sullivan was his usual pushy, idiotic self, but his butt-grabbing at the end was hilarious… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/24 "2004-11-11T13:13:06Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > IAnd how 'bout Pat Schroeder was pretty useless. All she did was agree with everything D.L. said. Except for that absolutely inane comment about flame-retardant flags. My. Friggin. Word. To be fair, between Sullivan and Hughley and Maher, it appeared to be difficult to get a word in. (She said as much.) I wondered if she was trying to be funny about flame-retardant flags, or if she was making a point, or if that’s her conflict resolution ‘style’. As for the Simpson/Maher exchange, it seemed to me as if they were both talking past each other and were both being over-sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![kka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@kka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kka)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/25 "2004-11-11T20:15:50Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I wondered if she was trying to be funny about flame-retardant flags, or if she was making a point, or if that’s her conflict resolution ‘style’. I thought she was trying to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/26 "2004-11-12T12:42:08Z")
She was primarily pointless. Then at the end, Bill gave her a chance to say something, and to try to wedge her personality into the show, she brought up a quip she made in like 1988. “I say ‘make fireproof flags’. We used to call that (pause) a Shroeder Solution.” Cute, so, that’s your “style”. You got one of them “Shroeder Solutions” for Iraq? I’m with **CapnPitt**. It seemed like Bill wasn’t getting Sullivan’s point (which echoed Simpson). Sullivan: All this slamming you’re doing of the Christians is not going to help you win elections. Mahre: I’m not going to kowtow to people who think that Jesus has a role in politics. Sullivan: See, you just did it. Mahre: But they do it to us. (Schroeder said this too) Sullivan: But, your side lost the election. You should learn a lesson. Mahre: You voted for Kerry too. Sullivan: :rolleyes: Sullivan wanted to debate an interesting point and Mahre wanted to nitpick. New rules was funny. Nothing like a couple of good cracks about the president’s daughter’s tits. (as **Revtim** said) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/27 "2004-11-12T13:05:19Z")
The show is always hit-and-miss. Occasionally they have a great combination of people who can play off each other. Sometimes Bill Maher is both funny and pithy, but sometimes he just starts spouting nonsense. (E.g., apparently he doesn’t believe vaccines ever prevent disease, and also doesn’t seem to understand the difference between vaccines and antibiotics. He was lecturing a representative of the American Red Cross on the subject a few weeks ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387/28 "2004-11-13T19:28:51Z")
I finally got around to playing this on my TiVo, wow. I’ve grown increasingly sick of Bill Maher–it seems like his ego (comparing himself with Abu Ghraib and Gitmo detainees in his opening scetch?) is growing by the week, and he’s starting to sound like a very ignorant man on some topics (vaccines, as already mentioned, the environment, etc.). I thought that, while Alan Simpson did get flustered pretty quick, he had a _very_ valid point, and it was one that went right over Bill’s head: the problem isn’t that Bill (and the left) was insulting gays, it was that he insults _everyone_ he disagrees with. I think **Johnny Angel** ’s faux transcript was right-on. Here’s what I think was Simpon’s most lucid moment: > [@Alan Simpson](#): > > SIMPSON: You’re making fun – well, you’re making fun of Americans who have some religious bent or a faith. Keep doing that and your people will never win an election. Because whether you and I like it or not, this is the only country on the face of the earth that was founded because of religious persecution and a belief in God. That’s why they left Europe. So keep making fun of them. Keep making fun of the gays and the lesbians, pulling people in, tearing people up, thinking that Hollywood has all the brains in America, from people who are making millions of bucks on one movie and telling the rest of the people, and making fun of them, and you’ll never make it, never make it. I really think he’s right on, especially considering that, only minute or two later, Bill said: > [@Bill Maher](#): > > MAHER: To favor science. Am I not entitled to the opinion that science should have precedence over faith? That rationality should have precedence over belief in Jesus? [applause] That the Constitution is more important than the Bible, at least as far as running a government goes? Which is _exactly_ the kind of vitriol that Alan Simpson was talking about. Hell, I’m a liberal democrat (and a Christian), and _I_ feel alienated by talk like that. It must feel even more condescending and insulting to people who have less agreement with Maher on social and political issues then I do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-11-05-alan-simpson/273387.md?page=1)