I don’t know that he is doing such a great job of hiding it.
Maher is trolling for attention by taking a cheap shot at someone more popular than he is. And it is a dig at Christians - ooh, how daring. I got the all-over shivers here just thinking about it.
God knows there’s nobody in the NFL who deserves a cheap shot more.
Regards,
Shodan
No. Because it isn’t. It’s irreverent, sure, just like … oh … about a million other comics in the country, but Bill’s on the TeeVee. He’s just a comedian riffing on shit he thinks is funny. You see hatred because you don’t like the oxes he’s goring.
And, **Shodan **… neither of those stories you linked to have been splashed all over every website and magazine like Tebow’s has. That’s pretty much why got targetted – not any imagined failing specially detected by Maher. He could make the same joke about any Christian who got screwed over. Tebow took the hit because the story is so ubiquitous.
I don’t like the oxes he’s goring because goring oxes is all he does. Everything is a criticism of someone else. I don’t care for that one bit.
I understand. You’ve illustrated that your sense of humor doesn’t jibe with Maher’s. How does that make him filled with hate?
If you’re the same kind of person as Maher, you won’t see it as hate.
Ah. I see. Now I’m filled with hate too.
That’s a pretty wide net you’re casting.
Exactly SBB as I stated earlier in the thread.. if you follow Howard Stern you might read a tweet thats vulgar/profane and funny.. So again why was the douchebag from Fox following Maher?? Because the Fox douchebag is a troll looking for some material for their shitty channel.
As for Bill Frist.. yeah.. he’s an example their.. has he paid medicare back for the money he scammed from the taxpayers?? Isn’t he the same idiot who was making diagnoses on Terry shiavo (sic) a lady he’s never even met??
If you don’t like Maher.. don’t watch or follow.. Shit I gave up on Dennis Miller a while ago.. hence I don’t watch his show (or listen) or follow on twitter.. is it THAT FUCKING HARD??
In one of Steve Martin’s books, he mentions reading Demi and Ashton’s most recent article in the journal Actor/Scientist. I love that title, and you know that Maher is probably a name you’d see on that publication’s masthead.
OK, so you don’t like most comedy. You’re allowed; not everybody likes the bitter stuff. But how does that make Bill Maher a sociopath? He’s an ignoramus on vaccines and he’s very smug - he is not shy about preaching to the choir, for one thing - but those aren’t the diagnostic criteria of sociopathy. They’re the diagnostic criteria for unpleasantness. 
Incidentally he made fun of Tebow on his show about two months ago (and also here, in 2010) and nobody said a word from what I can tell. But this comment is different… what, because the NFL played its games on Christmas Eve? Because he said “fucked?” No, it’s because somebody on Fox thought he’d get a ratings bump out of it or because his underwear was too tight that day. Maher is doing what he does (like it or don’t), the one looking for publicity is the Fox News anchor.
Seriously, are we supposed to be shocked that Bill Maher doesn’t like Tim Tebow? Of course not. It’s not like he’s kicking a puppy here- he’s making some jokes about a professional athlete who has made the choice to be extremely vocal about his religion. I don’t think Tebow is a bad guy, but let’s not pretend he was just going about his business quietly and Bill Maher slammed him for no reason. They’re both public figures and this is more than fair game.
I don’t know that Howard Stern would deny being a troll if asked. “Trolling society” is actually the way a lot of well known people have gotten known. Hell, Fred Phelps is only known because of it. Now, Maher genuinely dislikes Christianity, no one denies that. Fred Phelps genuinely hates gays, no one denies that. But both intentionally say offensive things to get attention, and that is trolling.
It’s one thing you’re just making an argument you want to make, and in the process offend people, but when the only reason you’ve opened your mouth in a given scenario is to get attention by offending–that is trolling.
I’m an atheist that’s very much against this concept that we have to make certain assumptions about religion. For example no person of science should ever be expected to disprove God’s existence, but in many discussions that is the position people have to take because there is such a strong institutional acceptance of religion. In more right-minded places there is no such pre-supposition, but if you’re debating things with religious people it’s ludicrous that you even have to point out the logical and technical problems with the things they believe in. They are the ones arguing in the existence of various magical things, so the onus should rightly be on them to prove it.
I can see how you can go from there to disliking “deference to religion”, but I don’t go that far. Religion has a lot of politics tied up in it, but take something less political. Take belief in ghosts. I have known one or two people in my life that truly believe in the existence of ghosts. Once I recognized they had that true belief, I didn’t denigrate or insult them about it. I thought it was unbelievably stupid, but I’m not sure that I get behind the argument that “just because I know it’s fake means I get a pass for being an asshole.” Maher was being an asshole and people called him out for it, and that’s really all Maher wanted out of this–attention, and from long experience he knows that being an asshole is the best way for him to get attention.
You’d have thought he garnered enough attention being on TeeVee. Who knew he’d need 140 characters on Twitter to push it over the edge.
Except Maher wasn’t actually out to get more attention than usual. This went out to people who followed him on Twitter, and it was meant to be humorous, not offensive. Sure, the statement was rather dickish, but it wasn’t all that controversial. People have said worse about Tebow, even on these boards.
It’s not like he did a TV interview and said these things.
As mentioned above, it was an idiot Fox News reporter trying to whip up some faux outrage that really lit the spark. How is that equivalent to Maher saying offensive things to get attention?
Again, as mentioned earlier in this thread, he’s not doing anything out of the ordinary for him. It’s not trolling at all.
If anything, it was Fox News trolling for him, rather than Maher doing the trolling.
I think all religion is a scam. However, I’m fascinated as to why others feel the need to trash those who choose to believe. Is Bill Maher so insecure in his atheism that he’s actually threatened by a guy who kneels after a touchdown and points to the sky? Maybe God really is winning those games; Maher doesn’t know for sure. If it bothers you, Bill, don’t watch the games. Or just turn the channel after every Denver touchdown. Simple.
I think it boils down to this: Tim Tebow is a quarterback in the NFL, beloved by millions, Maher is a failed actor (has anyone watched DC Cab lately?) who is desperate to hang on to what little fame he has left. I’d call for a boycott of Maher’s show but, really, what would be the point?
Indeed. Roger Ailes has built an entire network on that very concept.
Perhaps we could step back a little bit here for a moment. I can understand that Maher’s style of humor or politics isn’t for everyone. That’s fair enough. But the guy has been running a show on H.B.O. for a decade now. So, he’s not just a jealous, bitter, obscure, hasbeen failure. H.B.O. doesn’t just give people shows unless they’re making money from them. Plus, Maher manages to garner some pretty impressive guests for his show, so he’s not just some freak cackling to himself in the corner. There are quite a few people who consider him to be smart and funny.
Maher, like any comedian, has his own niche, and his particular niche involves mockery of religion, especially public displays of religion. Whether or not that’s in your particular taste, it’s not a basis for comparing relative degrees of fame. He makes a good living doing what he’s doing and he’s got a sufficient fanbase to justify it.
[quote=“Acsenray, post:95, topic:607655”]
But the guy has been running a show on H.B.O. for a decade now.
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HBO money ain’t network money. And as I said upthread, I have every HBO channel there is and I had no idea he had a show there. Maybe his ratings are good…I have no idea. Anyone know?
Bill is in broadcasting. Tebow isn’t. Not fair game.
And what does that prove, exactly? He’s richer than me, and probably you, too. He has fans. I don’t. Do you?
What does it matter? They’re good enough to keep him on the air for a decade and the show has enough respect to get very prominent guests from both the right and the left, from politics and academia, from entertainment and science.
I posted what I could find upthread, not that it matters - this is kind of ridiculous. He’s been on HBO since 2003 and does pretty high-profile standup gigs, and obviously this arrangement is profitable or otherwise worthwhile for Maher and HBO.
For a joke he made on Twitter? Really? And one that didn’t even get put in the general public’s attention except for the work of inane Fox News reporters?
As I said before, it’s not like he went on a network TV and made this joke.
And it’s not like it was Tebow’s religion that was the point. Michael Vick and the dogfighting ring? You don’t think people were making jokes about that? Or Ben Roethlisberger and his sexual predation?
Rather than for a crime, Tebow is known for being religious and makes public displays of that fact (whether or not he’s proseltysing). That opens it up for jokes, not because he’s religious but because Tebow is an incredibly popular public figure.
If Tebow were known for spoonerisms, there’d be jokes about that too. Not because spoonerisms are funny but because any incredibly popular public figure will have a joke made at his expense. It’s only because the joke involved his religion that there’s been this kind of pushback. Apparently, religion is supposed to get a pass from comedians.