# Real Time with Bill Maher **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367 "2023-10-10T21:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/181 "2023-12-04T14:31:03Z")
Looks like “pointed questions” by Maher were in short supply here. > **[Bill Maher Hosts RFK Jr. But Does Not Fact Check These Statements](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/06/28/bill-maher-hosts-rfk-jr-but-does-not-fact-check-these-statements/)** > > Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made unfounded claims about vaccination and autism and that “The only medicine that never gets tested are vaccines. That’s the end result of Maher’s “hip, edgy and not a consensus guy” persona. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/182 "2023-12-04T15:13:30Z")
The idea that a guest challenged on his/her views will stomp off in a huff and never return has flaws. Cranks in general, including politicians, tend to have a lot of narcissism in their makeup and crave attention. They’re not about to give up chances to appear on popular programs. And their hard-core fan base is likely to love them even more for being “martyred” by tough questioning. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/183 "2023-12-04T17:51:36Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The idea that a guest challenged on his/her views will stomp off in a huff and never return has flaws. Tell that to Sidney Powell. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qJO-KM27R1M/maxresdefault.jpg "See the question that made ex-Trump attorney leave interview") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJO-KM27R1M) Just saying it’s absolutely a thing that happens. It seems to me that the MAGA types are even more likely to throw a hissy fit and leave, given that they worship an ancient orange toddler. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/184 "2023-12-04T18:24:45Z")
Maher and Boebert would likely bond as “anti-woke” warriors. He’d lob her a few softballs about trans-people being out of control or Black people making them feel bad. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/185 "2023-12-04T20:12:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Looks like “pointed questions” by Maher were in short supply here. As we all know, Maher isn’t going to push back when the guest’s particular brand of crazy happens to align with his own quirks on the subject of vaccines, masking, COVID lockdowns, or some other aspects of medical science that he likes to criticize. I was going to add the observation that this would be an exception to him challenging interviewees on factual inaccuracies, but since we both know this I thought it was kinda redundant. The Ron DeSantis interview a few weeks ago was a good example of both the bad and the good. They had themselves a love-fest over the evils of COVID lockdowns, but OTOH Maher did challenge him on things like supporting the Big Lie about the “stolen election” and many other things, including why he was even bothering to run against Trump. Indeed the _National Review_ – admittedly seeing the world from a right-wing POV – **[claimed DeSantis had to field “tough questions” from Maher](https://www.nationalreview.com/news/desantis-wins-over-bill-mahers-audience-on-covid-lockdowns-we-need-accountability/)**. Now, it might be a bit hyperbolic and partisan to call the questions “tough”, but OTOH some liberals seem upset that Maher didn’t punch DeSantis in the face. > [@Mijin](#): > > Now, you may argue that Maher’s show is just entertainment, so he cannot be expected to conduct tough interviews. My response to that would be: he shouldn’t interview politicians at all if he’s not going to do a real interview. I have no problem (well, only a small problem) with politicians being invited on a show to tell jokes or play games or whatever. But if you’re going put people around a table and go through the motions of a proper interview, _do a proper interview_. > Otherwise all you are doing is platforming them. It’s more than “just” entertainment, but it isn’t conventional journalism, either. It’s something betwixt and between. Maher characterizes himself as first and foremost a comedian, but he’s also an opinionated political pundit. My view is that any undesirable “platforming” he may be doing for crackpots is limited to those few areas I mentioned above where Maher himself has eccentric views. Otherwise by and large he does strive to get the facts right. I’ve mentioned a few times the interview with Rick Santorum where Santorum dredged up some obscure climate-change denial disinformation. Maher was frustrated that he couldn’t do more on the spur of the moment than express deep skepticism, so he researched the issue later and on the next show thoroughly refuted Santorum’s nonsense. To suggest that Maher doesn’t do “proper” interviews because he’s unconcerned about facts is just untrue and unfair. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/186 "2023-12-05T01:10:32Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > …unconcerned about facts… But would you concur, as pointed out in my OP, that he could’ve shown a boatload more concern about the fact that Congress had been repeatedly asked to rescind the wall money? An egregious - and to me - unforgivable oversight of the truth in that particular instance. ETA - still can’t figure how to put that in a less gotcha-ish way - not intended. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/187 "2023-12-05T04:59:22Z")
you know the prop just codified something that LA County has done off and on for years during the early 90s and the 2008 recession in the 90s, a lot of businesses were hit with waves of bad checks to the point that the DA’s office only went after someone if the check was$ 500 or you had a series of checks from one individual totaling up to 500 and they did the same for shoplifting … ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/188 "2023-12-05T07:20:20Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > But would you concur, as pointed out in my OP, that he could’ve shown a boatload more concern about the fact that Congress had been repeatedly asked to rescind the wall money? An egregious - and to me - unforgivable oversight of the truth in that particular instance. > > ETA - still can’t figure how to put that in a less gotcha-ish way - not intended. While I’m not intimately familiar with the issue, let’s look at exactly what Maher said about that and then compare it with the facts. You stated in your OP that “Maher ripped into Biden about building a new section of border wall”. That’s not accurate. What Maher said in his monologue, in the course of apparently acknowledging that the migrant crisis is a significant problem, was the following, verbatim from the October 6 show: "even Biden is admitting the migrant crisis is real; he said ‘fuck it, build the wall’ " That’s not “ripping into Biden”. But how does it square with the facts? It’s true that he didn’t mention that Congress had appropriated the money years ago and Biden had little choice in the matter, but the situation is more complicated than that, **[according to this New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/us/border-wall-biden.html)**. Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, has been extraordinarily inconsistent in his comments on the matter. This is the money quote from that NYT article: > But the justification that Mr. Mayorkas gave in the federal register suggested that the construction along this stretch was needed to stop unauthorized crossings. > > “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States,” he wrote in the public notice. > > The administration also said it was waiving more than 20 federal laws and regulations to allow for the construction of the barriers. > > The funding appropriated for this section of barriers is separate from the Defense Department funds that Mr. Trump reprogrammed to build a wall. Mr. Biden halted the use of the reprogrammed defense funds on his first day in office. > > Border Patrol agents have made more than two million arrests at the southwest border this year. Some 245,000 of those were in the Rio Grande Valley, according to government data. I don’t think Maher’s comments were really that far off from the reality. Despite the campaign rhetoric, Biden was a supporter of the border wall during his senatorial career and in the Obama administration, and apparently so is his current Secretary of Homeland Security. They’re just not fanatical about it like the Trumpsters. The other point I’ll make in passing is that comedian/pundits like Maher are treading a fine line between the two genres. Throw-away bits of sarcasm can be funny; explaining all the factual nuances is definitely not. The important thing for a comedian/pundit is to not be blatantly misleading. Aside from the vaccine/medical stuff, Maher generally is not. I’ve often looked for more detail on some of the outrageous facts he’s presented, and found him to be spot-on. P.S.- Nothing “gotcha” about your perfectly reasonable post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/189 "2023-12-05T18:57:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > …he said ‘fuck it, build the wall’. I’m just wondering, though, if that was more of an acquiescing, if anything, after it was already established that the GOP weren’t going to play ball with the rescinding the wall money; I thought that was what BM was all on about. I guess I was off on that. And yeah Myorkas’s comments did add another somewhat eyebrow-cocking aspect to the proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![P91noX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@P91noX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P91noX)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/190 "2023-12-06T03:03:43Z")
I was browsing this thread over the weekend and had an experience today that reminded me of it. I grew up in a fairly small city, then lived in Los Angles for about a decade, and now San Francisco for about half as long. Today after buying groceries at Safeway I took them out to my car and a security guard was talking to (more accurately _at_) a lady loading her items into the adjacent vehicle. The security guard said, paraphrasing slightly, “ma’am, we saw you load a lot things that you didn’t pay for into your cart. We’re not going to do anything about it this time, but please pay next time, ok?” I’m genuinely curious, is there another American city where this kind of interaction happens routinely? I think a big part of why Maher shits on SF is the attitude toward shoplifting rather than the rate. I see minor petty theft fairly frequently but what has always surprised me since I moved here is the complete lack of consequences. At Safeway and Walgreens it’s pretty common to hear a guard yelling “Hey, he took that!” and watch helplessly as the thief saunters away. I never saw this in LA, but I was renting in a relatively affluent suburb rather than the middle of the city as I am now. Do NY, Boston, Philly, Miami, etc have the same fatalistic resignation about shoplifters? To clarify my position, I love San Francisco and I have no desire to move away. I just can’t disagree when people shit on its handling of property crime because it’s far worse than anywhere I’ve lived previously. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/191 "2023-12-06T04:38:28Z")
> [@P91noX](#): > > Today after buying groceries at Safeway I took them out to my car and a security guard was talking to (more accurately _at_) a lady loading her items into the adjacent vehicle. The security guard said, paraphrasing slightly, “ma’am, we saw you load a lot things that you didn’t pay for into your cart. We’re not going to do anything about it this time, but please pay next time, ok?” > > … I see minor petty theft fairly frequently but what has always surprised me since I moved here is the complete lack of consequences. And yet, Maher gets slammed right in this very thread for saying, in his “New Rules” comedy routine, that “San Francisco has basically legalized shoplifting”. And when I pointed out that this was merely a bit of hyperbole for comedic effect (referencing the persistent lack of consequences for these crimes) I get sarcastically attacked for that. Saying that “San Francisco has a major shoplifting problem and there is a chronic lack of consequences for it” sounds like a Sunday sermon or the narration in a documentary; saying that it’s “basically legalized shoplifting” is the sort of snappy hyperbole that fits into Maher’s amusing light-hearted tirade about all the problems he currently sees with some elements of the political left. Nor did Maher “lie” in the quotes from a couple of far-left Congresswomen; the quotes were so outrageous that I had to verify them, and sure enough, it was word for word what these members of Congress had said on Twitter. Everyone can listen to his exact words in the video I posted and make their own judgments, but when those judgments include the conclusion that Maher is “lying” when he clearly isn’t, or when I get sarcastically dumped on for defending it as hyperbole for comedic effect by a comedian in a comedy show, I have to conclude that the hate for Maher by some has spilled over into the realm of irrationality. I don’t demand that everyone like Bill Maher and watch his show, and I’m definitely not the fan I used to be, but FFS don’t call him a liar for an obvious slight exaggeration whose literal meaning is crystal clear. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/192 "2023-12-06T06:01:45Z")
Or I can just say his schtick is tired and he really sucks. Because that’s definitely the case. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/193 "2023-12-06T18:50:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Or I can just say his schtick is tired and he really sucks. This. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/194 "2023-12-06T21:22:31Z")
Changing the subject just slightly: [here’s a good example](https://vajenda.substack.com/p/the-daily-shows-obgyn-expert-had) of the fallout when a popular show fails to challenge a guest’s bullshit, or vet him properly in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/195 "2023-12-07T02:39:07Z")
That’s horrifying and I might have to subscribe to that Substack. Anything called “The Vajenda” is OK in my book. The natural birth shit pisses me off too. I just kept thinking “Jon Stewart allowed this nonsense on his show?” over and over until it registered that he hasn’t been doing that gig for a long time. I’m getting old. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/196 "2023-12-07T02:46:18Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I just kept thinking “Jon Stewart allowed this nonsense on his show?” over and over until it registered that he hasn’t been doing that gig for a long time. I’m getting old. LOL, it took me forever to remember that Craig Kilborn wasn’t the host anymore. Now **that’s** old. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/197 "2023-12-10T09:36:16Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > And yet, Maher gets slammed right in this very thread for saying, in his “New Rules” comedy routine, that “San Francisco has basically legalized shoplifting”. And when I pointed out that this was merely a bit of hyperbole for comedic effect (referencing the persistent lack of consequences for these crimes) I get sarcastically attacked for that. You miss the point entirely. The issue is not what has happened in San Francisco. The issue was your claim that this is a slight exaggeration for comedic effect, and that his audience was aware of this. But “San Fransisco has basically legalized shoplifting” isn’t that. It is a genuine belief being promoted on social media, backed up by several newspapers who claimed it. That’s why so many other sites had to go to the trouble to debunk it. That’s why Snopes dealt with it. And Maher was specifically addressing those newspapers. The line is “When people read that _San Francisco_ has basically legalized shoplifting, they think ‘Democrats have gone nuts.’" He was not making his own joke. He was quoting what those newspapers say, and treating it as if it was factual. You got sarcastically mocked because your defense of Maher in this situation was poor. You got mocked because it was clear that you **love** of Maher was clouding your thinking, so directly arguing with you was pointless. Hopefully it is not as such now. Maybe you can see why people do not agree with your justification. Maher helped spread fake news, and did not, AFAIK, ever come back and refute it. In fact, it seems very likely he actually believes it himself. He had to have learned about it by reading right wing news sources, after all. And those have a way of changing how you think. * * * Oh, and FYI: the story you are responding to? The only thing that’s different about that then elsewhere is that the security guard actually talked to them, rather than just letting them go. It’s actually a common thing in big retail stores, and is not something due to San Francisco or the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/198 "2023-12-10T09:56:17Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Maher helped spread fake news, and did not, AFAIK, ever come back and refute it. Because, as I’ve repeated multiple times, it wasn’t “fake”. > [@BigT](#): > > Oh, and FYI: the story you are responding to? The only thing that’s different about that then elsewhere is that the security guard actually talked to them, rather than just letting them go. It’s actually a common thing in big retail stores, and is not something due to San Francisco or the Democrats. Where is “elsewhere”? Certainly not around here, where we still believe in enforcing the law. > **[11 people arrested in shoplifting crackdown](https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/11-people-arrested-in-shoplifting-crackdown-1.6498159)** > > The Windsor Police Service Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) Unit arrested 11 people and seized $4,500 in stolen merchandise during the latest crackdown on shoplifting. > **[Hundreds arrested for shoplifting in latest Vancouver police blitz](https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/vancouver-police-arrest-258-people-in-shoplifting-crackdown)** > > The arrests were made during a two-week operation between Sept. 11 and Sept. 26. > **[Shoplifter caught on Government Street](https://www.nwonewswatch.com/local-news/shoplifter-caught-on-government-street-7927417)** > > A 47-year-old from Dryden has been arrested and charged for shoplifting at a local business on Government Street. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/199 "2023-12-10T12:38:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …when a popular show fails to challenge a guest’s bullshit, or vet him properly in the first place Having been present at two births (I’m male) I can safely say there is nothing fucking easy about childbirth. One emergency cesarean, one natural. I have never had so much respect for women before I saw my wife going through that. (ETA: poorly worded phrase, I had huge respect before, it was substantially increased) > [@](#): > > “Their position seems to be that you shouldn’t scare women about childbirth, you should make sure they’re informed about the facts, but their version of the facts is “if you relax childbirth is easy.” I don’t really follow US comedians, if that is what Maher is, but I did choose to watch him before commenting. I found him bland and unfunny, but perhaps I am more acclimatised to the British sense of humour which seems both more subtle and more overt at the same time. Maher is just boring. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/200 "2023-12-10T13:54:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Maher helped spread fake news, and did not, AFAIK, ever come back and refute it. ⁢ > > Because, as I’ve repeated multiple times, it wasn’t “fake”. And I just got through debunking your repeated claim. You clearly read that debunking, since you quoted from that post. And you did not provide a single counter argument. * * * But, since you apparently see repetition as stronger proof, I will summarize. Maher was referencing real newspaper articles who did in fact claim that a certain law had resulted in SF decriminalizing shoplifting. Tons of people genuinely believed this, which is why so many newspapers had to debunk it. He did not make the claim up as a comic exaggeration. He repeated a right wing talking point. And we know that people genuinely believed that talking point. So you are incorrect. You’d think you’d get tired of having to make up excuses for the guy. But, instead, you chastise us for not buying them. Sam\_Stone did the same thing with Elon Musk. Do you really want to be that guy? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=11)