# 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:** 27
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/521 "2024-06-01T03:07:00Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > What do you think their job is? Crime prevention? How do cops prevent crime? I think their job is to show up when informed that a crime is being committed. If more crimes are being committed than law enforcement can possibly handle, then there’s a deeper problem. Which in fact is exactly the point. But it’s still a matter of law enforcement not doing the job we expect them to do, even if it’s not their fault because they’re overwhelmed. The blame then has to shift to policymakers, whether it’s misguided social policy, or insufficient funding of law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/522 "2024-06-01T03:10:42Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > insufficient funding of law enforcement. San Francisco currently spends almost $800 million a year on law enforcement. > **[San Francisco police may get more funding despite $800M deficit](https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/30/san-francisco-budget-deficit-police-firefighters/)** > > Mayor London Breed wants more money for police, firefighters and the Sheriff’s Office despite a $800 million budget deficit. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/523 "2024-06-01T03:12:01Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I think their job is to show up when informed that a crime is being committed. AFTER a crime has been committed, it’s rare they get there during. And even more rare to solve it after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/524 "2024-06-01T08:15:01Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > What do you think their job is? Crime prevention? How do cops prevent crime? Intelligence. Like, in the military sense. It can’t stop all crime, obviously, but a good network of informants, electronic surveillance and community outreach can do a lot to lower rates. Take those mass shoplifting events, for example. Hundreds of people were involved - are you telling me that none of them were potential snitches? There should have been cops there waiting for them. It’s weird that what the police learned from 23 years of the War On Terror was “Carry more guns and armor” and “shoot first”, rather than “maintain a robust intelligence network.” ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/525 "2024-06-01T19:36:31Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s weird that what the police learned from 23 years of the War On Terror was “Carry more guns and armor” and “shoot first”, rather than “maintain a robust intelligence network.” It’s a war on crime taken a little too literally. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/526 "2024-06-10T18:50:36Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s weird that what the police learned from 23 years of the War On Terror was “Carry more guns and armor” and “shoot first”, rather than “maintain a robust intelligence network.” American police officers have been inculcated into believing the general public are their enemies. Who needs to tell the good guys from the bad guys when we’re all the enemy? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/527 "2024-06-10T20:44:06Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > American police officers have been inculcated into believing the general public are their enemies. Who needs to tell the good guys from the bad guys when we’re all the enemy? Surely there’s some value in learning what the enemy’s planning though, isn’t there? ---
**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:** [June 10, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/528 "2024-06-10T20:52:03Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > I think their job is to show up when informed that a crime is being committed. > > AFTER a crime has been committed, it’s rare they get there during. And even more rare to solve it after the fact. Yet somehow America’s prisons are full. It seems fairly self-evident that frequent police patrols and quick response would go a long way toward reducing brazen organized shoplifting, whereas no police response at all because they’re too busy with other stuff is going to have the opposite effect. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/529 "2024-06-10T21:06:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Surely there’s some value in learning what the enemy’s planning though, isn’t there? You’re not wrong. But that sounds like difficult, tedious police work that doesn’t bear the kind of fruit that gets sexy, sexy funding. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/530 "2024-06-23T01:43:52Z")
> [@12 minutes of happiness in your day - Jiminy glick(Martin Short) ripping Bill Maher right to his face](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-minutes-of-happiness-in-your-day-jiminy-glick-martin-short-ripping-bill-maher-right-to-his-face/1003206/7): > > Maher at least is honest about not being a nice guy. Copied here so as not to derail the original CS thread. By some frivolous standard you’ve introduced, most of us aren’t, either. Because as I said in another thread, I have no tolerance for ignorant assholes. They’re a detriment to civilized society. I don’t think Maher should be condemned for feeling the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/531 "2024-06-23T02:04:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I have no tolerance for ignorant assholes. And yet you stan Bill Maher. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/532 "2024-06-23T03:15:03Z")
That a large percentage of the standups who are enormously popular and even adored by many have been shown over and over for the last 40 years to be misogynistic, homophobic, racist, narcissistic assholes is creating a frivolous standard. Sure. OK. I have a giant collection of books about humor. With rare - and valuable - exceptions the writers are stuck with reporting what awful human beings most humorists, comics, and comedians are. Yet we embrace them joyfully because we need so badly the product that they offer - laughter. How weird that that duality isn’t commented on more often. The deep psychological need of certain people to make others laugh no matter what miseries occur in their personal lives is a constant wonder to me. Most of them don’t like to talk about it, although some more recent books are beginning to be frank about the issues. Over in the other thread I applauded Maher for being frank in his first book, the novel _True Story_. His characters, young asshole men trying to make it in standup, are repellent but at the same time full of the funny that draws us to clubs, shows, and programs. Without tolerance for ignorant assholes, the field of comedy couldn’t exist. Yet not only does it exist, we exalt it and its best practitioners. And lots of the mediocre ones. That says a lot more about us than them. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/533 "2024-06-29T22:53:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That a large percentage of the standups who are enormously popular and even adored by many have been shown over and over for the last 40 years to be misogynistic, homophobic, racist, narcissistic assholes is creating a frivolous standard. Sure. OK. > > … Yet we embrace them joyfully because we need so badly the product that they offer - laughter. I can’t disagree with any of that. I can only re-iterate what I said – that while some standups bug me for just the reasons you’ve stated, Maher does not, though I don’t consider him a standup and frankly no longer enjoy the cynicism of his standup shows. But I think he’s great as the host of a broadminded and freewheeling talk show. Sure he has a few kooks on, but if you pay attention instead of focusing on the edge cases, most of his guests are distinguished writers or politicians or pundits and have insightful things to say. One example I can give you of my agreement with the general gist of your comments is that Jerry Seinfeld really bugs me, even though I can appreciate his talent and still watch reruns of the series. I think it’s a combination of his smirky smugness, his whiny intonations, his don’t-give-a-shit attitude about his performance on the show, and the way he financially screwed his coworkers on the series. Maher at least works hard to be an informative host and, most importantly, doesn’t pretend to be something he isn’t. He’s frank about his beliefs, he explains them well, and if you don’t agree with him, well then Maher will cheerfully invite you to fuck right off. I admire intelligent honesty. And, just to avoid any further ridiculous backlash, no, I don’t agree with Maher about his lunatic views on vaccines and medical science in general. ================ All that said, I was looking forward to yesterday’s show, and Maher didn’t disappoint. Maher is of course vehemently anti-Trump, but he’s also taken the position that while Biden is fully capable of governing for a second term, he probably isn’t capable of being **elected** to it. So it was no surprise that practically all of Maher’s monologue last night was devoted to the subject of the debate, and the theme in a nutshell was that “Biden shit the bed”. Also on that entertaining show was a one-on-one interview with Ray Kurzweil – I’ve read his books but have never seen the man interviewed. And then a panel discussion in which former Democratic Congresswoman and Fox News sellout and current traitorous Trumpist Tulsi Gabbard was eviscerated by Maher: > **['I just read it to you!' Bill Maher shuts down Tulsi Gabbard on Trump's...](https://www.rawstory.com/bill-maher-shuts-down-tulsi-gabbard-trump-election/)** > > Bill Maher and onetime MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Friday joined forces against former Democratic U.S. representative Tulsi Gabbard in a discussion about Donald Trump's ongoing election denialism. > > Matthews started off the discussion by asking... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/534 "2024-06-29T23:25:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > All that said, I was looking forward to yesterday’s show, and Maher didn’t disappoint. Maher is of course vehemently anti-Trump, but he’s also taken the position that while Biden is fully capable of governing for a second term, he probably isn’t capable of being **elected** to it. We can always count on Maher to have the absolute worst take, can’t we? Now, speaking of people who are too old and need to step aside… ---
**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:** [June 29, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/535 "2024-06-29T23:31:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We can always count on Maher to have the absolute worst take, can’t we? You know what the difference is between Maher and publications like the _New York Times_ and the _Economist_? Maher called for Biden to decline a second term more than a year ago, while there was still a chance of that being viable. The “big media” just suddenly decided to do it now, when it’s too late. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/536 "2024-06-29T23:32:58Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Maher called for Biden to decline a second term more than a year ago, while there was still a chance of that being viable. It was a bad take then and it’s a bad take now. Frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t suggested himself as Biden’s replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/537 "2024-06-30T14:53:10Z")
[Moderating] I’ve edited the thread title, as this the thread has moved well behind discussing a specific episode of the show. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![P91noX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@P91noX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P91noX)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/538 "2024-07-01T18:56:54Z")
Ironically, I thought Kurzweil came across as barely more intelligible than Biden during the debate. I was very excited to see him on the show, and disappointed with the result. It seemed like he and Bill didn’t know what to make of each other. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/539 "2024-07-01T19:03:30Z")
Funny enough, I have 2 new copies of one of Kurzweil’s new books, they showed up out of the blue on two separate days. One a week and a half ago and one yesterday. Both from Amazon, both with gift tags on them. No clue who sent them or why. I’ve read his books in the past and they’re interesting. I’ll probably read this one too and send the extra copy to my dad, who is a big fan (bigger than me anyway). Just so weird though. I have never bought a book of his before (I just read loaner copies) and I have no idea how anyone could know I even know who he is, so I guess it’s just random chance that I ended up getting them. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/540 "2024-07-01T20:25:23Z")
The two Ray Kurzweil books that I’ve read are _The Age of Intelligent Machines_ and _The Age of Spiritual Machines_. I haven’t been back to them in years, but my impression at the time was that his predictions on the evolution of computing technology and the evolution of AI were remarkably accurate. I tend to agree with @P91noX that the interview with Maher was kinda underwhelming. Maybe Kurzweil is just getting old, but Google seems happy to have him on board as a senior researcher and prognosticator. He was personally hired by Larry Page. And he’s still writing and still prognosticating. His latest book, _The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI_ was just released. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=28)