# 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:** 42
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/821 "2025-01-15T22:50:07Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Thing is, most of the points made by Maher are shown so far to be caricatures of what most of the “woke” people are talking about. Oh good, I’m relieved to learn that no real people are actually fucking stupid enough to say that the NIH is “ableist”. Oh wait, that happened in real life, not a Bill Maher rant. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/822 "2025-01-15T22:52:02Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > But this is typical of Maher. “Often,” really? He implies that millions of people on the left do this type of bullying/policing. ??? What the fuck is this, Olympic level mental gymnastics? The word “often” does not mean “millions of people on the left do this”. Are you ok? 🤒 ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/823 "2025-01-15T22:58:27Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > What the fuck is this, Olympic level mental gymnastics? > The word “often” does not mean “millions of people on the left do this”. > Are you ok? Yes. And yes, Maher does imply that this bullying/policing is a Problem that Led to The Democrat’s Losses. Does he state it outright in words that would satisfy _you_? No. He’s not stupid enough to do that. Your “concern” is misplaced. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/824 "2025-01-15T23:04:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there anything more cringe-worthy than the apologies we have to listen to from people so often, that sound like they’re right out of a Soviet re-education camp, where you thank your accusers: “thank you for the opportunity to learn what a repulsive shit-bag I am. I will try to do better”. IOW: “but what about myyyyyyyy feelings!” What a snowflake. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/825 "2025-01-15T23:05:16Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > And yes, Maher does imply that this bullying/policing is a Problem that Led to The Democrat’s Losses. Well, that’s because it certainly _is_ a problem, and it certainly _contributed to_ the Democrats’ loss. _Led to_ is a bit of a stronger claim that I don’t know if I would make; the big thing that actually _led to_ the loss is inflation, inflation, inflation. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/826 "2025-01-15T23:10:43Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Oh good, I’m relieved to learn that no real people are actually fucking stupid enough to say that the NIH is “ableist”. > > Oh wait, that happened in real life, not a Bill Maher rant. Oh, good, then it is not the issue at hand. There must a name for that… Haystack? Hibaaq? Hitchrack? Horseback? Humpback? Hunchback? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/827 "2025-01-15T23:11:28Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Hunchback? You ableist piece of shit ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/828 "2025-01-15T23:14:15Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > You ableist piece of shit Gee, I didn’t know you wanted to cancel Victor Hugo! BTW, getting back into the subject, Bill Maher [did accuse Democrats of cancelling Dr. Seuss](https://deadline.com/2022/01/bill-maher-fires-back-says-his-politics-have-not-changed-1234922380/), so again, Maher and others are indeed willfully ignoring how that helps the rhetoric coming from the right wing nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/829 "2025-01-15T23:28:13Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Oh good, I’m relieved to learn that no real people are actually fucking stupid enough to say that the NIH is “ableist”. > > Oh wait, that happened in real life, not a Bill Maher rant. Who called the NIH “ableist”? Because I am just seeing their advisory board suggesting they change the language somewhat to _avoid_ any perception of being ableist, not an accusation by anyone. Yes I think the statement was fine as it was, and the whole thing smacks of busywork for that committee, but again, let’s try not to leap to the talking point framing. Outrage might be fun (recreational, one might say), but let’s base it on actual things that have happened. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/830 "2025-01-15T23:31:54Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > But he doesn’t confine himself to that; he seems compelled to paint the entire Democratic Party if not the entire “left” with the exact same brush. ‘_They’re all like that_’ is his implicit message, even if he’s usually careful not to put it that baldly. I remember Maher pointed to a members of Congress kneeling while wearing Kente clothes while kneeling during some ceremony for George Floyd. I mean, yeah, I kind of agree that Pelosi looked ridiculous in one of those, but has that really been on the mind of many people? ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/831 "2025-01-15T23:32:53Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Well, that’s because it certainly _is_ a problem, and it certainly _contributed to_ the Democrats’ loss. Well I guess the Dems deserved to lose of championing such causes, policies, and making this their campaign… oh wait that’s all false. Everything about the anti-woke smear machine is false. All just lies. As false as Qanon. Not a single thing is true. Lies and moral panic about the lies. Bullshit, insanity, and wackjob rightwing horseshit. Either way the Dems should swing the hardest left as possible. Or if not, just put the most hardest left person on the platform to break the minds of all those weirdo, chicken little, anti-woke, taboo swallowers. Taboos fall with exposure, and the rightwing lies are already insane. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/832 "2025-01-15T23:42:36Z")
Aside from usually watching “Real Time,” I’ve been catching up on some of the “Club Random” shows. I’ve been a casual Maher fan for decades, but I think the glitter is rubbing off. There’s an old saying about drug addiction: in the beginning, it’s All Pleasure, No Pain. Over time, though, it gradually shifts toward All Pain, No Pleasure. I think I’m heading that way with Bill. He says it isn’t him that’s changing – it’s the world. But that’s what the Archie Bunkers and the “Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!” types always say. I think he’s been too successful and too affluent for a very long time, and good for him. Not so good for me, though. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/833 "2025-01-16T00:06:21Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Who called the NIH “ableist”? > > Because I am just seeing their advisory board suggesting they change the language somewhat to _avoid_ any perception of being ableist, not an accusation by anyone. Stop using facts, they are getting in the way of Babale’s narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/834 "2025-01-16T00:17:09Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Well I guess the Dems deserved to lose of championing such causes, policies, and making this their campaign… If you can point out where I said the Democrats deserved to lose, I will reevaluate my current assessment of you as a braindead idiot. > [@Mijin](#): > > Who called the NIH “ableist”? Well, for one, the committee that you mention did. > [@Mijin](#): > > Yes I think the statement was fine as it was, and the whole thing smacks of busywork for that committee, Cool, then we agree, you’re just too much of a cowardly spineless loser to say so because you think it somehow justifies right wing extremists. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/835 "2025-01-16T00:22:29Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Stop using facts, they are getting in the way of Babale’s narrative. 🙄 I am quite confident that you have _no idea_ what my “narrative” is, since you seem to think I’m opposed to the Democrats or at all sympathetic to the Republicans. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/836 "2025-01-16T00:26:29Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > You have _no idea_ what my “narrative” is, since you seem to think I’m opposed to the Democrats or at all sympathetic to the Republicans. Your narrative is: [![](https://media1.giphy.com/media/fqtyYcXoDV0X6ss8Mf/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9525x6f60vd2kju62pkf26jhp6wpf6tibn047uy33oa&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g) ](https://media1.giphy.com/media/fqtyYcXoDV0X6ss8Mf/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b9525x6f60vd2kju62pkf26jhp6wpf6tibn047uy33oa&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g) ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/837 "2025-01-16T00:27:35Z")
I linked to the NIH mission statement. It hasn’t been changed. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/838 "2025-01-16T00:33:57Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > I linked to the NIH mission statement. It hasn’t been changed …you _are_ aware that nobody claimed it has been, right? …Right? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/839 "2025-01-16T00:34:46Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Your narrative is: OK bud, I can see you’re not interested in any perspective that doesn’t match your own. Have a great life. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/840 "2025-01-16T00:45:30Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Well, for one, the committee that you mention did. No they didn’t; they suggested that the previous mission statement might be perceived that way and recommended a change. …And I just pointed out this distinction in my last post. It’s pretty pathetic pretending to be obtuse just to continue the back and forth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=43)