# 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:** 7
**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:** [October 13, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/121 "2023-10-13T22:11:06Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > This is clearly demonstrated to be false by the snopes link posted by GIGObuster. There are indeed some people who do and will believe that San Francisco legalized shoplifting. If your “hyperbole” exactly matches a right wing misinformation talking point, then you aren’t making a joke, you are are spreading right wing misinformation. I’ve pretty much dropped out of this thread because it’s become a merry-go-round that goes round and round repeatedly playing the following tune: “Bill Maher is an asshole, and if you don’t agree, you are one too.” Some haters here have what seems to me to be a cavalier attitude toward facts, where concepts like “the exact same words” apparently mean “not the same words at all”. So I’m just going to pop back in to address this last point. I wonder how many here actually watched the video that sparked this latest kerfuffle. I posted it up in post #79. Here is the full context of how Maher presented the bit that caused it all. Maher was supporting the point that “a small contingent” of Democrats were doing stupid shit. He brought up a screen showing a headline from the WSJ reading “San Francisco Has Become a Shoplifter’s Paradise”, saying “when normal people read that San Francisco has basically legalized shoplifting, they think Democrats have gone nuts”. Then he cites members of Congress tweeting things like “cancel rent”, “cancel mortgage” (Rep. Ayanna Pressley D-MA) and “no more policing, incarceration or militarization” (Rep. Rashida Tlaib D-MI). Stupid shit. We who support Democrats and lament the lunacy of current Republicans should see extremes of silliness on “our side” as counterproductive. And, no @Buck_Godot, nothing was “clearly demonstrated to be false” by GIGO’s link. The Snopes refutation was directed at a tweet from someone I’ve never heard of which states that “thanks to Prop 47 thefts under $950 will not be prosecuted”. Maher said no such thing. He was just riffing on the WSJ headline and any reasonable person would understand that. Are some now going condemn Maher because he referred to Liz Cheney as “Darth Vader’s daughter”, yet this is factually untrue? 😉 If he had actually said the same thing as the tweet that Snopes was refuting, that would be grossly irresponsible because it sounds plausible and might be believed. Words matter, and some words are not the same as others. At all. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/122 "2023-10-14T01:10:31Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Some haters here have what seems to me to be a cavalier attitude toward facts, where concepts like “the exact same words” apparently mean “not the same words at all”. Ironically, nobody said “the exact same words”. Buck\_godot said the hyperbole exactly matches a right wing talking point, and it does. Let’s put it this way: do you think the average viewer of that segment would be disabused of the notion that SF has legalized shoplifting? You tell me. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I wonder how many here actually watched the video that sparked this latest kerfuffle. The video didn’t spark the kerfuffle, I was saying about how Maher caricatures and exaggerates the position of those on the Left, and this was your counter-cite. Except you’ve already conceded other parts of his rant were indeed exaggerated _at best_, and we pretty much only have this shoplifting thing remaining. And on that: > **[Bill Maher Compares Woke Mob to KKK](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/bill-maher-joe-rogan-woke-kkk/)** > > Bill Maher doesn't pull his punches when it comes to the 'woke mind virus.' The 'Real Time with Bill Maher' host routinely attacks the progressive ideology, earning him plenty of anger from his fellow liberals. Still, even by the comedian's... In the interview Maher says that "“LIberalism was never ‘shoplifting is progressive,’ and we weren’t interested in legalizing shoplifting, or I should call it ‘justice shopping,'” But yeah I look forward to you “checking back in” to tell us how we’re all jerks for misconstruing Maher. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/123 "2023-10-14T03:55:15Z")
Bill Maher is a better-dressed Joe Rogan with better guests and 10 times the smugness. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2023, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/124 "2023-10-14T07:47:35Z")
At least Rogan knows he’s an idiot. Maher is 100% certain that he’s the smartest person in any room he’s in and he wants to make sure you know it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/125 "2023-10-15T01:12:42Z")
The fact that in CA shoplifting under $950 of merchandise is a misdemeanor doesn’t mean there are no penalties. > **[No, you can’t steal up to $950 worth of merchandise in California without...](https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/crime-verify/california-prop-47-shoplifting-950-fact-check/536-4d1de58e-bf47-4ede-8c2f-b4d0c1788b86)** > > Prop 47 reclassified theft offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, including shoplifting. It doesn’t mean people can steal up to $950 in goods without consequences. > [@](#): > > Proposition 47 reclassified certain theft offenses from felony charges to misdemeanors, [according to California Courts](https://www.courts.ca.gov/prop47.htm). > > The proposition created a new [misdemeanor offense called “shoplifting,”](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=459.5) **which is punishable by up to six months in county jail, [according to California Courts](https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/Prop47FAQs.pdf). Attorneys ([here](https://www.kannlawoffice.com/petty-theft.html), [here](https://www.egattorneys.com/shoplifting-penal-code-459-5) and [here](https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/penal-code/459-5/)) say shoplifters could also face a fine of up to $1,000, or both a fine and jail time.** Shoplifting is defined under California’s penal code as “entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed $950.” > [@](#): > > [Charis Kubrin, Ph.D](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/ckubrin/), professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine, is one of the article’s authors. She explained in an email to VERIFY that Proposition 47 does allow for the prosecution of shoplifting and other petty theft crimes — just as misdemeanors instead of felonies. > > “If the police do not make arrests for these misdemeanor crimes and prosecutors do not prosecute them even when the police do make an arrest, that is not the fault of Proposition 47 itself,” Kubrin said. Washington state has had a similar law for _many_ years (at $750, which was comparable to CA’s when it was set). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/126 "2023-10-28T13:11:42Z")
Do they still do the thing where they cut to his guests so we can witness how humorous they think Bill is? Colbert does that too, with his bandleader. It’s a little odd because the guy is rarely reacting, except for the requisite grin. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/127 "2023-10-28T14:16:15Z")
I knew there was a Bill Maher thread around here somewhere. I made the point earlier (post #25) that I’m not nearly the fan I used to be. But what promoted me to revive this thread was the “New Rules” segment from the October 20 show in which Maher railed about the political culture of college education, particularly that of “elite” Ivy League colleges. In his typical hyperbolic way, he suggested that kids not go to college, or at least, avoid wasting money on the Ivy Leagues. As someone who greatly values education, this was beginning to really piss me off, and yet, here’s a CNN story exactly backing up his claims. Coincidentally, John Oliver’s show from last Sunday (Oct 22) on the McKinsey consulting firm was not kind to cretinous assholes who graduate from Harvard and move into McKinsey to become prestigious high-priced consultants who are paid outrageous salaries to provide bad advice to major corporations for outrageous fees. The world is a complicated place. Sometimes we need irreverent observers like the late beloved George Carlin and, yes, even Bill Maher, to give us some perspective. > **[Hedge fund billionaire: Students protesting Israel have ‘sh\*t for brains’ |...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/business/leon-cooperman-students-israel-protests/index.html)** > > Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman is blasting college students for protesting against Israel, joining a growing list of powerful university donors to speak out on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/128 "2023-10-28T15:19:45Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Do they still do the thing where they cut to his guests so we can witness how humorous they think Bill is? Yes. They did it last night several times during “New Rules.” ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/129 "2023-10-28T15:52:36Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The world is a complicated place. Sometimes we need irreverent observers like the late beloved George Carlin and, yes, even Bill Maher, to give us some perspective. Meh, I’ve long been saying that where you get educated doesn’t matter that much, and it’s far more important that you realize you generally get out of your education what you put into it. Screw even thinking about the Ivy League, just paying out of state tuition to go to a particular college is unlikely to be worth the cost. Bill’s simply not providing much of an insight here. Carlin is a bit of an apt comparison, because he was funny and intelligent up until about the mid 80s. In the 90s and afterward, he spent a lot of his time just being an angry old man. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/130 "2023-10-28T16:01:46Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Carlin is a bit of an apt comparison, because he was funny and intelligent up until about the mid 80s. In the 90s and afterward, he spent a lot of his time just being an angry old man. IIRC, GC stopped doing drugs – often the death knell for a comedian. I don’t think Maher has any such excuse. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/131 "2023-10-28T16:01:47Z")
Just ran across [this Bill Maher gem](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bill-maher-coronavirus) from early in the pandemic, when he proclaimed that it was “overrreactions” to Covid-19 that were making him “sick”. > [@](#): > > Real Time" host [Bill Maher](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bill-maher-pro-life-march-for-life) complained about the hype that has surrounded the [coronavirus](https://www.foxnews.com/category/health/infectious-disease/coronavirus), comparing it to the “Y2K” computer bug that was supposed to cause [tech](https://www.foxnews.com/tech) havoc back at the turn of the century. > > “People die! That’s what happens in life!” Nearly 7 million dead so far. But that’s what happens in life. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/132 "2023-10-28T16:18:25Z")
Bill Maher is an idiot when it comes to medical science – potentially a dangerous idiot. We know that. But repeating that fact over and over again doesn’t really advance the discussion about the overall value of his show and the discussions with his often very informative guests. When Maher opines about vaccines and how “medical science doesn’t know everything” I just take it as an opportunity to wander off out of earshot and get another drink. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/133 "2023-10-28T18:59:32Z")
There are quite a few RFK Jr. supporters who tune out his bigoted ravings about vaccines, conspiracy theories about 5G and antidepressants, HIV denialism and extraordinary penchant for lying because they like his anti-corporate statements and history of environmental work (not to mention swooning over the Kennedy image, what there’s left of it). As with Maher, it all depends on one’s threshold for overlooking and excusing dangerous lunacy. With some folks, that threshold is very low. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/134 "2023-11-05T22:57:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In his typical hyperbolic way, he suggested that kids not go to college, or at least, avoid wasting money on the Ivy Leagues. Which is interesting when you learn that Maher graduated from an Ivy League school. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/135 "2023-11-06T18:08:40Z")
You can make big connections from an Ivy League degree. I feel that gets left out a lot. I’d say it’s especially useful if you want you start your career local to that school. Not saying it’s a great choice for everyone. But I think the value of a powerful social network has to count for something. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/136 "2023-11-06T18:20:39Z")
I’ve never liked him because since Day 1 I felt he was doing a bit of, “Look at me, I’m so fucking edgy.” Remember how he talked about how courageous the 9/11 terrorists were? Has he gotten worse than that? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/137 "2023-11-06T19:26:18Z")
He’s just Dennis Miller with another face but the same style. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/138 "2023-11-06T19:34:54Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Remember how he talked about how courageous the 9/11 terrorists were? No, I don’t. What I remember is Maher objecting to Bush and the politicians of the day calling them “cowards”. “Cowards” is just completely the wrong word, dredged up because in our culture it’s a damning insult, but in this context it’s an empty and meaningless one. It’s just stupid. The 9/11 terrorists were possessed by untold depths of evil and delusion and should have been properly called out for what they were, instead of a thoughtless schoolyard insult. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/139 "2023-11-06T20:02:54Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I’ve never liked him because since Day 1 I felt he was doing a bit of, “Look at me, I’m so fucking edgy.” Remember how he talked about how courageous the 9/11 terrorists were? Has he gotten worse than that? The full quote from Bill Maher back then: > “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, [it’s] not cowardly.” He didn’t call the terrorists courageous, he just pointed out (as did @wolfpup) how stupid it was to call them cowardly, which was spot on. OTOH, he referred to America as cowards for firing cruise missiles, which I thought was plenty stupid. Were our soldiers supposed to wander the mountains of Afghanistan with sharp sticks, inquiring with the locals as to the whereabouts of Bin Laden and his associates? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367/140 "2023-11-06T20:03:28Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, I don’t. What I remember is Maher objecting to Bush and the politicians of the day calling them “cowards”. You’re absolutely right. I remembered the quote wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-time-with-bill-maher/991367.md?page=8)