Quite sly how Bill Maher lures Dinesh D’Souza into a false sense of security and then deftly sets a couple of traps for D’Souza to stumble into.
Quite sly how Bill Maher lures Dinesh D’Souza into a false sense of security and then deftly sets a couple of traps for D’Souza to stumble into.
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Of course it’s a setup – and they stand in line to get on his show. Nobody expects a formal interview, just banter. And any guest who feels they have been lured to his “lair” is just plain dumb, which is often the point.
(never made it though a Larry King interview because he doesn’t listen and has already moved on to the next question. He couldn’t do a followup if his life depended on it.)
My favorite Larry King interview was the time his guest was billionaire T. Boone Pickens and Larry called him T-Bone Pickens 30 or 40 times throughout the hour.
Either nobody dared to correct Larry during commercial breaks or else he ignored his staff as much as he ignored the answers to the wiffle-ball “questions” he always and only ever lobbed at them.
Larry King and his view of the internet: “I’ve never done it, never gone searching… The wife loves it. I wouldn’t love it. What do you punch little buttons and things?” (November, 2006)
Bill Maher doesn’t invite his guests to his show to explain their viewpoints. He brings them to his lair to spring his own viewpoints on them. He is a poor interviewer. He is a two-bit blow-hard that could learn how to interview guests appropriately by watching the venerable Larry King.
Ryan Filomeno Adams,
How dare you? I have been called a lot of names through out my life but never a drag queen. I will have you know, Miss Thing, that LaQuifa is my baptismal name. And I am not ready to make nice Mister Nic V, I will go to great lengths to defend our president, as long as he is a democrat, if not then well he/she will be read for filth.
In conclusion, 4 more years!
I never miss his show, which is the high point of my TV week. Love him or hate him, he’s funny as hell and goes after all sides.
Four of my favorite Maher quotes follow:
#4
Maybe every other American movie shouldn’t be based on a comic book. Other countries will think Americans live in an infantile fantasy land where reality is whatever we say it is and every problem can be solved with violence.
#3
Freedom isn’t free. It shouldn’t be a bragging point that ‘Oh, I don’t get involved in politics,’ as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn’t insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.
#2
I don’t know who Pussy Riot is, but count me in.
#1
If you think you have it bad, read a history book.
In 2008 the deal was proposed to remove troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. We currently have thousands of troops in a landlocked country where our only access out is either airlifting people and equipment in dribs and drabs or driving our vehicles out through Pakistan, who revoked and just recently reinstated our rights to drive through their country. Logistics is a bitch, and all evidence point to John McCain rescinding our Iraq agreement had he been elected. Romney has expressed no desire to get out of Afghanistan, whereas Obama has displayed he’ll hold to the timetable.
fixed, Mike S.
Sorry the grammar is so awful in that post. I just couldn’t get over the whore comment. I’ve been called a lot of things in my life that was never one of them.
Ryan I happen to agree with you my point was you demonize a whole group of people. I don’t any Mormons I don’t really know anything about Mormons but I do understand tolerance. I don’t object to parody and satire but I do object too a commentary that really is just in bad taste.
As for people talking to god hell Jesus talked to god. He said he saw god all the time and you know what who am I to argue with him? I’m not equating Jesus to Mr. Smith. What I’m saying is don’t demonize everyone we’ve seen that done before in the 30’s.
As for Afghanistan why are waiting until 2014? Bring them home before more of them die. Hell when the Iraqi’s decided they want us there anymore and only wanted our money we got out quick.
And as for the whore comment that just underscores my point. I don’t agree with someone’s opinion so I’m a whore. Sad quite sad.
As for the gay and lesbian community. I’m over 60 and have seen little progress in those 60 years. Progress that gives me the same rights as any other individual in this country. The only progress I’ve seen is that as single individual I pay a higher tax rate than most other Americans.
I’ve lived in my home for sixteen years. A home T and I bought 16 years ago and when he passed away I didn’t get the right to inherit my home as any other “married” couple in America would get. I got the right to pay inheritance taxes on a house we bought together but we kept in his name. Those things could be changed. The public may not accept or like the gay community but I want to believe that inequity regardless of what form takes is inequity.
I don’t care for Obama. I was a Clinton supporter. I don’t care for Mitt Romney and to me I don’t think anything will really change with either of them.
And thank you LaQuifah for your intellectual opinion. Funny how that’s left to stand and when I objected to the thread on Kirsten Stewart one of my posts was removed. Equity is a funny thing.
Ryan I happen to agree with you my point was you demonize a whole group of people.
Nic V, I understand and agree that Maher perhaps does ridicule. But I don’t. I try not to. Everybody in my entire family is religious. I don’t demonize them. Mormon beliefs in seemingly unlikely events are no different from the faith that most religions require.
I will say, the more recently a religion is founded, the easier it is to imagine — or try to visualize — the living men who created them (sometime pretty much out of thin air). L. Ron Hubbard, pretty fishy. Joseph Smith, (to me) sounds like a con-artist.
Joshua, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Those guys, I tend to cut them a bigger break. For one thing, there was a lot less scientific exploration going on to act as more rational real-world balance to the visions and prophecies men had to help explain our place on the planet — visions and prophecies that I have no trouble conceding must have been intensely felt inside the heads of the men having them.
This is just brilliant. I mean, where does Nic V sees Maher being intolerably vile towards D’Souza is confusing to me. I mean, I am this first guy to understand that yes, Maher can be one sided, but not in the level of D’Souza. This is the guy with one, if not the most profitable documentary of the last decade. This should be a guy who is not only passionate about his standings, he should be CONFIDENT where he stands. This interview just shows how unprepared, and unfocused the guys is. He doesn’t know what the heck is talking about, and let’s be honest if you fall for a Bill Maher trip you deserve it. This should be the selling point to everyone wanting to rip this off. This is just genius, if Micheal Moore when into something like this, he would’ve eaten Bill Maher’s ass because he know what the fuck he is talking about. I hope the comparison between D’Souza and Moore ends right now.
Nic V:
Interesting thoughts on Bill Maher, I’ve often been frustrated with his shtick and I agree with a lot of what you wrote about him.
But to your points on Obama, I feel like I have to push back on some of those things.
First, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a major step forward for Gays and Lesbians, but you’d be hard pressed to convince me anyone thinks that’s enough in terms of rights for the LGBT community. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment as a Senator, and has supported Equal Employment legislation to prevent employment discrimination against people in the LGBT community. His support for Gay Marriage is at the center of the Democratic Platform, and was a key component of nearly every speech at the DNC. He’s also moved the administration to insist adoption providers seeking federal funds not discriminate against qualified gays and lesbians who seek to adopt.
On Afghanistan, he spoke out against the war there back in 2003 before he was in the Senate, and recently signed the agreement with the Afghan Government to begin bringing troops home by 2014. Winding down any military mission is an elaborate process, so to tag him for the US entering a war before he was President, and not getting us out of a war he’s committed us to leaving is a little disingenuous.
Under the Affordable Care Act’s requirement 80% of premiums go directly to care my insurance company restructured my monthyl premium payments, saving me personally over $200 monthly without reducing my benefits. My wife’s last mammogram was fully covered. My retired parents are spending $500 less a month on their prescriptions.
Every election features one side slamming the other, it’s never pretty, but attacking Romney for manipulating the tax code to become rich is an excellent way to point out how lopsided out tax code is, and bring into the conversation the need for tax reform. What significant political issue do the Republicans bring to light by making cracks about the President’s birth certificate?
Education costs are certainly higher, and Obama’s policies are focused on expanding Pell Grants, keeping student loan interest rates under 5%, and increasing funding for education to improve public schools. Under the Ryan Budget student loan interest doubles, Pell Grants are cut significantly, and Romney has advocated increasing class sizes, even though any teacher will tell you the more kids a teacher has to manage per class the lower the student outcomes.
Nic V you are such a whore.
4 more years!!!!
LaQuifa Wadley,
You need to cool it with the insults, no matter how flouncy you make them sound. That’s not the first time you’ve called another reader a whore. You, with the drag-queen nickname. Just stop it, please.
Yes Bill Maher rocks. I’m just not sure what it is he rocks because honestly I find his rhetoric rather like bile. I watched his recent adventure into political satire if that’s what it can be called and I haven’t seen D’Souza’s film and have no desire to do so. The exchange between the two seemed to me to be more of Maher pointing a finger trying save or recoup a little bit of his tarnished reputation.
It’s rather interesting to see this here considering that entire show where Maher seems to be the ring master and god help you if you don’t agree with him.
I watched Solidad O’Brien on the panel and she looked to me very uncomfortable except of a few moments when she managed a smile. Even the cameras didn’t focus on her as much as one would think they would considering that Solidad is one of CNN’s most likeable and intelligent commentators. Solidad hosts one of the more popular morning news programs and is quite good at it.
What I find reprehensible about Maher is his total lack of respect for anything or anyone who doesn’t channel his opinions.
He spent a great deal of time talking about Mormons and how the head of the Mormon church believes he talks to god. Of course Maher doesn’t believe there is a god so I suppose to Maher it’s just good fodder. But what I found interesting is that he demonized an entire religious sect simply because Mitt Romney is a Mormon. I’m a catholic and I think that the Pope talks to god, my father was Jewish and I pretty sure the Rabbi’s talk to god. Hell I talk to god and I’m not a Mormon. But because the head of the Mormon church believes he talks to god makes him an alien life form. I just object to that type of rhetoric.
There is supposed to be religious tolerance in this country and what I witnessed last night was more about intolerance. Imagine if a Jew were running for the Presidency or a Muslim.
We all certainly do not hold the same truths about religion as each other but somewhere we’re supposed to be enlightened and how can society be enlightened when you have a fool like Maher impressing upon his audience how enlightened he is and those who don’t agree with him aren’t.
It’s amusing how there were so many articles and comments at this site about how the Republicans are demons and here we have Bill Maher who is a democrat spewing the same kind of venom as any Republican. In fact Maher spews a venom that is much more disquieting and much more ugly.
Tolerance people. Tolerance. Everyone has opinion and the moment you begin to tear that opinion apart without any respect for the person whom holds that opinion you then become less than the person you’re attacking.
I don’t particularly like either Romney or Obama. Someone said here that Obama gave us Ask Don’t Tell and we as gay citizens should be content. President Obama had to be forced by the slip up of his Vice President to acknowledge that gay marriage isn’t the evil everyone thinks it is. Honestly I can’t understand why gay men and women would want a label like “marriage” attached to their relationships that has been so tarnished by straight society. I am however a proponet of civil unions and if President Obama really wanted to do something to capture our imaginations he should have introduced legislation that would recognise civil unions. But then he’d have to be tolerant wouldn’t he?
Someone here said somethinga about ten years of war affecting President Obama’s tenure and the truth is we’re still at war. He’s the Commander in Chief and young and women are still dying in Afghanistan. Think about that a moment… Afghanistan where I’d thought we’d all learned something after the Russian debacle of ten years.
No President is going to accomplish everything on his want to do list. I’ve had the impact of Health Care under President Obama and honestly his record isn’t all that great either.
I actually was warming up to President Obama and then he decided to launch a campaign that really was kind of ugly. Giving people the impression that Romney was a tax cheat. He may be but he’s done it as legally as Presient Obama has. There isn’t a politican who goes to Washington that doesn’t go home a rich man in the end.
How many children do you know where their parents can brag that their children’s educational cost before they even got to High School was 35K a year. Hell that’s more expensive than most college educations for a year.
When people of any religion say they talk to God, if that falls in the realm of prayer or asking for guidance, most everyone is pretty tolerant of that.
Nic V, surely you see the difference in prayer or asking God’s forgiveness — and what Joseph Smith claims: that an Angel came down and visited him and told him long elaborate stories about Golden Plates he should dig up, and tales of how Jesus spent a lot of time touring America, and basically this angel dictated the entire enormous Book of Mormon to him. He was basically just a stenographer writing down the rules and regulations of a brand new religion.
Talking to God and having God talk to you — kinda very different, wouldn’t you say. Nobody thinks it’s odd if you tell us you talk to God.
But if you show up telling us a bunch of stuff God told you about who He wants to win Best Actress, telling us God showed you where to dig up Gold Plates with the nominees for Best Editing and we had to abide by those plates (even though you can’t show them to us, we have to trust you — they exist — but God told you not to show us)…. then, yeah, we’re gonna look askance at you.
heck, I’ll be right upfront. I’ll look askance at you if you tell me an angel told you that you’re forbidden to drink Lipton’s tea.
At the very least I’ll tell you you’re hanging out with fucked up angels. Because ice tea is delicious, and even nuns drink it. Even that old con artist, Mother Teresa.
This Dinesh guy is completely delusional. Bill Maher did a great job in exposing his lies. Sadly, the people who should watch this will never do so.
Balu
PS: Most Indians I know vote Obama. Education is highly valued by Indian households in US, and Mitt Romney wants to cut public education.
Aahahha I love Bill Maher seriously, he’s one of my political heroes but I know he’s not favored by many. But I love how he spins D’Souza like this.
I only wish the clip was cut at the end..
I’m from Europe so clearly I have no idea who Bill Maher is, but based on this interview, I do know that HE ROCKS !
Thank God someone called out this idiot on his bullshit, face to face AND on national television ! Now I only wish people would stop calling it a ‘film’…it is an insult to every decent filmmaker in the world.