***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[handullz]

He went for the joke, swung and miss.

I don't know if he is or is not bigoted toward black folk... I don't know that man's heart...

But given his track record, I don't think he should lose his job or anything.

He went for the joke and caught the L.He shouldn't have said it, but nuance and intent matters.

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

Shout out to all the outraged white people who use the N word when they're mad at a black person, though.

 

[whywesteppin]

He went for the joke, swung and miss.

I don't know if he is or is not bigoted toward black folk... I don't know that man's heart...

But given his track record, I don't think he should lose his job or anything.

He went for the joke and caught the L.He shouldn't have said it, but nuance and intent matters.

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

Shout out to all the outraged white people who use the N word when they're mad at a black person, though.

Agreed with all of this, especially the bolded part.

This wasn't the same as Kramer going off that one night.

But it was still stupid of Bill Maher to go for that joke.


edit:

I also find it sad that people are calling for his job, especially liberals. Is he perfect? No. But he engages in thoughtful discussion -- not all the time, but at least a couple times per episode.

The interview with Sasse was great (outside of the awful joke Maher attempted). Finally a conservative who is capable of intelligent discussion. I wish the interview would've went longer. His arguments on climate change and government's role seemed specious but I would've loved to see that discussion keep going. The lady on the panel who called Bill Maher out on his views on Islam was great too.

Are we going to get any of that back-and-forth on Fox News, CNN, etc.? I doubt it. And that's more an indictment of news networks than it is an endorsement of Bill Maher.

Also, he should apologize.

 

[rolaholic]

^^I agree with both of you,it was definitely dumb but dude is known for making off color jokes so it's nothing out of the ordinary from him. He's said stuff that could tow the line between tasteful and offensive about just about every group I could think of.

Don't think it's enough to get him out of the paint given how he's never been too selective about who to go after or say controversial things about. His show is really good outside of his own stuff,he usually has great guests over for pretty interesting and occasionally profound discussions on current events. I'd be disappointed if it ended over something like this just months into the current admin. Was looking forward to Orange roasts for years to come

He deserves the scorn for a stupid joke but I don't think he needs to lose his job

 

[Mark Antony]

Don't know the context of the interview nor interviewee, but the interviewee leading in with a slavery analogy to make whatever point is almost as bad, considering (i'm assuming) he has no comedy background. I wouldn't want Maher out of the paint though, I def don't agree with everything he says but he's a good voice to have during this Trump era. Folks gotta temper their outrage and be careful of knocking off allies over a tasteless joke that doesn't seem to have malicious intent. Don't shoot yourself in the foot over something benign that gives way to the opposition's voice to grow stronger.

I know it's not his word to ever use.

 

[ninjahood]

Damn, reading facebook comments from people who defend Trump for pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement seriously hurts my head. These people are idiots.

a. its not a treaty

b.

So as part of the Paris agreement, richer countries, like the US, are supposed to send $100 billion a year in aid by 2020 to the poorer countries.

im good...let em develop their own natural resources like da US (see China doing that with Africa)

 

[Black Lotus]

2017

 

seen this on our office tv yesterday while i passed by it to go to the rest room... did  a 

 

[ninjahood]

He went for the joke, swung and miss.

I don't know if he is or is not bigoted toward black folk... I don't know that man's heart...

But given his track record, I don't think he should lose his job or anything.

He went for the joke and caught the L.He shouldn't have said it, but nuance and intent matters.

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

*no, just b/c a white person doesn't say it in a malicious way doesn't mean they get to say it all willy nilly*

Shout out to all the outraged white people who use the N word when they're mad at a black person, though.

pretty much, and cosign everything here.

when you Google da story? its his own political constituency that's coming for him...looks like da knives were polished & sharpened for him just in case

 

[handullz]

pretty much, and cosign everything here.

when you Google da story? its his own political constituency that's coming for him...looks like da knives were polished & sharpened for him just in case

Please do not interpret that I'm all for people of all races throwing around the N word with an "a" on the end... as evidenced by the following three repetitive sentences in the post.

In speaking to BILL MAHER and his use, nuance and intent matters.

It's a case by case basis.

 

[masagipatron]

I don't think Sasse was trying to set him up. Bill and Sasse were criticizing millennials and the fact adults dress up for Halloween. Sasse said that in his home state of Nebraska, adults don't do that. Bill said he should pay a visit to Nebraska and Sasse invited him to come work the fields with him. The implication being that Nebraskans are hard workers and have a lot of farm experience. Personally, in my mind and knowing Bill's humor, I knew that a slave a joke was coming. In fact, in my head I said "he's probably thinking about the difference between a House slave and a Field slave". I didn't think he would say the n word but a slave joke was predictable. But context matters and pseudo outrage is corny. If people want him gone for this one joke, where were they at when he ripped into Muslims, day in and day out? It's not just that he calls out radical Muslims but he seems to have serious issues with Islam in general and is very quiet about criticizing Jews and Israel. People are very selective when it comes to offensive jokes or commentary.


This type of outrage has been one of his biggest critiques of the past couple of years. How PC culture has taken over comedy and context. I don't if he'll apologize or how he'll apologize. He has an ego. I wouldn't take his apology seriously considering his views on PC culture and outrage. I would see it simply as an attempt to please HBO.

 

[Based Jesus]

 
In 2014, Christians accounted for 70.6%  of the U.S. population. Non-Christians and those unaffiliated with any religion totaled 28.7%.

About a third (32%) of Americans say it is very  important for a person to be a Christian in order to be considered truly American. Roughly three-in-ten (31%) contend that one’s religion is not at all important.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the link between religion and nationality is of greatest consequence to those for whom religion plays a very important role in daily life. Among this group, 51% say it is very important to be Christian in order to be truly American. For those respondents who say religion for them is only somewhat important, not too important or not important at all, just 11% say Christian identity is very important to being American.

There is also a denominational divide on the relationship between Christianity and nationality. A majority (57%) of white evangelical Protestants say it is very  important to be Christian to be a true American. Just 29% of white mainline Protestants and 27% of Catholics agree. Only 9% of people who are unaffiliated with an organized religion say it is very important for a person to be Christian in order to be truly American.

Generations are divided on this question, with those 50 and older placing far greater importance on being a Christian (44% say it is very important) than Americans under 35 (18%).

 

http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/02/01/faith-few-strong-links-to-national-identity/

 

[whywesteppin]

^Based, that's crazy but completely expected. And it's these same people who are the most worried about sharia law. And they're the same ones who don't think Catholics are Christians.

Thanks for typing that out. Yeah it was not a setup. Just Maher blurting out what he thought was funny.

Given the whole premise of his comedy and being politically incorrect and ranting every couple weeks about how liberals are too sensitive about the wrong things, this was not too surprising and I could see him not apologizing. But I still think he should.

 

[handullz]

 

http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/02/01/faith-few-strong-links-to-national-identity/

I'm not sure you or someone else older can answer but...

The gulf in ideologies between people born before 1980 and after 1980 seems SO massive.

Has it been this massive in previous generations? In reference to core beliefs on marriage, religion, drugs, racial equality, gender equality...

 

[Belgium]

I firmly relieve that religion's vice grip on the US is one of the main factors for such backwards social issues views and legislation.
Gallup's latest poll said 24% of the US population take the bible literally, word for word. That's a downwards trend but either way, 24% of the population are essentially glorified lunatics. Science, logic, rationality and critical thinking fly straight out the window with every single one of those people, otherwise they wouldn't be such overzealous biblethumpers. Hardly different from flat earthers in my opinion.
Combine that with other main factors like white supremacy and systemic racism, and that explains a lot about the state of the US.

 

[jimmypiff]

 

 

http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/02/01/faith-few-strong-links-to-national-identity/

​I think polling based on religion will always be false, not because statistics or bipartisanship but because a large chunk of our society is secular.... theres a lot of people who identify as Christian but don't really practice the religion

...in this case I don't know whats more alarming

 the fact that religion and patriotism are on the same metric or the fact that Americans think ethnocentric belief systems are "Christian-like"

Edit: Its actually ironic considering Jesus was a Jew from Israel lol

 

[RustyShackleford]

Today is the 25th anniversary of Bill Clinton's now-legendary appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Bill and Hillary and proof and opposites attract.

Dude comes off as so sincere, Hillary can be telling you the god's honest truth and she comes off like she is lying.

But I much rather have Hillary run the country than Bill. Even if in the best case liberal super majority.

 

[gry60]

I firmly relieve that religion's vice grip on the US is one of the main factors for such backwards social issues views and legislation.
Gallup's latest poll said 24% of the US population take the bible literally, word for word. That's a downwards trend but either way, 24% of the population are essentially glorified lunatics. Science, logic, rationality and critical thinking fly straight out the window with every single one of those people, otherwise they wouldn't be such overzealous biblethumpers. Hardly different from flat earthers in my opinion.
Combine that with other main factors like white supremacy and systemic racism, and that explains a lot about the state of the US.

He ain't lyin'


I know someone - with whom I completely stopped discussing politics for the time being - who checks all the boxes of average disadvantaged American, even including race. Dude was a two-issue voter last election and his issues were abortion and homosexuality.

Didn't care that the government pays part of where he lives and contributes to feeding him and his fam.

Didn't care that due to his background, you could easily make him the villain if he ever got wrongfully shot by the police.

Didn't care that education is getting expensive and that he could definitely do without loans in order to get ahead in life.

My dude is in church every Sunday and will accept personal suffering and social injustice if that means forcing other people to adopt his views.

Now, tell me how different this is from a suicide bomber's line of thinking.

 

[IATT]

 

[rolaholic]

Sounds thorough,only "the best people" though...

 

[ninjahood]

pretty much, and cosign everything here.

when you Google da story? its his own political constituency that's coming for him...looks like da knives were polished & sharpened for him just in case

Please do not interpret that I'm all for people of all races throwing around the N word with an "a" on the end... as evidenced by the following three repetitive sentences in the post.

what part of

pretty much, and cosign everything here.

wasn't understood?

da funniest thing in that exchange is he saw da cliff​, (Workin in da fields) looked down, and made da calculation that "ehh my G pass is certified" and proceeded on.

 

[boris]

I firmly relieve that religion's vice grip on the US is one of the main factors for such backwards social issues views and legislation.
Gallup's latest poll said 24% of the US population take the bible literally, word for word. That's a downwards trend but either way, 24% of the population are essentially glorified lunatics. Science, logic, rationality and critical thinking fly straight out the window with every single one of those people, otherwise they wouldn't be such overzealous biblethumpers. Hardly different from flat earthers in my opinion.
Combine that with other main factors like white supremacy and systemic racism, and that explains a lot about the state of the US.

They literally believe people normally lived to be > 100 years old and that dinosaurs walked around with humans. I grew up being taught this **** and it's just frightening.

 

[ninjahood]

 

http://www.pewglobal.org/2017/02/01/faith-few-strong-links-to-national-identity/

I'm not sure you or someone else older can answer but...

The gulf in ideologies between people born before 1980 and after 1980 seems SO massive.

Has it been this massive in previous generations? In reference to core beliefs on marriage, religion, drugs, racial equality, gender equality...

gen Xers & millennials are different animals.

can wait to see what da gen Z's acts like...

 

[Brownstone]

They remain irrelevant because they don't vote in droves like evangelicals do.

 

[IATT]

How many bill the wall supposed to be again?

And trump & co resorting to infowars:

 

[handullz]

Some Trump ether from a comments section on thehill.com

1. He said he wouldn’t bomb Syria. You bought it. Then he bombed Syria.

2. He said he'd build a wall along the border with Mexico. You bought it. Now his secretary of homeland security says "It’s unlikely that we will build a wall."

3. He said he’d clean the Washington swamp. You bought it. Then he brought into his administration more billionaires, CEOs, and Wall Street moguls than in any administration in history, to make laws that will enrich their businesses.

4. He said he’d repeal Obamacare and replace it with something “wonderful.” You bought it. Then he didn’t.

5. He said he’d use his business experience to whip the White House into shape. You bought it. Then he created the most chaotic, dysfunctional, back-stabbing White House in modern history, in which no one is in charge.

6. He said he’d release his tax returns, eventually. You bought it. He hasn’t, and says he never will.

7. He said he’d divest himself from his financial empire, to avoid any conflicts of interest. You bought it. He remains heavily involved in his businesses, makes money off of foreign dignitaries staying at his Washington hotel, gets China to give the Trump brand trademark and copyright rights, manipulates the stock market on a daily basis, and has more conflicts of interest than can even be counted.

8. He said Clinton was in the pockets of Goldman Sachs, and would do whatever they said. You bought it. Then he put half a dozen Goldman Sachs executives in positions of power in his administration.

9. He said he’d surround himself with all the best and smartest people. You bought it. Then he put Betsy DeVos, opponent of public education, in charge of education; Jeff Sessions, opponent of the Voting Rights Act, in charge of voting rights; Ben Carson, opponent of the Fair Housing Act, in charge of fair housing; Scott Pruitt, climate change denier, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Russian quisling Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.

10. He said he’d faithfully execute the law. You bought it.

Then he said his predecessor, Barack Obama, spied on him, without any evidence of Obama ever doing so, in order to divert attention from the FBI's investigation into collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives to win the election.

11. He said he knew more about strategy and terrorism than the Generals did. You bought it. Then he promptly gave the green light to a disastrous raid in Yemen- even though all his Generals said it would be a terrible idea. This raid resulted in the deaths of a Navy SEAL, an 8-year old American girl, and numerous civilians. The actual target of the raid escaped, and no useful intel was gained.

12. He called Barack Obama “the vacationer-in-Chief” and accused him of playing more rounds of golf than Tiger Woods. He promised to never be the kind of president who took cushy vacations on the taxpayer’s dime, not when there was so much important work to be done. You bought it. He has by now spent more taxpayer money on vacations than Obama did in the first 3 years of his presidency.

13. He called CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times “fake news” and said they were his enemy. You bought it. Now he gets his information from Fox News, Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, and InfoWars.

Feeling stupid yet, Bubba?

You should.

 

[rexanglorum]

Many people think that Bill Maher was intending to shock simply by saying the "n-word." What I saw was him doing what comedians always try to do and it is to reveal what had hitherto been unsaid.

In this case, the gentleman from Nebraska is a Republican and all Republicans make appeals to white supremacist constituencies. All, or almost all, Republicans, who actually get elected, do not explicitly say white supremacist things. They refrain from using anything that could be considered a racial slur and, crucially, they articulate their white supremacy through the language and imagery of crime and labor. In this framework, black folks are criminals and thugs, and white people are hard workers. According to Republicans, coastal and/or urban Democrats do not work and rural and suburban Republicans are the "working class," they are "hardworking tax payers."

Honestly, whenever I hear a Republican, even a telegenic, young, charismatic midwestern Republican, who is probably just talking about Nebraska's corn fields, talk about work, in general, and agricultural work, in particular, I think of all of the conservative movement's racialized, producerist language. I suspect that Maher felt that same way and wanted to rudely reveal a truth, Republican language related to work is racialized. He also wanted to subvert expectations. If Trent Lott had mentioned "working in the fields," the anteblellum imagery would have be so obvious as to not be worth an unexpected use of the "n-word." However, the reference to fields was used by a northerners, from a free soil States, so the by using the "n-word," Maher was pointing out a racial subtext that was not particularly obvious.