be open to question.
What I do think he is, is a loud mouthed narcissistic blow hard.

There ! how's them potatoes...

He claims Pasteur made a "deathbed confession" about disease, saying "germs don't cause it."
This is a lie.

is your funny bone broken?

He is just an overblown, poop blowing blowhard.
A pompous ass with no timing whatsoever.

seems many many people disagree with your assessment of his skill! Including many years of HBO!

Are you in casting? Do you write reviews? Are you an actual comedian...one that actually gets paid?

..although, I have audition singers for operas and Broadway shows

Do I write reviews? Nope. Check.. Although I have had many reviews written about performances I have been involved in.

Am I an actual comedian. Nope check (I told you that already. I would be a terrible comedian. Put your specs on. )

So.. what's the point? I am not a politician, or in the military either, but I sure have my own opinion about invading Iraq! ( I was going to put in 'fucking opinion' but.. eh...)

I am not a poet, but I have a pretty good idea about what is good poetry and what is not, having worked with poets. I am not a dancer, but I have a pretty good idea about what constitutes quality in modern dance, having worked with the Martha Graham and Garth Fagan Dance Companies. I am not a photographer but I think I have a pretty good idea about balance and composition in photography, having been married to a photographer for quite a while.. And I believe I have valid opinions about comedians, having worked in pits with quite a few of them.

Now..Your opinions in those areas may differ from mine, and that is fine with me. But that does not mean mine are not valid.

So did Don Rickles.

And just before she died, Joan Rivers.

And David Spade.

Recently?
No.

do either of the others have much of a career these days? No they don't...Bill has been working steady on television for what 20+ yrs straight now!

by the way...Rickles and Rivers are considered icons by OTHER comedians.

Oh and Redd Foxx was pretty acerbic too....you going to say he wasn't funny too?

I don't think anyone will blame you for mistaking him for a zombie.

to Islamic terrorists and other brain-dead killers.

resistence are one of the biggest problems facing us

Also a terrible actor, comic timing non-existent..

Remember his former show...forget the name,,'
had screamers from right and left just belching at each other...

your starting to sound like a disgruntled comedian yourself....envy is a cruel master!

I can't even remember jokes.

Yes, my opinion. Millions of others are entitled to theirs.

That I am not disgruntled, nor envious, nor a comedian?
or can not remember jokes?

That sure is true.

and still not a comedian...

Own opinion. Which means absolute diddly squat when it comes to assessing Bill Maher's comedic chops. If you are butthurt about his comments about Islam, then it's understandable, but to then elevate your disagreement with him by suggesting Bill Maher is unfunny then you just don't know comedy.

1-My opinion is just what I said it was. My opinion. So you tell me my opinion doesn't mean .. diddly squat. OK. I didn't say it did. Howsomever, then why would YOUR opinion mean diddly squat?

2-If I am .. what was that?... "BUTTHURT?" Did you actually type out b-u-t-t-h-u-r-t? You know what, smarty pants... I didn't even listen to that exchange between Maher and whatshisname.

SO... how could I be BUTTHURT about it. I was expressing my opinion abut Bill Maher. If you had actually read my fucking post ( I know, I know, it's not really a fucking post. I just threw that in there) you would have seen that nowhere, anywhere did I say ANNNY THING about his comments about Islam. I don't even know what he said and don't care.

3"..but to then elevate your disagreement with him.." repeat..and rinse. I have no idea what he said Sooooo.. how could I disagree with him?

4- ".. by suggesting Bill Maher is unfunny then you just don't know comedy..." As you said of me, that is your opinion. And you are certainly entitled to it. (Oh, don't tell me that millions and millions of other people disagree with me. I've already been notified of that.) However, I won't try to insult you by saying you don't know comedy because we disagree about what is funny.

Whew. I need another Bookers after that effort..

dude, stop getting stoned before the show !!

There ! how's them potatoes...

How's them potatoes?

How's THEM potatoes...

watching him some time back.

I have no idea what Vanilla is talking about when referring to my 'like them potatoes' thing.

Something is going over my head. What is it?

I stopped way way back also.

will tell us.

Or any other. Maybe a performing arts magnet school, or something like that, but he's really not commencement address material.

JMHO, YMMV

The difference between him and Gennifer Flowers is people are still paying attention to him.

to protest the use of university funds or facilities to host any particular speakers chosen for them by university administrators.

Speeches, concerts, and similar events that occur at universities should result from the desires of the students and faculty, not simply be 'thrust upon them'. I spent quite a bit of time in college, and it always irritated me that the general student body usually had no real input, but were simply presented with a schedule of events chosen by someone who seemed to have a far different agenda behind their choices.

The students threatened to boycott the graduation. The administration then claimed that the only one they could get on short notice was the President of Coca Cola. My friend's entire frat pretended to fall as each of them went onto the stage to get a diploma.

I love it....

Many of us walked out on him not because we objected to his politics but because he was selected without the approval of the University Senate, which was supposed to approve commencement speakers. So I agree, students, and faculty, are being ignored frequently.

student recommendations. I know, sounds like Democracy

Our class voted bell hooks. It was a memorable and awesome commencement.

The university senate at Syracuse was composed of faculty and studentsIIRC. This was the only time the administration pulled this stunt to my knowledge. Wonder why. We couldn't stand the chancellor. I wrote a song parody about him to the tune of California Uber Alles.

I just read a bit more elsewhere on this, and at this university, speakers ARE chosen by student representatives. It actually was a group of students that chose him in the first place, and a wider protest that resulted in the same body of students reconvening to choose to withdraw his invitation to speak, which withdrawal the administration decided not to allow.

So at least in this case, Maher's original choice was not 'thrust upon' the student body by admins, but selected by their fellow students. I felt, having learned this, that I should issue this correction, since I was incorrectly assuming that Maher's selection was solely by administration.

He speaks his mind and he makes me laugh.

Some are twisting what Bill said about Islam into him being this White Supremacist NAZI...Seriously getting old. But that is what happens when you talk about people's imaginary deities they get ruffled under garments.

Is Condi the War Criminal.

At least Maher is just giving a speech, not getting paid big bucks to "lecture" and be on a sports selection committee (football? Since TV zoomed in on her, laughing and in a luxury box, during the Stanford vs. Oregon State game.)

the Hoover Institution is there, among other things. It was founded long before the Bay Area became the liberal bastion it is today, with quite a bit of help from Berkeley.

And yes, Kinda Sleazy is on the college football playoff selection committee.

for the condi...... , fits. But not just Kinda......

Not a dime. They've always been cozy with nasty conservatives. That school is all about $$.

blasphemy is a crime and bill mahr should be stoned to death right? WRONG! muslims should learn to be tolerant that is what a college education is all about. when they say be tolerant of us ;but we don't have to be tolerant. we fight the intolerance of christian fundamental fascists we should fight islamo fascist intolerance. everybody likes to censer that doesn't make it right!

Last edited Mon Oct 27, 2014, 05:03 PM - Edit history (1)

wow


on edit...apparent its ok to say "islamo fascist intolerance"

In the largely secular 'western' countries, blasphemy is indeed usually no longer a crime. Go to a solidly theocratic country, though, and you're on your own if you want to start committing blasphemy.

But refusing to allow someone to give speeches on your campus, using campus resources is hardly 'censorship'. If he really feels the need to speak on campus, I'm sure he can join the guys who hang out outside student unions and rail against the gays and premarital sex.

is laws like those against gay people he criticizes and for which you castigate him. Anti gay laws exist in nations with laws based on theology and religion, nations that forbid and censor critics.
It is interesting how may people try to invoke a shield by mentioning gay people while they defend nations with anti gay laws...

The context being that I was saying he could go out and shout on the corner with the nutjob preachers who like to hang around college campuses, and are usually doing sexist or homophobic rants. I'm not saying HE would be out doing the same sort of rant, just saying he'd have all the free speech he wants out on the corner.

It's "Maher" and "censor", and there should be a few commas spread around in there.

Another case of religious privilege. How dare Bill Maher criticize "our" religion. I say BS. Everyone's religion should be subject to criticism just like anything else. Calling him a blatant bigot and racist is reprehensible.

Banning this or that speaker just because they said something we don't like says more about us than it says about them.

Let them speak. Don't go if you don't like them. Carry a sign, whatever. It's cowardly not to engage with the opposition, in my opinion.

What is particularly insidious is when it is religiously based. There was a case in Britain (not sure which university at this point) where the Muslims demanded that women and men be segregated in seating. The speaker, in this case, rightfully said that she would not speak if this was done. I don't remember the outcome, but it was a ridiculous demand.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali was disinvited by Brandeis because some people objected. Now, I don't always agree with her (seldom, actually) but I think there is value in listening to people you disagree with. Especially those that have some degree of experience with the topic. I don't think Bill Maher is particularly well-informed.

than by the beginning of the Anti-Blasphemy Movement?

Students are just irked at who administration has chosen to speak at their commencement. I share their annoyance, as the speakers at my various commencements were simply imosed upon the student body from on high, the student body as a whole weren't given any chance to pick speakers they actually might find interesting and informative.

I learn something every day!

Absolutely frightening. Our education system is horrid!

The terms racist and bigot would both apply to Maher. Oh, and sexist. Let's not forget that when he's not expressing his deep heartfelt concern for the welfare of Muslim women, he's one of the most heinous misogynists on television. Stunning hypocrisy.

Let me spell it out for you: ideas and people are not the same things.

Furthermore, he takes what are essentially cultural practices in other regions that also happen to be Muslim, and tries to mislead people into thinking they are common practices among Arab Muslims. When Bill Maher says "Muslim", he wants you to think "Arab". All of the grotesque caricatures he draws are anti-Arab. He's extremely pro-Israel. This isn't that hard to figure out.

he doesn't seem to mind that Israel fights its wars using the $ 30 billion our nation has been and will be giving it, from 2009 to 2018, under legislation George W signed off on.

And you' re correct about his sexism as well.

They simply don't want to pay for his speech.

The whole student body or a handful that claim to speak for all of them?
Instead of censoring why not boycott the speach?...because too few will do it and a censoring does not require a lot of people to approve...just a reason.

same thing happens here on DU....the few Far Left Indies want to tell the entire Democratic party who SHOULD be their candidate...even when 2/3 disagree with their choice! The Teabaggers have tried that same tactic on the Right.

students is unknown, as the petition is open to everyone.

The evidence that the student body does not want him to speak is pretty shake.

Because universities should only have speakers who everyone already agrees with 100%. God forbid there should be any vigorous debates or protests.

Cases in point: Alex Jones, 9/11 truthers, creationists. Some ideas are so out there they add nothing to the mission of a university.

Bill Maher is not just Islamophobic. He's also a quack and vaccine denier. His rhetoric adds nothing to an intellectual atmosphere.

Free speech absolutism ends up backfiring despite its intent.

It's not only obvious why we want to suppress those we disagree with, but it's also morally satisfying, isn't it?

You can argue whether his stereotyping was bigotry, but stereotypes usually are.

Not having him at their commencement, paid for by their tuition, is not suppressing him. He still gets to have a weekly TV show and speak wherever else he wishes. He has far more of a platform for his speech than they do for theirs.

This may not be a majority of graduates, though. If it is not, then a minority should not get to decide.

IMO, his rigid, evangelical atheist point of view is equally offensive as a rigid, evangelical xian point of view. Both are extreme and express the opinion that you're stupid and wrong if you believe otherwise. ALL absolutism, especially radical absolutism, is dangerous.

I see nothing wrong with being "Islamophobic." Islam is not a race. It's a phony-baloney fairy-tale ideology just like the other supernatural belief systems. I see nothing wrong with being Christianity-phobic or Judaism-phobic or Scientology-phobic or SomeOtherMagicalBullshit-phobic.

He only brought up Islam because, obviously, it wasn't Mormons or Taoists or Buddhists cutting people's heads off in Syria. And because Affleck is a pathetic terrorist sympathizer and a hypocrite: Christianity hates gays and women just the same as Islam does -- aren't these supposed to be groups that liberals support?

I bet he supports Woody Allen for his "contributions to art" too. GFY, Batman.

There is a question who gets banned. MRAs? David Duke? Charles Murray? Angela Davis? Condi Rice? Samantha Powers?

In some places the heckler's veto has been allowed: if a speaker is likely to be attacked in a violent way, the state is within their rights to suppress their speech. So if Maher, or Rice etc. might get people so wound up the audience might be violent, can a public school ban them?

having an open mind means not just "anything goes" - it means being able to pick distinguish good ideas from BS. No way David Duke is at the same level as Angela Davis.

but it has to guarantee free speech. Maher has the right to say what he wants at Cal.

The university has to be very careful about limiting the right to free speech. It has to allow free speech. The university most likely hired speakers with different opinions on things.

not walk across the street to shake hands with, someone whose television programs I would never watch.

It's just the way it is. Once he has been invited, the university would have a hard time explaining why it violated the First Amendment by refusing to allow him to speak based on the content of his message. They might be able to uninvite him on some other ground, but not because what he is saying is politically offensive.

will be paying for him.

This raises the larger issue of someone in the administration of a school, who is paid via tuitions, deciding who should speak to, and, to some extent, for a graduation class--at the expense of the graduating class.

I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with it at all.

based on stereotypes....his objection to Christianity are somewhat reasoned, his hatred of Islam is bigoted and foaming at the mouth not much less than Pam Gellar.

Some, if not ALL, of the statements I have read in this article about Islam and their intolerance of anyone disagreeing with them, illustrating comics, paintings or in any way defaming the Great and Only One DO draw death threats and actions by the religion. Is that so far off base to make him a "bigot/racist"?

I'm thinking he has a right to speak to the student body, and I'm thinking his views, although not all are measured as realistic and rational, are worthy of attention.

If you can have She-man Coultier speak to a student body, and Kinda-sleazy; I think it's within the realm of reason to have Bill Maher as a speaker.

I'd have to analyze ALL of his statements about Islam to see how far off base he might be. But it's also my firm belief that Muslims do very damned little to denounce the intolerance and violence within their fringe religious zealots. Very damned little.

That's the point. You don't say all Italians are Mafiosi or that all African Americans are on welfare or all women are weak because you see a relative handful of any of those groups doing something.

And no, he has no right to speak the student body.

Better to keep it simple and use broad brushes.

I want to see the Muslim clerics, the leaders of the Muslim communities speak out against these heinous actions. Are you hearing them? Let me know where, cause I seem to miss them.

ABC News’ Laura Ingraham, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Fox & Friends and other U.S. media commentators say that Muslims are silent and complicit in the barbarian crimes of ISIS. Fox News host Andrea Tantaros said that all Muslims are the same as ISIS, and implied that all Muslims should be met “with a bullet to the head”.

Why don’t we hear Muslims condemning the barbarian ISIS terrorists?

Turns out they are loudly condemning ISIS … but our press isn’t covering it.

Father Elias Mallon of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association explains:

“Why aren’t Muslims speaking out against these atrocities?” The answer is: Muslims have been speaking out in the strongest terms, condemning the crimes against humanity committed by ISIS (or, as it is increasingly called, IS) and others in the name of Islam.

Two of the leading voices in the Muslim world denounced the persecution of Christians in Iraq, at the hands of extremists proclaiming a caliphate under the name Islamic State.

The most explicit condemnation came from Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the group representing 57 countries, and 1.4 billion Muslims.

In a statement, he officially denounced the “forced deportation under the threat of execution” of Christians, calling it a “crime that cannot be tolerated.” The Secretary General also distanced Islam from the actions of the militant group known as ISIS, saying they “have nothing to do with Islam and its principles that call for justice, kindness, fairness, freedom of faith and coexistence.”

Meanwhile, Turkey’s top cleric, the spiritual successor to the caliphate under the Ottoman Empire, also touched on the topic during a peace conference of Islamic scholars.

In a not-so-veiled swipe at ISIS, Mehmet Gormez declared that “an entity that lacks legal justification has no authority to declare war against a political gathering, any country or community.” He went on to say that Muslims should not be hostile towards “people with different views, values and beliefs, and regard them as enemies.”