Admittedly, Maher is a comic first and an activist/commentator second. Therein lies the problem, but I state that out front because I don't want to engage his arguments directly, for the simple reason that -- frankly -- his arguments aren't very well formed. For example, I think his contention that religion causes war is as preposterous as those in the 1980s who claimed heavy metal music leads to teen suicide. But this isn't about that.
During his most recent "Overtime" segment -- a regular online continuation of his "Real Time" show -- one of his guests attempted to respond to Bill Maher's outrage over what Bill called a "false dichotomy" and "fake fairness," by which he meant it was disingenuous to say there are just as many wackos on the left as there are on the right. Maher asked who is the left equivalent to Glen Beck and then immediately verbally smacked down one of his guests for daring to suggest Keith Olberman (Maher retorted that Keith was "obnoxious," but not the same as Beck). In my opinion, Maher was wrong in reacting the way he did, though I think he had no choice but to do so (because the next logical step was for someone on the panel to suggest, in fact, Maher generates the same response from conservatives that Beck generates from liberals). And when Maher probed further, demanding to know the left equivalent to groups like the teabaggers or right-wing militias, he dismissed all responses until people stopped trying. Maher seems to think he wins at moments like that, but I think that sort of response costs him (or what he believes) support. I am a longtime fan of Bill Maher's, dating back to his brief appearance on "Max Headroom." And I can set aside whatever ideological differences we have because he is extremely smart and extremely funny. But if he wants to be a comic, then he should be a comic. Or if he wants to host an issues oriented talk show, then he should do that. However, the hybrid isn't working for me anymore. I want to be able to tell Maher that as a host, it is wrong to cut off a guest. If you want to disagree with the guest or argue the point, at least let the guest finish the point he or she (in this instance she) wants to make. But I can't tell him that, and I really can't be critical of him, because his defense would be that he is a comic, and therefore doesn't have to play by the same rules as the journalists who host talk shows. It is the same argument people use to defend on Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," that he doesn't need to be fair and balanced because he is just out for laughs, except neither Stewart nor Maher are JUST out for laughs. Where I see the discrepancy between the left and the right is that the left feels the need to water down their views with humor, whereas the right tends to take a more somber (even angrier) approach. But both sides will hide behind those elements, using them as shields. I have watched both "Religulous" and "Expelled," and found both to be equally entertaining but also equally full of the same, self-righteous smugness. As for Olberman, I agree with him more than I agree with O'Reilly (I can't bring myself to watch more than 10 or 15 seconds of Beck, so I'll let others weigh in on that), but find them to be cut from essentially the same cloth, the difference being that Olberman tends to treat his guests more respectfully. Olberman uses humor while O'Reilly uses angry scare tactics, but both are using the same hyperbole (yes, I know how silly it is for me to throw that word around in reference to others) and rhetoric. Anyway, see for yourself whether you thought Maher was being unfair in allowing his views to be presented while shouting down those who trying to present opposing ideas. As for me, I think I'll either have to scale back on my dosage of Real TIme (the way I have with Olberman -- I used to check out his show daily in podcast form, but now I think I see it once every month or two), or limit myself to Maher's standup performances. http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher#/real-time-with-bill-maher/episodes/0/184-episode/video/184-may-14-overtime.html/eNrjcmbOYC5Uz89JccxLzKksyUwOSExP9UvMTdUsy0xJzYeJOufnlaRWlDDns0knlpbkF+QkVtqWFJWmsjGyMXIyMgIAblQXOA== -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
