March 9, 2012

On his show tonight, Bill Maher says he's not defending Rush Limbaugh.

"I'm defending living in a country where people don't have to be afraid that they might go out of the bounds for one minute. Do we all want to be talking like White House spokesmen?... I would rather put up with Rush Limbaugh and live in a country where people do have freedom of speech. And the people who I've heard who say 'You know what, when they put pressure on his sponsors the system is working' — no, it's not. That's the system being manipulated. I lived through that 10 years ago."

***

Here's Maher's tweet that people interpreted as defending Limbaugh.

Here's the information about what happened to Maher 10 years ago. His late-night ABC show "Politically Incorrect" was canceled after a controversy over an edgy remark he made one week after the September 11th. ("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.")

***

Maher went on to criticize that "fat fuck" Limbaugh: Right-wingers have made a "false equivalence" between Limbaugh and him. "I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

92 comments:

wyo sis said...

I may be a ___ but he's worse he's a ___. This is very 1st grade. I thought Mahr was supposed to be smart.

You have to give him credit for realizing that freedom of speech means you have to listen to a lot of stuff you don't agree with.

The Crack Emcee said...

Exactly - we're Americans. We don't do this.

Anyone who does is being a Fascist. Period.

The Crack Emcee said...

And I still say Rush should never have apologized.

He bowed to Obama this time,...

The Crack Emcee said...

"I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

What a load of bullshit.

sakredkow said...

This just isn't productive, I don't think. I wonder if I'm getting a takeaway here. Did it change me at all? I was cynical. Cynicism's no good. It implies you had some sort of expectation, it went south. But I know better. I shouldn't have taken any interest at all.

My takeaway then is to stop being distracted by this.

Tim said...

"Maher went on to criticize that "fat fuck" Limbaugh: Right-wingers have made a "false equivalence" between Limbaugh and him. "I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

Bill Maher knows the Left, including feminists, will continue to promote the lie he's no misogynist, so he can continue to call Sarah Palin and conservative women like her cunts.

1775OGG said...

I'm still reading, and hearing, that Fluke was testifying before Congress! No, she was not.

She was addressing the press, the so called MSM, making a statement in front of an audience, with the camera mostly focused in tightly on her behind her microphone. There was a group of supporters behind her and they did at least once, applaud her, which she did acknowledge. Obama has tried to hide that little observed fact, Fluke's supporters have tried to ignore that she was not testifying.

So, Rush was condemned becaus ehe objected to Fluke's phony stageed act? Maybe Gloria ALLREDDDD should now accuse him of trying to twist her testimony before something or other.

write_effort said...

Let the independent women voters of America decide.

Tim said...

How many women would Bill Maher have to call a "cunt" before the Left and feminists objected?

Only one liberal woman; countless conservative women could so be called, and nary a peep would be heard.

We all know this, too, don't we?

Tim said...

Can I call Bill Maher a cunt?

I mean, the supposition is, it doesn't apply, but we don't really know, do we?

steve said...

I'm amazed by all the spin, caveats and equivocations the Left dreams up to justify their hatred. "It's not misogyny when we do it." Right. BTW, if comedians and Hollywood entertainers are held to a lower standard, why did the Left jump all over Michael Richards and Tracy Morgan?

Chef Mojo said...

@Tim:

Can I call Bill Maher a cunt?

Only in the British sense, which is kinder and gentler.

Wince said...
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steve said...

"You have to give him credit for realizing that freedom of speech means you have to listen to a lot of stuff you don't agree with."

Please. Like Olbermann, he's in full-blown "cover your ass" mode. Since he has no intention of not saying hateful things in the present or future, he necessarily has to defend Rush.

Chef Mojo said...

And as for Bill Maher?

Keep digging, Mr. Edgy. You're not half as clever as you think you are.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RuyDiaz said...

You know what, there is a fact from that controversy 10 years ago nobody has mentioned: Rush Limbaugh defended Bill Maher. I'd bet both Limbaugh and Maher remember.

Chef Mojo said...

Bill Maher not a misogynist?

This guy goes through whores like Sherman through Georgia.

Wince said...

"I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

A different quote from Bill Maher, made on his show in 2007, always stuck with me. Now that I look, it's posted on the web as a profundity.

But, you know, the days when a shop girl in the big city could support herself working a full 40-hour week, or a family of four could live off a single blue-collar breadwinner, are as bygone a fantasy as malt shops or heterosexual wizards. If you're living hand-to-mouth, and still buying into the con that the big threats to America are socialized medicine, Mexican immigrants and tax increases, then you're not being kept down by the rich. You're being kept down by you.

In America, it's not the haves and have-nots. It's the haves and the been-hads. If you, the citizen, deliberately vote for someone who won't give you health care over someone who will, you need to have your head examined. Except you can't afford to have your head examined.


That "shop girl" reference is what stuck in my mind. It sounded like sympathy born of perhaps his own guilt. Basically, I interpreted him as saying, "I should be able to screw as many young woman as I can without commitment or guilt, and it should be the government, not me, who should make sure they're taken care of. And if she won't vote for such a government, then she's been had. Not by me, but some right wing boogie man."

Fluke on steroids, maybe a misogynist one at that.

rcocean said...

He's not a misogynist, Judas Priest on a Popsicle stick. Rush uses the word 'slut' once while Maher calls endless numbers of women he dislikes "Cunts" but Rush is the misogynist.

Maher's a smug little left-wing asshole, who's on TV 'cause all the other smug left-wing assholes identify with him. How many people actually watch his fucking little program 500,000? Rush has an audience of 10 million.

And then calls himself a 'potty mouth' - isn't that cute? What a little wuss. He probably got beat up in middle school AND high school.

PaulV said...

Maher a potty mouth misogynist wimp

Geoff Matthews said...

Call a woman a slut - misogynist
Call a woman a c@n7 - potty mouth

Distinction without a difference in this case.

Writ Small said...

You just don't expect David Duke to call someone a racist.

edutcher said...

One gets the impression that not only have the number of cable companies that received requests to cancel HBO hit a real spike, but that the Conservative outrage is having a real impact on public opinion generally.

The fact that Maher's 1M gift to the Chicago President isn't being returned is all over the Net and on Hannity tonight. I guess Little Zero may even be feeling the heat.

As a man in the shadows once said, "Welcome to Hell, Blofeld".

Beorn said...

Maher fails to realize the right is outraged at the double standard.

There were no calls for Maher's scalp until the left decided that only liberals are entitled to free speech.

But he's starting to realize that karma's a Fluke!

Dick Stanley said...

Something is eating Maher's brain, has been for a long time. I hope it's not contagious.

Chef Mojo said...

Something is eating Maher's brain, has been for a long time. I hope it's not contagious.

Syphilis probably. Only contagious if he screws you.

Jacob said...

As usual, Maher full of bullshit.

The first excuse he used on his show was that the difference between him and Limbaugh was that Maher doesn't have advertisers.

Apparently, "no advertisers" means a misogyny "free pass".

KCFleming said...

In Shakespeare's time, "hoist by his own petard" referred not only to the little French bomb injuring oneself, but to farting.

Potty mouth Maher smells his own petard, and blames Rush.

It hoists him all the same.

Wince said...

Maher went on to criticize that "fat fuck" Limbaugh.

Bill Maher is a behemothist!

JorgXMcKie said...

Surely I'm not the only one to recognize the physical as well as psychological similarity between Maher and Gollum.

Quaestor said...

All the villains of history are right about at least 1% of things and wrong about the remaining 99%. Lenin was right about the Tsar. Trotsky was right about Hitler. Hitler was right about smoking. Mahr is right about freedom of speech. The fact of the 1% should not make the villain more admirable to the discerning mind.

I see little difference between Limbaugh and Mahr regarding women. Both have a tendency to extreme rhetoric, the difference is Rush can be witty occasionally, while Mahr just goes for shock (at which he's pretty lame compared to many other talkers in that genre). Neither is a misogynist if that term as any meaning. Both dislike personalities in the opposite camp regardless of sex and seize on any opportunity to shine an unflattering light on those they oppose. Limbaugh likes and admires Coulter, Malkin, Crowley, Ingraham, and many others. He dislikes most figures on the left, some of whom are women. Mahr dislikes anyone he disagrees with and will happily use vile language to disparage them, and does so routinely. Mahr like and admires himself mainly. He will be cordial to guests on his show who make him look smart and witty by comparison, which is why most of his guests are lefty. Show him up for the intellectual fraud he is and he'll lash out. For example, he couldn't handle Chris Hitchens and got increasingly vile in his rhetoric as the evening wore on.

This is what our public discourse has come to in this country, thanks almost entirely to the Left which adopted a completely amoral tactical doctrine back in the Sixties and have since honed it to a fine art. Saul Alinsky wrote "The most potent weapons known to mankind are satire and ridicule." However, the Left rarely achieves satire and usually settles for mere ridicule, the Bill Mahr specialty. Limbaugh in contrast is sometimes a brilliant satirist.

Conclusion: "I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist" is both a solipsism and a calumny... a pretty typical Bill Mahr performance.

Tom Spaulding said...

When I brought this up days a go, Ann assured me it was a non-issue.

Hunh.

Greg Toombs said...

Look, you dorks, we learned this lesson in the late '90's with Clinton.

If you think there are standards, you are alone.

rcocean said...

Wasn't Bill just the ultimate Baby boomer Liberal? Draft dodger, Liar, sexual pervert, corrupt Pol. But so what? He loved Black folks and Hillary. Really.

And he kept abortion legal.

Like someone stated. After Clinton, why take 'Slutegate' seriously? Its just a joke.

Quaestor said...

Putting slutgate in perspective. Folks had a sense of humor back in the day.

jayemarr said...

No Bill, "potty mouth" is what your parents call you before you understand what the words actually mean. Misogynist is what you are when you understand and use them anyway.

Chef Mojo said...

More war, less fucking and no college are not good selling points to younger voters. ~ Bill Maher

Oh, yes, Shiloh. Such crystal clear words of wisdom. Of course you'd slurp up such a regurgitated generalization supported by nothing but the groans of your last whore.

You, like Maher, harbor the delusion that cleverness equates intelligence, while lacking the very cleverness you think you see while preening in the mirror.

Shiloh, you're worse than predictable. You're boring.

@RolandRock1234 said...

Slutgate explained:
http://ibdst.blogspot.com/2012/03/rush-limbaugh-is-big-fat-idiot.html

@RolandRock1234 said...
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rcommal said...

I'm defending living in a country where people don't have to be afraid that they might go out of the bounds for one minute.

Oh, bullshit. This is BULLSHIT.

Way out of bounds is not equal to stretching boundaries or even straying outside them. And an extended rant over many minutes (if not days) is not equal to one minute. Hell, an incredibly vicious minute might be well more than equal to either, on rare occasion (looking at you, Maher).

I call bullshit on both Maher and Limbaugh, both self-serving arbiters and judgers of the thinking and behaviors of others by standards they cannot, do not and (in my opinion) don't even truly want to try to live up to. I think they're both mostly laughing at most of the people in this country, all across the spectrum, and from sea to shining sea (and all the way to the bank). At bottom, neither are truly honest, and both fundamentally depend on "sheepleness" to thrive. There is no reason I have to respect either of them, just because they're famous 'n' all, and in truth I largely do not.

bagoh20 said...

Tom Spaulding said...
When I brought this up days a go, Ann assured me it was a non-issue. "


Young man, do you want to fail this class?

bagoh20 said...

Everyone involved has been expressing their rights quite freely, and when you make a living from people liking you ,well you just better make sure they do. That's all any of this is about. No first amendment issue is involved, although the POTUS taking a side in a fight between a radio host and an activist is pretty stupid and incredibly blind to the role and responsibility of his office. That was small and disappointing, but still entirely within his rights.

It would be cool if people on all sides felt as passionately about their responsibilities as they do their rights.

bgates said...

War, fucking, and college:

Bill Maher thinks there's a legitimate place in the federal budget for all but the first one.

Republican threats of war are completely empty at this point, since Obama's masterful foreign policy has eliminated armed conflict from the world. He deserves a second Nobel peace prize, and he knows it (I heard if he doesn't get one he's threatened to deploy drone aircraft against the Norwegians).

It's not "fucking" that Republicans object to, it's the idea of demanding someone pay for it. I can understand Maher being incredulous that fucking can happen without somebody paying for it, but there it is.

And for many people college at this point is four wasted years at the end of which you find out you can't get a job and you have a gigantic debt. So, the Obama presidency, basically.

el polacko said...

now that this has devolved into schoolyard taunts over who said something worse than somebody else, i offer this children's rhyme from yesteryear:
sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.

my hope is that i will click on the comments the next time that our hostess offers up this particlar diversion of a subject and find that there are no comments left here at all...because folks are busy elsewhere, commenting (and maybe even actually working on solving), shit that really matters.

Popville said...

I'm getting tired of these cheap, easy shots at obvious creepazoids. Stooping. Sad.

If I ever hear another thing about Bill Maher it'll be too soon. That's why I'm glad he's isolated to HBO which I avoid like MSNBC. Back to the high road.

rcocean said...

Wah Wah - I like Bill Maher but can't defend him so I'll just say all these comments are just so nasty.

Oh, and..

Good day Sir!

Alex said...

Yay for Patricia Heaton!

traditionalguy said...

Misogyny is as old as culture itself . Once the priests were all men and the temple prostitutes were all women, and our subconscious remembers it well.

The liberal misogyny directed at Conservatives is liberals naturally being themselves using vulgar speech.

Conservative misogyny directed at Liberals is Conservatives imitating liberals naturally being themselves with vulgar speech. As such it carries with it a bitter complaint that liberals get away with not respecting the rules against vulgarity.

It is all WWF play acting.

shoosh said...

Does Bill have a public email address? I know Rush does.

Malthust said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Malthust said...

If Limbaugh figures into your political worldview in any way, then you are a dinosaur. The tedium of dim trolling back-and-forth Boomer blather has gone on for decade after decade now. Clockwork "Rush Contraversies" are just another example of old Generation Bellyflop failing to fill their parents shoes in any way.

The day is fast approaching when this periodic nonsense will be dragged out of the national debate and into the hallways of retirement homes across the country. The country will be better for it.

Hagar said...

Maher has got Obama in a box.
They can't return the $1 million, because they then will be charged (and charged in court) with coordination between the White House and the super-pac.

shiloh said...

Childish conservative name calling, anger continue unabated at Althouse as Chef Mojo goes out of his way to say I'm boring.


yada, yada, yada as the blog mistress does indeed know how to bait her flock! :-P

shiloh said...

"Maher has got Obama in a box."

Totally nonsensical statement notwithstanding, much like mittens is currently "in a box" ie out of $$$ and begging for more. :D

Anonymous said...

"I thought Maher was supposed to be smart."

It's always best to await evidence before arriving at any such judgment.

shiloh said...

"It's always best to await evidence before arriving at any such judgment."

Indeed, like Bush43, mittens and Santorum, whereas turdblossom was a "genius" to get someone like Bush elected president!

Joe Schmoe said...

I swear Maher just tries to be contrarian from time to time to stay relevant. Right now when the whole left is rowing against Rush, Maher tries to thread the needle with a teachable moment not in support of Rush but in support of edgy free speech.

Maher's more cowed by the prospect of boycotts or cancellations of his product. Rush seems to be shaking it off and fighting back.

And Maher was off-mark about his 'lobbing cruise missiles from 2000 miles away.' Because the public at large was so virulently opposed to loss of life in Vietnam, entire US combat strategies since then have focused on avoiding as many casualties as possible. So it's fine for him to say that, but it's a direct result of a policy that was wholly embraced by people like him. I'm not surprised he constantly moves the goalposts, though. He's not smart or principled, just opportunistic.

iowan2 said...

False equivalency, I like that phrase.

So false equivalency. Entertainers calling a person a slut?

Elected politicians treating all women like they are a slut? Clinton, Wiener?

Joan of Argghh! said...

"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."

Giving aid and comfort to the enemy used to be a hanging offense. He got off easy. And apparently, that easy grace bought us even more elitist narrative to further erode morale.

Feh. He's a treasonous sack of shit; and Ann Coulter is NOT to be trusted either.

iowan2 said...

False equivalency, I like that phrase.

So false equivalency. Entertainers calling a person a slut?

Elected politicians treating all women like they are a slut? Clinton, Wiener?

SGT Ted said...

More war, less fucking and no college are not good selling points to younger voters. ~ Bill Maher

The stupid, shallow ones who get their politics from the Earth First bumper stickers table might think the GOP is that way.

We have 2 extra wars under Obama, so far.

Less fucking when you won't buy your own BCPs and you apparently don't know about condoms is always a good idea.

Refusing to pay for somebody elses college doesn't equate to it being unfairly denying it to that person.

You want free college?

Go enlist. You aren't entitled to it just because you have a pulse or a vagina.

Michael said...

Maher is vile and not funny and completely predictable on every single topic.

yashu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
yashu said...

God forbid one of Althouse's "flock" of "lemmings" would engage in such "childish name calling" as to say someone is "boring."

Because some commenters-- "sheep"-- are just so predictable. And say the same thing, exactly the same thing, spout the same vacuous insults, over and over and over and over.

Mike said...

No Maher is not "just a potty mouth". How about Maher is a total jerkoff, thke sort of thing that sticks to your shoe when you walk through a messy dog kennel etc.? I could go on, but you get the picture. Self satisfied untalented putz ain't in it when describing Maher.

dreams said...

Of the two, I'm pretty sure that Maher is more of a Misogynist. I don't think Rush is a misogynist.

X said...

potty mouth. like a toddler. the height part works.

Barry Dauphin said...

Maher's show was cancelled after his "controversial" statement (it wasn't cancelled before he made the statement). The typical implication of "after" is "because of". But it was not cancelled because of his statement. It was cancelled because his ratings were poor.

madAsHell said...

Shouldn't the President be leading the conversation?....and not some potty mouth commentator commenting about another commentator that said something regretful.

This is what Obama calls leadership!?!?

KCFleming said...

Who knew the modern woman was so fragile?

All of 'em getting the vapours from those smelly grunting mean mens.

I've long thought we were reliving Victorian times; their stiff prudish Christian religion replaced by the stiff prudish PC religion.

That's why all children should be girls.

roesch/voltaire said...

Three days of continual attack from Rush on Fluke does not equal one cheap shot against a national public figure. And it is interesting to note that Rush has already scrubbed his comments about his call for video tape sex from his site, which he cleverly avoided mentioning in his non-apology because even he realized this was not defensible. Contrast his behavior to big Ed who did apologize for cheap shot and who was removed from the air for a week--

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

No Maher, you are 100x the Misogynist of anyone out there.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Rush Limbaugh responds with the classic - "I may be fat, but you're ugly, Bill. I can always diet."

edward said...

Sandra Flukes is a fraud who prostituted herself for a “cause”. If she and her lackeys/handlers are so virginal than perhaps she/they should not be in such an old profession.

Roger J. said...

Shilo: as was James Carville who got bubba elected--surely recall his jibe at Paula Jones: drag 20$ thru a trailer park? You ad hom doesnt work here--try again.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

On a list of America's Top Ten misogynists, Bill Maher and David Letterman would have to fight over the number One spot.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Guards, seize him! Hilarious Drudge headline. "Arrest Limbaugh for his speech!"

It's really not funny, because the modern democrat party would love to do just that.

Lovernios said...

And Maher was off-mark about his 'lobbing cruise missiles from 2000 miles away.'

Not only that, doesn't 2000 miles exceed the range of cruise missiles? Sounds like he meant ICBMs, and doesn't have any understanding of US weapon systems.

If I recall correctly cruise missles were fired from our ships in the Persian Gulf, a dangerous body of water, definitely not a safe haven.

I'm sure he doesn't remember the USS Stark hit by two Exocet missiles from an Iraqi plane in 1987.

Or that the USS Samuel Roberts hit a mine in the Gulf in 1988.

Or the USS Cole in Yemen.

It's dangerous duty to serve on a US Naval vessel, especially in the Gulf and nearby waters.

Nothing cowardly about that.

sakredkow said...

Shouldn't the President be leading the conversation?....and not some potty mouth commentator commenting about another commentator that said something regretful.

This is what Obama calls leadership!?!?


Oh please. "Rush's mean words are Obama's fault!"

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

The difference is that there were consequences for Maher but not for Rush. If anything, Rush may have become more popular.

And that makes Maher mad. It's so unfair.

sally skull said...

"Maher went on to criticize that "fat fuck" Limbaugh: Right-wingers have made a "false equivalence" between Limbaugh and him. "I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

I notice his potty mouth does not take him to racist words in the name of comedy. Where is the line drawn as far as hate speak and comedy is concerned? Right now it seems to be that it is ok to call conservative women vile names but not liberal women, and you may never utter the "N' word... just ask Michael Richards.

ken in tx said...

Trad guy, Inca temple prostitutes were men. They were outed by the Inca women to the Spanish because the women resented their men visiting the prostitutes. The Spanish had them torn apart by huge vicious hounds.

SGT Ted said...

They were outed by the Inca women to the Spanish because the women resented their men visiting the prostitutes.

I didn't know that Inca women were Puritans and homophobes.

James Graham said...

Mysogenist? Potty mouth?

How about "Bully"?

One definition of a bully is a person who attacks people who he knows will not (or cannot) hit back.

That's what Maher (and shamefully, Letterman) does.

Unknown said...

"I am a potty mouth. That's different from a misogynist."

So Bill Maher's defence is that the words coming out of Bill Maher's mouth have no meaning. If that's so, then no one should waste another minute watching his meaningless show or another dollar supporting his meaningless existence.

madAsHell said...

Why do we always hand the loudest megaphone to the biggest idiot?

TeamOSweet said...

RuyDiaz said:
You know what, there is a fact from that controversy 10 years ago nobody has mentioned: Rush Limbaugh defended Bill Maher. I'd bet both Limbaugh and Maher remember.

Indeed, and what's more, Andrew Breitbart on one of his appearances on Maher's show reminded him of that.
(Looked for a youtube clip of it, couldn't find, would be nice right about now if someone could dig that up...)

shiloh said...

"Maher is vile and not funny and completely predictable on every single topic."

Much like Althouse conservative lemmings. But please, let the inane rationalizations, pretzel logic and incessant, childish whining continue as you remain firmly entrenched in your winger bubble!

Roger J. said...

Shilo: that is quite a good self- indictment of your drivel--pot, kettle, etc--but do carry on on your task to bring enlightenment to the commentariat.

DADvocate said...

But please, let the inane rationalizations, pretzel logic and incessant, childish whining continue as you remain firmly entrenched in your [fill in the blank].

What a waste of key strokes, including mine for pointing it out.

Few celebrities spread more hate than Maher and Limgaugh is not one ot them. But, Maher fights to keep his job and ability to make money and keep his fame. He's more interested in that than free speech.

Kensington said...

One thing that continually strikes me as odd is the way liberals fixate on Rush's weight.

I don't think most of them realize that he's not that fat anymore. Nowadays he fluctuates between thin and moderately overweight, but they're all still reacting to the morbidly obese (aka the "Michael Moore") version from twenty years ago, probably because they only use pictures of him from that time when they want to attack him.