ADDED: Maher's audience usually supports him with a lot of laughter. Actually, it's forced at times. So it was weird at 5:18, when I laughed out loud — unusual for me sitting at my computer — and there was dead silence from the studio audience. And he paused distinctively there to accommodate a laugh.
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5 comments:
Scott writes:
Starting around 8 mins: "having a warped view of reality leads to warped policies", listing Black only dorms, whiteness as a malady, etc. then continuing: "only if you believe that we've made no progress does any of that make sense".
No. It makes plenty of sense to recognise this as the inevitable industry that arises from the opportunity to accumulate and exercise power. As an added bonus, the people over which that power is brought to bear are forced to pay you for the favor.
Scott writes: "It's funny he mentions Friends. One of the first season's (1994) story lines was lesbians having a baby (which he mentioned previously around 2:25)."
Maher says "Friends" wouldn't get greenlit today because the 6 Friends are all white and heterosexual, but Ross was only in the tightly bonded group of 6 because he got ousted from his marriage because his wife realized she was a lesbian and left him for a woman.
But there is so much humor in the first couple seasons that's based on just referring to lesbians (in connection with Ross's predicament).
The character Chandler also is the way he is — we're encouraged to believe — because his father is gay (or, as it evolves, transgender).
I know that doesn't make "Friends" acceptable by today's standards. There's so much politically incorrect stuff about gay people that just wouldn't be accepted now. But it's just that gay people exist in the world of "Friends" and actually have a big impact.
Jeff writes:
I'm glad you posted that clip, it reflects conversations I've had with progressives both young and old (e.g., folks suggesting that it was "unfettered capitalism" that led to the 2008 economic collapse, or that Republicans stand for the abolition of the social safety net).
But I found myself wishing that he didn't confine himself to the hot button issues of race and LGBTEtc. Think about the environment. When I was a kid in the 70s, litter was everywhere. Smokestacks bellowed legitimate pollutants (not just CO2) without stop. Rivers literally caught on fire, probably just out of a sense of solidarity with the tire piles smoldering off the highway. By every objective measure, poverty was more intense. And on what passes for climate-related activity, we've made unbelievable strides.
But the Left can't acknowledge these things because their chief argument is impending doom. Actual progress is more toxic than anything released in Bhopal because it undercuts urgency, the coin of the progressive realm.
Ciao!
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