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Bill Maher Tag

I have to hand it the GOP, I did not expect the Republican National Convention to be as effective and good as it was. It was the greatest show on earth for those four nights, driving home messaging that was extremely damaging to Joe Biden and reaching out to voter groups that are not traditional Republican voters.

Every now and then Bill Maher hits a left-wing dogma squarely on the head and it's particularly persuasive coming from someone who is on the left. We've covered several such occasions, even if most of the time we disagree with Maher. Maher just did it again with regard to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, setting off a fury of recrimination from Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other anti-Israel activists.

Actor Jim Carrey appeared on Bill Maher's show last week and sang the praises of socialism; at one point he stated, "We have to say yes to socialism — to the word and everything.” Venezuelan journalist Laureano Márquez was appalled and wrote a searing response in which he noted that Venezuela's on-going crises are the direct result of socialism. He also points out that people are "fleeing the country 'however way they can' as they do not have access to medication, food or other basic needs."

You know the radical left has gone well and truly off the rails when uber-progressive Bill Maher is among the only consistent voices of reason.  Maher is well and truly over the #MeToo movement's insistence that a comment a woman finds offensive is just as onerous as a violent rape. Disgusted with the #MeToo warlock hunt, Maher recently referred to the movement as #MeMcCarthyism.

Bill Maher can be infuriatingly liberal, but when he gets something right, he gets it really right. And what he frequently gets right are issues related to free speech, political correctness, liberal intolerance and false accusations of Islamophobia. And Israel. Here are some of the things he has gotten really right that we have previously covered:

As the #MeToo movement faces backlash from the left and backlash to the backlash from other elements of the left, Bill Maher wades into the controversy.  Maher, who is unafraid to say things that will be unpopular with his leftist audience, stated that he is "down with #MeToo, I’m not down with #MeCarthyism.” Maher notes that the #MeToo movement has developed into a McCarthy-like witch hunt that does not distinguish between degrees of offense or even between a joke and sexual harassment.  He labels them "distinction deniers."

Yesterday, Professor Jacobson penned a compelling argument about the dangers of being "branded" by President Trump:  Trump brands tend to spread . . . and stick. The latest person to be branded, he explained, is Elizabeth Warren, who falsely claimed to be Native American in an attempt to further her career.  You can read the details here. Speaking at the NRA convention, Trump referred to Warren as "Pocahontas," and the prof observed that "Trump is branding her.  And being someone who was a fake Indian is her brand. She’ll never shake it."

I always find it amusing when liberals accuse other liberals of being too soft, too apologetic, too willing to give in. In contrast, liberals portray Republicans, and particularly the dreaded Tea Party, as tough as nails, unapologetic, and unyielding. As they say in liberal land, that is not my "lived experience." And I should know.

Bill Maher is the proverbial broken clock. While I disagree with him on most issues, he's been accurate and articulate on the problems facing the West from Islamism, and particularly as to the dangers Israel faces. The other night he talked about Donald Trump's address to AIPAC in light of the Brussels terror attack, and made the point that given how miserably Europe treats Israel, perhaps the Europeans will finally understand what Israel faces. Israel National News reports:
During a panel discussion on his late-night HBO show Real Time, Maher blasted the UN and scolded Europe for its behavior towards Israel. "Europe has been real a******s about Israel," Maher said. "I mean, in general. The U.N. – as of 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council had issued more official condemnations of Israel than the rest of the world's nations combined. I wonder now that Europe has been attacked four times now in a little over a year, and they say ISIS has 400 fighters that they are ready to introduce back into Europe, and they're trying to get a dirty bomb - maybe Europe will have a little more sympathy for what Israel goes through."
Video via RCP:

Every once in a while, Bill Maher tip toes out of the progressive box and makes statements or asks questions that stun his audience and the media. Reacting to Bernie Sanders' agenda and its estimated $18 trillion price tag, Maher challenged him by asking how America will pay for his radical agenda. Watch: After beginning the interview by stating that he doesn't think "most Americans realize that they’re already socialists," Maher challenges Sanders' the top 1% can pay for everything under the sun premise.

As with most Ann Coulter books, her new volume Adios, America! has liberals in a twist. Here's the book's self-description:
Ann Coulter is back, more fearless than ever. In Adios, America she touches the third rail in American politics, attacking the immigration issue head-on and flying in the face of La Raza, the Democrats, a media determined to cover up immigrants' crimes, churches that get paid by the government for their "charity," and greedy Republican businessmen and campaign consultants—all of whom are profiting handsomely from mass immigration that's tearing the country apart. Applying her trademark biting humor to the disaster that is U.S. immigration policy, Coulter proves that immigration is the most important issue facing America today.
Adios America Cover Media Matters quickly developed the meme for attacking the book:

Last night's Real Time with Bill Maher was a mixed bag of weird and weirder. The brutal burning death of a Jordanian fighter pilot, and Jordan's scorched-earth response, has sparked debate about the best way to respond to the continuing threat of ISIS, as well as the United States' proper role in the conflict. This, of course, has led to an uptick in talking heads gathering together to blame coalition forces for ISIS' brutal retaliation against hostages---and last night, they were out in full force: Via Mediaite:
Johann Hari brought up the brutality from nations supported by the United States and said lots of jihadist actions result from U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. And, he said, “the more we show ourselves to be good or loving or decent people,” the less there will be. Maher didn’t think showing the ISIS video is necessary, and then remarked upon how “America has also burned people alive from the air.” And while he acknowledged that collateral damage from drone strikes is different from deliberately burning a man alive and “we’re not the moral equivalent of ISIS,” Maher said the U.S. isn’t “guilt-free” when it comes to horrible acts.
Watch: