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Bill Maher Tag

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 18, 2015 12 Comments
Bill Maher has been on a free speech tear lately, and if you look back at the last few months it makes perfect sense. In December of 2014 he was booked to speak at UC-Berkeley's commencement; but liberal students who disagreed with his views on Islam and free speech tried to shut him down. Of course, Professor Jacobson predicted all of this. Maher ultimately spoke at Berkeley---and used the opportunity to bash Republicans. Even so, you have to admire Maher's recent strong defense of free speech. Here's a clip from his Friday show where he took liberals to task on political correctness over Islam. He even takes a poke at the "Stop Rush" crowd. (NSFW for language) Josh Feldman of Mediaite does a great job outlining the segment:

Posted by Amy Miller on November 08, 2014 8 Comments
Democrats are still in full cover up mode days after the Republican wave crashed over the heads of embattled progressive candidates, and even pundits who have conceded that Democrats totally blew it are still scrambling to convince the American people that the election had nothing to do with the merits of liberal policies. Bill Maher hosted a romp on his Friday night show in which he did his best to convince his guests that this election wasn't a rejection of progressive lawmaking, but a referendum on Barack Obama, his blackness, and...other...things?...that I can't quite tease out at the moment. Via Mediaite:
That being said, he still had some issues with Republicans, like how, Maher claimed, the entire GOP victory was all about a continuing resentment of the “first black president.” Maher said their entire strategy was “screw Obama, we hate Obama,” and was amazed that it actually worked. Senator Bernie Sanders said it’s very easy to beat up on Obama instead of talking about big issues that affect the country. Maher pointed out how few Democratic candidates said anything positive about Obama and said they just suck. He argued they didn’t have that hard of a record to run on, and when actual Democratic policies were on the ballot, voters approved them. Maher said the Democrats were just horrible and “treated Obama like a teenager treats his mother.”
Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 30, 2014 16 Comments
We wrote previously about UC Berkeley students' attempt to block comedian Bill Maher from speaking at the university's commencement ceremonies. Students circulated a petition citing "hateful" statements like the one contained in the tweet below as reasons why Maher should not be allowed to speak at the ceremony. Unfortunately for Berkeley's future community organizers, Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks disagrees with the premise of their petition, and has overturned a student vote blocking Maher from speaking at graduation. Via Inside Higher Ed:
"The UC Berkeley administration cannot and will not accept this decision, which appears to have been based solely on Mr. Maher’s opinions and beliefs, which he conveyed through constitutionally protected speech," said a statement from the university. "For that reason Chancellor Dirks has decided that the invitation will stand, and he looks forward to welcoming Mr. Maher to the Berkeley campus. It should be noted that this decision does not constitute an endorsement of any of Mr. Maher’s prior statements: indeed, the administration’s position on Mr. Maher’s opinions and perspectives is irrelevant in this context, since we fully respect and support his right to express them. More broadly, this university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from hosting speakers who some deem provocative."

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 28, 2014 24 Comments
Back in September, Prof. Jacobson asked How long before Bill Maher is banned on campus? It turns out the answer is... about a month. Greg Piper of the College Fix reported yesterday:
UC-Berkeley students try to derail Bill Maher from speaking at graduation Comedian, pundit and HBO host Bill Maher is scheduled to speak at the University of California-Berkeley’s December graduation, and students are already lining up to get him disinvited, citing his controversial remarks on Islam, the Daily Californian reports:
The Change.org petition was authored by ASUC Senator Marium Navid, who is backed by the Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian Coalition, or MEMSA, and Khwaja Ahmed, an active MEMSA member. The petition, which urges students to boycott the decision and asks the campus to stop him from speaking, has already gathered more than 1,400 signatures as of Sunday. … “It’s not an issue of freedom of speech, it’s a matter of campus climate,” Navid said. “The First Amendment gives him the right to speak his mind, but it doesn’t give him the right to speak at such an elevated platform as the commencement. That’s a privilege his racist and bigoted remarks don’t give him.” … “(Jon) Stewart and (Stephen) Colbert are critical of religion, too, but Bill Maher has, on several occasions, said to rise up against religious people and religious institutions and take action,” Ahmed said.
Here's an example of what's gotten Maher into trouble with Berkeley students. (language warning – NSFW) If you watched the video, you may have noticed that Maher mentioned Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 08, 2014 20 Comments
Elizabeth Warren says she "is not running" for President. (You know where I'm going with this, don't you?) Progressives will not take "is not running" for an answer. Ready for Warren is up and running, and now so are other progressive groups in Iowa and New Hampshire, as reported by The Hill, Liberal grass roots gather to find a challenger for Hillary Clinton:
Liberal groups are building a grassroots army in Iowa and New Hampshire in hopes of stopping a Hillary Clinton coronation in 2016. While the progressive groups don’t have a candidate, they are hiring organizers and opening offices as if one will emerge. At a minimum, the groups hope their efforts will push Clinton to the left. And if the political winds blow just right, the activists hope Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will take the plunge — and turn their organizing work into the foundation for her candidacy.
Bill Maher just kissed the ring (featured image). Watch Warren's reaction when Maher says “You're going to make a terrific presidential candidate and an even better President of the United States!” :

Posted by Joel Engel on February 17, 2013 10 Comments

It’s a good thing for anti-Semites that Israel exists.  If it weren’t for the Jewish state, they’d have no place to hide their “socialism of fools.”  What used to be considered déclassé—“Jews run the world,”etc.—can now be safely repackaged with little or no criticism as...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 22, 2012 47 Comments

We live in a world where groups like Media Matters and Think Progress monitor and record every word uttered by any conservative of prominence in the media, hoping to find something "insensitive" with which to mount a campaign to silence the speaker through intimidation of advertisers. So...

Posted by Kathleen McCaffrey on March 05, 2011 21 Comments

Bill Maher '78, the most deranged and arrogant Cornell alum on the air by default since Olbermann was pulled, managed to make a news story into an insult about Sarah Palin for the millionth time. [On Charlie Sheen] "So yes, it's childish, it’s needlessly defensive,...

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