Mike86

Pretty good episode tonight. I particularly enjoyed the opening segment with Eugene Jarecki and talking about the war on drugs. The documentary that he has coming out The House I Live In sounds like it could be pretty interesting. Chris Matthews I have kind of mixed feelings on, he makes good points but he can be pretty irritating at times too.

RichC2

O'Reilly isn't an idiot, he's actually the voice of reason at Fox News and knows he's spouting shit, that's why he's so willing to go on other shows like Maher and The Daily Show. Fox News is a comedy. Kind of a tragicomedy, but still a comedy.

dhmac

I know I would feel sad if someone cannot honestly tell the difference between the quality of Bill Maher's show and Sean Hannity's show, and think they each were equally "fair and balanced" in their approach to opposing views.

PopcornTreeCt

I would love to see an intelligent conservative biased show where people are cracking jokes and no one is screaming and belittling anyone else. That would be something.

MikahC

I enjoy it when the show brings up something I consider to be a serious issue. They talked about the Voter ID laws a bit, but what I really cared a lot more about was the fact that people who are convicted felons can't vote in some states. And since it's possible to get a felony over something like having too much weed, that doesn't feel right to me. How do you guys feel about that?

It struck me because one day I was talking to an intelligent hardworking friend from Florida and we started talking about politics and he *shrugged* and said, "I can't vote." So I dived into why and he told me about his arrest for having too much weed in his car during a traffic stop. I don't want to misrepresent, but I think after a certain amount, they consider it intent to distribute. He served time, and when he got out, he could no longer vote. He works, pays taxes, raises his family, etc., but can't vote. That seems really wrong to me. And just so everyone has the right mental image, he isn't a minority.

I believe the loss of a right to vote was meant to address more serious crimes, but I'm not even in favor of those people losing the right. To me, after you serve your time, that should be it. If you want to tell me someone can't vote while in prison, I can see that. But no voting even after they've done their time? How's that right?

RagingBull80

I think it's worse because if he believed the bullshit and anger he was spouting then well, that's what he believes. But I think he's more evil because he knows better.

Mike86

I agree with you that it really doesn't feel right for a person to lose that right forever. During the time that they serve I can see is a bit different but once they've served their sentence and are out I think the right should be given back. A lot of people make mistakes with drugs that are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things and are essentially punished for life for it in some aspects and I don't really think that that's right either. Like has been brought up by the show before the system really kind of sets those types of people up to fail. It's really pretty sad.

Neil M.

It is a little ironic to me that some people would want to participate in the election process when they've decided that the laws passed by said government do not apply to them. However, I agree that once your sentence is done, your rights should be restored.

wm lopez

Only time I laugh when I watch FOXNEWS is when they show the liberal point of view.

MikahC

The question is, should some form of perfection be required to vote? Because people aren't perfect. There are all kinds of things people do that they shouldn't. Some are legal, some aren't. Are these enough to permanently disenfranchise them? What if you're convicted of felony drug possession at 19? Really? We want to tell a guy who is 50 he can't vote because he had too much drugs on him when he was 19? Isn't it bad enough he'll struggle to get a good job for life because of it? What exactly is the concept of paying your debt to society?

Neil M.

I don't really know how to respond other than I agree with you in your example. I also don't think an 18 year old who has sex with his underage girlfriend should be on a sex offenders list. However, it is up to the state to decide the matter. The Supreme Court has upheld felony disenfranchisement. I also don't really see the general population coming to the defense of felons in the near future. I think that, ultimately, we need to classify crimes differently. A drug offense should not carry the same weight as murder, theft, or rape.

Neil M.

Ted Koppel did a story on Rock Center about the media. O' Reilly was a big focus because he was the only person from Fox News willing to be interviewed. He actually comes off as a pretty reasonable person. They also interviewed Ann Coulter who criticized him for not being "conservative."

PopcornTreeCt

This past Maher was kinda meh. One thing I noticed is Maher labeling himself, last week he had it flashing "atheist" on the screen and this week he referred to himself as liberal. I don't think he's ever come out that way.

Troy Stiffler

Conservatives would call a show where "no one is screaming and belittleing anyone else" as "smug". "Smug" and "elitist" are terms used by the right to describe "calm", "positive" or "progressive" thinking liberals.

Mike86

This week's New Rules segment where Bill went after the undecided voters and how much emphasis is placed on them was harsh but pretty much spot on. These are the people who are mostly uninformed and probably just pick someone at the end if they bother to even go out and vote at all. I understand why it is the way it is but it's kind of a shame if you think of it that so many people don't even seem to care enough about elections to bother even a little with getting in touch with the issues and learn about candidates.

Throwing Copper

I was just about to post something similar. It was a great show, and one of the best I've seen in some time. I'm glad Maher nailed those dumbass people.

If you can't decide by now whether you want to vote for Romney or Obama, get the fuck out of the game.

Mr. Cinema

Translation: "I've never laughed while watching Fox News".

dhmac

Yeah, it's interesting how Bill Maher has gradually embraced being an atheist. Even when he made "Religulous" back in 2008, he still didn't self-identify as an atheist and just would say he didn't know (essentially calling himself agnostic). But over the past year or two, Maher finally self-identifies as an atheist.

As for self-identifying as a liberal, I think that's been more done to erase Maher's old claim of being a libertarian. Even though Maher has said in recent years that he is not a libertarian and that back when he claimed to be, it was at a time (1990s) when that was just a popular way of voicing opposition to the drug war. Now that libertarian is considered to be much more about economics than just the drug war, I think he has to self-identify as liberal in order to distance himself from that old libertarian self-labeling.

Throwing Copper

Bill Maher has been an atheist forever.

End of story.

I do love how many stupid fucks continue to bump this thread. If you don't like Democrats, Maher and Liberalism, then quit watching the show.

Josh-da-man

I can sort of remember back in his Politically Incorrect days that he claimed he was "spiritual" without being "religious."

JTH182

I remember him once saying that if Jesus did come back he would say "Fuck, guess I was wrong," and be a Christian (paraphrasing).

Sounds agnostic to me, but his point was there needs to be some facts before he would ever believe in a religion.

ben12

No, that sounds like a skeptic, which many atheists are. We lack a belief until sufficient evidence is presented to convince us otherwise.

Shady12

I liked the last part once Rushdie joined, but before that, not so much. The war on drugs thing- I'm very much against the war on drugs. But I don't get how it's racist. They didn't explain why they just said it was. Just because a lot of black people do/sell drugs and get sent to prison, which is terrible, doesn't mean it's racist. White people do/sell drugs and get sent to prison as well..Well except for Walter White.

Matthews, geez, dude needs to chillax, yo.

Shady12

He interrupts guests, yes. He criticizes Obama, yes. I also see him defend him all the time, and criticize and defend conservative politicians. I do think he's an asshole and closed minded on some things. But his show IMO is about as fair as this kind of show gets.

Shady12

Yeah, you can be both very spiritual and an atheist. See Sam Harris.