Current Events > Bill Maher gives his enlightened centrist take on Afghanistan.

(+) Yeah! (+)

TommyG663513 posted...

Holy crap no. Not taking you the least bit seriously. You made a troll topic with a bad take. Done with your crap.

What topic did I make? TF are you babbling about?

sevihaimerej posted...

Why always pretend these people don't exist at all?

Vaguely defined =/= don't exist at all.

---

TommyG663513 posted...

Quite frankly, very few people on the left are willing to admit that there is anybody crazy on their side. To be fair, right wing people seem to do it more. That is kind of the defense of left wing people much of the time. They can easily deflect to someone crazier on the right and not have to own up to their own crazy.

See this entire topic basically.

At this point I don't care which wing it is, it's all part of the same damn bird that's fucking us and the planet into oblivion. We either need to tame this bird and teach it not to be a soulless monster or we tie it down and eat it alive until there's nothing left but the echoes of its screams in our minds

---

sevihaimerej posted...

At this point I don't care which wing it is, it's all part of the same damn bird that's fucking us and the planet into oblivion. We either need to tame this bird and teach it not to be a soulless monster or we tie it down and eat it alive until there's nothing left but the echoes of its screams in our minds

Uh.

---

CyricZ posted...

Uh.

I've been listening to too much Tool lately lol
I thought it was a cool metaphor for destroying Twitter *shrugs*

---

Squall28 posted...

Trying to discredit someone because you think their opinion sounds like it belongs to a certain race (erroneously no less)

That's racism 101. Keep up with your ad hominem and still having the audacity to sit on a high horse though

I didn't discredit anything but go off king


---

TommyG663513 posted...

That is a very strange straw man you are fighting

So, what, exactly, is maher whining about? When talking about systemic oppression and inequality in america, does he want us to preface it by making sure everyone knows it's not as bad as North Korea and Honduras?

---

TommyG663513 posted...

@squall567

Uh you didn't watch the video. It is super obvious that the vast majority of people ITT did not at all watch the video.

He talked about that comedian being executed and used it as an example of why we should be thankful for living in the US.

Maher didn't say anything that bad. He criticized right wing people for getting all sappy about the national anthem. He criticized left wing people for being dramatic in their assessment of America.

His argument was that although the USA does have problems, we largely have it good. We shouldn't be so sappy and loyal to lose sight of improvements that can be made and we shouldn't attack the very notion of our country even though many elements of it are still very problematic.

Like holy crap this has to be one of the absolute worst reactions I've ever seen CE give. Like everyone felt the need to complain, but like nobody watched the damn video.

Tldw/r: Maher's argument- you can complain about living in America and take pride about living in America, but please keep those things in perspective.

I have watched the video and you completely missed the point. I was using his own argument against him. The same thing that he criticized about the "left wing mob" can be used right back at him. He is wailing about how "the left's cancel culture" all the time.

Also why in the fuck is Afghanistan the point of comparison with America. First, Afghanistan is the way it is right now purely because of America intervention. Secondly, is it really a badge of honor to compare the richest country on Earth to a country in strife for decades?

---

squall567 posted...

Afghanistan is the way it is right now purely because of America intervention.

Thank you for proving Maher's point about people like you knowing nothing about the outside world right.

Bill Maher is a moron.

squall567 posted...

I have watched the video and you completely missed the point. I was using his own argument against him. The same thing that he criticized about the "left wing mob" can be used right back at him. He is wailing about how "the left's cancel culture" all the time.

Also why in the fuck is Afghanistan the point of comparison with America. First, Afghanistan is the way it is right now purely because of America intervention. Secondly, is it really a badge of honor to compare the richest country on Earth to a country in strife for decades?

Ok what? Now you sound like you didn't watch the video at all.

---

The best part of this topic is Broseph stanning for his celebrity sound a-like.

---

I can't stand Maher you clown.

It's just funny to see CE getting so defensive because they got called out.

shockthemonkey posted...

That explains why you think youre smarter than you are

Why the hostility? Did Tool hurt you as a child or something?! Also, you have no idea how smart I am or how smart I think I am...unless you are a psychic in which case I will sincerely apologize for questioning you

---

When you're listening to Tool, just remember they're not like other bands. Their music is incredibly artistic, almost to the point where you have to be paying complete attention to them to even remotely understand them. I remember listening to a song on Lateralus (though I can't remember what it was), where I thought a song was absolute bollocks during the listen. Then, I closed my eyes for a second, and all of a sudden the song had an entirely new meaning. It was insane the way Tool could just become something so different when you take a look into the music.

Another thing you should note about Tool is that it's easy to get a headache listening to them. Not because they're a bad band, but because of how many ideas their music is riddled with and how complex they are. Soon enough your head will fill to the brim and the rest will just sound like noise to you. Just turn it off and give it a listen the next day.

If you don't like the music, you'll definitely at least enjoy reading through the lyrics, and picking apart the song itself and all of the artistic values that go into making it the complexity that it is.

---

Broseph_Stalin posted...

I can't stand Maher you clown.

It's just funny to see CE getting so defensive because they got called out.

Called out on what though?

---

Delirious_Beard posted...

When you're listening to Tool, just remember they're not like other bands. Their music is incredibly artistic, almost to the point where you have to be paying complete attention to them to even remotely understand them. I remember listening to a song on Lateralus (though I can't remember what it was), where I thought a song was absolute bollocks during the listen. Then, I closed my eyes for a second, and all of a sudden the song had an entirely new meaning. It was insane the way Tool could just become something so different when you take a look into the music.

Another thing you should note about Tool is that it's easy to get a headache listening to them. Not because they're a bad band, but because of how many ideas their music is riddled with and how complex they are. Soon enough your head will fill to the brim and the rest will just sound like noise to you. Just turn it off and give it a listen the next day.

If you don't like the music, you'll definitely at least enjoy reading through the lyrics, and picking apart the song itself and all of the artistic values that go into making it the complexity that it is.

I dunno about all that probable copypasta, Tool is just one of my go to bands for a good old fashioned psychadelic experience. If I'm gonna stan for a band that hard it'd be something like Death Grips or Deerhoof

---

BeantownHero posted...

Called out on what though?

Mediocre white suburbanites who blame all their personal failures on the system and develop an irrationally negative view of the US based on their own ignorance of the outside world describes like 90% of this board.

Broseph_Stalin posted...

Mediocre white suburbanites who blame all their personal failures on the system and develop an irrationally negative view of the US based on their own ignorance of the outside world describes like 90% of this board.

Oh, so some progressive strawman "centrists" have constructed and convinced themselves is anything but a vocal minority.

What, in particular, do you consider an "irrationally" held negative view of the US adopted by anything close to a sizable group of people?


---

BeantownHero posted...

What, in particular, do you consider an "irrationally" held negative view of the US adopted by anything close to a sizable group of people?

Do you have any idea how often I end up fact checking people on this board? People who complained that the US wasn't doing anything to help people during the pandemic (because that's what a bunch of progressive politicians were falsely claiming), when in reality the US spent more than any other nation on pandemic aid.

People who constantly parrot the stagnant wages lie even though we just had the strongest decade in modern history for income growth and incomes in the US are among the highest in the world.

People who claim we invaded Afghanistan for resources they don't even produce. Or the guy in this very topic who claimed the US started the Afghan civil war.

I could go on, it's a daily thing on here. The problem is you guys genuinely think you're immune to misinformation, that the right has a monopoly on that stuff. Just because Republicans are dumb does not mean you're smart. Maher is correct when he compares hatred of the US to hyper nationalism, some just don't like admitting that.

"America, as a result of unchecked capitalism, capitulation to corporations, and systemic racsim that still requires substantial remedies, has ingrained massive inequality into multiple pillars of life for many of us"

"But at least we arent murdering comedians. Quit whining and show some perspective"

gtfoh

---

BeantownHero posted...

"America, as a result of unchecked capitalism

Yeah that's the misinformation I'm talking about.

Again, I appreciate you guys proving Maher right. Less work for me.

I love it when people use "centrist" as a derogatory term. It really gives you an instant insight into how twisted their thought processes are. Especially since they almost never actually know what a centrist even is.

Cutting a baby in half to divide among two women who claim to be his mother is a centrist solution.

Grischnak posted...

I love it when people use "centrist" as a derogatory term. It really gives you an instant insight into how twisted their thought processes are.

It's a desperate attempt to convince people that being a neo-nazi or a marxist is the "normal" position to have.

The internet is a safe haven for weird people.

I didn't think I'd see it, but Bill Maher is literally taking the "Eat your all your vegetables, there are starving children all over the world" stance on all political issues.

It was funny when he cited 2 republican presidents, one using political peer pressure, and the other using lawyers, trying to shut him up, but the only example he could muster on the left is a guy losing the ability to host jeopardy. As if they were totally equal things.

He claims the left as a whole has lost it's perspective, but I don't think that's the case. I think the left just has high standards. Because you don't react to the Texas abortion thing, which amounts to codifying into the law a bounty system against pregnant women, and say "At least women aren't beat to death, or forced to marry their rapists." You don't react to the voting rights violations across the US and go "The last reported lynching was in 1981. Good thing we don't live in the past right?"

I think the one who's lost perspective here is Bill Maher, because if you're forced compare every political issue to deplorable conditions around the world, you're being pressured by guilt to not complain until the US experiences total degradation, but the point is not only to avoid that, but to be better than where we are now. And that's why Bill Maher sucks.

---

Broseph_Stalin posted...

Yeah that's the misinformation I'm talking about.

Again, I appreciate you guys proving Maher right. Less work for me.

"thank goodness we arent Honduras, and those who suffer from inequality in America should be grateful for that" isnt the flex you and Maher think it is and its baffling you cant see that

You think someone about to be thrown out on the street as a result of the eviction moratorium lapsing, the parent struggling with medical bills as a result of being forced back to work and contracting covid, the terrified women scheduling emergency abortions in Texas before vigilantes, who literally dont need a permit to carry guns, start taking the law into their own hands, should have to give a damn that we arent Honduras or Afghanistan? What planet are yall on?!


---

Lol at paying your rent and having to schedule abortions being the best examples of oppression you can think of

What planet are you on?

---

Squall28 posted...

Lol at paying your rent and having to schedule abortions being the best examples of oppression you can think of

What planet are you on?

This is America. Should I just be grateful this isnt a warzone? yall are wild. We have places in this country where infant mortality rivals developing nations, where pollution and environmental issues cause generational medical conditions. Hunger, poverty and homelessness are the way of life for a substantial part of the population. GoFundMe has replaced Medicare for many an American, and that's those who get any care at all. Corruption in law enforcement and the criminal justice system in general in so rampant, it sparked one of the biggest civil rights protests in world history last year

Again, is you and Maher's gripe that we dont thank our stars and stripes we arent North Korea when we discuss the severity of these problems?


---

Squall28 posted...

having to schedule abortions

Is this what you believe the Texas abortion bill requires?

---

BeantownHero posted...

This is America. Should I just be grateful this isnt a warzone? yall are wild.

You realize there are places that aren't warzones that are worse off than America right? You guys are so out of touch.

Again, the point isn't that you can't complain. It's to stop being so damn dramatic about life in America. Your post reads like the world is ending. And there's nothing wrong with being grateful for living in America once in a while. Expressing gratitude has been scientifically proven to be very healthy for people. Don't know why you guys get offended at even the mere mention of the idea.

Is this what you believe the Texas abortion bill requires?

No and I don't agree with the bill either.

---

Again, the point isn't that you can't complain. It's to stop being so damn dramatic about life in America. Your post reads like the world is ending. And there's nothing wrong with being grateful for living in America once in a while. Expressing gratitude has been scientifically proven to be very healthy for people. Don't know why you guys get offended at even the mere mention of the idea.

people are hungry, homeless and sick right now. If rich white men like Maher are insecurehow the very people problems I've mentioned paints some Americans views' of the country, tough shit. Nothing I said is hyperbole


---

It is telling that the only people defending Maher are right-wingers.

---

au_gold posted...

It is telling that the only people defending Maher are right-wingers.

It is telling that any dyed-in-the-wool Liberal who criticizes his own gets thrown to the dogs. Being Liberal looks like a tow-the-party-line-or-die sort of political religion.

---

au_gold posted...

It is telling that the only people defending Maher are right-wingers.

It is telling you think anyone who disagrees with you is a "right-winger." The delusion is strong in you.

---