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[Mr. Roboto]

Bill Maher has three words that should terrify Hollywood: Obama could lose.

To the moneyed political class living in what Maher calls the "liberal bubble," it might seem like a long shot. The economy is recovering, unemployment rates are dropping, and the Republican candidates are talking about how to limit contraception and why college is for snobs (if not the occasional "slut"). But though the president might seem a shoo-in to win a second term among certain bicoastal elites, Maher sees trouble ahead. That fear -- and not to promote himself or his long-running HBO show Real Time With Bill Maher, he says -- is why the comic firebrand interrupted his stand-up act in San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 23 to present an oversized $1 million check to Priorities USA Action, the political super PAC working to re-elect President Obama.

"I threw a snowball hoping to cause an avalanche," Maher, 56, says a week later in his no-frills bungalow office at CBS Television City, a short golf-cart ride from the studio where he shoots Real Time on Friday nights. "This election is so not in the bag," he adds, his voice rising, as it often does on Real Time, with the semi-righteous and hyper-informed outrage that has won him loyal fans and prompted the kind of death threats that require a full-time security guard at his Beverly Hills home. "It's a scarier group of Republicans than I've ever seen in my life, and it's a different world with Citizens United," he says, referencing the 2010 Supreme Court case that has led to GOP backers like casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson giving many millions of dollars to unregulated super PACs.

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With his donation, Maher -- whose politics aren't exactly down-the-line liberal -- has become the highest-profile celebrity to give so much to the Obama re-election cause, which has struggled to gain steam in Hollywood (DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg remains the industry's largest donor, giving $2 million to Obama's super PAC as of Jan. 31). In the process, the bomb-throwing provocateur -- a devout atheist who wants to legalize most recreational drugs and famously was kicked off ABC for saying the 9/11 terrorists weren't cowards -- has crossed the line from pay cable commentator to mainstream activist. Unlike late-night peers Jon Stewart, with his Rally to Restore Sanity, or Stephen Colbert, who launched a satirically eponymous super PAC, Maher is publicly putting his own money where his big mouth is. And in doing so, he is setting himself up as an increasingly powerful voice as the presidential campaign heads into its defining months.

"I never used to give money because I thought, well, I don't want to tip my hat one way or the other," Maher says. "But I thought, who are we kidding at this point? I think the cat is out of the bag which side I'm on." Maher says he still considers himself a moderate but believes the Republican Party has shifted to exclude nonextremists, making Obama the crucial best option. He considers his $1 million gift a challenge to Hollywood's political donors, who, driven by a diminished entertainment economy, dissatisfaction with Obama's policies, residual SOPA anger, or all of the above, have been sitting idle as the Republicans' American Crossroads super PAC has thus far outraised Democracts 2-to-1. In addition, a recent study showed that Obama election support from the entertainment industry had fallen nearly 60 percent from $2.8 million in 2008 to $1.2 million in 2011.

"To all rich liberals: This is where the game is now," he says. "There's only one place in this country where the millionaires and billionaires are liberals, and that's here in California."

♦♦♦♦♦

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that the late-night comedy of the Maher, Stewart and Colbert ilk thrives on opposition-party humor. All three hosts helped popularize a new TV genre during the eight-year reign of George W. Bush, riding a wave of Dick Cheney antics and anti-Iraq War sentiment. Many posited that the election of Obama in 2008 would somehow temper the bite of liberal-leaning late-night programming (the antidote to the rise of Fox News). But the opposite has rung true. Thanks to the surge of the Tea Party, the Republican Party has been propelled further right, causing Congress to stall in nearly comical deadlock since the inauguration. Those fat targets, as well as Obama's own missteps, have become fodder for even more aggressive monologues, with late-night comics now driving the political conversation arguably as much as their "serious" news counterparts.

Although Stewart is the wiseguy watchdog and Colbert the smarty-pants rabble rouser, Maher stands out as the increasingly aggressive line-crosser, a position enabled by both a personality that loves to shock and nearly zero restrictions thanks to his decadelong perch on HBO.

His schedule, like his latitude, is enviable. He produces one live show a week with as many as 20 weeks off a year. For 10 years, HBO has let him do and say pretty much whatever he wants, from calling former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin a "dumb twat" who heads "a strange family of inbred weirdos" to performing an "un-baptism" on Mitt Romney's dead father-in-law. Unlike the rest of late-night, Maher is not beholden to overnight ratings, commercial sponsors or pressure to book the kind of celebrity guests who increasingly shy away from the raw political debates that are a hallmark of his show ("There's not 20 thinking celebrities in all of Hollywood," he quips).

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Despite the freedom, Maher says he works harder to distinguish his act from the Jays and Daves -- and even the Stewarts and Colberts (some of whose audience he likely attracts on Fridays, when the Comedy Central shows are dark). "You can only make an everyday show so good," he says. "But if you have a once-a-week show, you feel like you have to make it great because you're only once a week." During the March 2 edition of Real Time, for instance, Maher segued from pointed jokes about Rush Limbaugh's "slut" comments to an informed discussion of campaign finance reform with former Sen. Russ Feingold to a heated debate with former GM executive Bob Lutz over global warming -- all live with no commercial breaks or second takes. "I don't get to re-rack like every other host does," he notes. "I have to be ready for the whole thing before it starts."

He's also willing to directly challenge guests and push the taste envelope further than his rivals. "I am so much more edgy," he boasts. Only Maher would ask a conservative guest why Limbaugh hadn't "croaked" instead of Heath Ledger from prescription drug abuse. And only Maher would lead a discussion in which gay columnist Dan Savage said, "I sometimes think about f--ing the shit out of Rick Santorum." ("Pretty sick stuff," according to Fox News' Sean Hannity.) He often uses his show-ending editorial -- a segment he meticulously hones over several days -- to lambast such frequent Republican targets as Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who this election cycle have stepped in for Palin as Maher's favorite foils. "I mean, she was great, but it's like Spartacus," he jokes. " 'I'm an idiot!' 'I'm an idiot!' They're all idiots!"

Not that Maher only books the like-minded. On the final night of his life, right-wing pundit Andrew Breitbart said that being a guest on Maher's show helped him learn how to handle a hostile audience and be booed. "He signed a book for me," Maher recalls of Breitbart. "He wrote something really nice: 'Thank you for giving me a chance and not prejudging and accepting me.' " Other conservative guests have included former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum and Rep. Darrell Issa. "This is a forum of ideas," says executive producer Sheila Griffiths, "and you can't necessarily do that if you don't have the other side's point of view represented."

After each edition of Real Time, Maher invites his guests to a small reception. He doesn't talk to anyone before the show, so the party is often an opportunity for Maher to meet those with whom he has just sparred on-camera. After a recent show, for instance, Lutz, the former GM executive and the panel's lone conservative, revealed he had never seen Real Time before agreeing to appear on the show, during which he was grilled by Maher over his denial of global warming. "My wife said, 'Don't go on that show; that guy's a left-wing asshole,' " says Lutz. "But I said, 'What the hell?' I like a good, smart debate, and that's what it was."

More: http://www.hollywood...uper-pac-297345

[Mr. Roboto]

Why Does Mississippi Vote Republican?

By Alexandra Pelosi

In her second report of the season, 'Real Time' correspondent Alexandra Pelosi follows the campaign trail to Mississippi and interviews its residents about their political leanings. Her piece airs tonight at 10PM ET/PT on HBO.

Why is it that the poorest states in America are red states? It seems the poorer the state, the more Republican it is. The Census Bureau’s 2011 Statistical Abstract shows the GOP finds their strongest support in places where poverty and median household income are the worst. Case in point: Mississippi ranks dead last economically, with the lowest per capita income in the country, yet according to Gallup, Mississippi is the most conservative state in the union. It ranks first in the number of people living below the poverty line: 21.9 percent of Mississippi residents live below the poverty level. Dominated by conservative politicians, Mississippi has the lowest tax burden in the nation but ranks fourth in per capita federal aid. Mississippi is also a leader of the GOP effort to gut Medicaid but ranks first in the percentage of its Medicaid program that is funded by federal matching funds.

In a state that wants to repeal "Obamacare," Mississippi leads the nation in a number of health care problems. It has the highest rate of heart disease and the second highest rate of diabetes in the country. Mississippi's cardiovascular disease mortality rate is the highest in the nation. Some counties in Mississippi rank among third world countries when it comes to life expectancy-they have the shortest life expectancies in the nation and many Mississippi residents suffer from a lack of health care access (some counties don't even have hospitals). It is ironic that the states suing to prevent the implementation of the Affordable Care Act are the ones whose residents need it most. Still, Republicans poll best in places where healthcare is worst.

When it comes to education, adults in Mississippi have the highest rate of low literacy in the nation. On the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 30 percent of adults scored "Level 1" (less than fifth-grade reading and comprehension skills). In 2011, only 21 percent of Mississippi eighth graders scored proficient in reading and 19 percent scored at least proficient in math.

Last November, social conservatives tried pushing the "Personhood" initiative, which defined a fertilized egg as a human being, banning abortion and most birth control. Despite Mississippi's focus inside the womb, there seems little concern about what happens to its residents outside of it. They have dismal rankings in out-of-wedlock births, births to teen mothers and unmarried women. For a state that votes for family values, its divorce rate is among Americas highest and it is the deadliest gun state in the nation.

Conservatism doesn't seem to be translating into positive results for the Hospitality State, so why do they continue to vote GOP? In the lead up to the March 13 GOP primary, I visited Mississippi to find out why it is a Republican stronghold today. We are going to let the voters of one of the most economically and educationally deprived areas of the nation tell you why they vote Republican.

Here's one answer.

http://www.real-time...ml?cmpid=ABC127

[artcinco]

David Axelrod bails on Bill Maher


#iThing #word

[Mr. Roboto]

JAKE TAPPER: Bill, thanks for doing this. I just wanted to make sure that as I cover this debate about appropriate language and such, I'm not excluding any points you think should be made.

BILL MAHER: I don't really know all the "points," but as I said on my show last Friday, I'm a pottymouth, not a misogynist.

TAPPER: So with all the criticism of Rush Limbaugh for his comments about the Georgetown Law student, conservatives claim that there's a double standard, with President Obama, Democrats and the media far more tolerant of offensive language when wielded by liberal or progressive media figures against conservative women. Is that a fair comparison? You have certainly used offensive words to describe some politicians you don't like.

MAHER: I'm a comedian - not just a guy who says he is, like Rush, but someone who - well, you saw me do stand-up last year in D.C. There's a big difference between just saying you're a comedian and going out and getting thousands of people to laugh hard for 90 minutes. And the one I'm compared to most is Carlin, who also had these kind of problems. Edgy is my brand - everyone wants that, but they say, "but never go over the line." It's like telling Tom Brady, 'Throw into coverage 40 times a game every game but never throw an interception.'"

TAPPER: How do you know when you've gone too far?

MAHER: I let the audience be the guide. The bit I did about Palin using the word c-, one of the biggest laughs in my act, I did it all over the country, not one person ever registered disapproval, and believe me, audiences are not afraid to let you know. Because it was a routine where that word came in at just the right moment. Context is very important, and it's also important to remember that stand-up comedy is the final frontier of free speech. Still, I stopped doing that routine, but I would like someone to replace that word if it's so awful with another one that has the same meaning for a person - not just women, it's a word you can and lots do (all the British, for example) use for both sexes. It has a very specific meaning.

TAPPER: And that's not comparable to what Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke?

MAHER: To compare that to Rush is ridiculous - he went after a civilian about very specific behavior, that was a lie, speaking for a party that has systematically gone after women's rights all year, on the public airwaves. I used a rude word about a public figure who gives as good as she gets, who's called people "terrorist" and "unAmerican." Sarah Barracuda. The First Amendment was specifically designed for citizens to insult politicians. Libel laws were written to protect law students speaking out on political issues from getting called whores by Oxycontin addicts.

TAPPER: What about all the clips of you saying rather "edgy" things - offensive to many people, no doubt - from your show on HBO, "Real Time"?

MAHER: Of course if you take out of context over 10 years snippets inside comedy bits you can make anyone look bad - and sometimes, I have been! Not perfect, but not misogyny. In general, this is an obvious right wing attempt to dredge up some old shit about me to deflect from their self-inflicted problems. They are the kings of false equivalencies.

And through it all, I have defended Rush's right to stay on the air! Not what he said, that was disgusting - but the right to not disappear because people who don't even listen to you don't like what you said. That really bothers me. I never hear Rush Limbaugh unless a guy in the next truck at a stop light has it on; it would be arrogant for me to say "he has to disappear" and deprive the people who do listen to him of what they like. We all have different tastes and different opinions, that's America.

[artcinco]

I liked Maher's tweet from a few days ago:

http://twitter.com/#!/billmaher/status/177186344697733120

[Mr. Roboto]

[Mr. Roboto]

Please Stop Apologizing

By BILL MAHER


THIS week, Robert De Niro made a joke about first ladies, and Newt Gingrich said it was “inexcusable and the president should apologize for him.” Of course, if something is “inexcusable,” an apology doesn’t make any difference, but then again, neither does Newt Gingrich.

Mr. De Niro was speaking at a fund-raiser with the first lady, Michelle Obama. Here’s the joke: “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?”

The first lady’s press secretary declared the joke “inappropriate,” and Mr. De Niro said his remarks were “not meant to offend.” So, as these things go, even if the terrible damage can never be undone, at least the healing can begin. And we can move on to the next time we choose sides and pretend to be outraged about nothing.

When did we get it in our heads that we have the right to never hear anything we don’t like? In the last year, we’ve been shocked and appalled by the unbelievable insensitivity of Nike shoes, the Fighting Sioux, Hank Williams Jr., Cee Lo Green, Ashton Kutcher, Tracy Morgan, Don Imus, Kirk Cameron, Gilbert Gottfried, the Super Bowl halftime show and the ESPN guys who used the wrong cliché for Jeremy Lin after everyone else used all the others. Who can keep up?

This week, President Obama’s chief political strategist, David Axelrod, described Mitt Romney’s constant advertising barrage in Illinois as a “Mittzkrieg,” and instantly the Republican Jewish Coalition was outraged and called out Mr. Axelrod’s “Holocaust and Nazi imagery” as “disturbing.” Because the message of “Mittzkrieg” was clear: Kill all the Jews. Then the coalition demanded not only that Mr. Axelrod apologize immediately but also that Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz “publicly rebuke” him. For a pun! For punning against humanity!

The right side of America is mad at President Obama because he hugged the late Derrick Bell, a law professor who believed we live in a racist country, 22 years ago; the left side of America is mad at Rush Limbaugh for seemingly proving him right.

If it weren’t for throwing conniption fits, we wouldn’t get any exercise at all.

I have a better idea. Let’s have an amnesty — from the left and the right — on every made-up, fake, totally insincere, playacted hurt, insult, slight and affront. Let’s make this Sunday the National Day of No Outrage. One day a year when you will not find some tiny thing someone did or said and pretend you can barely continue functioning until they apologize.

If that doesn’t work, what about this: If you see or hear something you don’t like in the media, just go on with your life. Turn the page or flip the dial or pick up your roll of quarters and leave the booth.

The answer to whenever another human being annoys you is not “make them go away forever.” We need to learn to coexist, and it’s actually pretty easy to do. For example, I find Rush Limbaugh obnoxious, but I’ve been able to coexist comfortably with him for 20 years by using this simple method: I never listen to his program. The only time I hear him is when I’m at a stoplight next to a pickup truck.

When the lady at Costco gives you a free sample of its new ham pudding and you don’t like it, you spit it into a napkin and keep shopping. You don’t declare a holy war on ham.

I don’t want to live in a country where no one ever says anything that offends anyone. That’s why we have Canada. That’s not us. If we sand down our rough edges and drain all the color, emotion and spontaneity out of our discourse, we’ll end up with political candidates who never say anything but the safest, blandest, emptiest, most unctuous focus-grouped platitudes and cant. In other words, we’ll get Mitt Romney.

[Mr. Roboto]

[Mr. Roboto]

[Mr. Roboto]

I uploaded his show from this weekend, if anybody wants to watch it.