Though he usually has disdain for “slippery slope” arguments, Bill Maher said on Real Time on Friday, he issue of the National Security Agency (NSA) going through private citizens’ Internet data and other personal records, was truly a slippery slope.
“I’m okay with it now that Obama’s in office,” Maher told his panelists. “I’m kind of trusting of him. But President Ted Cruz? Where this is going would bother me.”
“Vice President Dick Cheney would’ve had your hair on fire,” CNN political contributor Ana Navarro responded.
But what tips the scale for him, Maher continued, are nuclear weapons.
“We live in a world of nuclear weapons,” he said. “And there are religious fanatics who would love to get one and set it off here.
I’m pretty sure that monitoring the phones of hundreds of millions of Americans isn’t going to do anything to stop a terrorist group from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Bill Maher’s opinions seem to track with which party is in power. I prefer to stand on principle.
When you stand on principle the tribal world shifts around you. That’s why the Vile Progs are now attacking Glenn Greenwald while some conservatives are hailing him as a hero. Back in 2006-08 he was a Vile Prog hero for advocating the exact same positions on domestic spying that he is advocating today.
Times change. Principals don’t.
The Crawdad Hole 
I’m hearing the same pathetic unprincipled shit from some Obots I know. Apparently zombies are real.
just popped in to say ,…..
Bill Maher is an idiot . He has a B.A. in English and History, and started out as a stand up comedian . Who the fuck is Bill Maher to be advising anyone of anything ? His stellar carrer includes such “memorables ” as these ..
( from Wikipedia ) , he also had a failed movie that ridiculed religion . The asshats that listen to him as though he is some authority are worse. he is a womanizer , a misogynist and an all around garden variety slimy narcissist. He wouldn’t know a principle if one bit him on his penile nose .
and he could not make out in a prison with a fist full of pardons
Some say he has terminal halitosis, too.
That’s what happens when you’re always talking crap..
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/06/08/lawmakers-question-epa-over-alleged-bias-against-conservative-groups/
seems to be a pattern here in today’s government
honk
Classy Romneys 🙂
Internal Exile—- the picture above is a man I feel true “contempt” for (your favorite word).
I don’t use “contempt” for a vague group of Americans called “right-wingers.” That’s lazy thinking. Due respect.
Who cares what Bill Maher thinks? Who the hell is Bill Maher? It’s like caring what Michale Moore thinks! The only people that care what they think are the ones who like them already. Bill Maher is a slimy little prick with minimal intelligence. We need to stop giving these people any credence. And Bill Maher is rat butt ugly to make matters even worse…a slimy, rat butt, ugly little prick.
His physical appearance is irrelevant. It’s no more acceptable to ridicule a man for his looks than a woman. In both cases, physicality bears no relation to content of thought. He could be as drop dead gorgeous as Johnny Depp and still be as stupid and as wrong as is humanly possible.
Maybe Underwhelmed, except beauty really does come from the inside and show up on the outside. Johnny Depp is a good example, he can dress up like a dirty, drunken pirate and make us all swoon anyway.
I don’t think it’s the same thing with men and women at all. Women are often judged ONLY on physical characteristics or what they wear. Men, not so much.
Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way to the bone.
Yes, his physical appearance is irrelevant, I just added that because it’s true. Focus on everything else I said before that.
Maybe it wasn’t nice. But I take it you weren’t feeling very nice today. 😉
He might not fit the current ideal of physical attractiveness, but that really isn’t the point. How can we complain about the shallowness of the Vile Progs when we resort to this kind of derogatory dismissal? Condemn him for his words, condemn him for his blatant partisanship and intellectual dishonesty. Blame him for being venal and corrupt and wilfully blind. On those scores we have more ammunition than we know what to do with. But leave his looks out of it. Leave that kind of crap to the Bill Mahers of this world.
Bill Maher makes me want to fight , and I am such a peaceful person .
I agree.
Alas, I have no tribe…
Seriously though, I think people are born one way or the other. You’re either a tribalist or you have principles. I don’t think it’s a lifestyle choice, so I quit trying to convince kool aid drinkers to see the big picture, because I don’t think they can. Some people are just wired that way. If you ask them a moral question, the answer will always depend on who’s doing it and what tribe they belong to.
The left had me fooled for a long time because it was us against the government, us against the establishment. Then they became the establishment and it was like, meet the new boss, same as the old boss, just a bit more vicious and more obsessed with their own self righteousness.
The Progs and the Santorums of the world are running pretty equal in the sanctimony dept, IMO.
Agreed, except I don’t consider the Oborg to be truly leftist.
By the standards of more genuine democracies, the Oborg and their ilk would be center-right, while the Reptilians would be far-right, if not fascist.
I tend to agree with Gore Vidal’s statement that the USA really has only one party, which he called the “Property Party”.
The Reptilian wing tends to be more ideologically dedicated to “pure” capitalism (while being thoroughly crony-capitalist in practice), while the Dinocratic wing is more openly pragmatic, willing to make more concessions to the excluded and victimized majority to keep the lid on.
Both major parties (or both wings of the Property Party) work for the Malefactors Of Great Wealth, not for us common citizens.
The MOGW realized in 2008 that the Chimperor and Darth Cheney and their Usual Gang Of Idiots had not simply screwed the pooch–they had screwed the whole kennel of pooches, in positions Dr. Ruth never heard of–so the MOGW couldn’t install yet another Reptilian without rigging the elections beyond the limits of plausible deniability. They got around this by finding a pliable and treacherous Dinocrat and ginning up an Astroturf campaign–even then, it didn’t quite work and they had to steal the nomination for their lackey.
You keep reciting the same left-wing talking points.
Left = Good
Right = Bad
Democrats = Not Left
Anyone you disagree with = Not Left
Throw away your learned dogma and try thinking for yourself. Truth has no ideology. Neither do principles.
“Truth has no ideology.”
In the words attributed to an ancient Roman official of some notoriety: “What is truth?”
You have absolutely no fucking idea what you’re talking about.
You should see someone about that.
One of the nicest things about having zero tribal loyalties anymore: You can quote whoever the fuck you want, if they have something to say.
The cons are all in a tizzy at the moment, because the ones upset over the NSA stuff are getting hammered by the neocons, who are urging them to “consider the source” (i.e. Glenn Greenwald). It’s all “OMFG, you are agreeing with/enabling a socialist!!! That makes it all suspect!”
Meanwhile, libs who might find something inspiring/informational in a comment by Ted Cruz or Rand Paul can’t say so, because “Ewwww!! Republican!!!” and the tribe attacks them.
Me, I am eyes-wide-open with no tribe. I can quote Cruz, I can quote Greenwald, I can quote Mother Jones, I can quote Sarah Palin, or Rand Paul. I can say whatever the hell I want if I find it useful or interesting.
So I laugh my ass off at those on both sides who still get such angst over it. Who worry about giving the “other side” some kind of “ammunition.” Those on whom an accusation of “traitor” has some effect. Poor things – I’ve been there. Now I could give a shit anymore what anyone says or thinks about me. And yeah, I love it. 😀
I hear you, and well said.
If a principle is only a principle when someone we like is espousing it, then we are all doomed.
So many of our former friends only made half the journey. They became disillusioned with the left but still maintain their former hatred of the “other” tribe.
I try to judge both sides (and everyone in between) by the same standards. I prefer people with principles I disagree with to people who have none.
I would call my feelings for the “other” (hard-right) tribe contempt rather than hatred (they are not quite the same thing), and as I just posted above, I don’t consider the Oborg to be true leftists.
Other than those reservations, yeah, I plead guilty as charged–and unrepentant–to what The Klown said. 😈
I find myself sliding into the position of “I’m not prejudiced–I despise everyone equally”–even myself. *shrugs*
I save my contempt for people of bad character. There are plenty of them on each side. But there are also plenty of people of good character on both sides as well.
There are a lot of people on the right who are saying things I agree with about Obama. But they were singing a different tune when Bush was in office. Back then I agreed with the people on the left.
I didn’t change, the party in power did.
I guess that’s our deepest point of disagreement, Myiq. You still think there are people of good character.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect good character of a species of talking apes which were forced to evolve the capability for bad behavior in order to survive in an amoral and pitiless natural environment.
We are the despicable killer apes we are because we “came from a bad neighborhood”, so to speak. I think that’s one of the reasons the Deity forgives us–S/He knows S/He can’t reasonably expect any better of us. 😦
Question for Internal Exile: So I take it you consider yourself a person of no-good character, a despicable killer ape? I mean, you are just as bad and untrustworthy as all the rest of the human beings? No difference between your character and Cheney’s or Stalin’s, correct?
If you answer yes, then just advocate nuking the world now, there’s no point to any of it. You, Hitler, whatever, we’re all despicable.
If you answer no, then you were being dishonest in your previous statement – you actually DO believe there are people of better character than others. If you answer no, then you were trying to cop out of dealing with myiq’s truth about good people of all political stripes. Because you are still really really married to the idea of conservative = evil person. And calling EVERYONE evil (even if you really don’t believe it) is a handy way out of having to deal with that.
I don’t think anyone is perfect, including myself. Neither did the Founding Fathers. That’s why they designed a system of divided power, so no one could take complete control.
Divided/small government is capable of corruption, but only in small pieces.
He lost Cenk Unger. Blasted him on air on Young Turks: LIAR!!
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2013/06/08/Liberal-Talk-Show-Host-Freaks-Out-On-Air-Screaming-Barack-Obama-is-a-Liar
That’s it! Cenk Unger is officially a racist…LOL.
That’s why MSNBC replaced him with an identical doughy blowhard.
It’s dead-on. Read the whole thing.
“Disappeared”
Jaysus.
Wondering just where the positive, provocative singers are these days…like Dylan, even Billie Holiday with her wrenching rendering of “Strange Fruit”. Terry Callier from Chicago strikes me as one of those voices. In a discussion with a younger person the other day, they said to me…”you just aren’t hearing the right voices”…..got that right. Do really appreciate this Terry Callier song though…
just saw this cool little piece,,,
…and speaking of physical appearances…..
This is hilarious
http://twitchy.com/2013/06/08/benched-obama-gives-chinas-leader-patio-furniture-as-parting-gift-goes-golfing/
LOLOLOL
LOL
Was it made in China?
I BET!!!!
I think it’s meant to be a reminder of Obama: empty chair now with expanded capabilities and most of all – pinko.
I’m reading in the Guardian that Holder’s DOJ has approved invoking the State Secrets Privilege re any inquiries about Prism et al. Meaning, no judge receiving filed lawsuits against any involved on the government’s side can do anything other than dismiss the case, due to national security. (help out here, myiq, with more info if I’ve misunderstood that privilege).
Holder also approved a criminal investigation of Guardian and Glen Greenwald.
Here we go, here we go.
Congress needs to defund the DOJ immediately until they learn the meaning of Congressional oversight.
Reuters has it too now
Leaking stuff to the press is like using deadly force – you always run the risk that a court may disagree with you about the necessity of what you did.
As long as it isn’t the secret court that puts you in Gitmo.
Coincidentally, new Rasmussen poll shows that 56% of the American public now finds the federal government a threat to citizens’ rights.
No shit. I’m still trying to deal with the idea that Glenn Beck may have been right all along. I think we’re through the looking glass, Alice.
And I’m sitting here with the batteries out of all my cell phones thinking maybe old Joe McCarthy was right all along. That’s beyond scary.
Walter Russell Mead:
Off topic, but darn! The day is almost over and I just found out it’s National Doughnut Day.
This would have been a great day to commit a crime…
Get this: the (secret) FISA court in 2011 ruled that the govt was conducting unconstitutional surveillance. However, we can’t see that ruling, because the ruling itself is classified. Wrap your brain around that one.
My country has turned into a fucking Kafka film. I want some sunlight up in this joint, and I want it NOW. And I realize that the public knowing some things might, in some ways, compromise national security. But guess what? If we continue to let this run with no public scrutiny, our country has far far greater problems in store than a subway bomb.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/justice-department-electronic-frontier-foundation-fisa-court-opinion
A court system run in secret, with other court opinions that are secret, validating an administration that is being run as a criminal enterprise, supported by Quislings in Congress. Welcome to the New land of the free and home of the brave.
VDH:
Good piece.
Yup
“No such thing as Presedential ethics.”
Call me crazy but that sounds an awful lot like “When the President does it, it isn’t illegal.”
Welcome to our new world.
VDH is wrong, Obama is more amoral than he’s predecessors, he’s a sociopath and by definition, amoral. For the people who selected him to be President, amorality was a prime criterion.