Bill Maher Tells His Panel The One Story That’s Too Depressing For Him To Watch

video

by Frances Martel | 6:05 pm, June 5th, 2010

» 16 comments

There was a lot going on on the Real Time panel last night, so much so that we may need another post to cover it. Besides the life and times of Sarah Palin, the eclectic crew– Atlantic senior editor Andrew Sullivan, Center for American Progress fellow Van Jones, and The Nation‘s Katrina Vanden Heuvel– had strong words on energy reform, the security crisis in the Middle East, and fighting wars.

Maher opened the discussion by admitting that the oil disaster in the Gulf was a little too depressing for him. The solutions aren’t easy, by anyone’s standards, but agreeing on how to fix the problem– and the bigger problem of energy dependence– was slightly more difficult. Sullivan insisted on taxing oil and gas to make them expensive enough to phase out of the market, but the market was so huge, countered Jones, that it isn’t quite that easy. “You get one cockroach in your house,” he explained, “and you say ‘it came on the pizza box,’ you’re lying to yourself.” The same logic applied to oil drilling platforms, he argued– when you see one, many are not far behind.

As for the other massive problem on the Obama plate, the Israeli blockade on Gaza and the international furor over their seizure of a ship heading there, the panel was also divided. Sullivan argued that the seizure was condemnable; Maher brought up the fact that the other side includes people like the Taliban, who gas schools. It was, Maher’s opinion notwithstanding, possibly more depressing than the oil spill talk. The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is a fun theoretical at the end on what America would do if Canada were openly calling for its destruction from the face of the earth.

Video below:

Andrew Sullivan, Bill Maher, HBO, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Real Time, Van Jones

TylerDurden

Never before has there been a bigger set of commies convened at one time since BHO’s last cabinet meeting.
abowen

your are either an extremest right winger or an idiot, we are already a socialist country, what do you think is social security and medicare?
EricBoisen

I very much enjoyed their conversation, especially the Israel part
http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

Helen Thomas and these folks are the foulest human debris on the planet. They are just pollution. We need to flush them.
Below is a video that helps explain libs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0
Phocus2

Three pieces of human debris, and one irrelevant gender challenged man.
TylerDurden

abowen says:
June 5, 2010 at 9:02 pm

your are either an extremest right winger or an idiot, we are already a socialist country, what do you think is social security and medicare?”

Asshole, I pay taxes for that stuff. It’s not a govt. giveaway!
http://trickletown.vox.com/ Trickletown

Conservatives understand this: According to the Holy GOD, Israel can do no wrong. Prey on it.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Lauffer/66303476 Daniel Lauffer

Maher is the only one being realistic about the Israel situation. They should have stuck to the point though. Israel inspects every ship as it should given that there is precedent of weapons getting smuggled in. You can’t attack soldiers and expect them not to retaliate.
ChuckfromTacoma

The whole lot of them are like dung beetles spewing out little pieces of their homes. I wonder how so many people can watch those people. Worse is how many consider Maher a valid source for information.
As for “Israel can do no wrong”, the wrong they do is mistakes made in fighting for their survival. I firmly believe that if the Arab and Islamic nations all agreed to and lived by a peace treaty and cease fire with Israel, Israel would never fire another shot.
Integr8d

“The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is a fun theoretical at the end on what America would do if Canada were openly calling for its destruction from the face of the earth.”

Laugh.
lanquihue

If I learned that Maher had a wood chipper accident in which the machine was set to a very slow mode so that Maher could watch his legs and torso being slowly torn away as he takes his last breaths, I wouldn’t feel a bit badly for him.
http://newsfare.com dratman

Notice which comments express hatred and disdain. Notice which ones refer to people as types of animals or as dirty or unhealthy objects. Notice which refer to proposed acts of violence against individuals or groups.
lanquihue

I did notice a couple of days ago someone mentioning that Glenn Becks death wouldn’t be good enough for him, so if you’re trying to make some stupid association between conservatives and bad behavior, try again, pap smear.
http://thedailybarb.com Burnnotice

When ever I want a good laugh I just watch these Comedians try and explain the worlds problems. What ever happened to real talking heads discussing issues like this? O Ya, thats right they’re not comedians so they get no attention…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Celia-Harrison/100000143015438 Celia Harrison

They were on TV this morning, where were you?
Oliveiram74

I have heard Van Jones a couple of times now. He raises some good topics and some bad. What was the deal with his appearance last night on Maher? Is he running for President or something? Guy was stiff as a board and couldn’t just relax and take part in the conversation. I thought it was strange.