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Bill Maher: Obama Doesn’t Look Like The Adult In The Room, He Looks Like The Substitute Teacher

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» 91 comments

On his show tonight, Bill Maher and panel gave Obama some praise for the killing of al-Qaeda’s Anwar al-Awlaki earlier today, but then the discussion turned to the president’s failures domestically on the economic front and how he has, as Maher argued, capitulated to Republicans at points he did not need to. The entire discussion focused around Obama’s leadership in dealing with Republicans and his lack of advocating for more liberal policies.

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm saw an irony in Republicans, who believe in a laissez-faire government, criticizing Obama for not doing enough, and pointed out that anti-government Rick Perry was very much involved in shaping and mending the state economy in Texas. Salman Rushdie was shocked, SHOCKED to find that politicians were behaving in a duplicitous manner.

But on a more serious point, Maher asked the panel if anyone agreed with Ron Paul‘s position that because he was a U.S. citizen, Awlaki should not have been “assassinated.” No one on the panel seemed to be in agreement with this point, and Rushdie argued that when you commit treason against your country, you basically give up your rights.

The discussion then turned to the economy, and despite listing a wide variety of President Obama‘s accomplishments in office, Maher argued that he “sold our” on the environment and on the poor. Seth MacFarlane wondered why Republicans continue to brand Obama as the most liberal president in recent times when some of the policies he’s enacted have been somewhat conservative in nature. Granholm defended the president, saying “he did what he had to do.” Maher questioned if that was even the case, considering the groundswell of public support behind policies that President Obama has not pursued in the past three years.

All the fights he’s had with Republicans over budgets and money, he’s caved unnecessarily. I mean, he should have come in like a house on fire… his first one hundred days could have more resembled FDR’s first one hundred days. He didn’t have to cave in on the Bush tax cuts, that’s ridiculous. He didn’t have to cave in on the debt ceiling fight.

Granholm countered that Obama may not have had the votes to push more liberal policies through the Congress. Maher compared President Obama to a substitute teacher “who’s just not trying to have a nervous breakdown” instead of establishing himself as the only adult in the room. MacFarlane argued that since the United States has already tried conservatism and centrism, maybe it’s time for the president to try and experiment with liberalism.

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  • Sharpo

    the president is a poosey.

  • Anonymous

    Damn libruls.

  • Texan

    Obama wouldn’t even qualify to be a sub teacher, yet, he sits in the white house. Thank God he’ll be gone, soon!

  • Texan

    He’s lost the black vote, he’s lost the jewish vote, he’s lost the (I) vote. All he has left are the 12%’ers. The “progressives” that have suddenly become against the constitution and pro-war.

  • ganymede

    Hey, it’s a great doubleheader this evening with the guy the rightwingers love to hate but hardly ever miss watching – Bill Maher. His take on Jesus was brilliant and this piece is just as good, especially as he had a much better and more distinguished panel than usual: Salmon Rushdie, Gov Granholm and Seth MacFarlane. Yes, in so many ways we’re disappointed in Obama, but he has accomplished a great deal in the face of almost total opposition from the Republican/Tea Party. I wonder why you find Maher so fascinating and would rather listen to him then say, the Dennis Miller or the equally awful Red Eye . The reason is very simple. Rightwing views are not substantiated or sustained by history and reality, and are easily open to derision by the likes of Maher, Colbert, Stewart and most any intelligent commentator or jokester. I really liked towards the end of this piece when Salmon Rushdie asked, just imagine what it would be like if John McCain and Sarah Palin had been elected. The audience groaned and, I think, everyone realized how truly ludicrous our political situation is, and why it has to and will get better.

  • Arkansas Steve

    Now performing, every Friday night in Hollywood:

    . . . . . . .”A Roundtable of Idiots”

    Brought to you by Mediaite.

    Featuring an audience of low IQ minions who clap on command.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Pratt/713857896 Ben Pratt
  • Arkansas Steve

    I would never spend a penny to watch Bill Maher.  I am, however, willing to spend 5 minutes of my valuable “easy chair” time watching a snippet thanks to the fine folks at Mediaite.

  • Wake up America

    No, Obama is more like the student. A poor student at that.

  • TbagsRstupid

    yep

  • Anonymous

    In your dreams. You need to get out of your bunker more often.  

  • Anonymous

    For a student he has done a lot!! 

  • Anonymous

    That’s okay. He rather have people in the audience who can think past the two-word sound bites.  

  • Anonymous

    That’s okay. He rather have people in the audience who can think past the two-word sound bites.  

  • Wake up America

    And that’s why you were one of the 56% of Americans that were scammed! It is now being proved given the fact that he has taken this country into the toilet ( by the way the Bush blame has expired according to Plugs) that Obama was the biggest scam put forth on America. And you help make that possible. Yeah you’re the smart one in the room. Keep telling yourself that. Or better yet, let the media talk you into it, they talked you into believing that Obama was ” brilliant”. LOL!

  • Anonymous

    And never get to appear on!  Yes, he has conservatives on occasionally, but where were the conservatives on this panel?  Literally zero balance of opinion at all (just like Countdown.)

  • Ian Kable

    You need to get out of your bunker less often.

  • Rio

    Then maybe he should offer up something worthwhile to think about. 

  • Ian Kable

    Yeah, the same people who consider Jon Stewart a good news source.

  • Ian Kable

    FDR did a lot too.

    He interned tens of thousands of American citizens based solely on their ethnic heritage and then liquidated their assets for the war effort.

    Still he is a liberal progressive hero.

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/D7SM25L672V2BCGDVP3KM4AI2Q paulo m

    Yeah, because McCain would have done soooo much better. Give me a break.

  • Bob

    Oh, yeah – African Americans and and jewish voters are just gonna go for Rick Perry and the GOP in droves.
    Also, you’re drunk.

  • Rex the Wonder God

    Yeah, that’ll be GREAT: we’re all gonna get LAID!

    Only one problem – really, a very tiny one: who are the Republicans going to nominate that not only they can get behind but can also win centrists.

    It sure ain’t your fake varmint shooting yell-leader, Tex. And it ain’t gonna be Bachmann, or Santorum, or Cain, and it’ll be Ron Paul when hell freezes over. So you know what that means, doncha Tex – it’ll be Romney.

    Mitt has been stuck on 25% conservative support, not for months, but for years, going all the way back to 2008, when he couldn’t even beat an angry old man yelling from his lawn. Literally tens of millions of conservatives HATE Romney, a lot of them worse than they hate Obama. If the RNC nominates Romney – and the way they run the nomination process, it’ll be all over but the shouting by March, then you can absolutely look forward to a third party candidate from the right – which is going to split the vote. And how in heck is Romney going to explain how he signed Romneycare into law yet opposes Obamacare, especially the Supreme Court holding the appeal hearing right during the election campaign.

    Treating the idea of Obama being defeated next year in the election is a Tea Party wet dream, a Conservative wet dream and a Republican wet dream – but if you want to make it real, if you want to impress someone other than your hand, your going to need a partner.

    Good luck with that one, Tex.

  • Rex the Wonder God

    Uh – lost the black vote: nope. He had 95% approval at the top two levels out of completely satisfied, very satisfied, mostly satisfied, even, mostly dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, completely dissatisfied. Now he has  … 95% at the top two levels. The only difference is that in 2008 about 80% of those top two levels were in the very top level, and now the split is about 40-60 between the top two levels.

    That ain’t losing the black vote, Tex.

  • Rex the Wonder God

    I don’t understand your point about progressives. The issue at hand is simple: Are they supporting him. And of course, they are, because they have no other choice, and they are smart folks and realize that. It does NOT mean they approve of what he’s been doing with national security and drones and the budget. 

    Again: when you assert something like this, something that either makes no sense or that is counterintuitive, the onus is on YOU, Tex, to come up with examples, and you have not come up with even one. And you won’t, because they’re aren’t any.

  • Rex the Wonder God

    You think the Jewish vote is going to the Republicans? Yeah, in Weiner’s old seat maybe, which is a district that has a huge population of Hassidics, who are right wing not liberal. But the vast majority of Jews are NOT right wing, and they haven’t voted Republican since the Ark set sail. Obama got 78& of the Jewish vote in 2008 – if he dropped below 75%, that would be a surprise. If it’s Perry, then it could be up to 90% – because the Jewish vote does not support morons. 

  • Anonymous

    Don’t celebrate ‘prevention of a second depression’ yet. That’s underestimating the vigilance of the tea-party and their affiliated congressmen, they will manage to pull it off and it will be Obama’s to own.. deservedly frankly

  • Mr Hyperbole

    countdown is an opinion show..this is panel show..i agree with you on maher

  • Mr Hyperbole

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/09/28/2011-09-28_alls_forgiven__i_back_bam_again_koch_says.html
    ed koch doesnt think so and after obama supported israel and supplied them 55 bunker busters..his rating went up

  • Anonymous

    No, he wouldn’t have been great, but it wouldn’t have been hard to be ‘better’. 

  • Anonymous

    To the contrary,  President Obama is acually a “war hawk’.

  • Anonymous

    McCain/Palin whould have been soooooooo much better,I’m sure!

  • Anonymous

    Still trying to blame others….I love the left. Obama had 2 years!!!! 2 fn years with a majority power of Dems in the house and senate. The Tea Party is a very small minority in government at this point.

    But noooooo….any issues facing America cant be Obamas fault…..he’s the smartest guy in the room. I mean his policies can’t be hurting us can they…I mean all healthcare should be free by now since Obamacare….oh wait, the costs are rising at a faster rate now….Well I guess he solved the debt problem, since spending more money always reduces our debt, I mean thats how it works in my house…..oh wait…that didn’t work either. Well maybe vilifying businesses as greedy no good evil people who want Americans to die is a good way to get them to agree to paying more taxes to Obama’s admin….hmmm that didn’t work either????

    That darned Tea Party must have made Obama do all these things (and more) through some kind of evil corporate designed mind control machine!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Lars-Svensen/100001028197161 Lars Svensen

    Panel of freaks.

  • Anonymous

    He lost all those votes? Really? Can’t ever find them? 12% of the population will now only support and vote for him? ……LOL……………Did you find some peyote down in Texas? Tex?

  • Anonymous

    Archie,is that you?

  • Anonymous

    Nice to see someone on the right with a open mind.(really). At least you will listen to what is being said on the left.Doesn’t mean you have to agree with it.Curious, would you watch Realtime if it was free?

  • Anonymous

    I watch Realtime almost every week. I will tell you this was a rare panel. He usually does have at least one conservative on his panel and sometimes even two. He mixes it up. It’s his show. Does whatever he wants i guess. Also, who knows. Maybe a conservative may have been booked for this show and canceled at the last minute.

  • Anonymous

     Seth MacFarlane is one smart and very funny guy!

  • Anonymous

    Yeah, that’ll be GREAT: we’re all gonna get LAID!….. Thanks Rodney!

  • Anonymous

    Shush

  • RINGO

    BILL MAHER HAS BECOME THE MOST UNFUNNY POLITICAL HACK ON THE TUBE. HE USED TO HAVE A SENCES OF HUMOR. ALL HE DOES NOW HIS MAKE FUN OF PEOPLE FROM THE RIGHT AND CALLS IT COMEDY.  HE HAS TURNED INTO A LEFT WING LIBERAL DOUCH BAG INSTEAD OF A SMART AND WITTY POLITICAL SATIRIST. TOO BAD, HE WILL SOON BE MARCHING WITH THE UNEMPLOYED AND HAS HIS FRIEND OBAMA TO THANK 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NWVKX2P2QBPQ6FHQHCHVIC2ALQ Fedup in Florida

    Yeah that all sounds great, but if Darrell Issa has any say in the matter not only will the president be watching his landmark legislation go down next summer in the SCOTUS but he will be neck deep in scandal as well..

  • Sharpo

    i don’t believe that you actually watched this segment .
     
    the president is a poosey .
     
    you, an ordinary coward . lolz

  • Anonymous

    I watched it when it originally aired and again in the clip above.I don’t believe you understand the subject.

  • Anonymous

    Cap button stuck?

  • Sharpo

    i understood it very well ,  the subject was simple , like you .

  • Anonymous

    Intentionally funny?

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    Lol!! He was yelling to himself the whole time he was typing!!

  • http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

    What do Republicons do when Bill Maher says something they agree with… defend Maher or defend the President??

    Their heads are going to explode due to the enormous amount of confusion!! …. BOOM!!

  • Anonymous

    Why do we have to defend Maher? We can simply agree with him on the point that Obama looks like a substitute teacher “who’s just not trying to have a nervous breakdown.” No confusion at all.  

  • Anonymous

    Truth hurts huh?

  • Anonymous

    Not that we would know since all of his records are sealed.

  • Texan

    Not sure where you get your info from…your arse?

  • Anonymous

    The “Blazing Saddles” analogy seems to me more on target. Do you know what makes comedy funny? Answer: When it’s true.

  • Lizton

    I didn’t know Mark Levin commented here.

  • Texan
  • Texan

    you already said that, paul m. ;)

  • Anonymous

    Sister Sarah would’ve quit by now!
    We know she can’t handle the discipline it would require.
    McCain the ‘maverick’ certainly screwed up choosing Annie Oakley….

  • Anonymous

    Nah, former mayor Koch has endorsed Obama, after Obama sided with Israel, again…
    So Obama has the Jewish vote, he has the Hispanics & the Blacks since the republicans don’t even try to court their votes. Independent women will stay with Obama, we don’t want our bodies ‘governed’!

  • dono

    troll 

  • Sharpo

    you are an unimaginative and ordinary coward , much like 12voltman1 .

  • CozMark

    One term. Link is to a graphic from John E at AoSHQ.

    http://minx.cc/?post=322086

  • Anonymous

    Oh please Yoda, There have been neumerous times that even Maher has been embarassed by the “clapping seal” nature of his audience.

  • Anonymous

    nice rebuttal simple jack

  • OSux

    It’s a good thing Little Willie is sitting in his high chair as at 4’9″ he is more than on foot shorter than everyone else at the table.

  • Anonymous

    Having been an occasional substitute teacher, I think that bill Maher does substitute teachers a disservice. Substitute teachers just try to keep order, take roll, and not let any bad things happen.  Barak Obama has done his best to bankrupt the country, reward his supporters, subvert the Constitution, and generally leave things in much worse shape then when he came in.

  • Dflojak

    As mama cass once said, “dream a little dream for me”

  • Anonymous

    I would venture to guess that Voltman is at least 12x as smart as you are even though I don’t agree with the majority of what he posts.

  • lady,lady

    hey rex,wonder dog?  That alone makes you less then intelligent…as for the jews,who needs them…money money money and smarter then anyone,the chosen?If you ain’t one of them your just slop on their floor…..

  • http://twitter.com/usernamenuse sailing

    Shouldn’t there be some offer of PROOF that you committed treason rather than just one guy deciding you should be taken out?  It is PROCESS that is the issue.  Due process, to be precise.

  • Rulierose

     um, MEGHAN McCain would have been better than Obama.

  • Rulierose

    news flash: we Jewish voters don’t check to see what Ed Koch thinks before we decide who to vote for. Obama is indeed losing the Jewish vote–and more importantly the Jewish donors with the big bucks.

    and speak for yourself, honey: THIS Independent woman is running as far away from Obama as she possibly can!

  • Rulierose

    for all of you who are insisting that Obama is FINE, he’s not losing anyone, everybody loves him, the blacks and the women and  the Jews and nobody’s gonna desert him:

    yes. you are correct. don’t worry about anything at all! Obama is doing just swell the way he’s going, and he shouldn’t change a THING. the Republicans have no chance, right? because to paraphrase Pauline Kael, you don’t know anybody who votes Republican anyway! yah right.

    if Chris Christie gets into the race, Obama’s done. I suspect Mitt Romney can also beat him, and if  Solyndra blows up in O’s face Rick Perry could also beat him.

  • Rulierose

    for instance, like this:

    “It now appears that the Energy Department was something of a haven
    for Obama fundraisers….ABC News
    is reporting that several Obama fundraisers found themselves helping
    out around the place. Some of them had ties to green energy projects
    that DOE ended up supporting.”

    the most transparent administration in history. uh-huh.

    http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2011/10/01/solyndra-expands-energygate/

  • Sharpo

     that , of course , would be a subjective opinion .  also , known as  the domain of the coward .  i would hypothesize that ,   based on your lackluster response , you are also a poosey.

  • Pablo

    Abbott and Costello would have been better and they’re both dead.

  • Pablo

    We had record turnout in 2008. Lots of Obama voters won’t bother this time.

    He really did voter participation a disservice. Lots of people came out and voted for the first time, or the first time in years and were excited to do it. Then they realized they were sold a bill of goods. That has to be disillusioning.

  • Pablo

    The question is are they going to go out and work for him? Are they going to donate to him? The answer in large part is no.

    Here’s his problem: http://tinyurl.com/3epmepx

    Well, that’s his second problem. His main problem is that he’s SCOAMF.

  • Pablo

    NY-9 has gone Democrat since 1922. It was not a swing district by any stretch of the imagination…until now.

  • Pablo

    He rather have people in the audience who can think past the two-word sound bites.

    Maybe he would. But if so, then why doesn’t he? http://tinyurl.com/ydvnpql

  • Pablo

    This explains why the economy crashed in 2008. Democrats did it on purpose. Now they’re afraid of the same being done to them. Thing is, they did it and they couldn’t fix it. You can’t break what’s already broken.

  • Anonymous

    Dude, get a job at The Onion as a high-paid writer… satirical skills not required, all you have to do is write from the heart

  • obama2012

    Now we have Bill Maher going all Rush Limpballs on us.  Headlines make him happy!!!

  • Exgoper

    There’s so much in your post to quarrel with that it’s almost like shooting fish in a barrel.

    First off, this statement that Obama hasn’t lost anyone or that everybody loves him is a total straw man. No one is arguing this. Even his biggest supporters know that his poll numbers are down and he has work to do. This is drivel you made up in order to shoot down.

    Secondly, Christie wouldn’t last two weeks in a GOP primary. Once his positions on gay rights, gun control, immigrants and the so-called Ground Zero mosque get out, he’s toast. He’s just another one of these messiahs that the Republicans drag out and then drop so that they don’t have to deal with the fact that they’re stuck with the Flip-Flopper.

    None of us are naive enough to think that Obama has an easy road to reelection, but we’re also realistic to know that he’s going to be up against a pretty weak Republican, no matter who you guys go with. Every single one of them is for returning the country to the Bushonomics that pushed our economy over the cliff, returning to the foreign policy that got us into two badly-mismanaged wars and returning to the social policies that let the Christianists run wild.

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but most Americans are not going to sign up for a repeat of that.

  • cdnhawk

    Sharpo only understands

    writing “poosey” on every comment

    He isn’t too sharp

  • http://www.davidjkramer.co.cc// DavidKramer

    From Maher that called for a civilian trial for KSM but cheered the assassination of a US Citizen.

    Oh well, thy mental disease is liberalism.

  • http://www.davidjkramer.co.cc// DavidKramer

    Maher called for a civilian trial for KSM, now cheers an assassination of a US Citizen. When will his and your head explode with the cognitive dissonance you and he exude?

    See, there is nothing wrong with conservatives, they have the same beliefs no matter who the president, leftist twits……………not so much.

  • Pablo

    All I had to do there is use your logic. I know it’s ridiculous, but that your fault, not mine.

  • Roger_Fails

    As opposed to conservatives who are “pro-life” but cheer Perry’s record of executions? Or the cons who fear “death panels” but are only too happy to let an uninsured man be refused medical attention?

    Yeah, conservatism sure sets the standard for mental health.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/MetaphysicalSciences Christine Breese

    Remember, the prez doesn’t really have the power. It’s the unseen ones behind him who call the shots. 

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