Bill Maher took some shots at Fox News host Glenn Beck last month, but on Friday’s Real Time the HBO host sounded a lot like the FNC star he knocked.
Just as Beck has warned against the dangers of the vaccination, especially relating to Swine Flu, Maher continued his path of medical conspiracy theory, to the annoyance of his guests and confusion of his audience.
“They said I was crazy in the New York Times on Monday,” said Maher, mid-way through the show, referring to this from the Times (that didn’t exactly call him “crazy”). Still, Maher felt he had to “clear up a few things that people have been writing about me that are not true.” Among them: “I’m not a germ theory denier” and “I do understand the theory of inoculation.”
But with the air cleared, Maher wasn’t going to leave it there. He continued rambling on, about mercury and teeth and H1N1 and polio. It was a lecture, not a discussion. “What are you talking about?” asked guest Chris Matthews of MSNBC. “Why are you doing all this, why are you fighting this fight?”
While stumbling through an answer, Matthews continued pushing back – hitting Maher where he knew it would hurt. “This is like Tom Cruise arguing this,” said Matthews. “You’re like Tom Cruise saying I don’t believe in therapy.”
Another guest, Alec Baldwin, had an analogy:
Bill you having us on this show and rehashing all the problems you got yourself into on your last show is like going on a date and talking about your ex-wife. Come on, Let’s go! Let’s talk about what’s fresh.
“At least I’m I’m also not f–king my interns,” was about all Maher could muster in defense of his rant.
His audience had mixed reaction – clapping periodically for Maher, but mostly just laughing at the jokes as his guests made fun of his ridiculous insistence there’s a major debate to be had, that isn’t happening, on the topic. Whatever your beliefs are on medicating children, flu vaccines and more, Maher’s personal crusade has hurt his show. And in his season finale, with so much in the news to talk about and some interesting guests to do it, he just wasted everyone’s time.
Here’s the Maher meltdown:
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