I wasn't aware of that. Kind of sad. Still the best political show on tv. I get the vast majority of my political news on there. He has people from all sides on there. He isn't slanted like all the other shows.
I'm on the fence, sometimes i find him great based on what you said - and funny. Other days I find him arrogant as shiet and sometimes both at the same time
When it comes to the religious stuff he's an absolute douche bag. I've never seen a more pompus ass when it comes to religion but I watch it more so for the guest. I would have never been turned on to so many people especially the females in politics. Ariana Huffington has to be one of the most interesting people ever on the panel and she never does interviews anywhere else. Same thing with people like Cornel West and Elliot Spitzer. He makes politics interesting and applicable and asks interesting questions like why the hell does Kansas always vote against their own interests. He can be a prick but he's a better journalist then 90 percent of the assholes out there.
Honestly, you all have good points - it's a touchy situation. I find both Mahr and Hasselback likable and unlikable for equal reasons and understand their perspectives both from a human and comedic standpoint. Michael Richards was just plain off the chain and was right to have been brought to task. "Politically Incorrect" used to be one of my favorite shows, and I am a die-hard liberal, and usually disagree with Hasselback, but I don't hate her - I admire her sticking to her guns, and most certainly wouldn't appreciate being the "butt" of that joke of Bill Mahr's - it would have been hurtful and offensive - along the lines of "the Stoning of Soraya M".
??? Your response would've been equally sensible if it was, "Because he prefers margarine over butter."
I do like his pane debates - sometimes, I find myself learning a lot and sometimes I find myself screaming at the tv - but they, that can be therapeutic.
I used to be an avid watcher of Real Time, until I cut off my HBO, but I watch it occasionally online, and like you, that's why I tune in as well - for the panel and the discussions.
When Lara Logan was interviewed on 60 Minutes, she said she groped all over her body and had men attempt(??)..I assume some where successful....to insert their fingers in her ass and vagina. Not quite a typical gang-rape, but it was bad enough. It was a brutal sexual assault. Her clothes were shredded in a matter of minutes and Lara thought she was going to die. If Egyptian women hadn't come to her aid, she probably would have been gang raped and murdered in the streets. Bill Maher IMO does go over the line at times. I cringe from some of the comments he makes,( 'so and so needs to be buttfucked','...can suck my dick',etc). If it weren't for his guests I don't know if I would be such a loyal viewer of PI. However guys like Limbaugh/Jon Stewart/Maher have blurred the lines between satire, comedy and politics. Rush isn't a comic by trade but he does use a great deal of humor to emphasize his political rhetoric. Stewart and Maher started out as stand-up comedians, but if you were to call them 'just comics' nowadays, I think personally they would be offended. Those guys have political points of view they want to be taken seriously and not be dismissed because they don't come from the traditional political pundit background. Rape jokes really aren't that funny, especially if you know someone who's been sexually assaulted. If you're going to make that kind of joke, you should be prepared to catch hell for it. Some of the best comedy is cruel, which at the same time doesn't make it right.
Dark Knight,don't forget Maher did a movie about religion where he went to the Vatigan and the Mormon Temple which of course he was kicked out of those places. He reminds me of the late Dave Allen who speaks against religion a lot. The only thing I don't like Maher was O.J. Simpson but,all in all his show is very interesting and he does tell the audience not to boo at the right wing guest who visits the show. Andreboba, Limbaugh crossed way over the line when he made fun of the name of one of Herman Cain's accousers and called her son a "brownshirt". Stewart and Maher can push the emvelope but,not like Oxy Rush.
I'm talking about the line between satire/comedy and political commentary. I really don't see much difference in what Limbaugh/Maher/Stewart are doing, except that Rush is way more ideological and a propagandist for the right wing than are Stewart and Maher for the Left.