I don't think he's worth the expenditure of your anger, Matt. He has no values other than keeping his personal show on the road. He is a moral jellyfish. The people who watch him don't even qualify as low information voters so it doesn't seem crucial that his "mistakes" are corrected. If you think he reads this and will be shamed - well, hope springs eternal! And I will ALWAYS be grateful that you love the truth, and you care.
Matt’s reaction reminds me a lot of his reaction to being similarly ambushed by Mehdi Hasan re: Twitter Files a few years ago. Why fall into the trap of these disingenuous and partisan hosts? Why not just get up and repeat “you are an ignorant partisan and propagandist and I will not answer your questions until you engage me in good faith” over and over? I honestly see no downside to that strategy.
08/16/25: I love that description, "moral jellyfish." It should be the personal monogram of the entire illegitimate-legacy media. And now to see Trump hook the corrupt and seething Mayor Bass once again. Amazing how he always uses the perfect bait.
It's worth correcting - a column sorting out, for example, that Putin's answer "Yes, I did":
-Suffers from translation issues
-Likely was meant for the first part of the question only, not second
-Was also not in a context where it can be trusted not to be a white lie to curry favor with *the man standing in front of you who in fact did win and now you want to work with*
What it's not worth is "seething". Oh no, someone has a different opinion - and with a bad justification, no less! Not exactly a John Brennan level offense here. There's enough around to seethe about, don't waste energy like this.
I concede the point - truth matters. And I do love his detailed "close reads" - especially here where a foreign language is involved, which adds another layer. Matt's work in aggregate is a significant record that will hopefully one day be mined by the true historians.
To boot, would anyone expect Putin to casually and publicly admit to such allegations with Trump standing next to him?
Any inference from this is strikingly puerile. Considering a glib exchange at a press conference to have the same weight as an ever-increasing volume of declassified -- and explicitly damning -- documents is genuinely embarrassing...for Maher.
Bill Maher is a limited hangout, tossing in a few truisms to appear "reasonable" and "sensible" to his audiences, then lead them gently back to the preposterous narratives of his cult.
You are totally going down in the history of journalism as one of a brave few who pursued the truth when it cost them friends and allies. Every time I am tempted to swear off the very concept of Journalism, I remember you and your work. Fuck the Pulitzer- if I get billionaire status I am going to create the Taibbi prize.
Busting it, even on vacation. Thank you for your important work in what can only be a “target rich environment”, but time with your kids is irreplaceable. God bless.
Exactly. Like how does he do what he does for a living and manage to miss all the reporting from Matt, Shellenberger, Greenwald, and Solomon? It’s deliberate. This fuck face.
Rewards should be offered to anyone who can provide evidence leading to criminal conviction that Clinton Foundation donations were required in exchange for State Department favors.
I appreciate your seething because it is productive; you have a talented voice, a platform, an audience. I’m grateful that you don’t give up … most of us seethe in anonymity.
Maher reminds me of a great lyric from Simon and Garfunkel's the Boxer- "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." I do not think they meant it to be complimentary. I think we are seeing a lot of that in reaction to the Russia collusion revelations. Some of us never thought it was true. Unlike that stooge Brennan, I never thought any of it rang true. Trump has always been a uniquely American figure with American sensibilities right down to his McDonald's, WWE, and Playboy ways. He is not a Bond villain like Soros. He is essentially a throwback to the Reagan 80s which were all about winning the Cold War.
I don't think he's worth the expenditure of your anger, Matt. He has no values other than keeping his personal show on the road. He is a moral jellyfish. The people who watch him don't even qualify as low information voters so it doesn't seem crucial that his "mistakes" are corrected. If you think he reads this and will be shamed - well, hope springs eternal! And I will ALWAYS be grateful that you love the truth, and you care.
Matt’s reaction reminds me a lot of his reaction to being similarly ambushed by Mehdi Hasan re: Twitter Files a few years ago. Why fall into the trap of these disingenuous and partisan hosts? Why not just get up and repeat “you are an ignorant partisan and propagandist and I will not answer your questions until you engage me in good faith” over and over? I honestly see no downside to that strategy.
08/16/25: I love that description, "moral jellyfish." It should be the personal monogram of the entire illegitimate-legacy media. And now to see Trump hook the corrupt and seething Mayor Bass once again. Amazing how he always uses the perfect bait.
It's worth correcting - a column sorting out, for example, that Putin's answer "Yes, I did":
-Suffers from translation issues
-Likely was meant for the first part of the question only, not second
-Was also not in a context where it can be trusted not to be a white lie to curry favor with *the man standing in front of you who in fact did win and now you want to work with*
What it's not worth is "seething". Oh no, someone has a different opinion - and with a bad justification, no less! Not exactly a John Brennan level offense here. There's enough around to seethe about, don't waste energy like this.
I concede the point - truth matters. And I do love his detailed "close reads" - especially here where a foreign language is involved, which adds another layer. Matt's work in aggregate is a significant record that will hopefully one day be mined by the true historians.
Oh, I didn't say you were wrong - I agreed with you saying not worth "expenditure of your anger, Matt".
Just adding that it's worth something lesser, but not worth that, I agree.
To boot, would anyone expect Putin to casually and publicly admit to such allegations with Trump standing next to him?
Any inference from this is strikingly puerile. Considering a glib exchange at a press conference to have the same weight as an ever-increasing volume of declassified -- and explicitly damning -- documents is genuinely embarrassing...for Maher.
Bravo
All real writers seethe until they get it right… Bravo!
We are seething, too!
Bill Maher is a limited hangout, tossing in a few truisms to appear "reasonable" and "sensible" to his audiences, then lead them gently back to the preposterous narratives of his cult.
I gave up on Bill a long time ago. He has his moments of honesty and thoughtfulness.
But admitting how wrong he was on Russiagate and a number of other issues would require some humility. That he does not have and never will.
You can’t be a half-time idiot. Maher may seem reasonable some of the time, but it doesn’t mitigate the rest of the time.
I wish Wayne Newton had kicked Bill’s ass when he had the chance.
I don’t know what you’re referring to but it sounds worthy of praise.
You are totally going down in the history of journalism as one of a brave few who pursued the truth when it cost them friends and allies. Every time I am tempted to swear off the very concept of Journalism, I remember you and your work. Fuck the Pulitzer- if I get billionaire status I am going to create the Taibbi prize.
This needs to happen!
Busting it, even on vacation. Thank you for your important work in what can only be a “target rich environment”, but time with your kids is irreplaceable. God bless.
Bill is such a tool
Bill Maher is interestingly uninformed. It's strange isn't it? Almost like he doesn't want to know.
Exactly. Like how does he do what he does for a living and manage to miss all the reporting from Matt, Shellenberger, Greenwald, and Solomon? It’s deliberate. This fuck face.
And Miranda Devine
👍👍 That term needs to be used more often for these obstinate to the truth assholes.
Rewards should be offered to anyone who can provide evidence leading to criminal conviction that Clinton Foundation donations were required in exchange for State Department favors.
I appreciate your seething because it is productive; you have a talented voice, a platform, an audience. I’m grateful that you don’t give up … most of us seethe in anonymity.
Maher reminds me of a great lyric from Simon and Garfunkel's the Boxer- "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." I do not think they meant it to be complimentary. I think we are seeing a lot of that in reaction to the Russia collusion revelations. Some of us never thought it was true. Unlike that stooge Brennan, I never thought any of it rang true. Trump has always been a uniquely American figure with American sensibilities right down to his McDonald's, WWE, and Playboy ways. He is not a Bond villain like Soros. He is essentially a throwback to the Reagan 80s which were all about winning the Cold War.
Not only our best independent journalist, Matt seems to be the best friend a guy could have. Stand up guys are rare these days. Much respect.
Bill Maher needs to be taken out to the woodshed and given a propper whupping. I'm glad you're up to the task, Matt.
Give him no quarter. For some reason people actually still listen to him and actually value what he says, and neither make any sense.
Bill Maher is not worth my time or yours.
Maher is insufferable.