Things were awfully civil on Real Time with Bill Maher this week, despite Bill Maher's usual (and commendable) lack of interest in politeness, and the presence of one Republican on the panel.
Good Jobs, Bad Jobs
The monologue went through the usual paces. This one wasn't anything special. He even used that "it's Mormon in America" line again. Maher's first guest was Mike Daisey, who is currently performing his play, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, at the Public Theater in New York. The interview was mostly about how the workers in China who assemble our iPhones and the like are horrendously mistreated. I read an article about this in the New York Times recently, so it wasn't any big revelation, but I'm glad that Daisey is doing what he's doing, and he was a good enough guest that I now want to see his play. My pretty little iPod Touch was a gift, or, you know, it would go straight into the trash. Of course.
Mitt Catches No Love
Lately, no one seems very interested in praising any of the Republican candidates. Former New York State congressman and Hillary Clinton doormat Rick Lazio didn't put up much of a fight as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were excoriated, and his anti-Barack Obama rhetoric was muddled and weak. Author Wes Moore was earnest, reasonable, and articulate. In other words, the kind of guest who comes off as dull on this show. Personal finance expert Suze Orman was a bit more fiery, talking about how well Obama has done considering the economic disaster (particularly in the real estate markets) he inherited. So she wins the Battle of the Mediocre Panelists.
Bill's Blah Bubble
Journalist Mike Hastings was the extra panel guest, and he talked about the hopeless situation in Afghanistan. There weren't a lot of laughs to be mined there. Maher did a tepid "Dispatches from the Bubble" bit making fun of Mitch Daniels for his rebuttal to the State of the Union, and a juvenile but semi-amusing routine about publications that have endorsed Gingrich (e.g. Working Child, Baby-Shaped Men Monthly). There was a brief but interesting discussion about the Occupy Wall Street movement going astray, and a compelling challenge to Daniels' assertion that Americans all want to be rich, but Maher didn't catch fire until the end, with an impassioned defense of his atheism.
I had been wondering about this the past couple of weeks, and I guess I actually find the show more entertaining when tempers flare. Bread and circuses? Am I part of the problem?
Best Lines:
"This is the problem when your movement involves sleeping in the park. You end up attracting the people who were sleeping in the park anyway."
--Maher criticizes the Occupy Wall Street movement.
"And Mitt Romney, by the way, said, "I can be another guy.""
--Maher comments on a poll showing that 42 percent of Romney voters want someone else.
"I should be on Facebook more. I just can't find a moment in the day where I give a s__t."
-Maher criticizes Jan Brewer's treatment of Obama.
"Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position."
--Maher's best line of the night, directed at those who claim that atheism is a type of religion.
"Everyone has blind spots. I'm sure there are atheists who think ponytails look good on a man, pineapple belongs on pizza, and Ayn Rand was an important thinker."
--Maher explains that atheists are not right about everything.
Recommendations:
