I’ve tried to stay out of controversial topics on Lemmy for my sanity, but I get the sense that many commenters haven’t watched much of Bill Maher (not just in this thread). I’ve watched him pretty regularly for years, so I have a fair amount of context. I’m about as lefty as it gets fwiw (not a libertarian).
Here’s the way I’ve interpreted Bill Mahers perspective and belief system: he’s a very intelligent, well-informed yet blunt asshole, who genuinely says what he believes, even if it doesn’t fit in a box that’s on a recognizable political spectrum. He is willing to have frank discussions about issues that other arms of the media are afraid to touch, even though he knows it will piss off a big chunk of the public.
He has some opinions that I find appalling, but I very much respect the way he conducts himself and the way he exposes the voices of some truly poisonous people in society, as well as some truly heroic and often lesser known activists and community leaders.
I believe people need to be seen and heard to be understood, and Maher will talk to anyone and try to understand their point of view so it gets some oxygen. Because of that, he has had some terrible people as guests on his show. Though I’ll concede his interviews can be a bit inconsistent, he’s usually pretty relentless in trying to pull the real shit out of people.
I’ve seen some comments that he is conservative. He is not. Please watch a few episodes and report back. He TALKS to conservatives, but clearly is not one. He’s also not what we might call a liberal these days, but that label might have applied to him a decade ago. Now he’s mostly just a skeptic with a traditional left-leaning perspective, but he’s one of the few out there willing to engage with extremists on the right.
He’s a complex individual, and there is a lot of reductionism when talking about Maher. Like I said, he holds some beliefs that make me very uncomfortable, but he’s a great example of the fact that the world is not black and white, and not everybody fits into a neat little box.
It might help if he was slightly less of an asshole, but that’s a big part of his schtick. I value his voice, and hope he stays on the air for a long time.