Maher loves to tell HALF a story: e.g. 14 of the 15 N. American cities with the worst air pollution are in Canada. True. For the first time ever. Why? WILDFIRES. Completely. You can look it up. Blame climate change.
Another half-story: Yes, Canada's health system costs money - a lot of money. BUT: (1) Spending per-person, per-year is much higher in US ($8K Canada, $12K US) and Canada has better patient outcomes. (2) US life expectancy has been heading lower for some years - Canadian Life expectancy has been rising. It's several years ahead of US right now. Bill Maher makes a great living by mocking individuals and countries, by any means at his disposal. He's good at it. He can make anyone or any country look ridiculous. All he has to do is be selective, when it comes to truth. I got tired of him back in the 90s. Didn't realize he was still at it. Think I'll skip this thread, from here on. Canada-trashers...
One more thing - then I'm gone from the discussion - I promise. Then you can all say whatever you want about Canada and I won't bother you. Maher is clever - and sometimes sneaky. He stated that Canada's 1 million plus immigrants last year would be the equivalent of America accepting 11 million migrants. (emphases mine -J) No it wouldn't. Immigrants are people who asked for permission - were asked questions about their background, education, work history, skills etc - and were permitted to come here, by the authorities. Migrants are different - they came unasked. Unfortunately, that makes them easy to hate, for a large number of people, especially on the right. Conflating immigrants with migrants in the same breath is just Maher's device to create a false contrast - making Canada appear ultra-ridiculous. Sadly, it seems to be working for him. But not on me. I'll just stay here.
Dear Johann, everything you say is true. In Bill Maher's defense I have two points. 1. Bill Maher's main goal is being funny and amusing. His "rant" was funny and amusing in the opinion of some, me included. 2. Bill Maher seems to try hard to share his butt of the joke on both the right and the left. It must be much harder to pick on the left since there's much fewer juicy targets than attacking the right. (Note: that's my pathetic attempt at being funny.)
In defense of Bill Maher: joke "if Canada was acar, it would be 'America or similar'" is both funny and true. On the other hand, bunch of the rest was Fox-level manipulation. "Canada has air quality problem because - look at ridiculous trans people" is pathetic. Shame on him.
It was Bill Maher who insisted--no matter who denied it--that Trump would not leave office once voted out.
Right. Nice meme. Steve - Dick Dastardly. I'll admit, it's somehow appropriate. "Drat and Double Drat!" and "Curses. Foiled again!" are echoing through my hollow brain.
I have watched Bill's show for a long time, it's one of the few places where left and right folks actually sit down next to each other and talk...even if the conversation is dominated by Bill, his editorializing, and his jokes. I think his show on Youtube (OverTime) AFTER the airing of Real Time with the same guests is much more of a discussion than the main program, which is a "comedy show". I think Bill was just trying to make a point that despite all of the issues we have here in the USA, a lot of people on the LEFT "romanticize" other countries, including Canada as being some amazing paradise where the issues we have here simply don't exist.
It's not innocent-looking fun, when he resorts to half-truths, e.g. air pollution, and deft-and-deceitful word-mixing like "migrants" and "immigrants" etc. I'd expect that from Fox News. Want to laugh at Canada? Fine. There's lots for you to laugh at. You don't need misinterpreted statements and sneaky word-swapping. Back in the 90s I found Maher to be seriously under-informed (in many areas) and clownish. Haven't watched him since, until this thread.. American comedians are the best at making fun of America. They know the territory. Canadian comics do the best job of lampooning Canada - for exactly the same reason. Try some. You'll see. I'm gonna ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to build a wall - to keep Bill Maher out. I'd better hurry - because I know the Hon. Pierre Poilievre won't go for it, once he's PM.
He did. Both he and Dick Dastardly said it. Funny thing - at first I thought the meme was Snidely Whiplash. So I looked it up and no... There's a remarkable resemblance - especially around the mustache. The only difference seems to be - Snidely wears a top hat. Pic of Snidely here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snidely_Whiplash From Dick Dastardly wiki: Dastardly's catchphrases in the cartoons were "Muttley, do something!", "Drat, and double drat!" and occasionally "Triple drat!" or "Curses, foiled again!" (Emphasis mine - J.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Dastardly#:
Snidely is a better representation of the silent era melodrama evil landlord. Ever notice it was always snowing when he evicted the widow and orphan?
Of course I noticed. Now, if I have to do any more cartoon research, I want a Ph.D H.B. (Hanna-Barbera).
Besides, the name "Snidely Whiplash" can't be improved upon. On a tangent, did anyone ever figure out exactly what super powers Super Chicken's Special Sauce gave him?
