In Case You Missed It:Over Time with Bill Maher, March 24, 2017

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 24, 2017

Right Wing World: The Downfall of Milo Yiannopoulos

I know the whole world knows that twerpy alt-right troll, Milo Yiannopoulous has suffered a career setback or three. But since I last wrote about him on Saturday, I just had to comment on how far little Milo has fallen. As I said in the previous post, there is little redeeming value in Milo's oeuvre. He's a self-admitted troll. He played Ann Coulter's game, a game even she has at times come close to setting onfire. And he really got burned.

He went from the start of a book tour, on the heels of a career-boosting liberal protest/riot at Berkeley, to headline the most recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. He succeeded in getting liberals pissed at Maher, just for the appearance. He got a distinguished former spy Malcom Nance to tell him to fuck off! And Milo lives for that kind of thing. And since then, he's:

To borrow a question from BoyCulture.com,
"Why the long face, Milo?"

- Had a lucrative book deal cancelled
- Been announced as keynote speaker of 2017 CPAC and then immediately have the offer withdrawn; and
- Resigned/been fired from Breitbart.com, both his claim-to-fame, and his Visa qualifying job

Conceivably, Milo could get a new publisher, could turn his misfortune into tour fodder, get a new job, and possibly get to stay in the country. Britain probably doesn't really want him back. But it is doubtful that he'll ever be on top of the heap as he surely felt he was. See, he has always been awful. And his awfulness has never been a secret, not even the thing--seemingly endorsing sex between men and boys--that brought him down. It's just that he became instantly more famous, the trashier parts of his escapades were more publicized, and it was conservatives leading the charge. The very ones he was catering to, and those who made him a "star."

Milo, ultimately, is irrelevant to anything that matters much in the world. He's an unfortunate symptom of how politics works right now. He's further evidence that conservatives will elevate anyone to star status in their charisma-starved ranks. And he would seemingly show that there are certain lines you can't cross, even in today's Right Wing World. But not so fast.

Remember the Duggar family? In this era of a reality TV "celebrity" somehow becoming president, even those who decry the genre have a thing for a particular kind of reality show. 19 Kids and Counting was right up there with Duck Dynasty in conservative "culture," such as it is. The "wholesome" Duggars had an absurd number of of kids, and a fuzzily odd religion, but conservatives loved 'em.  And then older son Josh really got any particular treatment for his disturbing issue.

Image from source, Washington Post

was found to have been a repeated sex offender, who preyed upon a couple of his sisters (among others). Worse, Mom and Dad not only didn't turn him in, he never

The public outcry eventually got the show canned. But the conservative wave of support was loud, public, and very disturbing. Clearly, even child sex abuse and incest can be glossed over if you swear that Jesus has cleansed your soul. Or something. So, don't be so quick to congratulate right wingers for any kind of moral aptness.

It was always a matter of time with Milo. No way an effeminate gay man gets to stay a right wing star after a while. His time ran out.

One more thing: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, conservatives, find better heroes!

[Excerpt]

Milo learns the First Amendment isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for foolishness

Speech is free, but not consequence-free. Milo Yiannopoulos managed to skirt this reality for years, but eventually it comes for us all. A quick recap for those who have not been following this sordid tale: MILO, as he’s best known (all-caps his own), is an Internet personality and now-former Breitbart News senior editor best known for his glibly offensive remarks about minority groups, his hatred of “political correctness” and his support of Donald Trump. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Milo Yiannopolous Inadvertently Proves a Point on Real Time with Bill Maher (and Over Time with Bill Maher), February 17, 2017

My favorite picture of Milo. Video capture by me.

Usually, once a week, I like to post Over Time with Bill Maher on the blog. It's the internet only portion of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and is (or at least used to be) the only portion that was free to post. I realized not everyone seeks it out, and often it's the best part of the "show." So, this week, I'm doing the same, but this time with some commentary.

One of the guests on the program this week was Milo Yiannopoulos, a right-wing "star" of rather recent vintage. He's some sort of big-wig at Breitbart "News," and considers himself a (at best) provocateur, and (in reality) a troll, something he sort of owns as his "thing." He--like his (allegedly) female counterpart Ann Coulter--lives for controversy. He absolutely thrives on getting a rise out of people, pissing them off, and making news for saying or doing (or causing) something dreadful. He thinks of himself as clever, funny and cute. He has a fraction of the wattage on any of those attributes that he thinks he has.

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The fact that Milo is flamboyantly gay, and yet has a fan base (and preferred political alignment with) people who would otherwise hate him, is also likely an irony that delights him. This write-up of him, for instance wouldn't ruffle his feathers at all, in fact it's probably too kind to even rise to his attention if he saw it. And this week, he was a guest on Bill Maher's show, which led to the public disassociation of prospective guest, writer Jeremy Scahill. Milo digs that as well. And while I applaud Scahill's effort, it's also counter-productive. The way to go was how both Larry Wilmore and Malcom Nance responded to Milo on this clip. Though Milo himself said he'd be literally masturbating to the attention later. Seriously.

But Milo also kind of inadvertently proved a point. And it was backed up by Bill's final New Rule, which was basically that anything is OKIYAR (okay if you are Republican). ANYTHING. In Milo's case, it's fine to be, as Wilmore said, "a douchey little ass," if it's in the service of conservatism. He pisses off the right people. He makes the right people complain and cause a shitstorm. And though it may just be a side effect, it distracts people from the serious stuff. The exact same thing is happening with Donald Trump, and it may be equally inadvertent.

It may be by their very nature that both just crave any attention, and in many cases, negative attention is easier. And again, pisses off all the "right" people. But while left-wing ire is boiling over on their antics, serious shit is either happening, or being ignored. And, we're also "proving a point," at least to the skewed perspective of Trump, Yiannopolous, and their twisted fans. See, if you watched Milo on Bill's show, he actually said that Democrats/liberals are the "party of Lena Dunham." In reality, most liberals and Democrats have little or only tangential notions of who Dunham is. The right, per usual, takes their exaggerated imagery of what it means to be a liberal, paints all liberals as that, and then tailors their rhetoric around it. Ever wonder why conservatives often seem like they're operating from a completely different reality? It's because they've created one. One where we all bow in allegiance to some obscure HBO actress, where we all have "safe spaces," and "triggers," and are all delicate "snowflakes" and "buttercups."

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Reality is quite different. And if Malcolm Nance is right, and this whole Russia thing is the biggest scandal in American history? Trump may find himself a pariah, and Milo and his fans and ilk just about as bad. Here's hoping. Oh, and by the way, I concur with both Nance and Wilmore: Milo can go fuck himself. But I'm sure he'd both love the sentiment, and the literal act.

He's an asshole. And not in a good way.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 10, 2017

Bill and his Real Time panelists –  John Waters, Karine Jean-Pierre, Piers Morgan and Jim Jefferies – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 3, 2017

Bill and his guests, Sam Harris, Jason Kander, Tomi Lahren, Rick Wilson and Michael Eric Dyson answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher: January 20, 2017

Bill and his guests, Keith Olbermann, Heather McGhee, Tom Perez, and Jon Meacham, answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, October 14, 2016

Bill Maher and his Real Time panelists – Andrew Sullivan, Rebecca Traister and former Sen. Bob Kerrey – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, August 5, 2016

Bill and his in-studio guests – Rob Reiner, Rick Santorum, Tara Setmayer and Jeff Ross – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, July 27, 2016

Bill and his in-studio guests – Cornel West, Alex Wagner, Matt Welch, and former Rep. Barney Frank answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, July 15, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests – Frank Luntz, S.E. Cupp, Jelani Cobb, Eliot Spitzer, and Viggo Mortensen – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher: May 27, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests - Melissa Harris-Perry, Michael Moynihan, Wayne Allyn Root and Scott Adams – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, April 8, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests - Sec. Thomas Perez, Heather McGhee, Andy Dean, Max Brooks and Kathy Griffin – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, March 11, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests – Jane Mayer, Maria Konnikova, Bill Kristol, Monica Mehta and Sam Stein – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 12, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests, Richard Engel, Michael "Killer Mike" Render, Ana Navarro, Josh Green and Margaret Cho, answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, February 5, 2016

Over Time with Bill Maher, January 29, 2016

Bill Maher and his guests – Kristen Soltis Anderson, Thom Hartmann and former Rep. Trey Radel – answer viewer questions after the show.

Over Time with Bill Maher, January 15, 2016

Yay! Bill's finally back! With Cornel West, Nicolle Wallace, Ralph Reed and John Krasinski.

Over Time with Bill Maher, November 20, 2015

Bill Maher, and guests Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Angus King, MP Chrystia Freeland, Ben Domenech and Andy Cohen, in the last show of the year.
 

Over Time with Bill Maher, November 13, 2015

Bill Maher and guests Asra Nomani, Jay Leno, Michael Steele, Dylan Ratigan and Paul Reiser answer viewer questions after the show.