Patterico's Pontifications

10/30/2005

Tony Snow Exposes Bill Maher As Clueless Moron

Filed under: Morons,War — Patterico @ 9:06 am



Like a rubbernecker drawn to a train wreck, I am drawn towards that Bill Maher show. He’s one of those people you love to hate, and his show is most interesting when he has someone articulate on his show who opposes his point of view. So I watched when Christopher Hitchens was on recently. And I watched last night when Tony Snow was on.

Tony absolutely ripped Maher up.

He exposed Maher for the clueless fraud he is. And he did it with a smile. It was an amazing performance. If you have HBO, you have to watch it in reruns this week.

The other guests were Billy Connolly and some reporter I never heard of named Nadira Hira. But Snow dominated the show.

I knew Tony was going to be good when, early on, he was explaining that Lyin’ Joe Wilson is not quite the honest hero that everyone on the left seems to think he is. Tony explained that the Senate Intelligence Committee Report had found that Wilson had made a few statements that weren’t quite, you know, true. You could see an unsettled muttering in the audience: could this really be true? And, apparently, someone in the audience yelled: “Bullshit!”

Tony turned toward the audience and said (everything in this post is a paraphrase): You go and read the Senate Intelligence Committee Report before you call bullshit. Then come back and we’ll talk.

Maher didn’t seem to understand what was going on, and had Snow explain. Tony explained again that the Senate Intelligence Committee Report had found that Wilson was not entirely straightforward (to say the least) in his criticism of Bush. Maher had clearly never heard this before. He said: well, I don’t know that that’s true.

Maher has never even heard about the report’s findings on Wilson’s credibility! That’s probably because he gets his news from the newspapers.

Snow ate Maher’s lunch on several other issues as well, such as the profit margins of oil companies relative to those of other industries, the superior test scores of home-schooled children, and many other topics.

There were times when Maher was actually speechless — as if he had suddenly realized that Snow knows more than he does about almost everything.

Of course, the other panelists and the audience were all on Maher’s side. All Snow had was the facts. But to this viewer, it was no contest. The facts won.

And Tony didn’t come off like a prig or a lecturer, either — just a whip-smart guy with a good sense of humor who doesn’t back down.

Great stuff. Try to catch it this week if you can.

UPDATE: The transcript is now available. I can’t vouch for its accuracy. It’s the October 28 episode.

50 Responses to “Tony Snow Exposes Bill Maher As Clueless Moron”

  1. I don’t get Fox News, but I was very impressed by Tony Snow when I saw him on The Daily Show. He seemed funny and intelligent.

    Polybius (faa0d5)

  2. Is there a transcript of this anywhere?

    d f baker (63f88b)

  3. Not yet, but there will be. I’ll post a link when it comes up.

    Patterico (4e4b70)

  4. Please don’t forget to post that transcript when you get it. Maher makes my flesh crawl!!

    Michael (ee9fe2)

  5. I can’t stand Bill Maher, and am too cheap to order HBO just to watch this one episode. Anyone got a tape I can borrow?

    Xrlq (428dfd)

  6. Maher was just playing stupid. You’d have to live in a cacoon not to have heard of the Senate report which disputes Wilsons current version.

    Lonetown (3c583b)

  7. Yesterday, Michael Kinsley’s article had this gem: “Even Fox News has been driven to compound sentences.”

    Shredstar (532850)

  8. I look forward to reading a transcript. Several liberals to a single conservative on a forum has always been considered BALANCE since the single conservative always cleans house.

    alecbaldwin666 (6ffd97)

  9. Maher was not “just playing stupid.” His is the Mary Mapes Syndrome: Pure ignorance, due to lack of intellectual curiousity and integrity, on virtually any topic– emphatically including those beloved of the Left. Not only are facts absent, but also any sense of context, perspective, ideas bearing on more than “mere opinion.”

    Let’s face it, the reason creatures like Mapes and Maher remain dolts is that pronounced narcissistic tendencies render them literally incapable of dealing with opposing points of view. As a performer, Maher manages most times to conceal his limitations, but Mary Mapes is so absolutely asinine (read her) that issues of fact, logic, even good intentions, simply never enter her walnut of a brain. Incredibly unattractive, she also represents the Dowdy Maureen school of rancid feminism, whereby everything in the world has uses only to puling little female egocentrics.

    Fortunately, these types breed themselves out of the population. Pending a year or two, “dowager’s hump” describes their stance– most certainly, what count as their “ideas”.

    John Blake (7349cd)

  10. Maher was not “just playing stupid.” His is the Mary Mapes Syndrome: Pure ignorance, due to lack of intellectual curiousity and integrity, on virtually any topic– emphatically including those beloved of the Left. Not only are facts absent, but also any sense of context, perspective, ideas bearing on more than “mere opinion.”

    In addition many lefties are so emotionally invested in what they think are truisms, e.g. “Bush lied!” that they are unable to even consider facts that undermine their theories

    Stu707 (7c4f65)

  11. I loved comment #8. The local Public television outlet here had a local program on “Is there bias in the media?”

    The panel was three liberals (left politician, leftist professor, far left conspiracy screamer from Pacifica radio and the liberal moderator host against a single conservative local radio host.

    I wrote the show producer and the host about the irony of it, but didn’t even get a reply.

    wildbill2u (649566)

  12. Next showings tonight (Mon Morn) at 12:30 AM and Monday 11PM on plain old HBO.

    Bill from INDC (cfb126)

  13. […] Bill Maher and his studio audience got dismembered by FNC’s Tony Snow a few days ago. I’ve got my TiVo set for the next repeat already. Posted by Ian S. in […]

    Inoperable Terran » Baby, I-I-I can’t wait (dacd80)

  14. The Left doesn’t need facts. They have feelings.

    TallDave (e15e0b)

  15. This illustrates why (R)’s have to fight back. The lies have gone on so long overcoming them is all the more difficult.

    If you are going to get in a mud slinging fight better to fling the slop when it’s freshness will stick rather then when it’s stale and dry.

    DANEgerus (f4bba1)

  16. Flap has watched a few of Bill Maher’s shows after a leftie friend of mine suggested it.

    Typical Moonbat stuff and boring……. the jokes are not even funny.

    Patrick you must have caught a good show with Tony Snow….my DVR is now set.

    Thanks for the heads-up.

    Flap (cc77c4)

  17. It is hard for me to understand the REASON
    Bill Mahr is even allowed on TV. He is nothing but a potty-mouth, and he adds nothing to any program I have seen. (I must admit I haven’t seen him in a couple of months).
    I am so sorry I did not see Tony Snow put him in his corner! Tony Snow is a real gentleman, but he is smart and can stand up to any of Mahr’s
    ilk!!

    Betty (8d0335)

  18. Tony Snow in Real Time

    Patterico suggests we watch Bill Maher’s show this week because Tony Snow is a guest. Its repeat happens to be on right now. I’ll watch Tony. But until Tony I’m keeping the volume muted so I won’t have to suffer the other segments which feature for…

    Cardinal Martini (59ce3a)

  19. I just set my PVR (Go Dish!) to record the show (Bill Maher – Episode 65). Here’s when it’s on:
    Tue 11/1 11:00 PM HBO – EAST
    Tue 11/1 11:00 PM HBO High Definition – EAST
    Wed 11/2 02:00 AM HBO – WEST
    Wed 11/2 02:00 AM HBO High Definition – WEST
    Thu 11/3 12:00 AM HBO – EAST
    Thu 11/3 12:00 AM HBO High Definition – EAST
    Thu 11/3 03:00 AM HBO – WEST
    Thu 11/3 03:00 AM HBO High Definition – WEST
    Thu 11/3 08:00 PM HBO2 – EAST
    Thu 11/3 11:00 PM HBO2 – WEST

    Running Dog (b20132)

  20. Thanks for the wonderful write-up. It’s always fun visiting the belly of the beast. Meanwhile, keep up the great work. Love the blog.

    Tony Snow (3c2b7f)

  21. Please, please stop it Tony, please don’t hurt me anymore.

    Bill Maher (6128b4)

  22. Bill — or pseudo-Bill, as the case may be: LOL.

    [It’s pseudo-Bill, Tony. — Patterico]

    Tony Snow (3c2b7f)

  23. Thanks for the heads up. I can easily see in my mind’s eye Tony Snow making mincemeat out of Maher. But it’s wonderful to hear just what a fine job Mr. Snow did in reality.

    Jon (d89062)

  24. Other than that… Maher is one of the most intelligent liberals on the media.

    JoeS (ff0bfe)

  25. Okay, I read the transcript here.

    It must have played better on TV, ’cause reading it made my eyes bleed.

    Maher is full of crap and talks over his guests. And Tony Snow, who I think is one of the best commentators on TV (Why did ya leave FNS, T?) doesn’t read as well as he sounds.

    Actually, Tony’s columns are fine. It’s just that the constant interruptions by the showbiz geeks are infuriating.

    If you really want to know the meaning of pain, check out the interview with Helen Thomas at the beginning of the show.

    I think I vomited in my mouth.

    Mike (e9d57e)

  26. Sorry. The transcript is here.

    Mike (e9d57e)

  27. Bill Maher: "Homeschooling Is So Dangerous"

    Reason #43,777 we are homeschooling: Bill Maher. OK, not really, but he was bloviating about homeschooling on a recent show. It’s a good thing Tony Snow was there to fact-check him. (h/t: Patterico)

    DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS (b55965)

  28. I especially liked it when Tony made Maher eat it on the issue of women going to school in Iraq: “You didn’t have girls in school when Saddam Hussein was there.” OK, so what if Tony had to completely make that statement up since it’s 100% untrue? He still CRAPPED ALL OVER BILL MAHER!

    And how about when he reminded smug Bill Maher that Valerie Plame was the nepotist who caused all of this fuss for Dear Leader in the first place? “The wife is the one who arranged for Joe Wilson to go over to Niger.” OK, again, he was repeating an already discredited lie, but still wasn’t it awesome?

    Of course the highlight was when he rammed the Senate Intelligence Committee’s repudiation of Wilson’s writings down Maher’s grubby throat. “What they said is that Joe Wilson’s account in the New York Times of his trip to Niger sipping spiced tea and trying to investigate charges of yellowcake uranium sales on the part of Niger, basically his account was misleading. That he did in fact find evidence. That the report that he filed with the CIA, later forwarded to the White House indicated that such sales exist.” Yeah, the SIC didn’t actually repudiate anything Wilson said and largely agreed with him, but that Maher is such a potty mouth!

    Maher even had the nerve to bring up the fact that Plame’s neighbors didn’t know what she did for a living, which Tony thankfully proved false by saying “I hate to tell you, but I think that’s probably BS,” which is how I think Plato used to win a lot of his arguments. I mean, OK, so it’s not BS, but still, another point for our side!

    Tony was even on point in defending our fine America oil masters, pointing out that Microsoft’s profits are just as high as those of big oil companies. I mean, Microsoft’s $3.14 billion profit in the last quarter is just a couple of buck shy of Exxon’s $9.9 billion profit in the same period. Maybe if Bill Gates checked for loose change in his sofa he’d make up the difference.

    So yeah, Tony was great! He was able to make up stuff that was so outrageous that Maher and his cronies had no response! Curse those liberals who want to hurt Dear Leader with something as silly as the truth!

    Frank Gorshin (829099)

  29. Wow. Remind me not to waste my time with that drivel again. I knew who Bill Maher was, of course, but I’d never sat through any significant chunk of his airtime before. What a smug, condescending, elitist ass. Yeah, occasionally he cracked a funny line, but not nearly as often as he seemed to think he did.

    If you want to be a pundit, make an effort to know the facts. If you want to be a comedian, make an effort to be funny. Bill Maher, during the two panel segments I watched, was neither.

    Take what Tony actually had to say off the table completely; he still deserves a medal for his patience and good humor. I for one lack the strength of character to suffer such arrogant, self-satisfied fools lightly.

    Jeff Harrell (f955fa)

  30. He lives! Harrell lives! Wilcome back!

    See Dubya (7d7011)

  31. Joker:

    Bad news for you.

    The Senate report repudiated plenty of what Wilson said.

    Media Matters doesn’t always get it right.

    It is not a discredited lie that Plame was involved in Wilson’s being sent to Niger; what is a discredited lie is Wilson’s claim that she had nothing to do with it.

    I gave links regarding oil company profits; Tony made it clear that you don’t just look at one quarter, so your harping on that as if he did is deceptive.

    You make some good points, too. You have evidence to show that Snow overstated a couple of things: girls not going to school under Saddam (your evidence says they went to school much less after Gulf War I, but still, some went) and Joe Wilson didn’t find that “such sales exist” (I didn’t hear it that way when I saw the program, so I’m trusting the transcript there), just evidence to support the theory that Saddam was seeking such sales.

    I still think Tony held his own quite well and quite respectfully in the face of the nasty opposition of a roomful of lefties. My hat’s off to him.

    Patterico (c201cf)

  32. Hey Frank, not impressed.
    It has become fashionable among anarchists, socialists, communists, Democrats and other leftists to tear into the statements of people made when speaking without written notes. Effective debate is harder than is seems. Snow slammed Maher, on Mahers show, that is what we are talking about. Years ago I used to judge debates, and they are not scored by comparing notes to fact books. You may have some points, but that doesnt mean Snow’s performance was not impressive. Some people (including the President) are not great public speakers. Tony Snow is very good at what he does. I was on the debate team in high school and took classes in college. It is infuriating when, after an hour of open discussion, someone claims victory because of one mistated fact. Debate is not that simple and it is not scored that way. Does anyone know of a website where unbiased debate coaches score public discussions on points? I would love to see someone elses opinion of the Hanson/Huffinton or Hitchens/Galloway debates.

    tyree (b2fade)

  33. Hey, Tyree, you took classes in college? Wow, I didn’t know you could do that.

    Tell me, when you were on the debate team in high school (exclusive training indeed), did they teach you that the way to win a debate was to step all over anybody else who tried to talk and to keep interrupting your competitors? Because, uh, that’s what Snow did. That’s why he looked so impressive.

    Riddle me one more thing: did your high-level debate training involve the use of facts in debate, or were you allowed to make up whatever lie suited your argument at any particular point? It’s easier to sound erudite just like Tony if you don’t worry so much about being, you know, honest.

    Frank Gorshin (5c9b64)

  34. The way to win debates on the Internet is to say “uh” and “you know” a lot. That makes your point seem obvious, and anyone who doesn’t understand it seem dull-witted.

    Patterico (4e4b70)

  35. Good job, Frank Gorshin! You’ve pretty much summed up Tony Snow’s assrageousness perfectly.

    Did Tony Snow say that there WAS evidence that Saddam tried to buy yellowcake uranium? Yes, he did! And did you not know already, Patterico, that this has been irrefutably proven false?

    Man. You should save yourself from some embarrassment and just trash this post. I mean, I feel embarrassed FOR you after spouting off this crap. You’re a Fox News Puppet. How does that feel? If you believed Tony Snow, then you obviously only get your news from Fox News, which is full of shit. Doesn’t it make you suspicious, after having watched that channel for hours at a time, how different commentators on different shows will begin to repeat THE EXACT SAME PHRASES over and over again. Supposedly wholly independent “interviewees” repeating the same party line as the anchors and the reporters? Are you so completely non-astute that you haven’t noticed this and thought something was funny about it?

    How many times, after the indictments last Friday, did you hear from the four corners of Fox News the phrase “no underlying charge?”

    This is not journalism, my friend. This is propaganda. And you’re the sucker falling for it.

    Mister Hand (7b1566)

  36. Mister Hand,

    If you can get over yourself long enough to argue the facts, feel free to do so. I have no idea what you are saying has “irrefutably proven false” — unless you’re talking about the forged documents that Wilson told journalists he had seen when he hadn’t. But those documents were not the evidence Wilson brought back from Niger supporting the idea that Saddam sought yellowcake.

    Patterico (4e4b70)

  37. Argue the facts? That’s a good idea! Hey, when your hero Tony Snow and the gang of Inquisitors at Faux News start arguing the facts, please let us know, OK?

    Frank Gorshin (829099)

  38. Gee. I don’t know what show you guys were watching but it looks like Snow was the one that got bent over and slammed without lubrication. Maybe it’s just because Republicans’ so-called “arguments” hold no water with someone like myself, but then again, conservatives also thought that Bush did a great job in the debates when it was obvious who was capable of a more intelligent discussion versus who was preachy. As far as the Senate Intelligence Report, it seems like the primary strategy of Republicans is just to attack the person making the claim rather than invesigate the validity of that claim.
    As far as the Exxon issue went, Snow got royally romped. Things certainly don’t look “tough” for Exxon, and I agree with Maher that Snow was telling a “crazy fact” and then criticized the public relations aspect of Exxon’s defense. PR doesn’t change the fact that Exxon is achieving record profits with record prices. So much for the criticism that liberals are the ones who could care less if you get raped at the gas pump. Which is worse, taxes going to government, or the price hike resulting in that money going to the oil corporation?
    (maybe it’s all going to the same place anyway)

    s8ist (ed0a86)

  39. As a liberal, I ask that the few actual conservatives who post here not assume that Bill Maher is the firebrand for those of us on the left. That’s like me assuming that Mr “I-have-an-affinity-for-pain-killers” Limbaugh is the intellectual head of the conservative right. Hell I doubt Rush could actually articulate true conservative ideology.That’s the problem with this country, we look to the fucking TV for guidance as opposed to actually adding a few wrinkles to our gray matter and thinking.

    Paul Richardson (6b45cc)

  40. […] True enough, as you can see from the video. But if he can take on Bill Maher — who (for all his faults, and they are many) is a well-informed, articulate, and intelligent guy — then he can take on a (I say this with all due respect) doddering old bat like Helen Thomas. Again, watch the video. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Tony Snow Takes on Helen Thomas — and, Un-McClellan-Like, Shows Emotion! (421107)

  41. Neo Con retards sure seem to be desperate in the last days before the election. Now the Foley thing comes up, All I can say is that this is the final nail in the coffin.

    Republican Pervert (895528)

  42. Wow, I stumbled upon this website when I was searching for “Bill Maher Tony Snow” because I remembered when Tony Snow used to appear on Real Time, before becoming Bush’s Lap Dog, and try to come off as though he wasn’t a Bush apologist. So I was looking up his contradictions. Anyway, I found this post claiming that Snow outsmarted Maher on this episode. All I have to say is “did we see the same episode?” I saw this episode as well and if Snow came off looking like the winner to you than that just means you suffer from the same level of denial that it takes to convince yourself that Kerry’s recent “controversial” remarks were somehoow against the troops rather than a well-earned rebuke of the President’s lack of effort to do his homework before going into iraq. Anyway, keep dreaming Right Wingers. And call me elitist or whatever you like, but yes you are idiots who hate America if you support Bush anymore. 🙂 Deal with it. And I can say that as someone ashamed to say he voted for Bush in 2000.

    Andrew (99ccf7)

  43. Jesus, you are clueless. How can you actually believe the shit you write? Fucking moron.

    Tex (9ff19f)

  44. An excellent, fact-filled, and respectful comment, “Tex.”.

    Your behavior reflects well on the political left.

    Patterico (52f24e)

  45. Whoa. I just did that with my Treo.

    That’s the first time that ever worked.

    Maybe I won’t have to edit people’s comments any more.

    Patterico (52f24e)

  46. Are we sure tex wasn’t commenting at Andrew?

    And you can use your Treo now? So much for productive work days, eh?

    Scott Jacobs (a1de9d)

  47. I saw the program and do have a TiVo recording. My impression, unlike most of the comments here, did not really see Maher ripped up. My reaction was that Snow found himself in a discussion where he did not have control to shut off questions he didn’t like, as he did in the White House. I like Snow and actually felt sorry for him. Several examples is when he was talking about the success of the surge, it was thrown out that the increase in troops was recommended to Bush in 2003 and he rejected; attention to Israel was proposed to him at the same time and he rejected; it was suggested then that he talk directly to N. Korea and he rejected. Snow had literally no answer and those with a recording take a look at the sheepish expression on Snow’s face after this. And there were many more. BTW, Snow had a lot of problems with Bush before he went to the WH.

    Bill Crandall (5b463d)

  48. Wow…What alternative universe do you all live in. Tony Snow is a lying piece of shit who has help ‘snow” the American public and allowed Bush and Cheney and the rest of their criminal friends to rape and pillage the American treasury and then allowed Haliburton to move to Dubai with the 100s of billions of dollars they ripped off. Tony Snow bombastically tries to defend an indefensible administration and you all eat his bullshit!

    Raffelock (56a0a8)

  49. I just watched this episode with Bill Maher and Tony Snow.

    Tony is keeping his cool surrounded by 4 Liberals including Mark Cuban and Katherine Crier and some idiot from Rolling Stone who can’t do anything but keep his elitist smile and shake his head at Tony Snow.

    Tony is doing an exceptional job in the Lion’s den.

    Of course, everyone on the panel is pissing all over Tony as soon as he tries to say something. He can’t even get in a complete sentence or talking point.

    *update* best part of the night is to see Tony put the Rolling Stone guy in his place like a stupid, arrogant kid in class who thought he was the sh** but ended up looking like a total douche in front of everybody.

    John (9db1f4)

  50. […] Heads we win – Tails you lose! This is the circular logic of Liberal (pseudo)Intellectual elitists. […]

    Bill Maher’s African Roulette for poor Africans | Davy Crockett's Blog (555dd6)


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