HBO’s smug clown nose on/clown nose off star Bill Maher has been getting plaudits from conservatives—yes, even Fox News!—for supposedly being one of the few knee-jerk Trump critics to have the integrity to admit, “Gee, I guess Trump was right about something.” Lately Bill has said that he “loved” the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and that he, like everyone else on the Left, was wrong about Trump’s tariff policies crashing the economy. (Today we learned that the GNP took a leap to 3%.)
There will be no salutes for Maher here.
This is the same guy who said, during Trump’s first term, that making the economy crash would be worth it to get rid of Trump. (And that’s exactly what Democrats and their allies, the Deep State CDC, the NEA, and the New York Times did with the Wuhan virus freakout.) Bill the Truth-Teller had his barking-seals studio audience rolling in the aisles throughout 2024 as he mocked news accounts, the Hur Report, and any other evidence that President Biden was half-there (at best) usually pairing his commentary with shots at Trump’s cognitive abilities. Now, however, that it is obvious to him that Democrats are the Titanic, this particular rat senses that he best interests lie in tacking a bit to sanity: most of his audience may be Trump Deranged, but Maher will do what necessary to keep his ratings up.
Comedians who deliberately alienate half the country are not in a secure position when that half starts growing; Maher is many unpleasant things—a hypocrite, a misogynist, an arrogant creep, but he’s not stupid. Admitting the obvious even when it ticks off some of his fans doesn’t require integrity, it requires common sense.
I suppose this is as good a place as anywhere to discuss Sen. Cory “Spartacus” Booker’s hysterical anti-Trump rant yesterday in the Senate. The fun part begins around the 2:30 second mark.
That’s where he accuses the President of making law firms “bend a knee” in violation of “free speech principles” that a firm can take on any client. Booker doesn’t seem to comprehend, however, that when a law firm uses those principles to make a clear statement that it is partisan and hostile to many potential clients, those clients have every right to decide “we don’t trust you.” In the last 20 years the legal profession has mostly abandoned its traditional ethical principle of taking on any client with a legal and and justifiable claim, regardless of the lawyer’s personal views, to embrace mission-based legal practice focused on achieving a progressive agenda. The Trump Administration has made a clear statement to such firms that unless and until they indicate that they can be trusted to put that bias aside, they will not get any government business. This is appropriate and ethical. And over-due.
Than Booker shouts about the administration forcing universities to “bend a knee” by informing them that they will not continue to gorge on federal funds if they continue to suppress non-Leftist ideas and opinions while discriminating against Jews, men and whites while devoting a disproportionate percentage of their resources to educating non-Americans. Booker’s version of “free speech” is the same as Harvard, Columbia and most of the rest: “From the river to the sea” is free speech but opposing illegal immigration is “hate speech.”
Most hilariously (and characteristically), Booker cites the distant cancellation of Colbert’s late night show as an example of Trump forcing businesses to do his bidding, when there is no evidence of this whatsoever other than the Axis mantra, “Orange Man Bad.” Booker has been a frequent guest on Colbert’s nightly hate-fest. I’m looking for Booker appearing on Maher’s show while Bill is on his Suck Up To Conservatives Tour. Bill’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, but I’d bet he could make Booker look foolish. It’s not hard.
Ethics Alarms 
In my opinion; Bookers speech was pure emotional propaganda intentionally spreading misinformation to gin up more hate from their party base. The speech is dog whistling directly at those that are teetering on the brink of joining or instigating mob violence. I expect to see this speech parroted by the faithful and culturally cemented with viral memes.
I think Booker is setting the foundation to run for President.
Talking points from beginning to end. I find his use of “complicit” annoying. He’s saying passing legislation is tantamount to committing a crime, participating in a criminal conspiracy. If that doesn’t tell you how lunatic the congressional Democrats have become simply by virtue of being in the minority, nothing will.
“Comedians who deliberately alienate half the country are not in a secure position when that half starts growing”
Jay Leno tried to explain that recently to little appreciation. It’s not a hard thing to grasp. Any business that alienates half its customers is going to have to find replacements for them somewhere and the far Left extremists aren’t nearly as numerous as they think they are.
Making Cory Booker look the fool requires little more than putting him in a round room and telling him his paycheck is in the corner.
Ouch.
jvb
Regarding Bill Maher, he’s likely a garden variety opportunist.
The poem / song “Vicar of Bray” bears mentioning.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicar_of_Bray
charles w abbott
rochester NY
Actually, Bill Maher has been consistently pro-Israel for decades. I’ve told you this before, Jack, but it doesn’t take. He has always called out apologists for terrorism. He has had absolutely no problem telling the left as they shockingly replaced the right as antagonists to Israel that they were dead wrong.
Yes, Maher is often crude. And we all know that comedians of any stripe who sound clever would probably fall apart if they actually held office. But the idea that he is in any way like Colbert, whose original satirical show years ago was clever but who eventually became a Johnny One-Note bore, is nonsense. Come on, man, as I sometimes mention in other contexts, please slow down and check things before racing in. I’m genuinely trying to help.
Maher is also the one who came pretty close to praising the 9/11 hijackers:
“We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly,” Maher said according to transcripts. “Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly,” he concluded.
The words “insane” or “fanatical” come to mind. Who’s the apologist for terrorism now?
And actually, Al Franken, “comedian” who wrote a book with the highly intellectual title “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot,” hung on a lot longer than he should have until pictures of him grinning like a frat boy while groping a woman who was asleep like a frat boy at a party taking advantage of a drunk coed surfaced.
These late-night comedy types weren’t always all the same, but they all became all Trump-hate all the time, and that’s just not doing it anymore.
Now, I’d suggest you get going before Jack comes along and gives you a fast boot out the door.
Is it too early to begin worrying about Jack? The last I see he commented was 9:15am yesterday. Has anyone spoken to him?
The fact he hasn’t come in here and cleaned house concerns me, since that is very out of character.
Agreed. I was surprised to see no new postings from Jack when I checked in at 0700 PDT (1000 hr East coast, if my count is correct). He was complaining about his leg (?) and mobility yesterday.
My husband and I were expressing our concerns as well. The last two times Jack was gone this long, it was due to an internet outages, and that is all I hope this is – in which case he is having too much trouble with his internet, since the last outage wasn’t that long ago. However, I fear for him as he has been complaining of troubles with his leg.
The leg is what I’m thinking. He may be seeking help for it.
From what he described it sounded like a very horrible issue. I hope they don’t have to cut off his leg.
I hope that is the case. I was out of town (and almost completely out of internet coverage) last weekend when it first was mentioned, but it seemed the leg issue was quite troubling.
I’ve been praying for him.
So have I.
I’m going to try reaching Jack via his Pro Ethics telephone number, which I’m pretty sure is his home phone land line.
Just called. No answer. Did not go to voice mail. Is anyone in the commentariat near Alexandria, Virginia? Should we ask the Alexandria police to do a welfare check? Steve-O, you can act as counsel on this.
Last time this happened, commenter Jon (?) did that, and another stopped by personally; can anyone track down that thread?
PWS
It’s this one:
https://ethicsalarms.com/2025/05/14/ethics-dunce-bruce-springsteen/comment-page-1/#comments
I don’t see any evidence of power outages in his area. Doesn’t mean anything, though.
Yes, that was me. I’m traveling right now so his absence didn’t register with me as quickly as when I’m in my normal routine. I’m glad to hear he’s more or less alright and doesn’t need another Alexandria PD welfare check.
I just texted him. I’ll keep you posted.
I just called a friend to ask when he last spoke with Jack (we’re in touch with him routinely) and he said he received a text from him last night. Apparently he’s in the hospital for his leg and isn’t sure how long he’ll have to stay. I suspect Jack will chime in eventually but I’ll let you all know if I hear anything more.
Thanks for the update!
Si. Bueno.
I’m surprised he isn’t working from his hospital bed.
Thanks so much for letting us know.
Thank you so much for letting us know.
Thanks.
Thank you, I was worried too.
Thank you, I was worried too.
Thank you, I was worried too.
Thanks for the update. I do hope he is getting good treatment to resolve the issues with his leg. Do people know, does he have family / friends close by? People who will be taking care of pets etc. and visiting him in hospital?
Morning everyone,
I just had a brief conversation regarding Jack’s absence; he’s doing what’s necessary to properly heal up his leg and that means staying away from the desk and off the computer for a little while. He’s doing fine and keeping his spirits up.
Thanks for the update, Steve and James. The EA Commentariat is concerned he is doing well.
jvb
Thanks Steve for the update. Please tell Jack to take his time & heal.
I’ve been worried too … thank you
Please let him know he’s in my prayers
Thanks Steve, James. Good to hear he’s getting the care he needs.
Yes, thank you all so much! Prayers continuing…
Thanks to Steve and James. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
Dan
Hi Jack, I gotta admit, I’m a little worried about you. I hope your leg’s healing and you’re feeling better. For what it’s worth, the prayers and best wishes of an avid reader are headed your way.
From so many.
You are a blessing, Jack Marshall.
Glad to hear you are Ok and on the mend.
I wonder if Jack would be willing to let one of his close friends have access to wordpress so we could get updates on his health or whatever outside the comments.
Jack, please take time off to allow for complete healing. We will miss you but we want you for the long haul!
Second!
PWS
Jack,I noticed th
Jack, I hope you are improving. If you still have access to text, please let us know how you are doing.
FWIW, I too am in the same general area and have visited Jack at his house in the past. I guess I’m not one to hit the panic button easily, so I think it’s premature to worry TOO much about Jack’s absence from the blog since we know about the leg situation, and with that in mind some time away from here is not surprising or unusual.
Also, as of a couple of months ago at least, his son is living in the house as well–although it’s more like an apartment/renter situation and they don’t have as much personal contact as you might assume. Still, even if Jack is living alone right now, he’s not living ALONE-alone.
If needed, it’s pretty easy for me to drive over to his house.
If anyone wants to reach me directly, well . . . I won’t exactly spell out my email here but the part before the @ is my first name and the part before the “.com” is my last name. If you do write me, do me a favor and put the word “Ethics” in the subject so I know it’s legit from someone here. (Spammers and Scammers are why we can’t have nice things.)
–Dwayne
Thanks for the updates, everyone. Get better, Jack!!