No, what counts is the intent of the joke. The other day, I was joking with a black friend and a white friend about how years ago a black friend of mine played a prank on someone, and the victim of said prank blamed me, and I joked that, "I can't believe they assumed I did it. There's a black guy standing RIGHT THERE!!!"

My black friend hearing the joke cracked up. It wasn't racist whatsoever. First off, he knew I wasn't serious. Secondly, the entire joke was pointing out that society often assumes blacks are guilty of crimes or wrongdoing simply because they're black. That's the entire point of the joke! It's not racist in the slightest! In fact, it's criticizing still present racism in society. If you can't understand that, then I don't know what to tell you other than your brain lacks the ability to comprehend context.

How can I defend Maher on some points and criticize him on others? It's really simple - he's a human being. Humans make mistakes, and can be correct. Maher is a bigot, I wasn't arguing that. I'm a bigot when it comes to people who lie or intentionally spread false information repeatedly. I have zero tolerance for people who do that. That's the definition of a bigot - zero tolerance for the ideas of some others. That's not the same as a racist. Nice try diverting that one.

About the sexism stuff, you are the one saying that Christians traditionally haven't been sexist, and the proof is it's been traditionally against physical abuse, etc. Well, that doesn't prove a lack of sexism. That's my entire point. If the bible says that wives must be submissive to their husbands, that's sexist! That means wives should do what they're told, and while it's more sexist to be told to "Make me a sandwich!" than something more respectful, it's still sexist that a woman must what she's told simply because a husband says so.

Finally, the bit about Maher's audience is laughable. Maher doesn't intentionally fill his audience with like minded sheep. I'm not sure you're aware of this, but people who agree with Maher tend to be the ones who go out of their way to see him live. I know... SHOCKING! While I won't dispute he tends to have more left wingers who agree with him, you must admit many times that's because those are the people who more often want to be on his show, and he's certainly gone toe to toe with the hard core conservatives quite frequently, such as Ann Coulter both on his show and in public debates. Finally, ANYONE to the left of you, you characterize as a neolib, lib, socialist, etc. So even the moderates on his show you won't acknowledge anyway, so your characterization of his guests isn't accurate in the slightest.

Thanks for playing though...

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

No, you're a racist if you actually intend to put one race over another, etc. If I joke about a friend of mine who can't dance and call him 'white', that's not racist.
If a white guy jokes about a black man liking fried chicken & collard greens then that is racist. Joking about whites not being able to jump is racist. It is the very epitome of racism. You are perhaps trying to make some sort of vivisection between 'racism' and 'hateful racism'. I do not make such distinctions. Racism is racism. I don't care how light the shade of the racism is. I call it what it is. There's no such thing as innocent racism.
Did you not catch that I criticized him for characterizing all religious people as sexist?
Yes - but I don't get how you can give the guy a pass for being a bigot in one breath and criticize him the next. If he's a bigot then you shouldn't defend him, and quite frankly choosing to watch his show when you KNOW he's a bigot is tacit approval of bigotry. I'm sure if you met one, you'd find that some members of the Klu-Klux-Klan were "funny, and often insightful, even though I fundamentally disagree with them frequently." A bigot is a bigot, and should be shunned, shamed, and ostracized from society - not given a free pass because they make you chuckle sometimes.
If you expect the wife to clean the house, cook the meals, etc. simply because she's the female of the couple, that's sexist.
I agree. But showing someone respect is not 'treating them like delicate little flowers'. It is simple common courtesy. When you are in a monogamous relationship, there comes a time when people divvy out the chores. A man who refuses to help because 'it's woman's work' is an idiot and a sexist. Likewise a woman who just expects the man to work 9-to-5 and does not contribute to the household herself is also a sexist.

Finally, Maher only takes shots at those least likely to fire back?!
By and large - yes. That's why he fills his audience with ideologically favorable clapping sheep. It's why he loads his guest lists with like 90% leftist neolib radicals. It's why why he gives himself long spans of time to conduct uninterrupted diatribes instead of engaging in real debates with active opponents. He's a coward, a bully, and a bigot. That's what cowardly, bigoted bullies do.

No, you're a racist if you actually intend to put one race over another, etc. If I joke about a friend of mine who can't dance and call him 'white', that's not racist.

If a white guy jokes about a black man liking fried chicken & collard greens then that is racist. Joking about whites not being able to jump is racist. It is the very epitome of racism. You are perhaps trying to make some sort of vivisection between 'racism' and 'hateful racism'. I do not make such distinctions. Racism is racism. I don't care how light the shade of the racism is. I call it what it is. There's no such thing as innocent racism.

Did you not catch that I criticized him for characterizing all religious people as sexist?

Yes - but I don't get how you can give the guy a pass for being a bigot in one breath and criticize him the next. If he's a bigot then you shouldn't defend him, and quite frankly choosing to watch his show when you KNOW he's a bigot is tacit approval of bigotry. I'm sure if you met one, you'd find that some members of the Klu-Klux-Klan were "funny, and often insightful, even though I fundamentally disagree with them frequently." A bigot is a bigot, and should be shunned, shamed, and ostracized from society - not given a free pass because they make you chuckle sometimes.

If you expect the wife to clean the house, cook the meals, etc. simply because she's the female of the couple, that's sexist.

I agree. But showing someone respect is not 'treating them like delicate little flowers'. It is simple common courtesy. When you are in a monogamous relationship, there comes a time when people divvy out the chores. A man who refuses to help because 'it's woman's work' is an idiot and a sexist. Likewise a woman who just expects the man to work 9-to-5 and does not contribute to the household herself is also a sexist.

Finally, Maher only takes shots at those least likely to fire back?!

By and large - yes. That's why he fills his audience with ideologically favorable clapping sheep. It's why he loads his guest lists with like 90% leftist neolib radicals. It's why why he gives himself long spans of time to conduct uninterrupted diatribes instead of engaging in real debates with active opponents. He's a coward, a bully, and a bigot. That's what cowardly, bigoted bullies do.

"EveryTIME I come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen. In the GODDAMN refrigerator! Eatin' all the food! All the chicken... all the pig feet... all the collard greens... all the hog maws... I wanna eat some of them chitlins'! I love pig FEET! "

Children: We don't want to eat scallops and collard greens with cheeze wiz!
Mom: Too bad, I had a coupon!

"America is run by an under-educated white majority?" Fuck that, It's run by the majority of her citizenry being kept in the dark as to the true workings of this machine, all her peoples kept slaves-Race is simply another diversion by the powerful elite, who use the predictability of humans to their advantage...who use drugs, politics, professional sports, a convoluted legal system, sold-out and privately owned print and broadcast media, and a propaganda machine that made Joe Goebbel's look like a high-school newspaper.

Is it not obvious to all, that equality, racism, and bigotry are simply meaningless words with regard to the real issues on this planet, that effect every person equally to varying degrees? More diversion, more diversion, more diversion......Obama is as black as a Rockefeller through these dark glasses-the system is not able to be effectively repaired at this point.....
Fuck it, I need some cornbread, baked chicken and collard greens, and a thermos of dirty martinis'.....

Any song that mentions collard greens I'm down with.