In what may be the single most vicious commentary that I have read in recent memory, HBO host Bill Maher said Friday that he is “glad” billionaire David Koch, a conservative activist, is dead and added that he hoped “the end was painful.” I strongly disagreed with Koch’s view of climate change and his anti-environmental stances. However, I cannot imagine saying such a thing about someone because I disagree with his heart-felt convictions. Koch was committed to a set of principles that Maher can disagree with but to celebrate a painful death is truly breathtaking.
I have previously written about the sense of a license among some to be uncivil and hateful as well as the unbalanced coverage of such commentary.
Maher stated on air: “Yesterday David Koch, of the zillionaire Koch brothers, died of prostate cancer. I guess I’m going to have to re-evaluate my low opinion of prostate cancer . . . He was 79, but his family says they wish he could live longer, but at least he lived long enough to see the Amazon catch fire.” He added “Condolences poured in from all the politicians he owned, and mourners have been asked in lieu of flowers to just leave their car engines running. As for his remains, he’s been asked to be cremated and have his ashes blown into a child’s lungs.”
I do not object to the latter part of that statement about car engines and his remains as fair game for a comedian. Koch was a polarizing public figure. However, it takes an utter lack of humanity and decency to celebrate someone’s cancer. Imagine if a conservative celebrated the return of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer. Would the response be equally muted in the media?
What? Why are people so surprised when hate shine brightly from Leftist? Today’s Tip: Almost all of them are that way, angry little children. Even if they had their perceived socialist utopia, they would still be angry and hateful.
Maher will make a lot more people happy when he dies than the folks that make him happy when they die. So please don’t keep all of us waiting.
I hope Bill Maher has length of days and unimpaired clarity of mind in which to contemplate every contemptible thing he’s said. Certainly, long enough for a competent historian to explore every churlish comment of his masquerading as a joke in detail in a book.
And you think the right wing wouldn’t be celebrating in the streets if Justice Ginsburg died? I agree with Bill Maher and then some. The kock (John Birch Society) brothers are traitors and I only wish it had been in GitMo where David died in complete and long suffering memory for the millions of people he and his brothers have screwed and their attempts to destroy America. May his brothers soon follow after him.
sgtsabai – I think I would celebrate that the seat was open, however Ginsberg seems to be a nice person and I would not wish a painful death on her (or just about anyone else).
“And you think the right wing wouldn’t be celebrating in the streets if Justice Ginsburg died?”
Sgtsabai, Some might, but that is an indication of a small mind just like Maher’s comment. I don’t agree with RBG’s politics but I don’t hate her. We have to remember that there are many decisions made by the Supreme Court that we never hear about so many times right wingers may have agreed with RBG and left wingers with Scalia. In fact many on the left went crazy over Kelo v. City of New London and they blamed the conservative judges and do so to this day but that decision was made by the Liberal justices not conservative ones. You probably hated Scalia but it is widely reported that Scalia and RBG wre good friends. Do you think RBG celebrated when Scalia died or that Scalia would have celebrated had RBG predeceased him?
Really? You don’t find that offensive? David Koch and his brother dared to fund people who disagree with Big Leftism (which is also big business – Bill Maher’s just one of many wealthy people writing six and seven-figure checks to groups like Organizing for Action) and that’s when the polarization began. George Soros and Warren Buffett aren’t called “polarizing” for doing the same thing by the press, or you, for that matter, Professor Turley. What’s polarizing is giving people like Bill Maher slack for unfunny jokes like that.
Twitter is aware of the rejoicing over a cancer patient’s death. It’s been happening at the retail level, too. I, personally, was placed on a Twitter list called “cancer bait” by a woman with a Twitter account based on the political content of some of my posts. I advised Twitter Safety of that, and drew their attention directly to this Twitter Rule::
Yet, search for the “Cancer Bait” list, and it’s got nothing but right-of-center Twitterers on it. Nothing has been done, it’s been well over a year since I brought this list and others like it to Twitter Safety’s attention. By the way, I’ve been fighting cancer since 1998, so this is not me being oversensitive on the matter. This is Twitter not acting on their own supposedly strict rules.
Twitter has long had a problem with lists of this nature, and failing to act on them.
https://twitter.com/loupgarous/status/1165556861111848961?s=20 is what I’m talking about. If Twitter forbids abusive behavior, they aren’t very efficient about it.
Why anyone patronizes social media platforms today is baffling. If you thrive in wallowing in such toxic sludge, go to the street druggies, pick up their used, dirty needles, stick yourself, and get a “thrill” of Staph infections running through your veins. The results will be fleeting if you are treated with appropriate antibiotics. Not so with Twitter, Facebook and other online “social media apps”.
Americans would do well to engage each other face to face, listen and accompany each other. If Bill Maher were in need of a life saving liver transplant, he would be on bended knee to any compatible prospective donor
loupgarous – Twitter has a big problem following its own rules. Tim Pool really called them out on Joe Rogan’s show and still there were no improvements.
Professor Turley, Koch had principles the way Hitler had principles. Do we also mourn him? Both caused hurt beyond their countries. Let them be forgotten and done with.
Savage – we could say the same for Soros. First person to call the other Hitler loses the argument, or have you forgotten that.
Guess it depends on whose ox is being gored. I feel that we really need a wholesale overhaul of the election system because the Soroses and Kochs are only the symptoms of the real problem. Don’t think we’ll ever see it, though.
Savage is simply obeying Goodwin’s Law.
Well foul-mouthed Bill had better avoid Gallup where he’ll find there are more Republicans than Democrats. This has Pelosi up at night.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx
mespo – I have heard several pollster talk about how “soft” the support was for the Democratic candidates.
https://www.amazon.com/Defend-Yourself-Against-Alien-Abduction/dp/0609802631
Mr. Schulte,
Buy the book and study it. Even if you’re able to dodge the high level Area 51 security, there are other hazards you’ll face.
Paul:
It’s real soft and likely why fewer people are identifying as Dims. The ones that do mostly resemble Benson’s deleted comments (supra). Has he given you the OED cites yet?
Liberals have no shame and no bounds on civility.
Bubba…bringing the broad brush…
Echoing what Bill Maher said but for Jussie Mullet…May he fry….no mercy
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-jussie-smollett-special-prosecutor-20190824-hexnghsel5fhdfkywhmx3rojae-story.html
Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb given far-reaching mandate to investigate Jussie Smollett case: ‘The facts will take me where they take me’
Given the roller coaster twists and turns of the Jussie Smollett case, it was perhaps appropriate that Dan Webb was at Disney World with his grandchildren when he got the call asking him to step up yet again as a special prosecutor.
“I told Judge (Michael) Toomin, ‘I’m on vacation, I’ll call you when I get back,’” Webb told reporters with a chuckle Friday, moments after he was sworn in to investigate the Smollett case.
Webb’s appointment adds more star power to a case that already has made national headlines for months and touches on issues of race, politics and celebrity, even though it stems from a low-level felony charge of disorderly conduct.
The assignment will inevitably draw comparisons to Webb’s most recent stint as a Cook County special prosecutor: the probe of the 2004 death of David Koschman during a drunken altercation with a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.
The allegations at the center of Smollett’s case are comparatively minor. Smollett was accused of orchestrating a fake hate crime attack on himself; the charges were later dropped by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office with little explanation and to great public outcry.
In signing the order for a special prosecutor in June, Toomin said Foxx overstepped her authority when she put her top deputy in charge of Smollett’s prosecution after she recused herself.
Foxx had spoken with a relative of Smollett’s in the early phases of the investigation after she was contacted by Tina Tchen, formerly Michelle Obama’s chief of staff — sparking speculation that the case’s ultimate outcome was tainted by political clout.
Webb’s appointment will open the whole matter anew, and his mandate is far-reaching. He has the power to investigate not only Smollett but any other people or agencies who touched the hot-button case since it exploded in January.
Webb’s team could reprosecute Smollett. Since he never entered a guilty plea or went on trial, new charges would not violate his right against double jeopardy, experts have said.
And Webb has the power to investigate Foxx’s handling of the case, which could put a cloud over her run for reelection in the March Democratic primary.
Unlike his previous appointment in the Koschman matter, Webb on Friday immediately said he’d likely impanel a special grand jury in the Smollett case, which could hear sworn testimony from witnesses and deliver criminal indictments.
Special prosecutors have usually been reserved for matters of undeniable weight: the Black Panthers raid that led to the killing of leader Fred Hampton and a second man; the widescale torture of black suspects in the late 1970s and ’80s; and the 2014 police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Webb, 73, now the co-chairman of the powerful Winston & Strawn law firm, brings serious firepower to the table. He has investigated the conduct of numerous targets over the years, from corrupt local officials to a former president.
As a U.S. attorney, Webb led the legendary investigation of Cook County judicial corruption in the 1980s known as Operation Greylord. In 1989, he was appointed as special prosecutor to investigate allegations of fraud in a petition drive involving employees of Daley. He acted as an independent counsel in an Iran-Contra trial in 1990.
While such cases won him national acclaim, Webb has said it was his probe into the Koschman matter that he considered the most crucial.
“I spent my entire adult life here as a trial lawyer, as part of the system,” Webb told the Chicago Tribune in a 2014 interview. “I thought it was important to try to bring transparency to what happened and try to restore public confidence. And make sure the public knew that justice may be a little late here, but we were still going to make sure it occurred.”
Webb won a conviction of Daley’s nephew, Richard Vanecko, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. But while his 162-page report made clear that the involvement of a Daley relative colored the initial investigation, in the end no one but Vanecko was charged with wrongdoing.
This is what the Left represents in America
Trooper Nick Hopkins killed after being shot early Friday morning in East St. Louis
Anonymous “sock puppet” just met Cheyenne Bodie. You’re entitled to your opinion
TURLEY’S BLOG GOES ‘ANONYMOUS’
Legal Scholar Jonathan Turley, a frequent face on Public Affairs programs, finds his blog choked by warring factions veiled as ‘Anonymous’. Consequently the comment threads read like bad scripts. Every character has the same name!
Random readers will move on quickly. ..Not much to see..! Just childish adults trying to poison the blog. A nasty little turf war no random reader will care enough to scroll.
Apparently the Anonymouses have learned the pleasures that you, Natacha and Diane enjoy: VPN
Woohoo!!!
This blog was “choked” long before all of the anonymous posters showed up. People like Brock Boy Hill saw to that by flooding the blog with their own daily columns.
Sorry to hear about your illness. And you should not have to “die in pain”, babbling incoherently and posting misc. times that might seem to mean something to you.
See if Hospice can help you and your family out.
What comes around, goes around
Another ‘horse’s ass’ heard from @ 4:36 p.m.
Pointing out that you are a horse’s ass does not make one a horse’s ass . You’ve won the Horse’s Ass Title fair and square, and don’t need to let some phony generosity share it with others.
Anonymous @ 4:49 p is projecting again.
Very good, sycophant. Just keep reposting or referring to another comment when you have none of your own.
(Most people know what time it is, and what was previously posted.
But you go ahead, keep plugging away and keep us up to date and pretent that you’re saying something, sycophant anonymous).
Yeah, that’s Anonymous the “sock puppet” …smoked you out.
Anonymous @ 4:49 p is projecting again.
Bill…….David has gone……….your turn now, PLEASE?????
Just a reminder,Clinton was the first Koch brothers president.
How the Koch brothers helped dismantle the Democratic Party
https://samsmitharchives.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/6467/
George Soros funds left wing trolls
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Media Matters: Soros is a financial backer of Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog group that hyperventilates over any conservative view that makes it into the mainstream media. Now its founder, David Brock, has openly declared war on Fox News, telling Politico that the group was mounting guerrilla warfare and sabotage against the cable news channel, and would try to disrupt the commercial interests of owner Rupert Murdoch an odd mission for a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational foundation that is barred from participating in partisan political activity.
https://humanevents.com/2011/04/02/top-10-reasons-george-soros-is-dangerous/
Anonymous, Fox News must have a story on this. Show us their coverage. We don’t know “Human Events”.
Another police officer is shot and killed where police were issuing a warrant to make the East Saint Louis, IL, neighborhood safer near Ferguson, MO
Democrats did this: Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, Maxine Waters, AOC, Left Wing media, ANTIFA,, Bill DeBlaisio,….all guilty of doing this. They are the enemies of America continuing a long Democrat tradition of hate for LEO. This is why Trump was elected and will be re-elected because we despise Democrats
…..
Illinois State trooper dies after shootout in East St. Louis
By Kim Bell and Annika Merrilees St. Louis Post-Dispatch
EAST ST. LOUIS — An Illinois State Police trooper was fatally shot while executing a “high risk” search warrant along with other members of a SWAT team on Friday in a residential neighborhood.
Trooper Nick Hopkins, 33, with 10 years of experience on the force, died at St. Louis University Hospital just after 6 p.m., authorities said.
“It is nearly impossible to express the depth of my sadness,” said Brendan Kelly, acting director of the Illinois State Police. “Nick Hopkins was a bright light in this world.”
Hopkins, of Waterloo, was a husband, a father of 4-year-old twins and an infant daughter, and a Waterloo High School graduate, said Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith. He had three sisters and two brothers, including Zack Hopkins, a police sergeant for the Columbia, Illinois, police department. Hopkins’ father, Jim Hopkins, has served as an alderman in Waterloo for 17 years alongside Smith.
Hopkins, who served the majority of time with the Illinois State Police Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT), was the first Illinois State Police trooper shot and killed in 30 years, authorities said.
Police were serving the search warrant just after 5 a.m. Friday at a home in the 1400 block of North 42nd Street, “in a particularly dangerous area,” said Steve Weinhoeft, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.
“He was trying to make that community safer for every man, woman and child,” Weinhoeft said.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/illinois-state-trooper-dies-after-shootout-in-east-st-louis/article_0daa4142-69cf-5bc1-9a92-a2ebee40d0a1.html
Republican David Brock started media matters which was in the bag for Koch brothers Clinton
While HuffPost was started by arianna huffington and Braibart
It’s called good cop bad cop
The elite working together to divide the plebs
Divide and conquer the oldest tool in the shed
Forget Russia and influencing our elections. George Soros proudly boasts of influencing political parties across the globe like the USA
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Influence on U.S. elections: Soros once said that removing President George W. Bush from office in 2004 was the “central focus of my life.” He put his money where his mouth is, giving $23.58 million to various 527 groups dedicated to defeating Bush. His early financial support helped jump-start Barack Obama political career. Soros hosted a 2004 fund-raiser for Obama when he was running for the Illinois Senate and gave the maximum-allowed contribution within hours of Obama announcement that he was running for President.
https://humanevents.com/2011/04/02/top-10-reasons-george-soros-is-dangerous/
David Koch vs Peter Fonda both dead @ age 79
“George Soros Is Dangerous”
Gives billions to left-wing causes: Soros started the Open Society Institute in 1993 as a way to spread his wealth to progressive causes. Using Open Society as a conduit, Soros has given more than $7 billion to a who’s who of left-wing groups. This partial list of recipients of Soros money says it all: ACORN, Apollo Alliance, National Council of La Raza, Tides Foundation, Huffington Post, Southern Poverty Law Center, Soujourners, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization for Women.
https://humanevents.com/2011/04/02/top-10-reasons-george-soros-is-dangerous/
Delusions: Soros has repeatedly said that he sees himself as a messianic figure. Who but a megalomaniac would make these comments?
“I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of my self-importance to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god. I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood, which I felt I had to control, otherwise I might end up in the loony bin.”
https://humanevents.com/2011/04/02/top-10-reasons-george-soros-is-dangerous/