I haven’t wanted to even write the words “Milo Yiannopoulos” without “got punched in the face” being included in the sentence too, which is why I’ve never written about him. Milo is a Nazi, ladies and gentlemen. We can beat around the bush and call him a “far-right provocateur” (which is how Variety refers to him) or “the most fabulous supervillain on the internet,” which is how he refers to himself. But really, he’s just a run-of-the-mill Nazi. He’s been part of some celebrity-adjacent stories in the past, like when he was banned from Twitter for encouraging people to harass and degrade Leslie Jones. He hates women, he hates Muslims, he hates “political correctness” and he loves cozying up to the Alt-Right and neo-Nazis in general.
Last year, Milo got a lucrative book deal which pissed off a lot of people. Well, his book is out and he’s trying to do a book tour on college campuses and TV shows. The college tour has not gone well, and protesters pretty much come out for all of his scheduled events. So, funny story? Bill Maher invited Milo on his show. And Bill Maher being Bill Maher, the interview didn’t go well. By that I mean, Maher just let Milo spout his hate and bulls–t for eleven minutes and Maher even agreed with him several times. If you want to try to get through this video, go ahead. I could only watch it for two minutes, which is when he started degrading black people and women.
Apparently (I say because I can’t watch the entire thing), he also said Bill Maher is “the only good one,” meaning I guess the only good liberal/progressive? He also said: “The Democrats are the party of Lena Dunham. These people are mental, hideous people, and the more that America sees of Lena Dunham, the fewer votes that the Democratic Party is going to get.” When Maher brought up Leslie Jones and Milo’s harassment of her, Milo said: “I said that she looked a dude, which she does” and Maher said “right.” Milo also called Jones “barely literate” and Maher didn’t say anything. What else? Milo criticized female comedians who “used to be funny before they contracted feminism.” You can read more about what words were spoken here at Variety.
Then it got worse when Milo joined the panel discussion, which also included Larry Wilmore. Wilmore is the only reason this video is palatable in the least. While Maher gives Milo all the time in the world to spew hate speech, Wilmore goes in on Milo several times, but the best part comes around the 4-minute mark when Milo uses the code-word “low IQ” in reference to Larry Wilmore (because black peeps, amirite, Nazis?) and Wilmore tells Milo to go f–k himself. NSFW language, but if you’ve made it this far, you’ll want to watch it.
For whatever record, I believe in free speech. Nazis have the right to say whatever they want without the government throwing them in jail. But if you’re Bill Maher or any television host, why would you invite this Nazi douchebag on your show if you weren’t going to challenge him point by point? And therein lies the conundrum, as I see it. It’s the same thing with Piers Morgan saying that Ewan McGregor should have gone on his show and “debated” women’s rights. For Bill Maher to treat Milo’s ideas and words as somehow valid and legitimate makes a mockery of every one of us. Women’s rights are not a debate. LGBTQ rights are not a debate. Minority rights are not a debate. Nazis shouldn’t be given air time on premium cable to show the pearl-wearing gay face of fascism. It normalizes him and his ideas.
Screencaps courtesy of HBO.
Guuuurrrllll BYE.
I understand why Celebitchy covered Milo being on “Real Time,” but I really wish you all hadn’t included the videos here. I’m sure Milo’s team and the “Real Time” team both will be noting how many hits these videos get, which is why I haven’t clicked on any of them. This may lead other people to invite him on their shows or news outlets to cover him for ratings.
Also, I don’t think colleges should normalize Milo, but by protesting him, students are now giving him more coverage, which is exactly what he wants. I really think the best strategy for this guy is to ignore him.
I stopped watching Maher years ago because I think he is such a douche. Since the inauguration we’ve watched a few shows, and my original opinion was confirmed. I think it is best to ignore Maher because he gives too big a platform to truly despicable people like Milo and Piers Morgan.
+1. His thinly veiled contempt for Muslims and mockery of people of faith compelled me to stop watching him years ago. He’s slowly morphing into the Bill O’Reilly of HBO, another entitled douche.
This dude has no business critiquing Leslie Jones’s appearance when he walks around looking like he stole his wardrobe from Barbara Bush – who wears those pearls WAY better.
Agree. Dude has hideous fashion sense.
He is the token minority at Breitbart so of course he has to play to gay stereotypes. Can’t you see how diverse they are? They have a man who wears women’s accessories during his racist rants.
Personnally, I was going with Dr. Fran N. Furter, but Tim Curry looks way sexier
Ugh! He looked awful and the way he dips his head and looks up through his bangs he seemed like he was doing a bad princess Diana.
He was totally mugging for the camera. Very punchable
He is so disgusting and creepy.
Oh he super mugged! So insufferable! He looks like he held up a Claire’s. To me, he just seems like a thirsty dilettante toy that the alt-right has put forth to distract from their real bidding. While Bannon sits in the White House, this no-class having, presumptuous, boring, messy, Chanel grabbing git, is starting Twitter wars and sitting around on talk shows. I guess I should have canceled Bill Maher a long time ago. If Milo is a young Chris Hitchens, then my cat is a young Nikola Tesla. He couldn’t debate his way out of a Macy’s. He is like a human shopping mall. I can’t believe Maher didn’t rip him apart for being a neo-Nazi but then again I can, which is why he’s finally canceled as far as I’m concerned.
Where do guys get off in general claiming women have to look a certain way? I’m tired of the “she looks like a man” slurs aimed at any woman who doesn’t meet their weird narrow criteria. She looks plenty female to me.
Milo’s famwhore shtick is so transparent and people just eat it up. He generates faux outrage (he writes a lot of the angry letters to the editors and college boards himself) in order to generate fame and wealth and people just fall all over themselves giving it to him. He doesn’t even care about politics, not really. He’s so thirsty and doesn’t deserve any time or coverage cause y’all are playing right into it. I’m sure he’s been tickled pink about the protests because that means the alt right idiots will buy more of his book and he gets free publicity everytime his name is mentioned.
I just posted something similar. Completely agree that it feels like a very contrived act more than anything else to me. He’s shameless and annoying, but I’m not convinced that he really believes the outrageously hateful shit that he spews. He’s just like a child who found the best way to get attention from his parents is by misbehaving.
I don’t think he believes much of it either. He saw an opportunity and took it. His strategy is right out of a pretty popular book called, “Trust me, I’m lying” that everyone should read.
I would ever argue that he’s harmless, but at the end of the day giving the guy publicity is exactly what he wants and helps him push his agenda that much further. Here’s a great article on him:
http://observer.com/2017/02/i-helped-create-the-milo-trolling-playbook-you-should-stop-playing-right-into-it/
Yes, that has been my take on him but you stated it much more articulately than I ever could. He’s similar to Trump in that he seems to have no real core beliefs or ideology, he just enjoys provoking and getting attention.
chaucer and kitten I posted my armchair analysis of him below that agrees with both of you. I really think he doesn’t mean what he says and that a lot of his attention seeking comes from his parents shunning him as a kid (bc he was gay). He is a rich boy with mommy and daddy issues.
Is it safe to say hateful parents beget hateful children?
That is what I have been saying all along. Milo Y what his face wants ATTENTION and democrats are giving it to him. That is what is disappointing. This Guy is GAY AS F**K and he calls gay people “f***t”. He degrades everyone and insults everyone and he tried to insult Larry Wilmore (of all people). Larry Wilmore schooled his pansy ass ( as matter of fact “spanked his ass”) with some good ‘ole knowledge and curse him right back.
Now if that was me. I wouldn’t curse or get riled up by him. I would just tell him is this “you want attention, you seek attention. You will do everything to find an opportunity to get attention and you love attention. Good for you, because you got from the DEMOCRATS, however, you will not any opportunity of attention from me, and I will not you any of my attention. O and by the way YOU CAN F*** YOURSELF. Milo.
He is a sad little troll who thrives on attention. He wants to become some sort of anti- PC martyr. He wants people to curse him out and protest his campus talks. If people didn’t do that, sad little troll would be disappointed.
Screw the deplorables who fawn all over this guy and scream “free speech free speech freeeee sppppeeeeeccccchhh” whenever people protest against him.
If people buy his book, all I can say is “a fool and his money are soon parted. “
I think he’s a true believer. There are always a few who will gleefully join the very groups that hate them. As a matter of fact, they’ll be the zealots. The ones who are all in. When the realization hits it’s going to be hilarious.
100% this. I bet you he gleefully reads this article tonight (that troll has google alerts on his name for sure). The way to deal with him is to ignore him except when we are ridiculing his hilariously poor debating or he is actively bullying a specific person like he did with Leslie. Everytime you treat this clown as a serious problem, the altright is convinced that he is their most effective mouthpiece even though it must pain them to be rallying behind a guy who embodies the exact opposite of their alpha male bullsh*t. Stop helping the altright with your outrage y’all.
He’s not harmless. He doxes actual, real, living, vulnerable people.
Whoops. Definitely meant “never”. I would never argue he’s harmless. Dropped a letter.
He’s definitely not a harmless troll. He is a hateful, awful troll who now has a rabid following.
Simon & Schuster needs to reconsider promoting this garbage: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/72481-s-s-children-s-authors-protest-yiannopoulos-deal.html
C’mon, publishers. Grow a pair.
If he’s doing that to people at the colleges/ universities where he is speaking, that means he has inside help coming up with the information. I’m sure that must be against institutional regulations and student ethics. So he and his little helpers need to be dragged over the appropriate coals for that. Also such behavior should be grounds for refusing to let him speak on campuses.
I think so too. Along with that ridiculous Joy whoever (I can’t be bothered to look up her last name) who wore that stupid Trump dress and became the Conservative poster child. I mean-really? Could it be any more apparent that they’re just doing it for attention??
Agree with you all. I wasn’t going to watch when I heard Milo was on but wanted to hear the panel discussion. After watching the whole show I realized he was a nothing burger. He was obviously saying ANYTHING that would get a rise out of Democrats or minorities without any conviction. Maher was simply letting him speak so you can see for your self what a stupid clown the guy is and that you can’t even argue with him because the guy is like a Toddler moving from one thing to the next trying to get attention. As Maher said this is not someone we need to fear or hide from and we need to stop taking the bait.
I wish Today’s headlines were about his New Rule “Magic R” segment which took the Republicans to task for their hypocrisy in claiming patriotism while being the most unpatriotic party. And we the public let them get away with it. His take down of the GOP should be sent to every Republican in congress. https://youtu.be/JFWv42U1l4A
So I didn’t see the show or the clips with milo, but I saw the magic R clip and detected no lies. I too wish we’re talking more about that
well, I have bad news for this Milo. the nazis hated gays and ernst röhm who was the most famous gay nazi was murdered during the night of the long knifes. many others were put into concentration camps where they died side by side with the jews, the gypsies, the unemployed, the oposition, some catholics and and and. so when this idiot thinks only because he is colaborating he is safe: he is not. NO ONE IS SAFE when these kind of people (and I mean Bannon) are in power. #RESIST
I’m always quite amazed at the cognitive dissonance required for a member of a marginalized group to hate other marginalized groups. He’s an idiot.
Obviously the nazis -start- with “celebrity” token marginalized- the blacks, the gays, the women, and they keep a few around for a claim of “inclusivity”. Then as things progress only the top dogs stay visible and the rest disappear. I am so thankful for CB to fully report on this hateful and deranged person- I only saw him for a few seconds on Maher and had NO IDEA how it digressed into the panel getting called boring and low IQ. Ordinarily i’m not fond of name calling in a debate, but milo was hateful for too long. Eleven minutes of predatory propaganda deserves one millisecond of sit down and ” you can go F yourself”. Trevor Noah had a 24 yr old nazi sympathizer on his show- is there a trend towards giving these sh*ts a platform? I’m not sure it’s productive?
not only were homosexuals murdered in the holocaust but the allies left a lot of them in the camps after the war.
Bannon was his boss at Breitbart….
Aaaaand this is why I don’t f*ck with so many white liberals. Because they all want to hold hands and sing kumbaya with Trump supporters and Nazis as if they have a legitimate political stance. Maher did not challenge this dude at all and even agreed with him. Absolutely not.
When you start trying to legitimize Nazis you also begin to legitimize genocide as a political position. It’s not
This is what I don’t understand. Liberals like Maher (yes, white liberals, as you pointed out) just behave incomprehensibly to me. It is one thing to have someone on your show who wants to have a respectful discussion about things you disagree with but WHY WHY WHY are they so damn desperate that the worst of the worst like them? They all want to be that one liberal that’s cool. That will accept this vile, disgusting, inhuman garbage as a legitimate political opinion. I don’t understand. What the hell is his damage? I don’t care if a Nazi f*ck thinks I’m the downfall of society because I’m a loud feminist. GOOD. Then I’m doing it right. This is not right. You don’t see Rush Limbaugh trying to suck up to liberals! Have some self-respect.
It’s why the left cannot pull the base together. Because you have white liberals trying to justify trump supporters and minorities trying to fight for their lives against a White House that wants to kill them or deport them. Their base is minority voters but they way people like Sanders are acting they seem to think their base is white working class. It’s infuriating. As if I’m going to find common ground with people that voted Bannon straight into the White House. Dude believes in national cleansing
But Maher isn’t a liberal or a leftist, he’s a libertarian who used to be republican. Sure he thinks he’s so liberal because he’s an atheist and smokes pot, but his core principles are far from those on the left. He doesn’t recognize systemic sexism and racism, he doesn’t see his own privileges, he’s all about rights for everyone in theory, but he doesn’t accept that rights come with obligations when you live in a society/community and that you need to care for all the others. Maher’s all about himself which is in opposition to pretty much every principles of the left. So of course he’ll invite Milo and pretty much agree/nod/remain silent while that awful excuse of a human being talks! Truth is, they aren’t that different he and Milo, they’re both trolls who’ll say whatever they need to to get money and fame.
I agree. It would have been one thing if Maher had bashed his beliefs and mocked him to his face, but to sit there and act as if his beliefs are worth respectful consideration is pathetic.
Exactly. Maher didn’t say anything because he agrees with a lot of things Milo was saying.
What arpeggi said. Bill Maher is not a liberal, never was, and does not represent liberalism at all. He only started to gain a liberal following because he hates Trump as much as liberals do. He’s a problematic, bigoted, misogynistic asshole who sometimes *sometimes* says marginally funny things
Well I agree that he’s problematic and you don’t have to watch much of his show to glimpse the sexism etc. But I wouldn’t really put him in the libertarian corner either. He does hold some liberal beliefs and yes, some libertarian ones. Some a**hole ones as well. He might not be – strictly speaking – a liberal but man, he sucks up to them. And then turns around and sucks up to people like this douche bag and Ann Coulter. I don’t know what he is except an egocentric with a few moments of clarity (i.e. when it comes to healthcare and such but that’s just my personal opinion on that particular topic).
I have to watch his show on youtube because I’m not in the U.S. and I can only take him in small doses. Man, he loves his own voice. But he does have interesting guests on so there is that. I try to block him out most of the time.
Arpeggi, exactly. Maher has never been far left or even liberal. he is often down right sexist so it astounds me that people expect him to stand against the Milo’s of the world when his own beliefs are just another branch on that tree. As for Milo, he like Trump, has found a way to make money off the lowest common denominator of hate. He should not be given any airtime.
What Arpeggi & Shambles said.
This must be the first time some of you are either aware of Bill Maher or have seen this show because a liberal he is not. He had a late-night show for years on ABC and his views were right in front of your face.
i dont think Maher is liberal. Libertarians share positions with liberals and conservatives. its about freedom of choice. so they will agree with abortion and weed legalization but also with gun owning and unleashed capitalism. its more right wing because its pretty much “you can do whatever you want” without any real punishments and no support for people in need.
@ M.A.F.: It’s really not. But he is so all over the place that there really isn’t a label that fits. He absolutely courts liberals on his program though, it’s definitely geared towards them. That is not a show conservatives watch regularly. That doesn’t mean he is a liberal but whatever he describes himself as, he is neither a libertarian nor a conservative.
But how is Bill Maher a libertarian when he famously donated over a million to the Obama campaign?
@Lady Rain Bill Maher contributed to Obama’s re-election because he loathed the GOP front-runners (Romney, Gingrich, and Santorum… I believe). I think he said he thought his own money would be better protected by Obama’s re-election or something of that nature. A jerk reason and maybe not the legitimate reason he donated, but I was surprised when Maher donated to Obama’s campaign, but I applaud anybody who can put aside their political affiliation and choose the better leader regardless of party (if more people had done that in November, we wouldn’t have Trump).
Maher is a libertarian though, and not a liberal. From what I’ve read, a libertarian is a Republican that wants to legalize pot. Lol. Maher’s beliefs are DEFINITELY not leftist or liberal – he has identified himself as a libertarian for well over a decade.
See the well-known supposedly leftie columnist in the UK, Laurie Penny, who tries to make out she’s performing valuable ethnographic journalism when engaging with Milo et al, but is really just an attention-seeking idiot herself. Makes me want to spit.
Milo is far from harmless, however. He doxes closeted people, trans people, and undocumented people in his speeches. He’s a malignant little shit and yes, he can say what he likes. Doesn’t mean anyone worth their salt should be donating the platform for him to say it.
Nicole – see this Twitter thread, I think you’ll agree with it.
http://twitter.com/AyoCaesar/status/827626114394775552
And notice the whining self-pitying tweet from Penny that started it.
Oh. I just ordered my first two Laurie Penny books yesterday because they were so warmly recommended to me. No bueno?
Yea it’s attention seeking and posturing. Nothing more. It’s why I cannot stand Susan Surandon or Bernie Sanders right now. They can afford to be kumbaya with others or not care and vote just to blow up the system. Because it WONT AFFECT THEM AT ALL. It’s all fun and games when you’re white and safe. It’s those of us that are vulnerable that are about to be more so.
And @sixer thanks for the thread. Very good comments and this woman is an idiot
Personally, I can’t stand Penny for all the usual privilege/white/posh/liberal feminist reasons. That doesn’t mean EVERYTHING she says is wrong, however. You know?
But romping around with Milo and friends and then trying to pretend it’s a public service? No bueno. That puts her beyond the pale for me, even though she may say SOME things I agree with. She’s a silly posh girl who does as much damage as she ever helps anything. And, like Lena Dunham, when she’s called on it, she acts as though she is the victim.
Sixer: Is Penny posh? I havent read a lot from her and im not english so its hard to tell for me.
dont get me wrong, im not questioning what you are saying as wrong, im just curious if this is just a one time screw up (admittely a huge one). is there anythiny else?
Oh. Thank you for the fair warning, Sixer. We really don’t need another privileged feminist writer oblivious to their privilege.
QueenB: Laurie has form for attaching herself onto various stuff but y’know, I don’t want to skew the thread by endlessly bashing her. Not everything she says and does is evil. She’s just a bit of a Lena Dunham. All’s I’ll say is this: she is a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford, and if you want to know where the locus of British white/liberal/privileged feminism is, that’s the place.
(I think I’m going to start calling it oblivious feminism. I quite like that.)
Sixer, the term “oblivious feminism” sums what we’re up against just about perfectly. I hereby kindly ask your permission to borrow it at times.
It is why I’m done with a lot of people. It is very easy to whine about coming together with nazi’s when you’re in your ivory tower.
Same. Every time I hear that sh*t they get the side eye and cancelled notice from me. There is no middle ground with people that believe in ethnic cleansing. I’m thinking this is how Jews began to be rounded up…because people were cool to place nice with the Nazis for a long time.
@Nicole: Exactly. It’s hard to take seriously the kind of liberals who try to legitimize people whose ‘political stance’ is dehumanization of people who aren’t male, white, straight, Christian, or American. I also agree with LittleMissNaughty about the ‘Cool Liberal’ trend with people treating ‘Not Alienating Any Trump supporters’ as a political priority.
Watched it last night with my BF and honestly, the whole thing felt incredibly staged to me. Before last night, I thought this Milo person was a genuinely hateful piece of garbage but now I truly question how authentic his beliefs are, or if he just learned a long time ago that provocative behavior gets attention and cleverly built a career on that.
Not giving him a pass for being a shit stain, just questioning how real it is.
I wonder the same thing about Ann Coulter. Seems like an exaggerated act to monetize awful beliefs that she doesn’t fully subscribe to in private. (I heard a podcast once where she came off as intelligent and nearly reasonable. Days later she was awful on tv. Milo seems cut from the same cloth.)
That said, they’re awful influences on civic (and civil) discourse.
He’s very much like Ann Coulter. They’ve made their a career out of being professional trolls. And the best way to handle nonsense like this is to just ignore them. They are not worth your energy.
I’m LOLing that Bill Maher said that liberals are the ones who take the bait, when Bill totally fell for this idiot’s shtick.
Completely agree that he and Ann Coultee are cut from the same cloth and that both are terrible for civil discourse and neither is harmless.
But I actually think Maher was in on it. I think he knows Milo is a troll and invited Wilmore and Malcolm Nance on the show to give them the opportunity to tell Milo to STFU to his face. He didn’t treat Milo seriously because he knows he’s a fake. I’m not trying to be too generous to Maher, but I’ve seen him take out much bigger fish than this kid. I think if he felt like Milo was a serious threat, he’d have no problem doing that.
Full disclosure: I have always had mixed feelings about Maher. I don’t hate him like everyone else here does. I think he can be misogynistic and that even he would admit that he’s an Islamaphobe but I don’t think he’s always wrong either. He makes some great points in between the bullshit. Mostly, I think we need Bill Maher types right now because as smug as he is, he’s still not afraid to go after the GOP. I also really enjoyed his interview with Leah Remini–I think she’s fucking awesome.
Kitten – actually, with reference to the back and forth below, this is what I find to be the kernel of the problem. TV researchers booking controversial figures for viewing figures and journalists writing about them for clickbait.
It skews political debate and mainstreams extreme views.
Remember that show Newsroom that everybody laughed at for being up itself? Well, I’m suddenly remembering it rather fondly, cos it was right about a lot of things.
And I have to wonder how much of it comes from a place of self-hatred and/or self-preservation? Like maybe he knows that, as a gay man, he is “other,” so he strikes out with hatred before anyone can strike at him first
That’s possible too. I just didn’t get the impression that he was really invested in anything he was saying.
I honestly can’t agree. He is a fascist. He is the front face of this fascist movement precisely because he has superficial articulacy AND because he is gay and will therefore get a platform. He is acting as a radicaliser for white supremacy and nazism and the pearls, the polysyllables and the posh accent allow him to do it.
Not only is he the PR vanguard of a sophisticated radicalisation movement, he also does direct, vicious harm to specific individual people. He researches universities he speaks at and he names and shames vulnerable students attending them.
Nobody should underestimate Milo. Because he is highly effective at what he does. Including inciting outrage. And while, yes, he is free to say what he likes, nobody should amplify the poison he spouts by giving him a platform.
You could make a very similar argument about Anne Coulter or Tomi Lahren. I don’t know. I guess I’m less worried about television personalities and professional provocateurs these days than I am about the domestic terrorist organization known as the GOP that is waging a war on democracy and our civil liberties. Normally, I’d have enough hate to cover everyone but truth be told, I have a finite amount of energy these days.
Wow, I had been under the impression that he was relatively harmless. Thanks for the correction. He sounds right on par with Steve Bannon, whose diabolical machinations I believe are more responsible for the rise of Trump than anyone else.
I think he truly does want to say racist, sexist and transphobic things. I wouldn’t underestimate the Milos, Annes and Tomis of the world because they turn themselves into these anti PC martyrs and gain a following. Straight white men say things like well if a gay man or a woman says these things, then I guess those dirty liberals were wrong! It just adds into the Anti-PC nonsense. That is still something you will see die hard Trump supporters still site as a reason they love him. That he is not PC and says what’s on his mind.
So in that way, they aren’t harmless.
“But I actually think Maher was in on it. I think he knows Milo is a troll and invited Wilmore and Malcolm Nance on the show to give them the opportunity to tell Milo to STFU to his face. He didn’t treat Milo seriously because he knows he’s a fake.”
@Kitten
Co-sign. I watch Maher regularly and do have a love/hate relationship with him. But he DOES attack truly dangerous people or real celebrities with power, he doesn’t punch down though. I don’t think Maher took MILO seriously at all. He was just showing that this guy is not the bogie man, just a pathetic wannabe. You may have to be a regular viewer to see Maher’s usual behavior but even in the overtime segment Bill treated Milo like a brat who should stop startyfights just for attention.
I have heard about this Milo for years but only saw him for the first time yesterday. IThe guy is ridiculous. He is over emotional. He can not debate to save his life. He steals his grandmothers necklaces. He is a joke.
WE built this guy. WE. Liberals, progressives, feminists, democrats. We built his mythology. The only reason the altright attaches to him is because we keep over reacting to him. He has none of the dominant alpha masculinity that the altright espouses. So give him a megaphone and put him on national TV and watch the Left laugh him at him and the Right too embarrassed to breathe a word. Book him on every TV show I say.
I don’t know if it is fair to say we built him Ramona.
I read a couple interviews with him. he is British, and If things blow up here in the US, he can go back to London. He has got rich parents and grandparents to fall back on.
Armchair analysis: he was abandoned by his mom for being gay. His dad, who he says was a mobster, also neglected and abandoned him, except for paying for school. And yet, he refuses to consider himself a victim, or that this family history has had any effect on him, a self hating gay dude. Right.
i think The Breitbart/ white supremacist acceptance of him makes Up for his family (sans maybe grandmother) rejecting him.
he doesn’t seem quite so dangerous – just a sad little white boy who never fully processed his family history. Of course he will say anything to get attention. Quite a substitute for love he never received.
He has, I think one friend (who he pays to be his trainer). He does a lot of drugs (ketamine?), he cannot seem to hold down relationships bc he hates other gay men and finds them weak.
He needs to be in therapy, but he abhors it as weak, making you a victim, overly leftish leaning.
I think he has got a sad, lonely life ahead of him. And he is not smart. And he hates himself. Why are we wasting our breath and time on him? He is pretty irrelevant imo. I hate that I wasted time reading about such a milquetoast guy, but oh well. Male ann coulter. Next?
I had heard about Milo and what he’s about. However, I never looked into who he is nor searched articles about him. Don’t know why. He never intrigued me. Until Bill’s show, I had no clue Milo is British and gay. I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but it also felt like a put on.
I had the same experience Ramona describes. I’d heard about this guy, but I only ever saw him recently. We (liberals, progressives) make him a big deal by reacting to him like he’s a big deal. It reminds me of that Buffy episode with the demon who turned out to be super tiny – he was making all of this noise and had everyone terrified, but it turned out he was nothing to be afraid of when looked squarely in the face.
For the record, I fully agree that minority and LGBTQ folks deserve every single right and protection afforded to anyone else. I believe it, I vote for it, I fight for it, I march for it, and I will continue to do so.
HOWEVER – there are people in this country who disagree with these positions. Saying these positions are “not up for debate” and then shutting down the conversation (with riots, by not allowing someone to speak) hurts us all. I think minority rights and LGBTQ rights will and should win the debate, but it is un-American to not have the conversation, and not having these conversations has gotten us to where we are now. Have this guy speak, and have five smart, thoughtful, appealing liberals respond with all of the reasons he’s wrong. If we are right (and again, I wholeheartedly believe we are), people will move to our side.
Let’s have the debate. Let’s have all of the debates. Let’s put what these people say on the air and let the American people recoil in revulsion to their arguments.
Really, really, really: no. Milo is not a poor baby self-loathing gay man who has taken a wrong turn. He is a white supremacist fascist who is the face of a movement precisely so that it gets this sort of reaction from well-meaning people and, more importantly, a constant platform.
He is part of a network that goes from Reddit to 4Chan and the rest of them, and is now forcing its way onto mainstream platforms. The purpose is to widen the radicalisation net beyond fringe conspiracy websites and the sad, lonely losers who frequent them, and THAT is why it has someone like Milo as its face.
I’m sending screen shots of your comments to my BF, Sixer. 😉Hope you do not mind.
Haha..I told him I’m starting to doubt my position on Milo again after reading what you have to say, which is funny because the way you describe him is how I’ve always been meant to understand him before I saw him on Maher.
Maybe you’re right that this is a calculated image meant to make him seem less harmful. I truly have no idea but my gut was telling me that this guy is a fraud. Maybe just wishful thinking.
I don’t know…really interesting debate going on here though. Love my celebitches.
This. (What Sixer said.)
Use the face that people think is either an act or can’t be all that bad because, awww, poor thing, was abandon by his mom. It gives this line of thinking the perfect cover to weasel their way into everything.
If the majority of main stream people think it’s just an act then they turn away and it gives this whole crap idealism the perfect opening to come into the light.
@Sixer? I don’t see him as a poor baby per se, just another generic white boy who, knowing his back story, makes it essier for me to dismiss him. He Is a special snowflake as much as he tries hard not to be.
I do not see him as exceptional intellectually, in any way, and you do I guess?
I think of milo versus ann coulter. Ann coulter wrote she wishes 9/11 attackers had blown up the nytimes and I am sure has incited some ugly behavior too. she also made my blood boil. Yet she was once relevant and now is nothing.
I am sure I could be missing something in this argument, I respect your intelligence and sense of humor immensely 🙂
I also recall there were some cesspools on reddit and 4chan before Milo and I believe they will be there for a while. I remember when gawker wrote an article about 4chan and 4chan proceeded to hawk gawker repeatedly for daring to mention their name. And then later for some other dumb thing, they – 4chan – published the address of and threatened and tried to send pizzas to a female gawker reporter.
What can be done? Law enforcement seems woefully inadequate in these kind of doxxing and other situations. Do we need laws against doxxing?
From a legal perspective, I do wish Milo might be charged with hate speech as is possible in say, Germany or France, but hate speech seems a complex case, legally, to convict. (Not a lawyer but I find the ins and outs of hate speech confusing and interesting)
other than ignore him, I do not know the best course of action for an idiot like MIlo.
And you are saying, take him seriously which would mean what course of action exactly? Via what recourse? Genuinely interested. Thanks for debate.
Thank you Sixer.
People need to stop going out of their way to humanize racial supremacists with armchair diagnoses and tragic backstories. Meanwhile these same supremacists are busy dishumanizing people and endangering vulnerable populations.
Kitten, feel free!
More Twitter threads from people who understand it a lot better than me. The first one is hard to read as the originator keeps being interrupted but I’d really recommend reading all of them.
http://twitter.com/SiyandaWrites/status/796286719058382848
http://twitter.com/redlightvoices/status/826339512628498433
http://twitter.com/morganmpage/status/827725357704953856
We understand that online radicalisation happens with Islamism but we seem reluctant to understand that it’s the same thing with white supremacism.
Milo is the face of this white supremacist radicalisation as it goes mainstream. And we MUST resist.
Tata – he doesn’t have to BE bright. Evil doesn’t require genius. This isn’t a game of Bond villains. Evil is mundane and it’s usually stupid because it’s wrong. He isn’t bright. But he is noisy and he is charismatic – and we are letting the noise in so that his charisma can infiltrate the minds of more people than can be achieved on fringe websites.
But Milo only became the face of 4chan after he so successfully trolled feminist outrage in the UK; 4chan is of course the den of both trolls and anti feminism. From there it was just a hop, skip and jump to more right wing positions.The more the mainstream reacted, the bigger Milo became. So big that he grew such a large American following that den of bigots, Breitbart, offered him a job. The outrage is literally the fertiliser that grew his brand. You want him to wield less power? Stop giving him free advertisement with the publicised outrage. Let him bring his underwhelming ass to university debates so he can get ripped apart by actual intellectuals. As others are saying, the way to resist Milo is to turn him into a figure of ridicule not outrage.
Thanks for those links, Sixer. I just shared with the BF who is being stubborn 😉
@Littlestar- But is it “humanizing” to question the motives of someone who seems to have built a career on being incendiary? We’re living in the age of Insta-famous where we have young men and women making a career out of the negative attention they receive. This guy just wrote a book and is trying to sell copies, presumably. I mean, if this was a an actor or a Kardashan promoting something we’d be leveling the same amount of scrutiny, wouldn’t we? I haven’t committed to any final opinion about this guy yet, but I don’t think we should be discouraging towards those that question his motives. I think it’s fair to question whether this man is truly committed to this ideology or if he just attached himself to a provocative (to put it as nicely as possible) movement because it was the shortest road to fame.
Regardless, the fact remains that he contributes nothing good to humanity. Promoting hateful and bigoted ideology is never a good thing, regardless of one’s motives for doing so.
Merry – yes and no.
Yes: the outrage is what feeds him – that is the POINT of him.
No: he should not be debated or platformed because that generates outrage and that is what feeds him. He can say what he likes but it’s damaging for those who oppose him to amplify him.
No: he should not be ridiculed – because a) ridicule trivialises what he is doing and what he is doing is dangerous, and b) ridicule by outraged liberals is a vital driver of radicalisation. Men are radicalised by reacting to the outrage he generates, not by what Milo is actually saying.
Also: I can’t repeat this enough – when he speaks at campuses, he doxes undocumented students attending that college and other students who have vulnerabilities, specifically to get them deported or put them in harm’s way. If that doesn’t persuade colleges not to platform him, I don’t know what would.
Thank you Sixer for putting this here. We shouldn’t underestimate any of these extremists, they’ve got a global network and the harm they can do is great.
@Sixer I get what you are saying, those twitter convos are also enlightening.
Was also not aware of his plan at Berkeley to dox undocumented immigrants which makes those protests much more understandable as the future of people’s lives were at stake. I would have protested too, if I were at Berkeley.
that was not reported in the nytimes, washington post, cnn, etc!
I guess i forgot about the utter banality of evil (since I consider him to have no charisma at all)
Tata – I mean, I think outrage is inevitable, really. Once Bill Maher books him or Laurie Penny or any other journalist writes about him, or a college books him to speak and there’s a protest, well then places like Celebitchy are bound to cover the fall out and we are bound to speak about it. It’s not OUR fault, you know?
I just think everyone should be aware that Milo isn’t just Milo: he is one part of a complex web of networks that have combined to create a potent force in the radicalisation of white men. Anders Breivik, Dylann Roof, Thomas Mair – these men are the violent facet of these networks. Steve Bannon has turned himself into the political facet. Milo is the normalising facet (normalising for white men; not we, the outraged). All these facets destroy individual lives and we can’t let them destroy whole societies.
I think we need to know this because we need to educate and protect our sons and all the young men we know.
The exchange with the panel happened during the “after” segment, that doesn’t air as part of the original show. He directed the low IQ comment at Malcolm Nance. By the end of the segment, Nance, Wilcox, and Maher had all told Milo to shut the f*** up repeatedly.
And having watched the whole show, Nance’s comments about what must be going on behind the scenes is chilling. These leaks from the intelligence community are unprecedented or “unpresidented” if you want Trumpspeak. And our saviors, if there are to be any saviors, will be the CIA and military intelligence.
That’s the clip I saw, then. I was so confused – looked at Milo and was thinking “is he pretending to be a gay stereotype or what?”. He was identified as a Breitbart editor. I finally realized he was the Milo of the Berkeley protests fame. Somehow this all gives some support to my theory that the thugs in black who were macing and beating up people are involved with Steve Bannon… (Apparently the police have confirmed they weren’t students.)
Both panelists who told him to shut the eff up did it with such class, though. I really miss Larry’s show that got canceled – I had just finally discovered it, too.
I’m disgusted Bill Maher even had him on the show. Milo is just an awful human being. Just wait until the alt right comes for gay people Milo. Sad!!!!
Alt Reich, you mean! (LOL, let’s call them what they are!)
“For Bill Maher to treat Milo’s ideas and words as somehow valid and legitimate makes a mockery of every one of us.”
No. For Bill Maher to treat Milo’s ideas and words as somehow valid and legitimate is part of the normalization of hate speech that is happening around us today. It’s complicity, it’s violence and it’s disgusting – and it is exactly why “freedom of speech” should have its limits. Not every ideology needs to be given a platform for people to lap up.
“…to treat Milo’s ideas and words as somehow valid and legitimate is part of the normalization of hate speech that is happening around us today. It’s complicity, it’s violence and it’s disgusting – and it is exactly why ‘freedom of speech’ should have its limits. Not every ideology needs to be given a platform for people to lap up.” #Truth. This is why I hate it when people try to pretend that uncritical, nonjudgmental, and polite social acceptance of racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, and xenophobic stances and slurs is essential to protecting everyone’s first amendment rights. A person being criticized or fired from their job for their hate speech, dehumanization, or discrimination against a marginalized group of people is not the same as a person being thrown in jail for criticizing the government or a specific politician.
As a Greek I am disgusted that this piece of shit has Greek roots. Your father was an immigrant, as@#$%e.
I’m also completely embarrassed. Not only was his father an immigrant, HE is not even a U.S. citizen but somehow super concerned about bathroom laws? He’s a famewh*re who gives Greeks, Brits, gay people and human beings in general a bad name. I’m so disgusted.
Malcolm Nance asked him straight out about that and then just dismissed everything he said from that point on. Not that Nance was allowing him any leeway on anything.
My best friend is Greek and she said the exact same thing!
He’s not Greek, nor even has that many Greek roots. His father is not a Greek immigrant. They were both born in the South East of England: they are both British born and bred. One paternal (great?) grandparent was Greek, iirc, I think it was his great grandmother; the info is available online with a few searches of public records. The rest of his family has Irish roots. He’s mostly Anglo-Irish, by a huge margin. Fun fact: his real name is Milo Hanrahan.
So, don’t feel bad for Greece having produced someone like this: be angry he’s masquerading as a Greek, probably to get extra “ethnic points” in the circles he runs in, because plain old Irish-Brit Milo Hanrahan just wasn’t cutting it…
I’ve never heard of this person, so thank you all for enlightening me. Whether he really holds these beliefs or not, one thing is certain: he’s a top-shelf tosser. Ugh.
In Austria, former Nazi cradle, we have laws prohibiting people from spewing Nazi bullshit. The technical term for that sort of crime is “Wiederbetaetigung”, which is hard to translate; what it boils down to, and what my internet dictionary calls it, is “re-engagement in National Social activities”. Yes, you can absolutely go to jail for it. Same thing goes for sedition. And you know what? I’m fine with that. Freedom of speech is all well and fine, but spewing hatred, calling on people to hurt and kill others, denouncing their humanity, IS NOT.
Your freedom of speech ends where somebody gets hurt. That’s why there are libel laws, too.
In most countries I’ve been to there have been laws prohibiting Nazi speak and symbols. Is there not a law like that in America?
Nope, hate speech is legal here. First amendment rights and all that.
You make the point yourself of how dangerous it is to censor. First of all, re-engagement in the national socialist activities is illegal? I don’t think Milo is engaging in national socialist activities. People throw around the term Nazi without even understanding what it means. The left just can’t stand to be scrutinized or laughed at : it’s ok to demean Trump and his supporters, but when it comes back around to making fun of lefty causes, it’s hate speech. Who exactly gets to decide what is hate speech, and why is it that people on the left can dish it out, but they can’t take it?
Milo is a goofball, but people are making his point constantly: that is why he is so big. He just has to say BOO and people reveal their own hypocrisy.
@ Sirius: I’m afraid you read something into my comment that was not there. So called Wiederbetaetigung applies to things like: display of the Nazi salute, negating the existence of gas chambers, or trying to re-found the NSDAP. You can find more on it on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbotsgesetz_1947
Here’s an excerpt: “whoever in a printed work, on broadcasting or in any other media, or whoever otherwise publicly in a matter that it makes it accessible to many people, denies, belittles, condones or tries to justify the Nazi genocide or other Nazi crimes against humanity shall be punished with imprisonment for one year up to ten years, in the case of special perilousness of the offender or the engagement up to twenty years. All cases are to be tried by jury.”
Sedition is another, closely related, matter legally. If you call for people [insert any group here: women, asylum seekers, Muslims in general, POC, Jews] to be beaten up/shot/drowned/gased/raped/[insert way of hurting them here], that is illegal where I live. And I think that is a good thing. Pied pipers need to be held accountable legally. It is also, with good reason, illegal for an Imam to send his disciples into an Unholy War. Hate speech sucks from all directions, whether it’s the rhethoric of leftist terrorism like the RAF in Germany, or Nazi slogans, or calls for Muslim bashing, or […]: no. Just no.
I repeat: the minute people get hurt as a result of your speech, your freedom of speech ends. Across the board. No hypocrisy in that whatsoever.
It’s not making fun of lefty causes when you paint transgender people as sexual predators like Milo did on Maher, a statement he backed up by a false statistic. It’s dangerous, because it legitimizes people attacking any transgender person. So it’s not some bleeding heart liberal cause here, it’s the safety of a group of people who are already in enough danger without this douche piling up on them.
So the equality, human rights, and safety of people who don’t share your gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, or religion are just ‘lefty causes’, Sirius? Your condescending dismissal of those issues as something that ‘only the lefties’ would deign to concern themselves with reveals exactly which groups of people you view as subhuman. But never mind that for now, let’s just move on to your “How is one okay if the other isn’t?” false equivalent right here:
“…..it’s ok to demean Trump and his supporters, but when it comes back around to making fun of lefty causes, it’s hate speech.”
That’s because they’re two different issues. One is people being degraded and treated unequally for the things that they aren’t: white, male, cisgender, heterosexual, and American-born. The other is a powerful, unethical politician and his supporters being criticized (or ‘demeaned’ as you manipulatively put it. We must always remember that Trump, Pence, Bannon, & Their Enablers are The Real Victims, amirite?) for their attacks and threats to the rights, equality, and safety of people who aren’t those things- and in Trump’s case, the threat he’s made himself to Americans and people all over this world with the combination of his attacks on people from foreign countries and his general inability to control himself and comport himself like a rational, intelligent, stable adult president of a country. See the difference?
“He just has to say boo and people reveal their own hypocrisy.”
It’s not hypocrisy when people whose political beliefs are largely about people of all races, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, and religious and economic backgrounds being treated humanely and equally aren’t politely, respectfully ‘tolerant’ of behaviors, speech, political platforms, or policies that promote the opposite. It’s consistency.
Sad little troll got lost and ended here!
Bill Maher is a hateful douche. He has been for years. I’m not surprised he had this Nazi on and let him spew hate.
It is unfortunate that Larry Wilmore no longer has a show because he calls out the b.s. I wish HBO would fire Maher and give the show to Wilmore.
Yes, Maher’s questionable beliefs have always been there for everyone to hear. He had to be schooled on Islam by Ben friggin’ Affleck!
I’d love to see Wilmore do a different type of show. I’m not so crazy about round table discussions.
Anyone notice Maher called Trump “Agent Orange”? I first saw that label on this site a few weeks ago so whoever came up with it, kudos, it’s going mainstream!
It was in the Grammys too! A tribe called quest
I really like Maher, and agree with much of what he says about too much PC. But giving this guy a platform is disgusting. People like Milo need to be ostracized not normalized. Nothing he has to say advances any reasonable discussion.
I understand the term PC to mean: treating others with respect. Is that really so bad? Can you please explain what PC means to you?
That is what it means. Conservatives and liberals both agree that is what it means. HOWEVER, conservatives think that liberals take it too far liberals think they don’t take it far enough. Of course there are extremist on both sides and that’s who all the moderates of either side think is an actual depiction of every person that subscribes to whichever political philosophy. Welcome, America! We all kinda hate each other right now.
Dangerous main-streaming of hate. I say this as someone who does appreciate Maher’s point of view at times.
Maher really failed on this one. There’s no debating a racist, it’s hard wired and persuading them to open their mind is highly unlikely. So this is just theater and a way to make a buck off this jerk.
F*ck this Guy and Bill Maher too Is Time we Revocked his *ssholery already, Also Free speech rah Rah Rah BUT know This: An Angel Gets its Wings every time we punch a Nazi.. A Black Angel.. Carry yourselves accordingly
I want Leslie Jones to be my best friend.
And I want this Milo trick to get hit by a car.
Where have you been? Your sass has been missed.
Hey Hey!! Nice to see you here and thank you very much for the kind words 🙂
I got caught up with work but I’m not complaining. Hope you having a great day!
I’m a faithful watcher of Real Time and I was so pissed that he had this douchebag on. One of Bill’s panel guests actually canceled after hearing he was going to be on the show. I told my husband that I couldn’t believe Bill was giving this guy a platform, but then again, Ann Coulter is a regular guest and he interviewed KellyAnne Conway during the election, so….I still love the show, though, because you do get a lot of moments like the one covered here between Larry Wilmore and that Milo asshole. Same thing happened last week with Jim Jeffries giving Piers Morgan a verbal smackdown. But yeah, this was a new low for the show.
Milo looks incredibly insecure, is he even real? he looks like he’s playing a character or somethin
I generally enjoy Maher’s show, even though there are some large facets of him I can’t with — rampant Islamaphobia, sexism, etc. — but it’s bad enough he gives a voice to people like Kellyanne and Ann Coulter and defends them relentlessly, even though they do/say everything he bashes so many others for, but allowing this semi-sentient piece of dog poo on someone’s shoe unchallenged airtime is … Disgusting. Whatshisname has every right to spew his nonsense, horrible, garbage words, but no one has to listen, or give him that forum. THAT’S how freedom of speech really works. There’s responsibility on all sides. For my part, I won’t watch, or listen, cause … choices.
Maher doesn’t even really have the ratings excuse, since HBO is subscription, not advertising, based. Basically, he just wanted to give this talentless, vile tool a platform because it would be “fun.” F that.
This nonsense idea that “the Left” is “intolerant” if it doesn’t embrace hate speech is some high level, gas lighting, B.S. Apparently, Maher is already so knee deep in the cow patty he can’t smell it.
The Islamic world is no ally of the LGBTG community.
Neither is the Evangelical Christian world.
I’m an atheist, but I can still respect that other people have religious beliefs. Religion of all stripes has done a lot of bad in the world — it’s been used by the powerful to oppress and repress for thousands of years — but it also provides comfort, peace and community to many millions of people. There is good and bad in every insinuation, as well as every person; our diversity of thought, opinion and belief makes us stronger as a society. I can personally and vehemently disagree with someone else’s beliefs, and still respect their right to have them.
He claims he has a problem with transgendered people only because he’s “protecting women and little girls.” That is utter crap. He hates women and girls, too.
Okay,so this is all a lie. He’s a character. He’s nothing more than a wannabe who found an angle. I can’t help thinking it’s an extra sick sort of Sasha Baron Cohen type thing. He wants attention and money. And he’s getting it. IGNORE.
In what way is Milo Yiannopoulous endorsing genocide of Semitic races, the infirm, or any other such atrocity? Or thought supporting this?
He’s NOT a Nazi.
Honestly, you should read up on the nazi’s. There’s a lot more to them than the things you’re mentioning here, which are the endresults of taking their beliefs to the, for them, logical conclusion.
Reason out what the logical conclusions would be for the ideas of Bannon and his Breitbart posse. How would these not lead to violence towards minorities and those they deem to be traitors to the US?
Maybe I stand alone, but I appreciate that Maher had Milo on his show. Yes, Milo is a disgusting pig-troll but to ban a guest based on his views (free speech anyone?) does a disservice to everyone.
Let’s move on from this non-topic. It detracts from the real issue, which is Emperor Zero.
Well put. Agreed!
I disagree that free speech applies here. I am only concerned with free speech being attacked when someone is at risk to be hurt for exercising their free speech. Also, generally, I am more concerned when the government is interfering with free speech. I never think it is a great tragedy when a private enterprise like a television show decides who they will or won’t book. Furthermore, outside of perhaps his earning potential, Yiannopolous not being booked on a show doesn’t do him any actual harm. But, yeah, free speech doesn’t entitle one to a platform for the speech, just protection from punishment for the speech.
Yeah free speech does not mean people have to listen or they get a platform to speak or that there are not social consequences.
It means you can not be punished by the government for what we say.
I think we are getting paid trolls here, people…
I disagree. I think Bill Maher called him out. The premise of Bill Maher’s show has always been about mixing various tasteless, deplorable people with more legit types to create controversial dialogue.
He’s like Perez Hilton, saying shocking things for attention, except he’s much more dangerous. And like Hilton, I sense that in a few years when the parade has passed him by, he’ll try to come back as a ‘softer, gentler, reformed Milo’. And when he does, I hope everyone tells him to f^&k off.
I understand the paradox that applies when I clicked on this link to comment but I think Yiannopoulos is a dangerous but nevertheless professional troll. I think he thrives off of liberal outrage and reporting on him doesn’t help our cause. In addition to the actual damage he does, conservatives just think it is funny to see us get worked up over what ever he says. That is pretty much his only purpose for them. I’d love to see everyone in media not play that game.
Milo may not love human rights, but apparently he loves thirteen year old boys.
https://twitter.com/ReaganBattalion/status/833405993006616576
This is priceless!
tl, dr:
for once in his life Bill Maher may have known what he was doing.
When I first heard Milo whatever was going to be on Bill Maher’s show, I thought the world would explode into flames when these two arseholes finally met and shook hands. Milo is not as popular as one would think, and I only know of him because my husband hate watches his youtube. He truly is a human emetic.
Bill Maher himself has some views I agree with but his rabid islamophobia and his anti PC stance alienate me, as a muslim and a person with feelings.
That being said, my husband convinced me to watch the interview and panel, arguing that the only way to delegitamize a troll like Milo is to force him into the light, have him debate people of actual intelligence and then watch him crash and burn.
I must say, he was correct (for once). The first interview was a parade of self congratulation, and incensing as hell. However this Milo guy was not 1 millionth prepared for what was to follow, and his mincing and prancing and battting of eyelashes was all he had, really!!
He’s still an arsehole that professes beliefs that are hypocritical and disgusting. He may have followers, but those followers are drawn to him because of the tragic figure he poses as a victim of “PC bullying”. He is making money and becoming famous off of our morals and our outrage. The link someone posted upthread pretty much says it all. I think (think!) that the only way to disarm these idiots is to not engage. To use their own annoying AF words, we need to not be “triggered”. Its worth trying, at least.
Also I still hate Bill Maher
I haven’t read through this entire thread yet but from what I’ve glanced I know my opinion is going to be very unpopular.
I do not believe in censoring him AT ALL. I know I’m a little fanatical about this but the idea of censoring WORDS scares the shit out of me. And no I do not think his Islamaphobic, sexist crap rises to the level of screaming fire in a crowded theater. This is an extremely important right that we need to protect now more than ever with Emperor Babyfist in the White House.
Progressives should be able to face him and debate him openly and point out the misinformation he is spreading. Protest him if you want (although I think that could be counterproductive since he’s such an attentionwhore. It *is* your right to protest though). Decline to give him a platform on your blog? Sounds even better. But shouting him down or stopping another student group from having him speak on campus? Sorry I disagree with those tactics. And frankly, if he does end up on your campus I say debate him. Don’t let his words go unchallenged. That’s just my humble opinion.
“Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.”
― Noam Chomsky
I agree with you, Keaton. He’s a despicable, attention-seeking little troll who subsists on liberal outrage. But i believe in a person’s right to free speech, to say whatever they think (with the obvious caveats of not outright inciting violence, of course), without the government throwing them in jail. That’s where I defend pieces of crap like him. If I don’t believe in free speech for those I disagree with, then I’m not really in favour of free speech at all. In Milo’s case, he has absolutely doxed people he disagrees with, and danced around outright siccing his followers into the most vile things. As such, it should be proven in court and he should be punished accordingly. But it has to go through court, not the wild west of the interwebs.
Places like Bill Maher’s show and Berkeley are well within their rights to invite him to their stages and let him spew this nonsense and look like the idiot I believe him to be. In one way, it’s good to bring these fringe ideas out of their echo chambers on Breitbart/4chan/etc and debate their positions where they can be swatted down. However, in the age of “fake news,” everyone spouts their own version of reality backed up by flimsy “stats” from completely unreliable sources. It’s impossible to compare two completely alternate realities.
What I’m not obligated to do is hand him a bullhorn because I dare not look biased to a bunch of basement dwellers who live in a warped sense of reality, and in many cases seek to dehumanize everyone but themselves and call it “free speech”. There are plenty of reasonable conservatives and Republicans that I’d book before this sewer-dweller.
“For whatever record, I believe in free speech. Nazis have the right to say whatever they want without the government throwing them in jail”
This is so wrong.
Thank you Bill Maher for effectively ruining this jagaloon’s “career”! Since his appearance on Friday night, Milo has lost his $240K book deal, his job at Brietbart and his appearance at CPAC has been cancelled. Never trust a guy who wears pearls with camouflage, they’re obviously a hot mess.