Bill Maher is obsessed with Kansas. And not in a good way. Last year, he variously suggested on HBO’s "Real Time With Bill Maher" that Kansas would always be in the final five of a reality show called "America’s Stupidest State"; that New Orleans should relocate to Kansas, "the land that fun forgot"; and that the real-estate boom proved "again just how much people will pay to not live in Kansas."
Then last month, he reacted to the GOP straw poll in Tennessee this way: "If you’re going to win a national election, we’re going to need to see some real proof that you’re stupid enough to carry Kansas. Sorry, but if you think that issues like creationism or flag-burning or boys kissing are more important than messing up Iraq, the state of health insurance and the evaporating planet earth, then I have two words for you: the Sylvan Learning Center. Okay, that’s four words, but the point remains." Would it help if the governor sent the guy some sunflowers? More likely, Kansas just needs to wait until another state draws his ire away.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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79 Comments
Sad, but true.
Sadly, being the electorate, we are the ones ultimately responsible for this stupidity. We (collectively speaking) voted for the BoE and we rightly deserve the shame of that. We can redeem ourselves next election.
We also (collectively, not personally singling out anyone) voted for the gay hatred amendment, which I personally abhor. Again…we (collectively) brought this ridicule on ourselves. We need to proactively change it rather than sit and wait for some other state to draw a pundit’s ire.
Well, kinda, sorta. Not all of us are Morris/Abrams Neanderthals. I believe in yang/yin. We used to be known as a place where people could think, but then the right-wing took over. We’ll never be New York, but we ain’t all stupid - jJust enough of us to keep electing idiots. Hmmm, maybe that does average out to stupid.Ouch.
Bill Maher is a comedian that is no longer funny. Why should we even care what he thinks?
Hank
They forgot my favorite Bill Maher joke. He said recently that he loves March Madness. Why?
Because at least once a year he gets to hear the phrase “Kansas has been eliminated”.
Thanks to our BOE, our state legislature, sam and pat, the preachers fred, joe and terry, and our general propensity to elect wingnuts, all that money we spent marketing kansas over the last ten years was wasted. Gone. Whizzed away.
It will take another ten years and millions in marketing money to rehab our state image. To make people think kansas voters are, collectively, something we are not.
Sane.
Of course someone will ask why we care what other states think. We care because we want them to invest here, create jobs here, move here.
If we really dont want those things, we need to be honest and admit it. If true, we should put a big sign on the Ks Dept of Commerce that asks the last person leaving to please turn out the lights.
We’d probably save enough over time, coupled with the decline in population, to fund education!
Heheh. I posted the above before I read Hank’s post. Right on cue as usual Hank.
I really liked the joke he told a few years ago about the guys that were killed in that grain elevator explosion. It was a real knee slapper.
Maher is as usual, spot on.
Two conservatives have weighed in here so far judging Mahers humor. They will no doubt be joined by others who will as they frequently do, prove Mahers points with THEIR posts!
They will also prove that conservatives also lack any experience of humor let alone sense of it.
Hey Todd?
I missed that one. Is it as funny as George bush joking about not finding weapons of mass destruction?
Unfortunately, Maher’s comments reflect Kansas’ image well. I frequently hear comments from clients about KS; I try to tell them that the media overplays the stories about the BoE, Phelps, etc. However, the poor state of economic development here and our shrinking population indicate that the poor image is widespread.
I remember when KS had 6 Congressmen and Georgia had 5. Now KS is down to 4 and GA has a dozen or so.
I don’t know, JR. I don’t spend every waking moment thinking about it.
Actually, I mispoke, (or wrote) Maher never was that funny.
Hank
He is correct… you people are just to stupid to see.Kansas is and always has and will be a joke. With the Gov. A Mr Phelps that need a bullet in his head (along with his followers) BOE, and the crime ridden streets of KC and Wichita and the Keystone Cops that looked for BTK. BTK put us in the map…we have nothing else going for us
I gotta agree with Hank. I care what Maher thinks about as much as the French care about deoderant.
Yeah guys, if you’re a republican, I could see where you might think Maher isn’t funny. Do you suppose it may because you’re not his target audience? I notice on his programs that he doesn’t get as much laughter as he gets applause…almost like people agree with him. Kind of like that Stewart guy you don’t like.
I know, it’s not easy to find time to laugh what with all that supporting of unjust wars, and finding ways to make gay people misrable, and worshiping with fred and terry and joe, and figuring out how to shoot public education in the head.
Bad attitude and no sense of humor…You guys got it rough.
See?
Watch the conservatives post after post prove Maher right.
Good ‘ol Outlander even managed to sneak in the obligatory cliche attack on the French.
Maybe the reason some don’t like Maher’s humor is because it is uncomfortably true.
HEY ! Let em badmouth Kansas we don’t any of those Easterners or California queers here anyhow.
I’v been to all four corners of this country and countless places in between and there is no place I had rather live. Ya there a lot of them I go visit but I always come back to Kansas for my livin.
I dunno, I appreciate the humor of Bill Maher but I’ll still take George Carlin anyday.
sounds like bullet-boy is back.
I never miss Bill Maher on Friday nights, even though I don’t always agree with him. His comments about our state make me groan, but I always end up laughing. Maybe you conservatives should try it. Nothing like learning to laugh at yourself, especially when the truth hurts. KFG, glad you added the March Madness bit. I guess he wasn’t aware that WSU was still, at that point, in the running.
Gentle People,
I would submit to you that our image in other states has at least as much to do with our local media as it does with late night comedians and punsters.
Kansas is a wonderful place to live. I know that in some people’s mind that the conservatives have messed it up, but when the local media mischaracterize our political debates and insists on reporting on the worst among us instead of the best our image sufers.
Any one that has gone to the Prairie Rose for supper and entertainment realizes that our local culture is fresh, marketable, accepted with world interest and it’s Christian.
Instead on the front page we get Phelps. Why? Would he exist with out media coverage? He doesn’t demonstrate to upset grieving families, he demonstrates to get his picture in the paper and on TV. Front page and nothing new.
The debate on our science standards is another example. The local media mischaracterizes the debate. It’s picked up nationally and we are laughing stocks. Now I’ll admit that the BOE members for the most part are walking, talking idiots, but let’s keep it our little secret. At least, don’t report it worse than it is!
Hank
Dear XXX,
Notice how I was able to make my point with out defaming democrats, liberals, athiests, and idiots on the left in general?
Hank
Very sound, Hank. I guess I wasn’t astute enough to realize that bashing Kansas is a political thing. Silly me, I thought it was about some off the wall comedian taking liberties with some strange facts.
I never realized that it could develop into an accusation of how an entire political party has no sense of humor….
Yeah, you guys all have a great sense of humor until we start talking about Rush Limbaugh’s jokes or Sean Hannities…or Dennis Miller…
Where are you at Boy? Just coordinates, no names.
Oh come on, Hank! That was mostly tongue in cheek. You KNOW I can get a lot worse.Tuck in the hurt feelings and I’ll give you a pass the next time you go on one of your rants. You know, the ones where you insult everybody’s inteligence because they don’t agree with you.
Nathan, I’ll have you know I laugh at Limbaugh, Hannity, and Miller all the time.Just not in the sense that you do.
Raptor,”I never realized that it could develop into an accusation of how an entire political party has no sense of humor….”
I rest my case……
Now Nathan, how can a respectable Republican, such as yourself, respect a thrice married doper who happens to tell lame jokes? Surly you have more intelligence than that? Personally, I don’t have a problem with multi-married men or women. I can even excuse the doper part. But the lame jokes?
Nathan, I like a good laugh, with the emphisis on GOOD. Flush Limberger is good FOR a laugh, but a GOOD laugh? That’s a stretch even for him, isn’t it, dear?
The last thing on earth that I am going to do is put stock in anything a weed smoking, race mixing, degenerate jew like maher has to say. If folks don’t like Kansas then head for either coast, and don’t let the door hit you in the backside on your way out!
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
Bill Maher we laugh with.
If I could not laugh at this sorry state, I’d find myself weeping. With laughter I find reassurance. Trapped as I am in this conservative desert, I know there is clearer thought out there.
Rash Laimbrain and Sean Vannity laugh…..
At the good working people that they dupe into voting stupidly.
Heck, Rush’s listeners are SO obtuse that they call to complain about the parody ads Rush runs in the name of Democrats…….cause they think they are REAL!
Who the heck is Dennis Miller?
“Who the heck is Dennis Miller?”
JR, in your question lies the answer: Nobody.
Dennis Miller is a turncoat. He used to be a Democrat. Then everybody knew who he was. Then he turned republican….They tried to float him on HBO last year but his ratings were dismal. True to form, now that he’s a republican, he’s not funny anymore (see my post above about republicans and sense of humor).
“Who the heck is Dennis Miller?”
Try google JR. Where the heck have you spent the last 20 years, Cha Cha?
You know, Maher-types are amusing at best. Why do some people even give them any intellectual credit? Oh I don’t know…because they are a celebrity? Yeah that makes sense. Only their fellow socialist lefties blindly fall in line behind the Hollywood evangelists. Be mindful of false prophets, even those from Hollywood.
Kansas: Home of the largest privately held corporation in the world. Fully of dumb hicks I’m sure.
Not surprising you don’t get satire/irony Outlander.
Scroll up and learn how you confirm my and XXX’s take that the right has no concept……let alone sense of humor.I REMEMBER Dennis Miller.
Saturday Night live…..a bad stint at Monday Night football……So as XXX says Dennis Miller is nobody.
Geez….. discussing comedy with the right is like talking to an end table about physics.
ID go away. Become a premium Rush member.
JR: I’ll take you on your word that you know who Dennis Miller is. You sure didn’t feign ignorance very well. XXX and I both thought you were serious.
Better not quit your day job.
“Geez….. discussing comedy with the right is like talking to an end table about physics.”
JR my friend, you missed your calling. You’re a natural!
“You know, Maher-types are amusing at best. Why do some people even give them any intellectual credit?”
At least we can answer, “not for the same reason wingnuts give Rush, Sean, and Dennis what’s-his-name intelectual credit.”
Honestly, rush makes me laugh.
Anal warts.
ROFLMAO!
I never miss Bill Maher. His show is always funny and sometimes painfully true. His shots about Kansas are right on, though. How can we claim to be God fearing Christians, but we have to pass concealed carry laws to make ourselves feel safe. Who would Jesus shoot? Where in the Bible does he condone violence against his children? Doesn’t he preach to turn the other cheek? We have people who complain about the fact that we have to go out of state for gaming because our legislature will not allow gambling, but we keep sending them back to Topeka. Our state is run by the pseudo-christians that are just like the ones we have at the federal level.We deserve every bit of the josting he gives us. Or at least 60-65% of us do.
MORE PROOF!
XXX did take me at my word. He missed the dig at Miller.So I guess I feigned ignorance pretty well if I “fooled”X
He also followed with a pretty accurate portrayal of Miller.
Aww but you as ususal Outlander. You followed with a humorless, devoid of facts attack.
Hey Outlander? I gotta funny for ya! Tom De Lay is not seeking re election “for the good of the party”
Careful brown……
Outlander is about.
He will tell you what God says.
Nathan,
See I knew you guys would flip out when I mentioned those names…
Dad,
Latitude: 37° 35′ NorthLongitude: 127° 03′ Eas
When I was in the Army, and told anyone I was from Kansas, they always associated it with “The Wizard of Oz”. Those were the good ol’ days!
JR,I’m not worried about outlander. He said earlier he doesn’t care what Maher thinks. If he doesnt care what Maher thinks, he won’t care what I think, either.Every time he weighs in on this, he is contradicting himself.
Brown
Thought is not the province of Outlander.
Your observations confirm mine. But I have had the chance to observe Outlander on a wider scale over a longer time.
He is practiced in hypocrisy and contradicting himself.
Bill Maher is a failure of a comedian. He should never be taken seriously!
Ladies and Gentleman? Crusader Blogfart has returned.
Crusader,If they showed Bill Maher on Faux News instead of HBO and made him read right-wingnut jokes instead of the truth, would you like him then?Just knowing how he, or anybody thatcan make republicants squirm is enough to keep him on TV and rich for the forseeable future.Did you see on this weeks show when California congressman Dana Rohrabacher was defending King George about the 7 minute gap between when Bush was told America was under terrorist attack and when he actually got up and left? He said the government was analyzing if it was an accident or attack. Rohrabacher said any president, Democrat or Republican, would have waited for analysis. Maher asked him if Clinton had done the same thing would he defend him as vigorously. Maher stopped him cold in his tracks.Priceless!
brown,I don’t get much time for tv anymore, but that does sound thoroughly entertaining! But seriously, politics aside, I just don’t find him funny…
I like Bill Maher. I think he is hilarous. His show and stand up is great.
I like him because he attacks both the Republicans and Democrats. People think he is one sided, but he is not.
He believes what he believes. He is no leftist liberal though, although many liberals think he is. They clap and cheer on his show when he slams on the Republicans or conservatives, but I love the silence the crowd has when he slams on leftist. :)
He’s great! Although I do like Dennis Miller better.
“Any one that has gone to the Prairie Rose for supper and entertainment realizes that our local culture is fresh, marketable, accepted with world interest and it’s Christian”
Hank this must be a banner day, I agree with this whole heartly.Every time I have been to the Praire rose. There are people from all over the world, they are some of Kansas best. We may never lose the backward image. But there is a place for it in the world.
Joe, you’re right. Maher does hit both sides, and all hits are well deserved.
Julie, I’m a Carlin fan, too, from way back. But my favorite these days is Eddie Izzard. Now let’s hear what the conservatives have to say about a crossdressing Brit…as if they have any idea who he is.
I don’t care for Maher. I don’t care for anyone that projects negative one-sided stereotypes about anything. I don’t like being called stupid for wishing to live in a state where I can feel relatively safe at night and not have to carry a $500,000 mortgage for a decent place to live. Sure there are issues with Kansas, but there are also some significant advantages to living in Kansas that he ignores. I guess anyone that wants to live a peaceful, quiet lifestyle is stupid. Call me stupid then.
Stupid.
RD, I knew I liked you for a reason. Eddie Izzard is roll on the floor funny. I love his routine where he does it in french!
Bill Maher’s comedy is for the well informed, quick witted, well read viewers. He is an equal opportunity offender. If you generally “dont get it” and if you cant laugh at yourself, you will hate Bill Maher.
And seeing who hates him here… it makes perfect sense.
Are there any comedians who do just jokes that the wingnuts love? I cant think of any right now. Must be that famous lack of humor.
Unless you count tom delay BEING a joke, not just telling them.
Heheh. Gonna be a good day…
Yes kfg, there are. Ann “Blow up the NYTimes” Coulter. Rush “Married 3 times Family Values” Limbaugh. Dick “Deposit the Defense Money in my Bank Account” Cunningham.
I agree that Prarie Rose is a great attraction. I am not dogging them. But…
I think strip clubs and porn shops have lots of clients and draw FAR more people than Prarie Rose. You all want to run adult businesses out of town, or force them into a dark corner where no one can find them? Then dont whine to me about our backward image when it comes to business and economic development.
Why is popularity of one kind of entertainment good, and the popularity of another kind of entertainment bad? IF you wanna go with the most popular, which one would it be?
Be careful when you start talking popularity. I think even the gay bars in Wichita get more annual traffic than Prarie Rose. I dont have to guess how you feel about THOSE establishments.
SO much for the market value of christian entertainment. Not as high as the market value of non-christian entertainment.
LMAO. ROFLMAO. GOOD ONE BEN!!!!
Mad Dad says: “Sure there are issues with Kansas, but there are also some significant advantages to living in Kansas that he ignores.”
Yeah MD, Kansas is PARADISE for the christian taliban.
But for the rest of the world…I see how they are rushing to move here. I see how we are bleeding population. I see how we have steadily been losing congressional seats and will likely lose another one.
Why oh WHY cant the rest of the world see what paradise looks like with the kansas taliban in charge?
Kansas…as bigoted as you think.
Heheh. I forgot Ben. That list doesnt even include the wingnut bloggers who are always good for a laugh… followed by a good cry for the future of our nation if they remain in charge.
PJ O’Rourke is a funny conservative comedian, imo.
Dennis Miller is not.
Bill Maher is occasionally witty but he’s too smug to be funny. In other words, with Maher I always find myself thinking ‘See, that’d be funny if he just wasn’t such an idiot saying it.’
In fact, Miller and Maher are both unfunny for exactly the same reason.
Just my opinion.
I still think the funniest man who ever took the stage was Bill Hicks.
Heheh flike. I get the same feeling every time I see shrub on the tube. They dont call him the “smirking chimp” for nothing.
I call it his frat boy smirk. He knows there is NOTHING he can do that his daddy or his cronies cant fix.
Edit: O’Rourke is a funny conservative *writer,* not really a comedian.
Actually, the funniest conservative comedian, white guy, is probably Ron White or Larry the Cable Guy.
Black guy: Chris Rock, maybe DJ Hughy (these guys are both conservative personality types; their actual political affiliation may vary).
At the end of the day, it doesnt really matter if people in ks like Maher or not. He has a huge audience and will reach more people every week than all the media in kansas combined.
Stopping the bad press about ks is like draining the ocean by dipping out of it with a teaspoon.
It would be less futile to actually change what we do in this state. But then, the kansas taliban would never allow that!
Flike,Did you see the Ron White special on Comedy Central last week?? OMG I was laughing so hard I was crying. The squirrell bit was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Lord I apologize.. and bless the pygmies in New Guinnea, Amen”
Julie, I must have missed it. Thanks for the heads up, I’ll catch it on a rerun I’m sure.
And yea, Larry the CG cracks me up, too, what a redneck. (did you know he’s from Nebraska?)
Julie, I rolled on the floor and thought about this blog when Ron White talked about his high school debating career. He said he once told the other team “oh yeah, well F*** YOU!”
He was surprised when he got in trouble for saying that.
He said he thought he won!
Heheh. Some of us out here want to start a third party and call it the “Git ‘er done” party.
We sure dont have any of those party members in the ks legislature now!
I agree with ks. A THIRD PARTY is sorely needed to “get things done.” Because the Reps and the Dems seem to not know what the hell they’re doing.
I agree with Maher on a lot of things (except PeTA and animal rights nonsense). Kansas earned its black eye fair and square. As long as the Christian Taliban is running the show, this state will never move forward. Our schools are a wreck & things are in chaos- but nevermind that, there are MUCH more important issues (gays and gambling and porn) to worry about! The fact that Terry Fox, Fred Phelps and their ilk are welcomed with open arms in Kansas is proof positive that this state has real issues. Stupid people elect stupid government officials, so stop being idiots and wake the f* up, folks.
Anyone who wants to really understand what this country stands for (hint: it rhymes with funny) needs to read the 1960’s Mad magazines. They had satirists who incisive brilliance has yet to be matched in our era, though we sorely need it. They skewered: advertising–how to persuade people to THINK they need things that they don’t need at all– bankers, insurers, the corporate rat race, politicians, lawyers, doctors, Hollywood, symbols, and how they manipulate the masses of little people.
Mad never made fun of Kansans. When it did present “hicks” they always expressed wisdom that made self-styled sophisticates look really obtuse. Mad was basically a genius populist publication.
It didn’t except ANY advertising, so that it was entirely beholden to its readership, and it was free to say anything its writers and cartoonists wanted to express.
heartlander…
to those who think Kansas is a joke I say “What? Me Worry?”
Most on here are probably too young to remember!
It’s crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide, Sam.
Too young to remember what, clod?
(References from the late 50’s-early 60’s, and pretty much the whole 70’s, respectively).
FYI, the aforementioned magazine competed with my comic books, and was on my subscription list well into the 80’s. My first words were “What, me worry?” (Okay, that last part was BS!)
I doubt that any Mad writers–whether the original “usual gang of idiots” or the newer ones–would be stupid enough to satirize a whole state. I do know that Al Jaffee regularly bashed Jesse Helms in his cartoons well into the 90’s, even though the good people of North Carolina kept sending that jackass back to Washington.
I don’t see it much these days, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they took some well-deserved potshots at the KS BOE. It would entirely consistent with the ethos and nerve Bill Gaines instilled in the staff (yes, he’s gone, but his spirit looms as large as he was in life. . . ).
While I agree with most of what you say, heartlander, you’re really leaving out a lot. Mad made fun of everyone, “hicks” included. Would you suggest with a straight face that Mad was silent during the civil rights movement? They certainly weren’t, and they caught serious hell for it.
I am gratified that others appreciate that dangerous, vulgar, anti-family, left-wing, communist-inspired magazine as much as I do!
Dog, I just gotta say, I hope you continue to post early and often. A fresh thread really brings out your best. You captured the essential CHEESE of the business in an economy of words!
Sheer brilliance, man!
Oops, wrong thread. Sorry.
I grew up in Kansas, beats western Nebraska or Oklahoma! Can’t begin to understand why the poorest of them are Repubicans tho.