As a former catholic I am appalled at what the Roman Church has done not only to the thoudsands of young boys with whom their priest were ” The Devil Personafied” but they have also managed to set mankind’s social evolution back 500 years. I applaud you Mr Maher for taking point on this topic and the government’s taking control of the lives of these unfortunate children over an annomous phone call…another slam against our rights and another blow against the constitution…as right or wrong as they may or may not be.
But I can say with confidence to you sir right now…SCREW EVERY DAMN ONE OF THE CATHOLICS WHO SEEM TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR COMMENTS.
No time for a spell check folks..so go pound sand.

It’s about time someone said something constructive about this nonsense. good on ya bill, no wonder the people who own our societies have absolute contempt for the average joe. most of humanity lives in sh*t and we pay attention to nonsense.

BUSH HAS CONFESSED (TWICE) TO 9/11!

If Bill Maher has not devolved into a self-censoring media whore, then how come he has never gotten around to questioning Bush’s repeated 9/11 confessions which signify prior knowledge of the ‘surprise’ attack at the highest level of the U.S. government (or seemed to notice that Dems have all, for years already, pretended like Bush just never made the well-documented statements)?

I don’t see much of a difference between Di and Paris; they’re both famous for being famous. The fact that one of them tried to use her fame to help people doesn’t change that, anymore than if Paris decided to pull an Angelina Jolie.

The media attention surrounding Di’s death and the public mourning had little to do with her charity work. Before she even began her career as a philanthropist people were wiping tears of their cheeks when she walked into a room and having conversations over tea about how great her skin looked.

On the contrary, I think Mahr was trying to show the extremes of the cult of personality that pervade the news. I can’t say I disagree with anything he said during his monologue. He admitted that Diane did good work, but the bulk of her popularity was centered on fantasy.

  Michael, you posit that many mothers who die in car accidents do so anonymously, but many who fight AIDS in Africa, or work to end land mines are anonymous as well, simply because they are no princesses of Wales.

  Personally, I thought it was tragic that events unfolded as they did and three people died. But I had no delusions that this was a history changing event, or that it affected my life in any way, since I don’t read gossip pages, tabloids, or Kitty Kelly. The idea that the lives and deaths of the famous are somehow greater than the lives and deaths of the least of us is exactly what Mahr was saying, and what you touched on.

  As for monologues, I’ll take both please, and add Keith Olberman. Olberman and Mahr are outraged and have venues to describe that outrage coherently. Stewart is, I gather, equally outraged, but is more subtle, as satire generally demands. Watching networks bend over backwards in an attempt to show both sides of all arguments, even when there isn’t an equal opposing side, is frustrating. Fox news dedicates it’s entire line-up to fighting this balanced reporting and leans right. Stewart, Olberman and Mahr present single sided perspective from the left, all in their own way.

The fascination that Americans have with this ridiculous institution of Royalty in the 21st century is a joke beyond belief.Remember the tradition of calling our dogs prince and princess did not start because we were looking to cannonize royalty.These people cannot even dress themselves.As my dog Princess Di starts humping my leg I am going to finish this missive.

Senseless deaths happen everyday, more often than not to good people, that won’t get more than a few lines in the obituary section of a local newspaper, maybe not even that. It’s just more of the sensationalist media doing what they do best - substituting phony pathos for real news. I think that was all Bill’s trying to point out. His comparison to Paris Hilton was off base.

I hear people say they cried when she died…
and on TV I remember all these people going crazy…

I never saw the big deal about her…
Maybe I’m cold…

But before she died… did anyone give two shits about her?
Why did her death bring out such emotion??

Her death is a show…

Thank you Bill Maher. It’s about time somebody pointed out how ridiculous the adulation of a young woman born to very fortunate circumstances has become.

Who fucking cares?  Why is TruthDig posting pseudo-inflammatory, boring video clips like this?

Has there been a change in management?

I think his comments were more a reflection of our inane response to celebrity. Just because you slap the title “princess” on someone doesn’t make them the second coming of Mother Teresa, or elevate them to a status not recognized as mortal. She was a person, nothing more, nothing less, thrust into a lifestyle that was obscene in its excess and irrelevence, and she reveled in it and embraced it. Hard to give her accolades when she would arrive at her charitable destinations surrounded by artificial conditions (ya think they let her walk in a real mine field?), and then jet off to a vacation to St. Tropez to get over the “trauma” of mixing with the afflicted.
Naw, Bill was right to excortiate the simple minded sychophants who follow this tripe.