While the initial focus of Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast was on Maher bemoaning cancel culture and Bill Burr rightfully arguing that cancel culture is over (if it ever truly existed in the first place), the clip that has subsequently gone viral is a conversation the two have about the college protests/Gaza.
The thing about Bill Burr is that he feels no loyalty to a political party or a particular ideology. He doesn’t pretend to know the answers, but he also knows that a lot of people who think they know the answers actually do not. He’s willing to call them out, even if they are his friends. He’s done this a few times with Joe Rogan.
Here, he does it with Bill Maher, who wrongly equates Hamas with Palestinians and pretends to know better than everyone else the complexities of Gaza. Burr is not having it. I do not know why a guy who smokes pot and drinks whisky for two hours feels he knows better than anyone else. When Maher asks Burr whose side he is on in the college protests, Burr says he’s on “the side of the kids.”
“It’s easy to say, ‘I’m for the kids.’ Who’s not for the kids? It comes down to real hard-nosed decisions,” Maher responds. But Burr replies: “Stop talking like you’re a general,” and when Maher condescends, “You know, no one wants to see kids dead,” Burr sarcastically retorts: “That was very brave of you to say that.”
It continues. Maher says that the way to solve the Middle East is “very simple … Stop attacking Israel.”
“You just solved the Middle East on a podcast,” Burr responds, suggesting that Putin should come on a podcast and solve the war in Ukraine.
“This is why this is not your thing. Maher says, “This is my thing,” in a condescending manner that makes me want to hit him. Bill Burr does me one better.
“It’s not your thing,” Burr says. You resemble the person who believes he is a f—-ing general manager and owns a fantasy football team. That’s exactly what it is. Why am I f—-ing listening to you like you’ve done something? What have you done in Washington? Nothing.”
It’s the same thing he did to Rogan, telling him that he’s not going to take his cues from a podcaster without a medical degree. Even though a friend is putting Maher in his place, it is still a beautiful thing to see (though Burr’s tone with Rogan was far nicer than this one with Maher).
