Leno, Maher interrupted by protesters (2-Kucinich and impeachment)

[babylonsister]

Run time: 02:28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWsxgVOSk8   Posted on YouTube: January 16, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 17, 2008 By DU Member: babylonsister Views on DU: 2829

 

[Ken Burch]

1. Oh come off it, guys, you knew the first guy was calling for Dennis to be in the debates.

Smug jerks.

[bahrbearian]

5. Maher is one of the smartest guy on TV

:sarcasm:
and he never said the "Neocon's Might have been right on Iraq" after the invasion
Of course it was about the writers strike..Of course NBC had nothing to do with the Debates.

[cyclezealot]

24. Ironic in that Leno is NBC.

Hope I'd restrain myself. But, being on NBC turf, I understand the inner conflict. Too bad Democrats don't have the energy of the Ron Paul people. Search You Tube and the Protests of Ron Paul after his exclusion after New Hampshire Fox debate. Sean Hannity could not have a peaceful breakfast all week, without protesters running after him. That is a more appropriate response.

[timtom]

2. I despise those 2 ass monkeys...

a) They truly didn't know what the Kucinich issue was and are pig-ignorant

or

b) They're both media whores who haven't a clever thought between them

I suspect it's c) Both!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. I wonder if its the same screaming assholes as last time?

Change LA or whatever they call themselves,

[frog92969]

4. So what are YOU doing for democracy?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. more than heckling B-list comedians n/t

[navarth]

6. screaming assholes? good grief.

You don't like them interrupting your entertainment? Sorry, I can't agree. I can't help thinking they deserve a bit of credit for putting themselves on the line....I mean, when it comes down to it, what they're screaming about is much more important than our TV giggles...

Frankly, I was a bit disappointed with Bill Maher for not respecting the picket line with his own show, and with Leno's show. Very disappointed. And I don't care for the way he devalues the message people are trying to get out.

You know who handled some people like that very well? Chris Matthews of all people. He invited an audience member that was shouting in that manner onto the stage to state their grievance. It was all done pretty nicely. And he was smarter than Bill. He defused the situation quickly that way, and got on with the show.

Bill needs to re-think his stuff a bit, I think.

But calling them screaming assholes? That's a bit much.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. throwing them out resolves the sitation too

Would you expect the hecklers to be given a platform were they promoting a cause to which you were not sympathetic?

Should I go heckle the Aladdin show at Disneyland because ABC cancelled According to Jim?

[kas125]

21. Their "cause" is Democracy .

They are not given a platform anywhere, they have to take one where they can find it. And it's attitudes like this that enable the ptb to try to silence any and all dissenting opinions.

[jgraz]

12. The best part of these protests?

Is we find out who the hardcore authoritarians are on DU.

"screaming assholes" :eyes:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. okay, so lets say I show up at an Edwards event....

and start screaming from the audiance, would you expect me to be called up on stage so I might deliver my anti-Edwards screed at the microphone?

Or should I expect to be removed?

[jgraz]

15. First, they didn't disrupt a political speech, they disrupted a tv show

People heckling a politician get huge amount of latitude IMHO. But in this case, they were simply disrupting a "product" (and a crappy one at that). And they were doing it in a way that got their voices heard and that hurt nobody. I hope to see more of them at every live NBC show.

It's called civil disobedience. Those same sorts of "screaming assholes" are why women get to vote today, why black people don't have to use "special" washrooms, why we have weekends and why you currently aren't being drafted to go fight in Iraq.

Show a little respect.

[wildbilln864]

16. damn well said! Thank you!

:hi:

[Apollo11]

26. I agree. Blessed are the troublemakers.

It's called Non-Violent Direct Action. In Eastern Europe, it led to the collapse of Soviet-style Communism without a shot being fired (except maybe in Romania where Ceaucescu was hanged ...)

John Edwards is always talking about backbone so I don't think he would have a problem with someone heckling during one of his speeches. As far as I know - he does not screen who attends his events and his campaign does not try to control what questions they are allowed to ask.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

27. heckling vaudeville ended communism?

Seriously, you guys are comparing people showing up to shout a few seconds of bullshit on a late-night talkshow to Polish Solidarity or the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Well, when I get thrown out of Disneyland for heckling Aladdin and the Genie you guys better back me up!

[navarth]

29. if Aladdin and Genie are doing something wrong then I will back you, pal

and I wouldn't say you were shouting a few seconds of bullshit.

who's side are you on really? I'm just asking.

[Writer]

7. The problem is it's not effective.

It's cathartic for those of us who agree with what the protesters are saying, but as you could hear from the audience after the second protester shouted, they were more annoyed than enlightened.

[Stranded]

28. Of course they were annoyed

They, in effect, crossed the picket line, too, to watch Bill and Dino. I would suspect that most people willing to cross a picket line to see that hack Leno and get a few "laughs" could never be enlightened. Everything is peachy!

[navarth]

30. right. fucking. on.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Thank you for the reminder of why I don't watch most TV

especially US television. These men(Leno and Maher) thought they were sooooo cutesy-wootsey, didn't they?

[NoGodsNoMasters]

10. What did they expect?

Did these two idiots actually think they were accomplishing something? I'm sorry, but you can't just insert yourself into a program and expect to be heard. They were barely audible, you couldn't see them, and they make the left look bad by looking like crackpots. Did they really think they were gonna change anybody's mind by doing this? If this is indicative of the kind of support Kucinich has he's DOOMED, although I pretty much already surmised that. If they want to heckle a program they should go on fox and heckle O'Reilly, or Hannity, or some such asshole. Bill Maher has consistantly, vocally, and vehemently denounced George Bush and his policies. He's on "our side", if you will. These two people are retards. If they wanted to raise awareness about this issue theres' a lot of other, more effective things they could have done, and not look like nutcases in the process.

[bonito]

13. Its light slipping out from the iron curtain

It will always escape darkness just look up in the evening sky its all you will see, truth.

The comment from the audience was misinterpreted by the immediate prevailing issues on the writers strike but the reply was appropriate anyway.

[LoZoccolo]

17. I hope more and more Kucinich supporters do this!

lol

[cyclezealot]

25. please consider the suggestions made in response

number 24.

[rjones2818]

18. It would be fun if this happens on ALL NBC/GE programs

with live audiences! They want to choose who our President is going to be? Get ready to hear from the masses!

Go Dennis! :woohoo:
http://dennis4president.com
Vote you conscience, choose peace!

[whirlygigspin]

23. that would be great

it's time

[dancing kali]

19. Once upon a time...

I was thrown out of a Phyllis Schafly (sp) event. I was shouting the text of the ERA... "Equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex". I still don't see what was wrong with those 23 words. However, they were right to throw me out. It was their event. I knew that. I knew my point of view would not be accepted or appreciated. I knew that I could have been arrested rather than just being thrown out. I did not expect to be invited to go up onto the stage and debate the subject with the speaker. That would have been a completely unrealistic expectation. So what good was all my shouting and heckling? I learned as I got older that the shouting doesn't get anything done. The real change will come when people's deep seated attitudes change and that can take more than one lifetime to achieve.

Mr. Leno and Mr. Maher are entertainers. They are both hosts of television chat shows. They get to decide who is allowed to speak on the show... and invite them on as guests. The audience is not expected or allowed to heckle. An audience member who does so is simply being rude and deserves to be thrown out on their ear. If someone did that in my theatre I would personally haul their asses out of the seat and out the door. I have 285 other patrons who are there to enjoy a show and not be bothered by someones political views whether they or I agree with them or not at a non political event. There is a time and place for everything. That kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable. For the record... I run two theatres as technical director and I do get to make that decision. I have thrown parents out of their child's recital for inappropriate behaviour, hecklers would be no problem.

What a lot of people around here don't seem to realize is that theatres are designed to have the sound coming from the stage out to the audience so the audience can hear. I doesn't matter if the performers can't hear the audience. There is a good possibility that neither of the gentlemen could hear the hecklers clearly. I only was able to understand what they were saying when I noticed the captioning. The protesters could have chosen a better venue to get their point across. Mr. Leno's show is an entertainment show and not a political forum. A show that is a political forum (any of the so called news shows) would be a more appropriate location keeping in mind my first paragraph... the person presenting the show gets to make the rules. You break the rules you will pay for it... and the expectation that the presenter will have a life changing epiphany and suddenly change their issues to your issues is unrealistic and will not happen.

[neoteric lefty]

20. excellent post

I totally agree with your view, that if you want to be taken seriously its more effective to talk to people rather than scream over them. To all those naysayers out there who think those of us who criticize the hecklers/protesters are out-of-line (as well as coming darn close to comparing us to anti-suffragists and those who supported segregation): of course they have a right to stand up and scream to the top of their lungs whatever they want (except if it causes panic or a threat of some sort), but the owners/managers of that show, site, property have the right to throw them out on their collective asses for causing a disturbance on private property.

Those "screaming assholes" are also exercising the same rights as those WBC nut-jobs who run around with 'God Hates Fags' signs at soldiers' funerals. Freedom of speech is a right, but the freedoms of thought and (dis)association are just as important. There are much more effective ways of getting your message out. IMHO, you are hurting the cause you feel so passionately about with acts akin to this.

Just my $.02

[Naythan]

22. However,

It's the WBC doing the things they do that get them air time. That's why they do it, those that disagree will turn away or call them rude, etc., but those who may agree will see their point of view get national coverage.

I don't think anyone expects a heckler not to get thrown out or arrested from an event. But the heckler, even for a fleeting moment, has the attention of those around them to hear their message.

In both cases the message may be downplayed and the attention given to the individuals "rude" behavior. Yet ultimately, the heckler has accomplished their goal of their message being heard. And that's the whole point of civil disobedience. It's not about creating the change. It's simply a matter of making the public aware of the issue (which Bill Moyer wrote about in 1987 in a paper titled "The Movement Action Plan: A Strategic Framework Describing The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements").

[mac56]

31. Perhaps another purpose of the civil disobedience

was to get thrown out of the theater. That also makes the public aware of the issue, doesn't it?

[happydreams]

32. THIS IS GREEEEAAAAT!! I love it. It's amazing how people

find a way of slamming these phony fucking talkshow asshats! That goddamn Bill Maher is a puke. You notice how he is so fucking "balanced" in his criticisms? Yea, he gives equal criticism to the fascists and their pro-war enablers (Clinton, Obama, Edwards, et.al.) and slams any mention of anybody else. He knows who butters his buns.

[mfox789]

33. Maher - Last Night

Did you guys see Bill's interviews with the people in the mall? It was an eye-opener.

[DemIdeals]

34. Pathetic and immature

This kinda stuff only makes the elf look worse