Overtime - Episode #351 (Originally aired 4/24/15)

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Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late night series, real time with Bill Maher.

Should the U.S.

rethink its drone policy?

Oh, yes, we didn't get to that issue.

We should have because there was a big, of course, recognition of a boo-boo this week.

We killed two hostages in a drone strike in January and two Americans who we were actually trying to kill because they're al-Qaeda.

And Obama apologized to the hostages' families.

First apology that any one civilian has gotten, even though the government estimates up to a thousand civilians have been.

I know apologies don't go over well with conservatives.

No, no, there's a this-production.

I mean, if he were going to stop the drone policy, then an apology would be appropriate.

I can understand his,

but he's not going to, he's going to continue with it.

And I can understand the contrition.

But, no, but

this raid, the fact that it did hit two al-Qaeda people,

in a horrible way, the fact that those two hostages were killed shows what horrible stuff they were doing.

It shows that they were actually warm.

They were onto real al-Qaeda people.

Warm, you know, unlike the bodies of the host.

No, but no, no, but they weren't hitting a...

Oh, wedding.

You're actually arguing this is acceptable collateral damage.

Once a hostage is kidnapped,

there's not a lot,

your options get very limited.

It's horrible.

In some ways, this is actually a bad example for why the drone program is bad.

What better examples are when they hit wedding parties?

That's right.

That's actually usually.

I think what this really shows, actually,

I mean, and I'll just say I agree with people like Rand Paul when it comes to drone policy, but what I think this really shows.

Well, he did a whole filibuster over this issue when we're going after American citizens.

That's the old Rand Paul who's not running for office.

I think he's still there on that issue.

Really?

But you should have him on and ask him.

Oh, we have him on.

Well, we should ask him again.

I think,

I believe he's been consistent on that, but I think what this story really shows, it's astonishing to me in reading this, just how bad our intelligence is.

I mean, we had tons of surveillance, and like, oh, we didn't know that the hostages were there.

How's that work?

And then after this happens, it takes weeks to figure out what exactly happened and how they died.

It's just astonishing to me that a country with the resources resources and capabilities that we have can't do a better job when it comes to intelligence.

It's just astonishing to me.

It isn't to me.

This is the fault of war.

It's nothing to do.

Really?

The Israelis do a way better job with their intel than we do.

They're not droning people.

Well, maybe

that's a different thing.

They're just like ignore it.

That's very hard to see behind walls.

I mean, you know, you're asking an awful lot.

I have mixed feelings about the drone policy.

I would say it's a case-by-case basis, and we should do a lot less of it because I think it's only causing a lot more hate in the world.

But we are sort of at war with certain people and wars do have collateral damage.

There's just no doubt about that.

You cannot fight one without some of that.

But the idea that,

I mean, yes, and we have had massive intelligence failures, but to expect them to, it's never going to happen.

If you're going to be droning people, you are going to sometimes kill people.

No, of course.

You're not going to have a 100% record of getting everything right and knowing everything out there.

That's clear.

But I do think when you go and you look at how we do intelligence versus how, for example, the Israelis do it, there is more of an emphasis on human intelligence there.

And with us, we like to do everything in a very remote technological fashion.

And I think that's a good question.

And I think, unfortunately, when we're dealing with this kind of situation and very hardened entrenched terrorists, that is not sufficient.

And we keep seeing that over and over and over again, and nobody's fixing it.

And another thing we need to remember is that when you use drones, when you're not putting your own body in the line of fire, you might have a tendency to overuse them relative to the way you would use like an infantry man.

Sure.

I also think it's very, very hard to get an asset on the ground in some place like Yemen.

You know, hey guys,

that America sure is a shitty country, huh?

You know?

I mean, it can be done.

Okay.

So what

were government regulators right to interfere with the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger?

That was big news today.

Two companies, everyone hates, and the government says that's too much hate in one company.

I think it's important.

I think it's very important that they prevented the merger because you're talking about the airwaves and the availability of platforms, and it's a freedom of speech.

They didn't do it on this, but in my mind, I feel like it's a freedom of speech issue.

When you get to consolidate the platforms through which people speak, then there's less and less opportunity because they control it.

Look what happened to radio, you know, with the Telecommunications Act and then clear channel taking over everything.

I mean, it ruined music in a lot of ways.

Yeah, well.

Would ruin music is no one has to pay for it anymore.

I feel like that's made it a little bit better because the people that really want to make it are making it.

They're putting it up online.

It's ruined the parties.

The parties are not as good.

Really?

You think the music is better since we don't have to pay for it?

I think it's, I mean, I like the music.

I just like this era of music right now, and I think there's a lot of creativity and people unknown being able to make it.

I mean, you can't, yes, there's always going to be good music because you can't stop creative people from being creative.

Unless you're Comcast in Time Warner, which is the first time you can't.

Yes, because they can't.

Yeah.

Anna Marie,

what would a successful challenger to Hillary Clinton look like?

I wish I knew.

Do you want one?

I do.

I think that

I'm not a big believer in the sort of the pundit truism that she would be a better candidate if she had a challenger.

I just like having options, sort of like Comcast and Time Warner.

I mean, this is like the merger of all, the Clinton merger.

This is the Clinton merger in politics.

And I like having options.

And I don't consider the options on the right to be ones that appeal to me.

Those are actually not a wide range there either.

You know there are there are people that are going to be running.

You never know.

I

dream on.

I looked forward to Bernie Sanders being in the debates.

I mean I'm a big Bernie Sanders fan.

What happens if these scandals,

and there's going to be a new one every week, you know, slowly erode and then we wake up.

Martin O'Malley prays for this every night before he goes to bed.

He probably has like voodoo dolls and chicken and trails out and all sorts.

And I don't know, it might happen.

If it does, that's going to be really fun, though, because everybody should go back and rewatch their old episodes of The Wire, because I think a dude who used to be Baltimore mayor and then Maryland governor might have a few skeletons in his closet, too.

It didn't work well for Agnew.

Yeah.

He's very impressive when you say that.

Forget people from Maryland.

Just but everybody is when they have nothing on the line.

Yeah, right.

If he was getting 20% of the vote, he'd get a lot more cautious.

I just want to say

I want to see Bill de Blasio, her former campaign manager, like go out.

I just think that would be great sport.

But of course, I am on the opposite side of this, so I would say that.

You want to see de Blasio run as a Democratic candidate?

Against Hillary Clinton.

Why?

It would just be so much fun.

It would just be so much fun.

I don't know.

But why him?

Because he used to be your campaign manager.

And he's better at doing the whole inequality chat.

Like, when she does it, it sounds like when Mitt Romney's like, I really care about poor people, you know?

I think it would be awesome to see people.

So

also, just generally, as a tall person, I'm a big advocate of more tall people in politics.

So I'd like to see that as well.

Okay, Chris, what explains the phenomenon of young men and women in Europe and America leaving their homes to go join ISIS?

Oh, I don't know.

That's a deep

one.

I mean, I think that it's sort of, it's a little similar to

what led certain Americans in

the 70s and 80s to support the IRA, who were people of Irish

background.

They have this romantic and I think sort of foolhardy.

They're de-racinated.

They're adrift.

They feel that they're literally...

Did they actually go over to Ireland and join all the people?

No, they don't.

There were some who did.

There were some who did.

But you're right, this is a more intense phenomenon.

I always ask, why isn't the opposite happening?

I mean, why aren't any moderate Muslims ever going to fight ISIS?

Well, no, they're going in the opposite direction.

They are?

Well, no,

they're going from Muslim countries into the West.

I mean,

if ISIS is so anathema to moderate Muslims, how come zero have gone to fight them and they attract, I guess.

Who do you fight with, really?

I mean, when you think about the people who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War,

those are mostly communists, I would say.

And they were hooked up with people.

And

there were groups there fighting, who were bringing American communists into contact with the Republican forces in Spain.

And you also had, you know, Stalin was backing them as well.

There was an infrastructure there.

I don't know what the moderate Muslim infrastructure is.

Yeah, the free Syrian arms, for example.

Yeah, well, that's, I mean,

I think realistically, a lot of people are in this situation.

More moderate Muslims are so petrified that if they get anywhere near these guys or stay anywhere near these guys, they're going to get beheaded, you know, honestly.

And I think that's not something a lot of people are up for.

Just a little bit of reelkeeping there.

What will it take for a Republican candidate to separate himself from the pack of other potential nominees?

Yeah, it's funny because I heard for so long that this is not a repeat of 2012 when we had a clown car and there was a different frontrunner every week.

But yeah,

we have a different frontrunner every week.

Now it's Rubio, last week it was Bush.

You generally do.

I mean, the thing that was actually somewhat surprising in 2012 was that you had that, and I think it spoke to the fact that Mitt Romney was actually just so weak.

It took so long for people to be like, oh, fine, fuck it, we'll just go with him.

I mean, it took me a long time to get to a place where I was like, all right.

I mean, it was literally, I think, like three days before the election where I was like, fine, screw it.

I'll take the box.

Like, we're good.

But, you know, a lot of people,

honestly, you know, so no, I don't think it's the same.

I mean, we are going to see it.

You really loosen up on overtime, don't you?

Yeah.

It's just the topics.

They just bring it out in me.

I see.

But no, but I mean, I think this time around, we do have, we obviously have a bigger field.

We do have.

Who's your money on?

I hate that question so much.

I've consulted for four of these guys.

We've been approached by...

One of these guys.

Yeah.

Wow, you get it right.

Well, and one of these groups.

You are a promiscuous.

Well, in different contexts, not in the presidential context.

Of course not.

You do everything for everybody.

Not at the same time.

I believe.

I wasn't suggesting.

I believe in the sanctity.

I'm not saying it was a train.

I'm just saying at different contexts.

I believe in the sanctity of a contract between a consultant and their client.

And I believe in that very which for?

Carly Fiorina.

Okay.

Rick Perry.

Yes.

Rand Paul, Scott Walker.

Okay.

And you don't want to say who your money's on?

I just don't know who my money would be on.

I can argue it multiple different ways.

I think it's far too early to say with all of this.

I don't know.

I guess in November we'll see where we go.

Whoever the Koch brothers want.

Well, yeah,

but now we've got reports saying that a lot of these Koch fundraisers, Marco Rubio's been the guy who's been the most impressive.

So, I I mean, what does that mean, right?

Nobody knows.

It's too early to say.

Walker has done something, actually,

to pass the package that he did in Wisconsin is an achievement.

And

it differentiates him from

the others.

That's what it is.

That's a blessed state.

I don't know.

To some degree,

I think we actually have a lot of very accomplished people in this field.

Whether you like their accomplishments or not is a separate matter.

But I think when you look at this, I mean, we don't, this is a big difference between this field and 2012.

And 2012, I mean, does anybody think that like Michelle Bachman and Herman Kane had particularly accomplished much?

I mean, Rick Santorum had not been able to do it.

No, but there was

the field is the same.

I mean,

they're names.

It's like it's Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

Yeah, I'll grant you Rick Perry's.

Michelle Bachman.

Michelle Bachman this week said that Obama is bringing on the apocalypse.

I think she said this before, hasn't she?

But this week she said she's bringing on the apocalypse, but we should rejoice because it means Jesus Jesus will be joining us

sooner than we thought.

Wait, she really said this?

She really said this.

And

she was for a time the Republican frontrunner, briefly, in 2012.

Everybody gets,

but does that give you any insight or pause into the people on your team?

I'm not sure I've ever fully considered Michelle Bachman to be 100% on my team as such, but

I mean, Ted Cruz's father has said much the same thing.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean,

we're going to have so many daddy issues in the course of this campaign.

It's just not.

I mean, not every Democrat is a prize, but they're just no nuts, like, to that degree.

Name a Democrat who says anything that crazy.

What was Mike Gravel saying in 2008?

Gravel?

Was a senator in the city?

He was a senator.

No, no, no, he is on the candidate.

But he was on, he was a candidate.

But the whole

thing wasn't.

He picked up a big rock, walked over to a pond, threw it in, and walked off.

He didn't see it.

He was a nuts, and he was never a frontrunner.

But Michelle Bachman was a frontrunner.

That was like five months before the primary started.

But she was a frontrunner and she participated in this debate.

But when no one was paying attention,

I just don't figure it out.

When there were like 50 people paying attention to the

I I still don't know what Mike Gravel said or did.

He did nothing.

He picked up a big rock, threw it in a pond, looked stern, and it was cranky.

It was cranky, and it was at about this stage of the I don't even get what that means or what the context is.

No, but he did.

That was the whole point.

It's the only thing people know about him.

It was the best.

His name was Mike Gravel.

Maybe he was trying to get away from him.

His name is actually Mike Burvell.

That's how all the video made an impression is that we don't even know what his name actually is.

I'm just glad we never had him on.

We did?

Oh, fuck.

All right.

Thank you, everybody.

I appreciate your time, your energy, your love.

Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10, or watch him anytime on HBO On Demand.

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