Gone Girl: Ben Affleck Gets Very Upset to Hear that Liberals Aren't Speaking Out Against the Darker Sectors of Islam

I'm very late to this, but this debate between Bill Maher, Sam Harris, Michael Steele, Nicholas Kristof and crybaby moron Ben Affleck is interesting.

Ben Affleck pretty much represents faux-liberalism -- actually just an infantile progressivism -- here. It's thoroughly anti-intellectual and anti-fact. The only thing he knows how to say is that it's "Racist" to criticize any other culture.

I don't agree with everything Maher says, by the way. He gets some facts, get this, plainly wrong. He keeps quoting a poll which he says demonstrates that "90% of Egyptians believe in death for those who commit apostacy" (that is, leave the Muslim faith).

I've seen that poll cited in the comments. It's wrong. The poll is actually a survey of Muslims who say they believe in sharia. Now, those who believe in Sharia Law are themselves a sizable fraction of all Muslims (like two thirds or three quarters), but it's factually incorrect for Maher to keep claiming this poll represents all Muslims. It doesn't. The specific answers he's talking about concern the sub-set of Muslims who say they support Sharia Law.

You will thus be unsurprised to learn that Maher is as sloppy with facts as regards Islam as he is sloppy with facts about other groups he doesn't like.

Also annoying is Maher's claim that It's not racist when we say it. First I thought he meant this as an ironic joke, noting his Socially Privileged Position of being able to express more opinions without being called "Racist" every five minutes.

But it turns out, No, he was being serious-- he really does think that if he says Fact X, and I (for example) also say Fact X, I am probably a Racist for saying Fact X, whereas he cannot be a Racist for saying it, because he is An Progressive.

He's serious about that. Genuinely serious.

That said, it's a remarkable bit of television because you just don't hear this debate, ever, anywhere except avowedly politically conservative channels.

Oh, and speaking of old news: actor Stephen Collins admits to molesting children?

TMZ has the audio of the covertly-recorded therapy session in which Collins allegedly made these confessions.

You hear Collins flatly confess to molesting an 11-year-old New York girl -- a relative of his first wife -- saying, "There was one moment of touching where her hand, I put her hand on my penis." He also acknowledges exposing himself to the girl "a couple of times" ... he says when she was 11, 12 and 13.

Grant asks, "When you exposed yourself ... did you have an erection?" He responds, "No, I mean, no. Partial, maybe I think."

Grant then inquires about other girls. Collins mentions an L.A. girl who lived in their neighborhood, but says he tried righting the wrong by apologizing to her years later.

And then they talk about yet another girl. It's incredible ... Collins has trouble keeping the girls straight, but then he gets clear and confirms the incident. We're told this girl was also from New York and was between 12 and 13 at the time.

Update: The Onion weighs in on the Maher/Affleck debate. The first reaction is pretty good.

posted by Ace at 06:18 PM

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