Letter to the Editor: In Defense of Bill Maher

I strongly disagree with the editorial, "IU Presents: a Dirty Old Man" by Alex Carlisle.
It is very clear Mr. Carlisle, who calls for boycotts of Bill Maher and local businesses who sponsor the IU Auditorium, knows absolutely nothing about Maher and his policies or what the job of a comedian is. Mr. Carlisle claims that Maher is a misogynist.

I don’t understand how a misogynist would support a woman’s right to choose, equal pay in the workforce and women’s access to health care. These are all positions that Maher passionately defends against the cronies of Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin.

He attacks their opinions not their gender. These two public and political figures are open to criticism of their policies, and attacking their positions is not an attack against women. To quote Bill Maher “It’s not because they have breasts, it’s because they are boobs.”

Maher has a show on a premium channel where edgy jokes and behavior are safely kept away from the ears of young viewers.

It is a channel for adult conversation and adult listening, something Mr. Carlisle did not do because quite frankly from his article it is obvious he has never seen an entire episode of “Real Time,” but rather listened to out-of-context talking points from Republican pundits and websites.

I am going to shamelessly do to Mr. Carlisle what he did to Bill Maher. The title of “IU presents: a Dirty Old Man” is ageist, and, even worse, discriminates against dirty people.

We should boycott Mr. Carlisle and all institutions and businesses that support him because he hates grandmas.

I say go to the show. Laugh at his jokes, and support Bloomington Bagel Company. These are not misogynist institutions but rather want all women to be treated equally, which includes equal rights to being criticized.

I am proud of Indiana University and the Bloomington community for defending the right to public discourse and giving the stage to one of America’s treasures, Bill Maher.

Joshua Goldstein is a senior majoring in psychology.