Bill Maher Is Not Laughing at BONO

Big nosed Bono, the prancing turkey with the sunglasses, says the answer to world peace is...HAVE SOME LAUGHS.

Seriously. This guy, who writes dreary rock songs about violence and calamity, disorientation and bombs, declared that the way to deal with ISIS is to laugh at them.

You know, like Charlie Chaplin did with Hitler. Ha ha ho ho hee hee.

Professional comedian Bill Maher disagrees.

On his April 15th "Real Time" show, he addressed Bono's brilliant idea:

“This is important to me because I’m a comedian, and as a comedian I have to speak out when I hear my profession mentioned. Bono was testifying before Congress the other day. Congress is full of star-fuckers constantly waiting to hear from celebrities.

"Bono once said in a lyric, ‘The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear.' I think he outdid himself. He was talking about Isis. He said, 'I think comedy should be deployed. Because if you look at Isis, they’re very vain. The first people Hitler threw out of Germany were the Dadaists and the Surrealists. It’s like, you speak violence you speak their language. But if you laugh at them when they’re goose-stepping down the street, it takes away their power.' No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t.”

Bono the comedy expert — NOT.

While it's true that Chaplin, Walt Disney, Spike Jones and Moe of the Three Stooges all made fun of Hitler while Hitler was raging, all it did was offer a little vicarious amusement to people NOWHERE NEAR Hitler.

Jokes may have pissed off Hitler (supposedly he wanted to know if it would be possible to put out a hit on Chaplin). Jokes didn't stop Hitler. In fact, as with Isis and Charlie Hebdo, Hitler made sure that if a comedian or a cartoonist mocked him and he could get even, he damn well did. Werner Finck would be an example.

Back to Maher. He pointed out that, yes, laughing at Isis or a dictator makes US feel better, but that's all:

“It makes a difference to us. Not to them...Musicians are always doing this: 'Music can save the world.' NO IT CAN’T. It can make a shitty world more pleasant. That’s all it can do. That should be enough for you…The Isis videos. Have you seen them burning people alive?”

Bill then showed a clip of Charlie Chaplin as Hitler from "The Great Dictator." Chaplin mocked the way Hitler wanted to own the entire globe, like a balloon he could float in the air and dance with. Ha ha.

Maher:

“Yeah, that didn’t stop Hitler. I think I should note that a coalition of Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, and Bob Hope did not stop one Jew from being pushed into the oven. So it’s just a very dangerous idea, that art can stop violence.”

Indeed, with maniacs like Isis, it is a VERY dangerous idea. Bono was suggesting that Amy Schumer and Chris Rock should be "enlisted" to tell jokes. Ha ha. Know what's even funnier? Bono did not volunteer to write a protest song about Isis. He didn't round up all his fabulous rock star friends and put on a benefit for Charlie Hebdo. He didn't make sure that concerts went on as scheduled the next night in Brussels.

Bono is suggesting that comedians put themselves on the line and make jokes about psycho Muslims who routinely blow up office buildings, declare fatwas against ordinary people, and scream JIHAD as they run around beheading and shooting people including their own kind.

Bono has not suggested that musicians should sing protest songs about Isis or gather people together in massive numbers to sing 'Give Peace a Chance.' Somehow, this guy thinks that comedians can do what musicians can't. This, despite how the Charlie Hebdo office was blown apart and so many talented cartoonists killed, and the fatwa placed on any humorist who dared to draw The Prophet.

Maher could've made jokes about Bono. I'm glad that instead, he offered a terse lecture and took that prick seriously!