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Reason.tv: Red Eye's Greg Gutfeld on Media Bias, Intolerant Liberals, The Stupidity of Bill Maher, And Why Drugs Really, Really, Really Need to Be Legal
Before he became the host of Fox News Channel's rollicking late-night show Red Eye in January 2007, Greg Gutfeld had worked at magazines as varied as The American Spectator, Prevention, Men's Health, Stuff, and Maxim UK. And, as the fortysomething California native once told Reason.tv, he applied for-and was rejected with extreme indifference-a job at Reason.
Gutfeld appeared recently at Reason Weekend, the annual event held by the nonprofit that publishes this website, where he was interviewed by Reason Associate Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward on topics ranging from media bias to intolerant liberals to the health benefits of smoking to the reason why the drug war is the dumbest thing imaginable. Next to Bill Maher, that is.
Approximately 30 minutes. Warning for viewers prone to high-blood pressure, heart palpitations, and sour-puss syndrome: Gutfeld mixes humor, outrage and language salty enough to cure a side of bacon. Proceed at your own caution.
Go here for embed code and downloadable audio podcast, iPod, and HD versions.
Harrumph|5.18.09 @ 3:22PM|#
he applied for-and was rejected with extreme indifference-a
job at Reason
Can't have guys around here who know the difference between a
hyphen and an em dash. That would never do.
Scott Jensen|5.18.09 @ 3:39PM|#
I could barely hear her (I could hear him fine though) so didn't watch it.
Nemo|5.18.09 @ 3:44PM|#
I'm down with any discussion where the conclusion is that Bill Maher is an idiot.
|5.18.09 @ 3:45PM|#
Isn't Greg Gutfeld that mind-reading cop on
Heroes?
Matt Parkman would never allow you to know that.
Gilbert Martin|5.18.09 @ 3:52PM|#
"I'm down with any discussion where the conclusion is that Bill
Maher is an idiot."
I'll go along with that.
99% of his show on HBO consists of sanctimonious liberals trying to
out smirk each other
I can't stand to watch more than about 5 seconds of it at a
time.
|5.18.09 @ 4:09PM|#
What really pisses me off is the douschebags like Jon Stewart and Maher constantly pat themselves on the back for being cutting edge and couragous when in reality all they do is kiss ass and put out conventional wisdome. Someone like Gutfield is everything they pretend to be. You may not always agree with him. But you have to respect someone with the balls to say things that are so completely at odds with conventional opinion.
hmm|5.18.09 @ 4:31PM|#
I find myself reminding people that these are comedians with a vested interest in boiling anything and everything down to the most absurd and simplest example for the sake of making money. THEY ARE FUCKING COMEDIANS, their commentary should be treated as such.
|5.18.09 @ 4:37PM|#
"I find myself reminding people that these are comedians with a
vested interest in boiling anything and everything down to the most
absurd and simplest example for the sake of making money. THEY ARE
FUCKING COMEDIANS, their commentary should be treated as
such."
But it is not. People like Maher and Stewart have a lot of
influence over what is mainstream and what is an outlier. By
constantly making fun of anything outside the PC mainstream, they
make anything not PC an outlier. They are a real threat to freedom
and free thought. Worse still, the hide behind the idea that they
are "just comediens" as if a joke can never have a point or do any
damage to anyone. They are propegandists who use humor. And they
should be mercilessly called out as such.
wingnutx|5.18.09 @ 4:39PM|#
Gutfeld was a riot back when he was on the Huffington Post.
There were some very hurt feelings every time he posted.
His stuff is still there, actually.
|5.18.09 @ 4:43PM|#
"Gutfeld was a riot back when he was on the Huffington Post.
There were some very hurt feelings every time he posted."
I am sorry I missed him. He seems like a pretty smart guy.
Xeones|5.18.09 @ 4:57PM|#
There were some very hurt feelings every time he
posted.
The comments were invariably hilarious. Pages upon pages of posts
calling for his head, sometimes literally.
hmm|5.18.09 @ 5:13PM|#
I love riling up the the bunny huggers in face to face
situations. My wife, however does not share in my belief that such
activities are fun and I am relegated to "how about that weather"
at all social functions. I break out once or twice a year for some
down and dirty liberal poking when I know there is a late night
show I want to see and sleeping on the couch is going to occur
anyway.
I'd do the same to the bible thumping die hard gay people suck
crowd, but they just refuse to get all irate when face to face. The
bunny huggers get totally bent.
|5.18.09 @ 5:16PM|#
I used to really enjoy his stuff on huffpo and enjoy what I get
to see of Red Eye but never realized he was the same guy. Funny
stuff from Huffpo.
And yes Maher is an idiot. It's nice to hear somebody else say it
out loud.
|5.18.09 @ 5:17PM|#
hmm,
True story. I live in a neighborhood full of well meaning liberals.
Nice people but totally PC uptight white people. My wife throws a
cocktail party and the subject of guns comes up. I say in a total
deadpan that I own a shotgun that I keep loaded near our bed. And
if I am gone and someone breaks in, I expect my wife to shoot them.
You should have seen the shocked looks. It was great.
|5.18.09 @ 5:28PM|#
John,
It's clear you don't catch a lot of Jon Stewart or Bill Maher.
Peddling conventional wisdom? Are you sure?
Stewart's main shtick is media criticism. If it just so happens
that FOX news is some degree more ridiculous than CNN, well boo hoo
pissy pants. Maher is one of the few celebrities willing to call
himself a libertarian, though when I saw him perform a couple weeks
back he made it clear that it's not the same kind of radical
quasi-anarchic libertarianism you find here at Reason.
BlueBook|5.18.09 @ 5:42PM|#
Great interview! Greg is surprisingly well-spoken, but I guess I unconsciously got used to seeing him in his deliberately oafish role on Red Eye, just as Bill Schulz plays the fop, and Andy Levy brings the straight man. And I really like the strategy of adopting the weirdness (shorty robes, unicorns, Craig T. Nelson fetish, etc.) to confuse and annoy the humorless snobs who don't get it, or perhaps more importantly, to connect with those weirdos who do.
Ignu|5.18.09 @ 6:20PM|#
"Maher is one of the few celebrities willing to call himself
a libertarian"
If Bill Mahr is a libertarian, then Lone Wacko is a moderate.
|5.18.09 @ 6:55PM|#
Reason, cant you afford a functional mic for that uptight
b*tch?
Gutfeld is interesting but doesn't have enough personality to cover
BOTH of the people on camera. Maybe Katherine here is a good
"Associate Editor" (whatever that means), I don't know. But she has
no camera presence and comes across as inorganic, uncomfortable and
overly-starched.
^|5.18.09 @ 7:57PM|#
I suppose that puts in better balance the cosmic humours from all the creepy stalker KMW comments.
|5.18.09 @ 8:14PM|#
I'm not down with the whole "pot/cocaine/X" side of
libertarianism and I think the issue (although admittedly
important) does trivialize the movement, such as it is. For me it's
all Austrian economics.
But I like this guy. He's smart and fearless.
I expect the mainstream media will try to crucify him within 18
months. I hope he pulls a Dee Snyder and hands them their own
asses.
Mari Dupont|5.18.09 @ 8:18PM|#
Katherine seems oddly uptight for a Reasonite, but that's
probably because the audience is full of equally uptight big
donors, who only want to hear about monetary policy.
But yeah, Gutfeld's posts on Huffington are works of genius. I
wonder who owns the rights; he should really try and get them
published.
Robert Kelly|5.18.09 @ 8:20PM|#
I linked to Gutfeld on my blog (*wink* click on my name,
Reasonites *wink*) since I first caught RedEye and Reason's naughty
rendezvous with this very funny entertainer.
Jon Stewart has become nearly unwatchable. What passes for great
political humor now is Wanda Sykes.
I mean, give me a break. Now, my thoughts on this are not original,
but humor isn't humor when it comes from the powerful. The best
jokes are directed at those *with* power. So I'm here expected to
bust a gut at jokes about conservatives, libertarians, and how
stupid and clueless everyone is but progressives and Obama. Talk
about a lame environment.
It feels like Clinton jokes in the first year of the Bush
administration. Still repeating the same tired cliches about sex.
Now it's the boring jokes about why Bush is an idiot (BTW: he
isn't). Please, leave it be.
For this reason, besides Gutfeld's man-tastic charm, RedEye might
be the best political comedy show on television.
zoltan|5.18.09 @ 8:58PM|#
They are a real threat to freedom and free
thought.
Don't be a moron, John. I hate Bill Maher and can't stomach the
sound of Jon Stewart's voice, but the real threats to freedom and
free thought aren't people who are SAYING THINGS. The real threats
are the people who listen to them, believe them, and do something
about it. "Threat to freedom and free thought" by expressing
opinion, albeit shitty ones, you gotta be fucking kidding me.
|5.18.09 @ 9:16PM|#
I have recently found Red Eye and enjoy how he ends every
"Greg-alogue" rant with a "and if you disagree with me, then you
sir are worse than Hitler!"
I also enjoy the the NYTimes puppet with the Thurston Howell III
voice.
Very funny.
|5.18.09 @ 10:44PM|#
Now it's the boring jokes about why Bush is an idiot (BTW:
he isn't)
Yes, he is. I expect my president to be at least a B student.
Sorry, if I can be an A student and do mindless publishing work
then the leader of the free world can fucking well be an A
student.
Gilbert Martin|5.18.09 @ 11:09PM|#
"I find myself reminding people that these are comedians with a
vested interest in boiling anything and everything down to the most
absurd and simplest example for the sake of making money. THEY ARE
FUCKING COMEDIANS, their commentary should be treated as
such."
Maher may consider himself a comedian (although I've never seen any
actual evidence of him saying anything funny) but his HBO series is
not a comedy show - at least not an intentional one. He has a bunch
of supposedly serious guests and they all purport to be engaging in
serious commentary. Although as I said before, most of it is
actually nothing more than a bunch of liberal smirking.
THEGEEKLYREPORT|5.19.09 @ 12:24AM|#
FINALLY SOMEWHERE TO SEE OPINIONS THAT DIDNT ACT LIKE THEY ARE SO pc! i LIVED IN bERKLEY, ca AND SUFFERED THE LACK OF FREE SPEECH DUE TO THE LIBERALS THAT ARE CONVINCED THEY ARE TOTALLY CORRECT EVEN IF THEY ARE ALL STONED OUT OF MAKE SOME SENSE. bILL m IS SO BORING, SMUG AND SO IS THAT RACHEL CHICK ON MSNBC. iT WOULDN'T BE SO BAD ITFF THEY
|5.19.09 @ 1:44AM|#
greg, i love you because you loathe the same (P.C.) fakers i do. Bravo for having the guts to expose the Emperor's new clothes today.
|5.19.09 @ 1:50AM|#
NB: kindly inform Ms.Katherine Shakespeare wrote: "In my heart of heart," Not 'in my heart of hearts.' check it out.
|5.19.09 @ 3:44AM|#
Tony | May 18, 2009, 10:44pm | #
I expect my president to be at least a B student. Sorry, if I can
be an A student and do mindless publishing work then the leader of
the free world can fucking well be an A student.
----
It is impossibly frustrating when the points being made are absent
accurate facts. Fortunately, the posts on this site appear to be in
line with them for the most part. Tony, get your facts right: Kerry
had a GPA of 76 in four years at Yale, while Bush had a GPA of 77
in three years at Yale. Who did you vote for?!
|5.19.09 @ 4:55AM|#
Prohibited drugs harm human's health. It should never be legalized fore it will just add burden to the government. Build America Bonds are tipped to be hot sellers. Build America Bonds, part of President Obama's infrastructure overhaul, are high interest government bonds that are issued by state and municipal departments. It's an investment in American infrastructure, and therefore American commerce; it would be worth short term loans to pick a few up. The series of bonds issued by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has only about $250 million worth left, out of about $3.5 billion worth of bonds they had to begin with. They are selling like hotcakes, and investors are scrambling to get their hands on safe investments and debt relief through wise trades like Build America Bonds.
|5.19.09 @ 6:37AM|#
it's not the same kind of radical quasi-anarchic libertarianism you find here at Reason.
Wow, Tony, wow. I've heard the paleos say Reason isn't libertarian enough...but on the other hand...this?
Gilbert Martin|5.19.09 @ 8:11AM|#
"Yes, he is. I expect my president to be at least a B student.
Sorry, if I can be an A student and do mindless publishing work
then the leader of the free world can fucking well be an A
student."
About the only thing you could ever get an A in is potty training -
maybe.
PR.|5.19.09 @ 9:46AM|#
Yes, he is. I expect my president to be at least a B
student. Sorry, if I can be an A student and do mindless publishing
work then the leader of the free world can fucking well be an A
student.
Please post Obama's transcripts. Oh, that's right, you can't.
Because he's neither a B nor an A student, but and AA student.
banana robber|5.19.09 @ 9:52AM|#
"I expect my president to be at least a B student. Sorry, if
I can be an A student and do mindless publishing work then the
leader of the free world can fucking well be an A
student."
What kind of grades did Obama make? Or is that still not being
released for the public to form an opinion of their own...
JohnnyRussia|5.19.09 @ 1:14PM|#
Gutfeld slams "liberals" ("the left") as not being open-minded
except to their own views.
Way to be open-minded, Greg!
|5.19.09 @ 1:51PM|#
Obama an AA student? What are you doing smoking his left over
crack? He refuses to release his student records, transcripts and
grades as he refuses to release his original birth records, and has
spent well over 1 million dollars in legal fees to continue to
restrict access.
Gutfeld is at least new & refreshing. Stewrat and Mumbles Maher
are stale and predictable.
filbert|5.19.09 @ 3:07PM|#
Uh, Chiron, I think AA=Affirmative Action is PR's point here. That's how I read it, however it could easily be American Airlines or Awfully African or Amazingly Astounding. It's not entirely clear from the context.
bad bob|5.19.09 @ 3:20PM|#
"Obama an AA student? What are you doing smoking his left over
crack?"
ok, see, if the "AA" remark is prefaced by: "Please post Obama's
transcripts. Oh, that's right, you can't. Because he's neither a B
nor an A student, but an AA student." that should serve as a
clue...
then you can stop and think (as long or as hard as necessary) what
in the world "AA" might stand for as it pertains to Obama... and at
some point, the words: "Affirmative Action" might come to
mind...
oh well, PR, I thought it was funny.
Abner MacGillicuddy|5.19.09 @ 3:23PM|#
Chiron
Which other candidate has released his or her academic transcripts
or original birth records?
Exactly what is it that you expect to discover?
|5.19.09 @ 3:58PM|#
"Exactly what is it that you expect to discover?"
Pay attention, Abner. Tony thinks Bush is a moron because he got
B's at Yale. What does that mean for like-minded Messiah voters if
it turned out Bush got higher grades? The fact that we don't know
what Obama's grades were while we know Bush's means that
navel-gazing lefties can post stuff like Tony did because it fits
his narrative and any contrary evidence will never surface
(hopefully).
But if it did? We know the answer. Somehow Bush got what he didn't
deserve and Obama's professors didn't realize that Obama walked on
water to get to class.
Of course, the fact that Tony got A's and chooses to work at a
mindless job he apparently hates should tell us that A's don't
indicate what Tony thinks they do. His post is a stunning example
that Bush is likely more qualified than Tony to do anything. Tony's
A's from long ago only hide that fact from Tony.
netster007x|5.19.09 @ 4:57PM|#
Greg Gutfeld is freaking awesome! In today's media world,
countless pundits, "reporters", "journalists", bloggers and the
like do nothing more than hide behind the shield of political
correctness. This is destroying our society and our national
dialogue.
Greg Gutfeld, as one of the few with the balls to challenge the pc
ruling class, is perhaps society's last hope. Please keep fighting
the good fight, Greg. BTW he's fucking hilarious!
|5.19.09 @ 5:46PM|#
I think Mahr has alot of people fooled still. He called himself
a Libertarain until Obama took office. His Libertarianism was just
in opposition to Bush. The only Libertarian thing I think he is
honest about is drug policy. In addition you really cant blame Mahr
for being a complete fucktard, anyone who would date Ann Cunnter
must be fucked in the head already.
Art-P.O.G.
Usually when the discussion of Libertarians comes up among
Paleoconservatives it just boils down to "that Libertarians are
just modified Liberals" or to quote Joahn Goldbergh "closeted gays
who want to smoke pot". I dont think Libertarians really care what
Paleos think of them since Paleos for the most part are still stuck
in the Cold War.
ms. docweasel|5.19.09 @ 6:49PM|#
Quote:
John | May 18, 2009, 4:37pm | #
"I find myself reminding people that these are comedians with a
vested interest in boiling anything and everything down to the most
absurd and simplest example for the sake of making money. THEY ARE
FUCKING COMEDIANS, their commentary should be treated as
such."
Gee, and here I was thinking comedians were supposed to be, at
minimum, you know, funny.
Bill Maher is a lot of things, but none of them is funny.
Metal Messiah|5.19.09 @ 9:15PM|#
Gutfeld is good at pretending to be a libertarian, but at the end of the day he's just another neocon asshole.
|5.20.09 @ 4:46AM|#
Am I too late to join in on the Bill Maher hating?
Self-righteous smug liberal automoton. The only unPC thing he ever
said was that the terrorists are brave. And it was only radical for
a few months after 9/11, after that it has been the hard liberal
talking point.
srnty|5.20.09 @ 2:54PM|#
I find the Greg Gutfeld love here appalling. When did News Corp
(well, at least it wasn't NBC) assimilate Reason? He's just another
republican hack with his head up his ass about everything from
science to his precious Jesus.
Bill Maher can be entertaining (watch Religulous [though it really
isn't innovative, just a ~110 minute joke]), but yes, he's a
liberal punk. He was libertarian about 15 years ago, which means
nothing now (don't get me started on Jon Stewart; I'd rather watch
Hannity and Olbermann yell at one another for a week and a
half...with Ace of Base playing in the background).
Nothing to see here. Libertarianism is cool now. Everyone wants to
be one (See Paul, Ron). Yippee.
srnty|5.20.09 @ 2:56PM|#
I believe Gutfeld also supports the Iraq money sinkhole, which, as far as I'm concerned, negates anything he has to say about fiscal responsibility (and to a lesser extent, free markets, though that applies more to his thoughts on the Cuba embargo).
|5.21.09 @ 1:06AM|#
At 13:52 it suddenly craps out and you can't see the rest of the clip. :-( Can you get it fixed?
|5.21.09 @ 1:09AM|#
srnty, would you rather al Qaeda come over here and blow us up? Put up or shut up. You're the one with your head up your rear. Keep living in your dream world.
srnty|5.21.09 @ 3:24AM|#
al Quaeda may very well come to blow us up whether or not we
"occupy" Iraq and Afghanistan. The only way to make ourselves
entirely safe from them is by killing them all. To ensure that we
kill them all, it would be necessary to figure out a large area in
which they may live...and simply destroy all life in these areas,
which I believe is a war crime.
We're screwed either way.
Mike|5.21.09 @ 10:15AM|#
Gutfeld is a coward and a jealous little prat. He is no where
near as funny as Maher and Stewart so all of that nonsense comes
off as sour grapes.
He insulted all Canadians when he ignorantly made fun of our
soldiers on a day when 4 of them were killed in combat in
Afghanistan, the place we sent troops so the US government could
send troops to the ill-conceived war in Iraq.
Yes yuked it up good, but when he found out how upset Canadians
were, he issued a non-apology apology ("I'm sorry you were
insulted") then chickened out of a gig in Edmonton Alberta a week
later. Have I mentioned that Edmonton is the home of 3 PPCLI, a
unit that has taken the most casualties in Afghanistan?
He's a goddamn prig and a coward. He isn't funny (as typical for
conservatives). He's no libertarian, he's a fascist. If he wasn't
for drug legalization would he even have been invited to the
event?
He needs a good punch in the throat.
Emily|5.21.09 @ 7:56PM|#
Oh my god, I love Greg Gutfeld. I don't always agree with everything he says, but I'm glad he says it anyways.
|5.23.09 @ 9:00AM|#
I love Redeye, have been watching it for almost 2 yrs, & think Gutfeld's hilarious. However, I disagree with his "stances" about half the time. The absurdist quality of the show, his wonderfully innate silliness & intelligence, & the fact that he surrounds himself with some dissent (via Bill/Pinch & some guests) & an Ombudsman, make the occasional Fox political grandstanding bearable. Notsomuch with Father whatshisname & recent pandering to Catholicism, but I digress...
|5.23.09 @ 10:02AM|#
OK, I've watched the whole thing: got a reactionary vibe,
Gut.
You hate "health magazine editors" cuz you worked for some who were
pricks. Don't quite get the "equal & opposite" reaction that
"corporations" & "pharmaceutical companies" are altruistic
& only want "to help" us. Had you worked for dickish Corporate
or pharmaceutical bosses would you be giving a different
speech...?
The Animal House (a movie I hate: it's overrated, formulaic,
predictable, boorish in a bad way, Belushi notwithstanding) analogy
doesn't quite gel. Isn't the Dean the bad guy cuz of his
anti-drug/anti-alcohol stance? Isn't he an evil academe?
|5.23.09 @ 10:15AM|#
Something about this guy pisses me off. He's not as funny as he thinks he is, and that's really grating to try to watch.
|5.23.09 @ 11:39PM|#
Maher is one of the few celebrities willing to call himself
a libertarian
In a related story, a ham sandwich is willing to call itself a
kosher lunch.
-jcr
|5.24.09 @ 1:33AM|#
Greg Gutfeld has earned the respect of this conservative, and I
supect of many others Unlike most public gay men he doesn't suck up
to the anti-American, Bush-o-phobic, pro-Islamo-fascist left.
He understands that the Christian Right, dumb as it is, is
enlightened and progressive compared to even mainstream Islam, much
less the extreme wing of that psychopathic collectivist cult. In a
word, Greg, unlike most entertainers, is possessed of common
sense.
Greg understands that gay people have a better chance of survival
with a German Shepherd like Dick Cheney on guard than with a bunch
of yipping liberal Chihauahaus.
|5.24.09 @ 2:02PM|#
A's on a report card have nothing to do with determining a
person's leadership abilities. Studies have shown that the vast
majority of successful executives and entreprenuers were only
average students in grade school and college.
The only people still concerned about GPAs after college are people
who've never truly succeeded in life.
And just in case your wondering, I was an "A" student my entire
life. In college, I graduated near the top of my class. I'll also
add that I'm neither an executive or entreprenuer :)
|5.25.09 @ 1:26AM|#
Who is it that is keeping illegal drugs illegalagain?
Which group of people continues to fight against decriminalization
and legalization?
Yeah, those bad old liberals...try 'n' lock you up for every old
thing...
|5.26.09 @ 11:37PM|#
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|5.28.09 @ 10:43AM|#
"He's not as funny as he thinks he is." Exactly. He's a conservative or libertarian Bill Maher. How this no talent ass clown keeps getting gigs, I'll never understand.
|5.28.09 @ 11:25AM|#
Mike: "If he wasn't for drug legalization would he even have
been invited to the event?"
This is something I've been saying for years. Many people who call
themselves Libertarians are just Neo-Con Republicans who support
drug legalization. But smoking pot is "cool," so anything attached
to it is "cool" too. Even Neo-Fascism.
I hope this guy's kidneys get pig flu and explode.
|5.29.09 @ 5:07PM|#
I do think it does show his conservative side when he said Glenn Beck is and Bill Maher isn't a libertarian. I mean I'd say there about the same. Though to a certain extent, I don't think we should rebuke them because they might be able to turn some people onto it.
|10.18.09 @ 7:51AM|#
Gutfeld is great.....he's right in the eye of you leftist blowhards. Geeez, I'd love to buy you snooty bastards for your ACTUALLY worth and sell you for what you THINK your worth. That would be a profitable business transaction and I know you lefties hate "business" and "profits".
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