What a smart man, I wish we will hear a lot more from him in other shows. He seems like a man I can respect.

"You mocked her for it...and it was funny..." Bill: Thank you. 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😆😆😆

I like that this show has debate from both sides.

I grew up in Wyoming, and we put bread bags on our feet when we went to play in the snow. Our shoes weren't exactly waterproof and the bags helped keep our feet dry. When I saw Bill making jokes about that a couple of years ago, I laughed at the memory. But since I'm not a 'snowflake' there was no offence.

@LividImp

6 жыл бұрын

Exactly. I grew up in gangland LA in the 80s. We didn't have to wear bread bags, but we had to have _really_ thick skin. It was prison rules, and any sign of weakness made you a target. Now to see this next generation bursting into tears at the slightest provocation is maddening. Millennials wouldn't have lasted 15 minutes in my world. I would have taken bread bags over the psychological damage I still live with to this day.

@alexfloate2420

6 жыл бұрын

Hope you are out of the situation now, and I wish you the best in your continued quest for some peace in this world.

@Azarath304

6 жыл бұрын

ɮoʊnċɛ օʄʄ lucky bastard. I grew up in hell. No food, no water, no clothes or sun light, just fire and torture 24/7.

@neurofire

6 жыл бұрын

This is beginning to sound like Monty Python's 4 Yorkshiremen.... 'Bread Bags - absolute luxury!'

@ankatea

6 жыл бұрын

We did that in Canada... Bread bags are awesome for keeping your feet dry lmao

I agree with you about being lucky to have Mexico as a neighbor but you should also mention we are lucky to also have Canada as a neighbor.

@DonnaBrooks

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, of course, but we aren't insulting Canada every day calling them rapists and criminals and wanting to build a wall b/t our countries and saying they're going to pay for it, like some bully. Oh yeah, there's that. The fact is, we are EXTREMELY fortunate to be surrounded by 2 oceans and 2 peaceful neighbors, yet we squander our wealth on armaments that don't make us safer b/c the military-industrial complex (weapons manufacturers & "defense" contractors) are a powerful lobby that owns our government.

He makes a great point about thanking our lucky stars that Mexico is our neighbor. You think we spend a lot on defense now? Think about if North Korea, Russia, or some other antagonistic state was our neighbor instead of Mexico and Canada. Mexico is far from a perfect neighbor, but at least they are friendly and want to trade.

@deanvere4839

6 жыл бұрын

Livid Imp I agree although Mexico is also far from any good place. People wouldn't be leaving it if that were the case. Mexicans quite often bring problems with them. Many also are peaceful and bring good things. It depends on the individual Mexicans.

@LividImp

6 жыл бұрын

+Dean Vere Mexicans don't bring any more problems with them than any other immigrant group. Italians, Irish, Russians, Chinese, even Jews have had times when they were heavily involved in organized crime and smuggling. But like all of those groups, the more immigrants are integrated into society, the more "American" they become. I have a friend, whose parents couldn't speak English, and his little sister just barely spoke Spanish. As a result he often had to translate between them. That is how fast things can change if you are integrated enough.

@konstantinopoulos33

3 жыл бұрын

India: 😢

I moved to México over 2 years ago and the people here are perhaps the most compassionate of anywhere I've traveled or lived. Yes, the US should be extraordinarily thankful to be so lucky as to have México as their neighbor (and as such an interwoven population with them too)!! #NoBanNoWall #BuildBridgesNotWalls

Bill.... please let the guest answer the question without interruption

@LividImp

6 жыл бұрын

Yea, I agreed with what Maher was saying, but ffs, let the guy finish his sentence before you shoot his point down.

@bookashkin

6 жыл бұрын

Forgive Bill. He probably grew up in a home where you had to elbow your way into dinner conversation.

@themeadowshadows

6 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah. So much condescension it's unfathomable. I never realized how fascistic and corrosive liberalism really is and can be. Maher completely disregards the plight of this poor person and can only think to uphold his holier than thou stance, and can't begin to imagine what it's like to not be able to afford a pair of shoes, or have had a childhood a rough enough where a story like that makes sense to tell to other people in order to get your point across; and you know what, who knows, maybe it really is true. But Bill just can't begin to imagine what that's like. And that just goes to show how fucking condescending and privileged he really is. I just moved to Berkeley and I got fired for telling some racy jokes at a thrift shop. Luckily, it wasn't that good of a job. So screw it. I'll make more money other places anyway. But I couldn't believe that these guys heard a joke and just booted me. It actually gave me some heart for Bill when they wanted him fired. But still, as much as Maher won't admit it, or perhaps even realize it, he falls in that same condescending camp wherein it's his way or the high way. I have respect for Bill sticking up for non PC culture, but he seems to fall short in understanding just how much liberalism has failed as of late, and how far off the rails it has gone. Also, being a comedian and having nothing off limits is cool, I respect that. But why are you using it to make fun of someone so formerly disenfranchised. Must you really be so shallow as to abuse that power in that fashion? Get fucking real, dude. Make fun of some shit that's questionable more artfully and if you miss the mark, at least have the balls to own up to it.

@alwaysuseless

6 жыл бұрын

It's rare, but in this instance interruption spurred them both into a more engaged and engaging conversation. Bill and Bret are both at the top of their game, and Bret handled the interruption like a pro.

@davidemho2139

3 жыл бұрын

It's called a 'discussion' as opposed to having guests on the show to give speeches...

I'm putting 'This is not a Presidency - It's a neurosis" on a damn t-shirt!

one of the best interviews of the year. probably the most intelligent and thoughtful conservative i've heard speak all year. i've recently subscribed to the NY times - looking forward to reading his pieces.

Bret Stephens takes control of the dialogue brilliantly, going from a "muttering under his nose academic - to a voice of authority, setting the rhythm of the conversation.

Brilliant guy, loved the interview.

Bill, love ya, but the bread bags are true. I wore them over shoes in the snow because we couldn't afford snow boots in Wisconsin winters.

Bread bags were the perfect insulator from the "wet" aspect of snow; didn't do much for the cold, but did keep a kid's feet dry. I'll bet thousands upon thousands of kids, well off as well as poor, have pictures with bread bags on their feet.

One of the Best guests on Real Time with real food for thought

I too put plastic bags on my feet before I put them in my shoes, to keep my socks dry. This was in the 70's and 80's. They didn't make nice winter boots back then. Moon boot were warm but got waterlogged.

Very refreshing to listen to an intelligent progressive Republican.

@do_care919

4 жыл бұрын

This aged perfectly

@shway1

4 жыл бұрын

he's part of the right wing cancel-culture AND eugenicist. so progressive

@shway1

4 жыл бұрын

@@do_care919 I mean, was he any better at the time?

@do_care919

4 жыл бұрын

@@shway1 it was a bit less evident how much of a hypocrite he is

I used bread bags in MN in the 80's winter. Winter boots for the poor sucked and that was the only way to keep the snow/ water at bay.

As a child in the 70s, I wore bread bags on my feet sometimes for inclement weather. I had rubber boots, but they were hand-me-downs and leaky. In this day/age, no one would keep old leaky boots. My parents did and we used plastic bags to stay dry.

The working class kids like me had one pair of everyday sneakers and one pair of good shoes for school. Sometimes during rain or snow, moms would put breadbags over them to wear on the way to school. Kids grow every year. I remember my parents paying Sears high interest credit card for 2 years for every school years modest few outfits and winter coat, never catching up. Moms literally prayed that your shoes would last until you outgrew them, but we took off the breadbags as soon as out of site to avoid the shaming by other children. When you laugh at the breadbags you are opening a wound you do not understand.

As a kid in the 60s and 70s, I put bread bags on my feet. I had shoes, but not good shoes for snow and rain. So rather than getting soaked feet, we put bread bags over the socks (under the shoes). That's what putting bread bags on your feet means. Not that we didn't have shoes, we just didn't have good shoes for wet weather AND we walked A LOT.

Using bread bags used to be a common thing. They went over your socks in boots to keep them dry. We always used them growing up and we weren't poor.

THIS IS NOT A PRESIDENCY. IT IS A NEUROSIS! PERFECT ANALYSIS!

Nice to see more NYT columnists on this show!

Applause for Bret Stephens. It hits multiple nails on the head

Very interesting discussion! Thank you for posting this

Boy this brought back a bad memory! In the 50's in Minnesota we put bread bags over our shoes so we wouldn't have to walk around in wet shoes and socks at school. Small help because I remember boys in line behind me (we walked in lines to school because no bus) would push us down in the snow. And of course girls were required to wear dresses.

Really bright guy, this Bret Stephens. Bill had a hard time keeping up with his arguments, and Bret's opening statement about the need to get away from putting people in boxes and from looking for affirmation of one's existing views was very illuminating. THAT is actually a key problem of American society these days - very few people still have an open mind to another person's arguments (and this applies to people you agree with as much as to people you disagree with - it's important to stay critical with one's own crowd!).

I grew up on a farm in Ohio. There’s a lot of mud around feed bins, sheds, working with cattle--so you wear thigh high boots. But going to Catholic school on the bus we DID wear Wonder bags over our good shoes---to protect them from mud on the dirt roads. Take them off at school, by turning them inside out. Then put them back on to go home. With five kids we didn’t have six pairs of fashion boots. We had muck boots on the farm then bread bags (Usually Wonder bread bags) over our patent leather shoes and white anklets.

I am a big fan, but it only makes Bret's point further that you don't know how bread bags are used. You put them over your socks then into your shoes to keep them dry in the winter from the snow and rain. I did it growing up in PA.

Bread bags are old school! We all got sent out in the snow with them to insulate & keep our pre-teen tootsies dry..

"Institutionally corrosive." Holy shit, classy burn.

Very good dialogue very entertaining and interesting

Hey Bret, he' not being bipolar. Saying that is unfair to bipolar people, and also unfair to the turmoil of crazyness that - altogether! - depicts Donald Trump. Just call him deeply disturbed and incredibly nuts.

The crown will cheer & clap ANYTHING.

I used bread bags to keep the water out of rubber boots when I had to go out in the rain as a child because we couldn't afford new boots as a poor family. I don't blame immigrants for growing up poor, it is the systematic removal of labour laws that allowed corporations to use my parents time and work and not pay them a living wage. Mexicans did not make it so that I had to use bread bags to keep my feet dry as a child, it was the abuse my parents had to endure by working full time jobs and not getting fair pay because a suit had to make another million off their backs.

I know people who put bags on their feet . They had shoes but the shoes were bad and leaked . The bags were to waterproof them in bad weather . We get snow, if your boots were cheap your feet got wet and froze . Bags inside the boot helped . Not an issue in California I imagine

Lol here in Boston we wore bread bags on our feet

Bret’s dad was vice president of General Products, a chemical company in Mexico. He probably made the bread bags.

@1p6t1gms

6 жыл бұрын

Oh. Por favor.

@thalia88beachbabe

6 жыл бұрын

Bret misrepresent himself..refugee to an elite...most like his mom married a rich guy, married for money. Duh not a good example of hard work ...or is it?

@dreamerabe

6 жыл бұрын

The more you know.

@carloms5858

6 жыл бұрын

Joni Earnst was born in Iowa in 1970 and says she wore plastic bread bags to protect her shoes, not as shoes. Anyway, she's a hypocitical, Tea Party fraud. Her family collected 100 thousands of dollars in government farm aid and she wants to eliminate SNAP.

@williameddy2826

6 жыл бұрын

That would mean that Bill was bang on when he laughed at Jodi Ernst. It would seem that his ridicule was appropriate in THAT circumstance . ( However, if people don`t know how dishonest she was they would consider Bill a jerk.)

3:00. Right after college, starving artist, broke since childhood, I found myself hitchhiking in a snowstorm. Literally a week earlier a friend from the sticks offhandedly mentioned putting Wal~Mart bags on my feet, then socks, then my usual tennis shoes. I just happened to not have any boots with me, and wasn't expecting snow. Saved me from frostbite. Try it sometime in dry 40 or 50 degree weather. Your feet will be burning up in less than an hour. Wearing plastic bread bags in snow in Iowa under your socks would have the same effect: toes lukewarm, or chilled, but not frozen. Read "Master and Man" by Tolstoy.

I'm a staunch liberal but I did wear bread bags in my boots when I was young. My boots had holes and we were too poor to buy another pair...We are not all woven from the same fiber.

Hmmm... I put bread bags over my shoes because my mom made me! It was a little slippery but I didn't get sick like my classmates; so who cares?! I still laugh about it - it's funny! When my son got a job delivering pizza & it stormed, he put plastic shopping bags over his socks so that they were inside his shoes. Again, we laughed but he didn't get sick like his co-workers. Relax, Bret! It's comedy!

@gorillaguerillaDK

6 жыл бұрын

It wasn't so much the bread bags Maher made fun of, more the, no shoe!

@mckenzie.latham91

6 жыл бұрын

becasue in context (remember that?) Joni ernst was using "bread-bags" on her feet to try and pretend she was so dirt poor, and that's why no one should ever question her etc. and Bill called her on it.

lol i remember using breed bag on my feet when i was young because my snow boot were not good anymore....

Bread bags on yer feet isn't poverty. It's simply good home economics.

Clever response William.

I used to have to put grocery bags on my feet because my shoes were falling apart. The bags are to keep your feet dry. It doesn't offend me that someone would make fun of it. But even as a liberal I can see how people would get offended. I pulled myself out of poverty. If I was still in poverty I would be offended/depressed by that kind of joke.

"Blessed to have Mexico as our neighbor" and STILL against this freakin' wall!

I grew up in a city and we put Shaw's bags between our socks and boots. So it isn't a country thing

Bread bags on shoes? Heck when I was a kid we wrapped garbage bags around us to use as wind breakers. Snow was waist high and we walked five miles to school - up hill both ways. Didn't think anything of it. (ok, not really)

It is comforting to know there a at least a handful of sane conservatives.

"the idea that we aren't blessed to have Mexico as our neighbor (crazy)... we should thank our lucky stars every day" Amen! damn, could you imagine if we had Our enemies as neighbors. thank God for the oceans.

Oh look, it's Bretbug Stephens, before the thing with that thing

@anycolouryoulike8567

4 жыл бұрын

#bedbug

We wore plastic bags on our feet in winter in our boots because boots were not waterproof in the 60s.

We would put bread bags over our socks in winter to keep dry. There's no other reason to do so, the bags will rip if you walk in them.

I really like this guy! Will definitely check out some of his work.

"This is not a Presidency this is a neurosis"

Bill; I have a picture of my oldest son wearing bread bags over his shoes playing in the snow; you want a copy of it? The kid is now a Dentist.

very well said, Bret.

This guy kinda looks like Ben Affleck

@BostonRedSoxForever

6 жыл бұрын

Uhm...no, he doesn't.

@freediugh416

6 жыл бұрын

not even a little?

"There is something so ugly about everything that the wall represents. The idea that we aren't blessed by the fact of having Mexico as our neighbor is insane. We should thank our lucky stars everyday." Truth told by Bret Stephens.

@hawksm2783

3 жыл бұрын

Truth? I don't think so. You should read the stories about the cartels and how powerful they are there. Plus, we have about 300k illegal immigrants crossing the border every year. I don't agree that we are blessed to have them, but they could be much worse.

@michaelcain721

2 жыл бұрын

@@hawksm2783 there would be illegal immigrants coming across the border no matter what country it was. If it was say Ecuador or Croatia you’d still have illegal’s sneaking in.

Why are we talking about survivable events in the first place? Are we truly that desperate to find any rational and reasonable people who are capable of respecting both sides values, goals and opinions?

NYT isn't trying something new by adding conservative writers. WaPo has included conservative nonechochamber writers for at least two decades.

I wore bags on my feet, both inside the shoe and outside the shoe as recently as 8 years ago b/c I had to walk through snow that came up over my hiking boots (a used pair which someone had given me) to and from bus stops and the grocery store, etc. and the boots weren't waterproof. I think Bill was thinking she was claiming she wore them INSTEAD of shoes, not in addition to shoes. He has probably never had to walk in snow w/o high, waterproof boots. I didn't get offended myself, but I immediately thought that some lower income people might find it offensive.

Actually she would wear the bread bags to keep the feet dry and warm. Being Canadian we used milk bags, much stronger. Why??? there was no water proof boots in 1960. How would you keep them dry? I'm not offended by any of Bills Comments. ✌️

Grew up in Iowa. Wore bread bags. Wasn't poor, weather sucks and Goretek wasn't invented. Earnst is awful.

You know what's condescending? Being told by a guy who was born into obscene wealth that if I want to stop being poor I just have to work harder.

Just like he said. Most people i know have a hard time calling themselves a democrat or a republican anymore.

As a child of immigrants growing up in Ontario in the 60's bags in my snow boots was a real thing. I can see it as a funny now but I'm financially secure now. If I were putting plastic bags in my children's (ok grandchildren's) boots right now - not so funny. I would have seen the joke as really insensitive. If comedy = tragedy + time you have to make sure your audience has had the time. Generally though, I love you Bill!

I love you Bill!

those of you who don't like walls, keep your home doors unlocked. Leave your car windows down and give let everyone into your house.

Okay... the bread bag thing is something you put on your kid's feet in the snow, so you don't get the kid's socks wet. I grew up in the Philly suburbs in the 70's-80's, and my mom put bread bags on my feet. We were not exactly poor. More like middle-working class.

I had to restart this video 6 times to finish watching it because my Roku KZread app keeps crashing and crashing and crashing-especially it seems during your videos and those of Keith Obermann...makes me wonder.

Stephens is right, you'd better understand that, Bill. Michael Moore says the same, and he seems to understand this question better than anybody. Poverty deforms peoples minds.

Would someone please tell Bill Maher what the bread bags were for!!!! You don't wear them instead of shoes. You wear them over your shoes to keep them dry from rain or snow. It's common practice in areas that get a lot of rain or snow especially when you are poor and your kids go through three sizes of shoes in a year. In dry states... No problem, it's just 3 pairs of shoes. In wet or snow areas it would be an additional 3 pairs of rain/snow boots. Or...... You can wear bags over your shoes. Lol I'm sure that folks have already commented on this topic, but oh well....

I'm from Iowa. I grew up poor. And I'm not a little wimp. Thanks but no thanks for standing up for bread bags. :/

That Bread bag thing is a good idea, but my family used garbage bags to keep dry, fuck rain coats.

Let him debate Tucker Carlson.

Back in the days when penny loafers were popular, I remember wearing plastic bags over my socks because I got stuck in a deluge without a pair of rubber boots. Bill should realize that there are circumstances where that politician's statement could be true. I think that he "Jumped the Gun" on that issue.

Bill, stop freaking out when someone criticizes you. It's embarrassing.

I was a middle class kid and my mom had us put bread bags over our shoes before we put on our rubber over boots when we walked in snow to school. It kept our feet dry! It is not making fun of the poverty! That is what Ernst said! She was trying to prove she was not an elite, she even added castrating pigs which I thought was even more stupid! Her parents weren't poor by any means! "Ernst's family farm in Red Oak, Iowa received over $460,000 in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2006. Family members received conservation payments, commodity subsidies, and agricultural aid". [The District Sentinel, 1/12/15]

It is wrong to make fun of poverty.

Has Bill Maher always lived in California so he doesn't know the trick of putting plastic bags over your shoes to keep them dry? My boys used to use bread bags (because they were long) to put over their socks to keep them dry in their boots when they were playing outside in the snow.

Actually think Bill is wrong here - it was a damn fine point with a perfect example about the Left's trouble with condescension.

you wear the bread bags inside your shoes to keeps your feet dry. probably with no socks, so your feet get fungal infections. my childhood, too

I don't hate rich people. Class warfare is not my strategy. I am anti-greed, I'm not quite sure why any one in this world is pro greed but, well you know, it exists....

Maher still doesn't get it that a nobleman cannot win over peasants' hearts by mocking the same peasants. It's simple group phychology: if you haven't lived it, you don't have the right to mock it. You are not part of the group.

Bret Stephens is a clever man

Wow, if there were more people like Bret Stephens, ie sane, in office we would be so much better off. I really enjoyed this interview.

For us bread bags over the shoes were to keep the salt off of them so they didn't stain. Lived on the bottom of a hill that was heavily salted and the front of our house always had salty puddles. The short walk to school and later the bus, kept our shoes from getting salty stains. My parents made me do it. Later in life when I was on public transportation and had to wait for trains or buses I wore them between my socks to keep my feet dry. and warm. In a rural area like Joni they wore them not because they didn't have the money for shoes but to keep them clean. Dirt roads and all. Since she lived on a farm you can bet she ate well.

"Sometimes Liberals sabotage themselves." - Bill Maher 2017.

Bret Stephens.. I just discovered you.. :) .. I love you! You are great!

@sreddi83

4 жыл бұрын

Errr awkward

Bill, I love yah, but here's the breadbag truth: When it was winter in the '60s, kids like me (rising lower-middle class) all needed snow boots, but the boots weren't all that hospitable for a foot with a (necessary) warm sock on it. You couldn't slide your foot in fast enough to walk all the way to school or get to the bus stop because you were wrestling against a force that usually is a bit more fun: Friction!! To make a foot's entry into that waterproof wonder of a boot much more ... smooth, you'd just pull a breadbag on over the sock. That slippery plastic surface was just the ticket! Then, you and your friends would squish together all the way to school. :-)

I grew up lower middle class. We had our own house and we never went hungry, but, sometimes when it rained or in the winter we would put plastic bags over our shoes because we didn't have overshoes and our boots were too bulky for just rain. It wasn't because we were too poor to have shoes and most of the kids in the school did it from time to time so there was no shame. I think there is a bit of b.s. in Ernst's story.

someone tell Bill that the breadbags are to cover your shoes to keep them from getting wet from the snow, not worn instead of shoes, grew up poor in Arkansas, its a real solution for poor kids around the country...

Bill has a fanastic smart view on the world today.

Never say never

You put your feet in bread bags do when you trudge through the snow, so when snow falls in your shoes, so your feet don't get wet while they are cold.

I wore bread-bags over my boots on my bike back in the day.....to keep my feet dry.

Prince2Elohim Peace thank you Bill !!!

Joni Ernst was never poor. Her family's farm received subsidies.

@mckenzie.latham91

6 жыл бұрын

which was Bill's point.