I watched part of Bill Maher's first RealTime of the season last night. It reminded me of why I stopped watching it regularly. In his closer, Maher pulled one of his standard "I know best" routines, reminding all the brainless lefties that 74 million voted for Trump and the Washington rioters were a tiny fraction of that. Blaming Republicans generally for the misdeeds of just a few was wrong in his view.
Yes, out of 74 million the D.C. mob was a minuscule fraction. So what? Polls of self-identified Republican supporters taken in the aftermath of the insurrection found that 45 per cent "strongly supported" the attacks while 51 per cent said Trump bore no blame for either the storming of the Capitol or the five deaths that resulted.
Of course, that wasn't part of Maher's calculations. Stuff like that is best left out of his editorial. Maher wants to depict an America in which bygones should be bygones, if only to clear the path to reconciliation.
Reconciliation was attempted after the Civil War and yet the still open wounds were evident on Capitol Hill ten days ago. One man paraded the rebel battle flag through the building as a crowd with a strong white nationalist contingent mulled around.
Proud Boys appeared on the hill sporting shirts with "6MWE" on them. That stands for "six million weren't enough." I don't think I need to explain that.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/proud-boy-6mwe/
These are the people to whom Trump said "you're special" and "we love you." To him they are and he does.
Another point Maher conveniently ignored is the other Republican war underway. This is the war between the party's radical right versus conservative Republicans and the radical right seems to be winning. The Tea Party/Treason Caucus radicals are inured to the anti-Semites and white supremacists and their supporters/enablers in their movement to seize control of the GOP. These odious types have a home in this powerful faction of the Republican Party.
Yet, to hear Maher tell it, liberals should be ashamed to blame Republicans for the mess their country is in. After all, it's only a few bad apples. I guess he never heard of the Brown Shirts.
I would say, Mound, that Bill Maher is engaging in some very willful blindness here. It is as if he has not been following the complicity and incitement of the Republicans over the years.
The last refuge of a scoundrel
ReplyDeleteAnd Lord knows there are a lot of them, John.
DeleteI watched part of Bill Maher's first RealTime of the season last night. It reminded me of why I stopped watching it regularly. In his closer, Maher pulled one of his standard "I know best" routines, reminding all the brainless lefties that 74 million voted for Trump and the Washington rioters were a tiny fraction of that. Blaming Republicans generally for the misdeeds of just a few was wrong in his view.
ReplyDeleteYes, out of 74 million the D.C. mob was a minuscule fraction. So what? Polls of self-identified Republican supporters taken in the aftermath of the insurrection found that 45 per cent "strongly supported" the attacks while 51 per cent said Trump bore no blame for either the storming of the Capitol or the five deaths that resulted.
Of course, that wasn't part of Maher's calculations. Stuff like that is best left out of his editorial. Maher wants to depict an America in which bygones should be bygones, if only to clear the path to reconciliation.
Reconciliation was attempted after the Civil War and yet the still open wounds were evident on Capitol Hill ten days ago. One man paraded the rebel battle flag through the building as a crowd with a strong white nationalist contingent mulled around.
Proud Boys appeared on the hill sporting shirts with "6MWE" on them. That stands for "six million weren't enough." I don't think I need to explain that.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/proud-boy-6mwe/
These are the people to whom Trump said "you're special" and "we love you." To him they are and he does.
Another point Maher conveniently ignored is the other Republican war underway. This is the war between the party's radical right versus conservative Republicans and the radical right seems to be winning. The Tea Party/Treason Caucus radicals are inured to the anti-Semites and white supremacists and their supporters/enablers in their movement to seize control of the GOP. These odious types have a home in this powerful faction of the Republican Party.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/trump-blows-up-the-arizona-gop-on-his-way-out/ar-BB1cO15Q?ocid=msedgntp
Yet, to hear Maher tell it, liberals should be ashamed to blame Republicans for the mess their country is in. After all, it's only a few bad apples. I guess he never heard of the Brown Shirts.
I would say, Mound, that Bill Maher is engaging in some very willful blindness here. It is as if he has not been following the complicity and incitement of the Republicans over the years.
DeleteThe original sin in the United States was slavery, Lorne. Americans have not been able to cleanse their nation's soul.
ReplyDeleteIt seems an indelible stain, Owen.
Delete