Maher's brand of bile is more overt than the preferred approach of his fellow media lefties, but subtlety was never Bill's modus operandi. Via Twitter:
RT @billmaher: Why even listen to
#MittRomney on foreign policy? His entire FP experience is 2 yrs trying to brow-beat Frenchmen into joining his cult
Quick reactions:
(1) Some liberals are already saying that because Maher is a militant, aggressive atheist, he views all religions as cults. Has he called Barack Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ a "cult"? I can't seem to recall that particular smear for some reason.
(2) David Axelrod said just yesterday that Mitt Romney's Mormonism is "off the table" for the fall campaign. Will he encourage Obama's SuperPAC to return Maher's $1 million donation?
(3) But wait, you protest, the Obama campaign can't legally control the behavior and decisions of its Super PAC. True. Over to you, Bill Burton -- director of Obama's SuperPAC:
Priorities USA, a super-PAC that supports President Obama, won't touch on Mitt Romney's Mormonism in its attacks, the group's head told The Hill Monday morning. "We are ruling that out," Priorities USA senior strategist Bill Burton said. "I don't even see the point in engaging in this conversation too much. ... The campaign said they wouldn't engage on it. I haven't heard of any Democrat who has said that should be touched."
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Now that he has clearly established that bigotry and religious fear-mongering have no place in the 2012 campaign, will Burton stamp "return to sender" on Maher's massive check? If not, I don't want to hear one single peep from Obamaworld about Mitt Romney's lack of "moral leadership" in the realm of today's escalating politics of repudiation.
(4) Bill Maher is an insufferable hater who's been slamming Mormonism (and other faiths) for years. He explicitly called Mitt Romney's church "a cult" last month:
Yeah, don't expect Billy B. to mail back that seven-figure check any time soon. This is who Bill Maher is, and Team Obama knew it when they accepted his cash. And by the way, Maher is dead wrong that Romney "only" donated to his church. He's also given hefty sums to cancer and MS research organizations, charities for our troops, and children's groups. And Romney's contributions to the Mormon church weren't just to help indigent Mormons, they were to help facilitate the church's philanthropic and humanitarian work around the world -- or as Maher would characterize it, "brow-beating poor people into benefiting from his cult."
UPDATE - No comment from Team Obama: "The Obama campaign did not respond to an e-mail from BuzzFeed asking whether they would repudiate Maher's remarks."
UPDATE II - Apparently the Obama campaign has offered a tepid rebuke without mentioning Maher by name. They did not comment on the status of his large donation.
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