Okay, so while Friday’s episode of Bill Maher had its good moments, like the HBO host admitting that progressive youngsters are morons and indoctrinated, let’s also not forget that the comedian trains his firepower on conservatives as well, as he’s always done. Maher isn’t a conservative, but he’s for the cancel culture, intersectionality, and illiberal antics his side is adopting at a rapid pace. So, while he rakes progressives over the coals, he must make sure to take a few shots at Republicans.
As it was a few weeks ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was the main target, and guest James Carville was right there with him. Carville had the more unhinged take, saying Johnson and the Supreme Court were more significant threats than Al-Qaeda. It’s always amusing when liberals turn on institutions just because they lost control. They had a solid liberal bloc on the Supreme Court that’s eroded due to age—it’s now a rogue judicial body. Congress was bread and roses when Democrats controlled it. It’s now a threat when Republicans have a House majority. Arguably, it’s chaotic with the speakership shenanigans this Fall, but this whining is nothing new from the Democrats. It’s still entertaining. It’s now leeched into elections, where if you don’t vote for candidates Democrats endorse, you’re supporting a march toward dictatorship (via Newsbusters):
Democratic strategist and frequent media talking head James Carville went on multiple emotionally unhinged and factually challenged rants on Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO and the Overtime segment broadcast on CNN’s Laura Coates Live. Carville took Speaker Mike Johnson wildly out of context to portray him as worse than Al-Qaeda while earlier claiming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “right-wing bullshit” is why Israel finds itself at war.
Maher finds Johnson particularly threatening, having himself compared Johnson to Osama bin Laden and having guests on who will indulge those feelings. Carville was just the latest example, “This is a bigger threat than Al-Qaeda to this country. Let me tell you something, the Speaker of the House, they got probably -- at least two Supreme Court justices, maybe more, right, don't kid yourself and people in the press have no idea who this guy is, how he was formed, what the threat is, and this is a fundamental threat to the United States.”
Carville accused Johnson and his fellow travelers of not believing “in the Constitution and will tell you that. Mike Johnson himself says what is democracy but two wolves and a lamb having lunch. That's what they really, really believe and to say, oh, come on, man, that's some crazy -- no, no, they believe that and they're coming and they've been doing it forever. They're funded.”
The quote about wolves, lambs, and lunch is an old one attributed to Benjamin Franklin about the dangers of unchecked majoritarianism and Johnson correctly noted that the Constitution does not establish such a system. Yet, Carville made it sound like Johnson wants to eat all the proverbial lambs.
As you already know, Maher is not a fan of organized religion. And while he might think Speaker Johnson is a Christian nationalist nutcase, he also lists the very reasons why theocratic authoritarianism will never become entrenched in his bashing of the Louisiana Republican because the Constitution would never permit the establishment of religion or tests for government positions. Also, the faces of this Christian takeover movement don’t have national constituencies, and its list of members Maher presented in his closing New Rules commentary numbers fewer than ten people. They don’t represent the Right. And while Maher doesn’t call for these people to be canceled, he’s hyperventilating about something that’s been around since Falwell. We’re the most religious in the industrialized world, with more people believing in creationism than evolution.
Does anyone give Carville a Breathalyzer before he suggests a well-mannered Christian Republican is worse than al-Qaeda? https://t.co/5lxvnTHIFO
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 2, 2023
Dumbass Republicans who believe horrible ideas are like ants. There's always more that you can't see. #ChristianNationalism pic.twitter.com/v079wf0HXd
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) December 2, 2023
Also, yes, we’re not a democracy but a republic. The Supreme Court isn’t right-wing. It leans right, but they’re not fascist. And Speaker Johnson might find himself out of a job since he’s done a 180-degree turn on Ukraine aid, an issue that torpedoed Kevin McCarthy’s tenure holding the gavel. Our Founders created checks and balances and institutional mechanisms to prevent tyranny by a majority: veto, veto override, supermajorities, and judicial review. All these things are meant to impede rapid change. Progressives hate our government and Constitution since safety, not efficiency, is what’s embedded in its framework.
Mr. Maher, I’m with you on crazy left-wing students, free speech, radical Islam, and support for Israel. On this stuff, we disagree. Mr. Carville, you still play the part of Ragin’ Cajun well.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member