In an odd moment of clarity, Real Time with Bill Maher host Bill Maher admitted on Friday that he had been far too harsh on past Republican nominees for president and that he regrets "crying wolf" so many times. He said that in hindsight, Mitt Romney and John McCain were "honorable men" and that Donald Trump is far different.
Watch here (language warning):
I mean, that's great Bill, but the fact still remains that you acted as though Mitt-freaking-Romney was the devil incarnate, and even remarked early in the election cycle that Trump was "refreshing." The world did not end during the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency, and it wouldn't have if John McCain or Mitt Romney were elected either. Yet, McCain was mocked for his age and Romney was even accused of killing a woman with cancer. Even Romney's awkwardly-phrased "binders full of women" remark, which was in reference to his explicit and targeted efforts to hire more women somehow became a sexist remark. It's no wonder Americans didn't believe liberal pundits who had warned about Trump--the rhetoric was all the same stuff they've heard before that they knew wasn't true.
Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, it's time to stop treating people with whom we disagree politically as monsters and bad people.