I know conservatives don’t like Bill Maher. I don’t mind him on certain topics like free speech, radical Islamic terrorism, and political correctness. On the latter, he feels the Democratic Party has become a bunch of crybabies who don’t want to be offended. Too bad. he calls out the illiberal tendencies while also bashing Republicans. He did wish for an economic recession to help boot Trump from a second term. It’s disgusting wishing that on American families, but it worked. It happened. And yet, while many in the liberal media were gloating and celebrating the end of the GOP following Trump’s exit and the January 6 riot that engulfed Capitol Hill, Maher knows better.
His new rules and special commentary segment that ends his show Real Time on HBO was nuanced during the January 15 episode. He rehashed how this isn’t the end of the GOP. The GOP didn’t end with Nixon. It didn’t end with Bush and Katrina. He noted that 74 million Trump supporters are not self-deporting, and neither are liberals. Maher aptly noted that you can think someone is an a-hole while not becoming one yourself, that it’s possible to dislike Trump, even hate him, but not hate those who support him. I’m sure many in Maher’s audience surely disagreed with this take—he wasn’t popping champagne.
Maher reminded his audience that the five or so thousands of folks who stormed the US Capitol aren’t all Trump supporters. He then zeroed in on Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who served for 14 years who was shot and killed inside the Capitol. She was deployed to Iran and Afghanistan, had voted for Obama, and owed a pool-cleaning service that was struggling to survive under the COVID lockdown regime.
Babbitt took out a short-term loan with an egregiously high-interest rate to stay afloat. Maher does hit on the point that greed and corruption have squeezed the middle class, but these folks were not directing their fire on those who were truly gutting them. As he put it, these people were the 'China' and Trump was the bull. I disagree, but he also took a swipe at Democrats in California, who he says probably instilled a feeling in Babbitt that her being a white person was more of a problem than her financial situation. Oh, and they didn’t do anything to stop her from accepting what could be described as a predatory loan.
The liberal comedian noted this is why everyone wants to burn something down. He also noted that California is a swamp too, a deep blue state held together by red tape. He noted how it’s taken him four years to install solar panels on his roof. It still hasn’t been approved and the shed that’s part of Maher’s home edition took three years to be up to code. No wonder why people are fleeing the state.
It’s a more serious end note for Maher, whose commentaries are more in line with a stand-up comedy routine, but it’s certainly more grounded than anything you’ll hear on MSNBC and CNN about this situation. That’s for damn sure.
(H/T Ed Morrissey)