This Bill Maher rant is one of his best ones where he explicitly shows that Americans' thought process is fungible and changeable. Evangelical and Republican leaders have worked that reality to make things that would have been evil, vogue. Progressives must instead use that process for good.
Bill Maher hits the nail on the head with a message Democrats must heedVideo here.
Bill Maher deconstructed religion, Evangelicals & GOP's hypocrisy to show why Democrats should have no fear of growing a spine and tackling difficult issues head-on.
"Thanks to Trump, piety itself has ceased to be a third-rail in American politics," Bill Maher said. "How could it be anymore when the world's least godly man has been so fully embraced by our most religious people, the Evangelicals. Oh, they love them some Donald Trump, a man who has been to church four times in his whole life, 3 of them to get married. So when Trump got his mulligan from the values voters, that's when we knew religion had jumped the shark and it was finally safe to say, 'None for me, thanks. I had bullsh*t for lunch.'"
Maher went on to give recent examples where 'religious' stories where either diminished or ridiculed. Reporting on Billy Graham's death was underwhelming. Omarosa Manigault openly ridiculed Mike Pence, our Vice-President for believing Jesus talks specifically to him. The blogosphere and others made fun of Oprah for waiting for God to decide if she will run for President.
Bill used the example of Republicans in the past. They used to be the anti-Russia, law and order party. With Trump, they've made a U-turn, and many Americans have turned with them.
Maher was making an important point. One can modify the American psyche. Most importantly it can change if leaders lay the groundwork for that change. Leaders are folks with a spine who do not mind taking bumps to attain a higher goal.
If one asks Americans what they want, it is clear that except for a minimal number of social issues, they are progressive. Elizabeth Warren visited a recent Netroots Nation where she gave a hell of a speech that proved just that. Democrats are always timid to go all out and do the groundwork necessary to build support for real progressive policies like single-payer Medicare for all, student loan forgiveness, guaranteed basic income, and more.
Bill Maher's last three sentences in the video are prescient.
"A hard slog never phases Conservatives.," Maher said. "Ronald Reagan used to be a joke. Now he is an airport."
Our satirists and comedians continue to lead the way as they are making a whole more sense than a large number of the talking heads on TV. This week's Real Time had a lot of food for thought.
(Article changed on March 11, 2018 at 17:24)
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