Friday was the premiere of this season’s Real Time with Bill Maher. It did not disappoint. As usual everyone was privy to Maher’s generally well thought out sarcasm and satire. He had two bona fide Democrats, former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm and James Carville, on the show. He also had two Republicans, an apparently drunk Mary Matalin and Steve Schmidt.
Maher lamented the state of the environment but loved what can now be burned in some states. “That’s the bad news, California is burning,” he said. “The good news is Colorado is smoking.”
The show covered the major topics currently debated in the political sphere. It covered the NSA, Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal, the West Virginia spill, the environment, and the minimum wage. The Republicans on the panel provided the same talking points in an attempt to justify their beliefs that have continuously failed Americans.
Maher left his best statement for the last new rule: using the Duck Dynasty fiasco as his analogy for what Republicans have done to this country with smoke and mirrors, he had some advice.
“And finally, a resolution I have been asking America to make for a long time,” he said. “Be more cynical. Be less easily fooled. Case in point, all the people that are fans of these guys, heroes to all the rural heartland traditional values gun nuts out there. Except here is what we recently found out these guys really look like before they got their TV show, preppy assholes at the golf club wearing Tommy Bahama. That’s right. It is all an act, fat cats pretending to be just folks. And you fell for it. Take a hint, Tea Partiers. This is what the Republican Party is always doing to you.”
Americans should heed his comment. It is okay to be fooled once. It is okay that one has been misled. When one is informed and refuses to see the light, then that becomes willful ignorance. Mike Stafford, a Republican Operative turned Independent will be interviewed on this week’s Politics Done Right. He has been trying to be a sensible voice in the Republican Party. He realized he just couldn't do it anymore. He wrote this compelling piece that shows what occurs when eyes are opened to reality.
Bill Maher’s calling out of the Duck Dynasty deception is important. As others see reality versus false rhetoric, the change in our politics will occur.