A Little Bit Maher
Belatedly: in response to some thoughtful feedback to my criticism of Bill Maher the other day, I’d like to clarify a few things. I actually agree with Maher on a number of points — yes, I’ve noticed that Republicans have been embracing the wingnut fringe lately. But I agree with Andy Rooney sometimes too (it’s true, there are too many kinds of fruit nowadays!), and that doesn’t mean I think he’s a good broadcaster. The points I wanted to make had nothing to do with Republicans and Democrats, but were simply that:
- Bill Maher is a bad comedian, most notably because he panders to his audience rather than challenging them. Maybe it’s my fault for judging him by the standards of comedians rather than pundits. but I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he still represents the loftier profession.
- Stewart’s rally wasn’t “a rally about nothing” — it just wasn’t yet another Democrats-are-right-and-Republicans-are-wrong rally. Instead, Stewart held the rally because he wanted to address a different issue entirely — namely, the tone of public discourse and the importance of treating each other with respect. That, in my mind, is a rally worth having.
But if Maher’s argument is that, no, we can’t treat each other with respect, that the only rational response to Republican “insanity” is to act as he does in that video — to caricature and insult them and call them fat — then count me out of his shitty rally.
