# Re-Posted Bill Maher makes a good point. LINK **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 16, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332 "2024-11-16T21:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/21 "2024-11-16T23:56:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The survival instincts of the Democratic Party are going to kick in, resulting in kicking the “woke” crowd to the curb, and pivoting to the right. And that renders them permanently irrelevant. Those are lemming instincts, not survival ones. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/22 "2024-11-17T00:00:04Z")
Nothing in his posts indicates that he actually wants them to survive, though. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/23 "2024-11-17T00:13:39Z")
[![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/bafkreihanc2pzjojjmpezl35ucwmd5gtmilyqzzm2l2i3jzjwvpdsclugm@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5o6k7jvowuyaquloafzn3cfw/bafkreihanc2pzjojjmpezl35ucwmd5gtmilyqzzm2l2i3jzjwvpdsclugm@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/24 "2024-11-17T00:20:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And that renders them permanently irrelevant. Those are lemming instincts, not survival ones. …there are two things at play here. Firstly: this isn’t an American problem. Its happening worldwide. The political “centre”, which tends to be where all the money and power, is marginalising the left, and shifting right. And secondly, _it’s going to happen_. It’s inevitable. This was the most disastrous election campaign in history because it opened the door to fascism and chaos. Yet: nobody is falling on their sword. Nobody thinks they did anything wrong. The centre thinks that it didn’t “centre enough”, and will double down on the “centrism” as they become essentially old-school-Republicans in everything but name. So the question becomes what do you do next. Because _somebody_ has to organise the resistance. And it isn’t going to be anyone from the establishment Dems, who like Biden are smiling happy in photo ops with Trump, or Fetterman who is congratulating Trump on his appointment of a nazi to the UN, or Gov Jared Polis who praises the anti-vax appointment of RFK. (Before desperately back-pedalling.) The establishment Dems are going to be _complicit_ with the Trump regime. So yes, under normal circumstances, a split would be devastating to the Democrats. But we are witnessing a global takeover by the alt-right. We are seeing a full throated attack on the United Nations and the very concept of international law. Unprecedented levels of propaganda, gas-lighting, and targeted political persecution. The old days are gone. What are you going to do about it now? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/25 "2024-11-17T00:22:54Z")
Sometimes surviving is the best win you can get. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/26 "2024-11-17T00:29:59Z")
I just watched the video and I’m convinced. Before the next election, I think the Democrats should definitely drop their support of immigrants eating people’s pets, after-birth abortions, and sex changes of children during school hours. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/27 "2024-11-17T00:31:13Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > What are you going to do about it now? Die? You are describing an unwinnable situation. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/28 "2024-11-17T01:22:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Die? You are describing an unwinnable situation. …here’s the thing: if you fall into line, you probably _won’t_ die. That’s often how it works. Because we’ve been talking about this moment since 2016. I’ve read what people are writing. “If Trump wins, its all over.” It appears the problem was that it was all empty rhetoric. Because Trump won. And we are here now. All those bad things we said were going to happen…_are going to happen_. We appear to be at the “denial” stage of grief. I got over that a long time ago. So the question is what we do now. They are coming for trans people next. You are going to have to pick a side. You can stand with Bill Maher, with Seth Moulton, with apparently the OP (who can clarify if they wish) who think we should throw trans people under the bus for the sake of winning elections. Or you can stand with the aide who resigned. Because it is _going to come to that point_. And it will come sooner than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/29 "2024-11-17T04:54:58Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > You can stand with Bill Maher, with Seth Moulton, with apparently the OP (who can clarify if they wish) who think we should throw trans people under the bus for the sake of winning elections. Of course, he _didn’t say anything like that_, did he? He didn’t say that we should throw Trans people under the bus; that we shouldn’t refer to them by their chosen pronouns; that we shouldn’t ensure that they have access to gender affirming care. He’s for _all_ of those things. What he said was a losing proposition was specifically _including trans women in women’s sports_. Here’s what one trans activist has to say on this subject: > > > Rikki Schlott @RIKKISCHLOTT ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/30 "2024-11-17T05:13:51Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Basically cranky old man blames election loss (House, Senate, President) on young progressives and “wokeness”. No other news or point with Maher. I don’t think that’s what’s being said, though. If the left is ignoring “the minorities that they are allegedly defending” (OP’s words,) that’s a big deal. It’s one thing to ignore the right, but if one is ignoring the very group of people that should be one’s strongest constituent, that’s a blaring alarm siren. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/31 "2024-11-17T05:47:56Z")
And sometimes, where there’s smoke there’s someone yelling fire while throwing smoke bombs. While you don’t ignore them, you also don’t believe anything they say. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/32 "2024-11-17T05:59:19Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It’s one thing to ignore the right, but if one is ignoring the very group of people that should be one’s strongest constituent, that’s a blaring alarm siren. And a siren the dems have been ignoring. Bill Clinton got neoliberalism rolling. Obama got elected and there was a lot of hope he’d change things but it was more neoliberalism. Then Clinton lost to Trump and her takeaway was it was Bernie Bros who ruined things for her. Biden wins but most people neglected that Trump did better than any candidate in history except Biden. Now Harris. More neoliberal stuff. I have a cousin who is liberal and starting a family (two little girls) and I wish you could hear him tell the story. He’s pissed. No amount of, “the stock market is great” helps him. It’s not wokeness. It’s dems abandoning the middle class. They may support unions but unions are falling all the time (save a few special ones like police). House prices are out of control and young people can’t begin to think of getting a home. Dems tut tut but basically do nothing. Price gouging under the guise of inflation. More tut tutting and nothing. Abortion rights falling all over the place. A clear lack of accountability in government (what did Merrick Garland achieve in four years?) The list is long. Dems will not win as republicans who are ok with smoking pot. I think it might be too late now. If there is a recovery from this it will take decades. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/33 "2024-11-17T06:03:07Z")
You sound like the guy who blames the rape victim for wearing short skirts. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/34 "2024-11-17T06:49:59Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It’s not wokeness. It’s dems abandoning the middle class. They may support unions but unions are falling all the time (save a few special ones like police). House prices are out of control and young people can’t begin to think of getting a home. Dems tut tut but basically do nothing. Price gouging under the guise of inflation. More tut tutting and nothing. Abortion rights falling all over the place. A clear lack of accountability in government (what did Merrick Garland achieve in four years?) The list is long. He speaks the truth. My sister has been trying to buy a home for years. The bank has approved her for a loan. She still can’t buy a house because every time she places a bid on one, an investment firm swoops in and offers cash up front, so that instead of her paying an $800/month mortgage, they can charge $2,000 rent. What is “I’ll provide a $25,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers” supposed to do to fix that? Democrats have become too afraid of the billionaire class to even propose rent control or a ban on absentee landlords or tighter regulation of airbnb or anything else that would actually address the causes of the housing crisis, and they keep chasing these mythical “Reagan Democrats” who died 30 years ago or all became magas. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/35 "2024-11-17T06:54:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Democrats have become too afraid of the billionaire class to even propose rent control Democrats **did** propose rent control measures, here in California. They resoundingly failed, mostly because people understand that rent control would create a handful of winners (in the rent controlled homes) and a shitload of losers (everyone who doesn’t have a house because it becomes unprofitable to construct new houses). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/36 "2024-11-17T07:02:25Z")
I’m not sure rent control is the best method but the debate is worth having and something should have been done. Raise taxes on AirB&B or raise taxes on any entity that owns more than two homes…by a lot. The point is to try and see what works. Dems never really tried though. When it comes to student debt…let those with a lot of debt enter bankruptcy. No need to wipe their debt. Let them do what everyone else can do when they can’t pay their bills. There are lots of ways dems could have done better. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/37 "2024-11-17T07:04:11Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > everyone who doesn’t have a house because it becomes unprofitable to construct new houses If the only reason to build a new home is to rent it out instead of, you know, living in it, then that’s also part of the problem that Democrats should be addressing instead of playing to a nonexistant center. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/38 "2024-11-17T07:05:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If the only reason to build a new home is to rent it out instead of, you know, living in it, Unless you think we should all be building our own houses - and, hot take, specialization of labor is a good thing - then most houses that are being built will not be being built for the person building them to live in, that’s correct. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/39 "2024-11-17T07:07:10Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’m not sure rent control is the best method but the debate is worth having and something should have been done. Sure! That’s what was done when rent control was raised as a proposition, debated, and then shot down here in California. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2024, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332/40 "2024-11-17T07:10:08Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Sure! That’s what was done when rent control was raised as a proposition, debated, and then shot down here in California. I don’t know how that debate went but fine…great even. It is not the only solution. If rent control was found to be a poor solution (and I think price controls generally are) then explore other solutions. There are many ways to approach the problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-posted-bill-maher-makes-a-good-point-link/1010332.md?page=3)