I don’t think it’s that so much as the fact that he’s becoming increasingly critical of the Democratic Party. It was only a few years ago that Maher said (correctly) that in recent years mainstream American politics (the so-callled “Overton window”) had shifted considerably to the right. The way he put it was, “the Democratic Party has moved to the right, and the Republican Party has moved into the lunatic asylum”.
I agreed with that. But today he’s saying his vote “is in play” because the Democratic Party is dominated by crazy leftists and he doesn’t know if he can vote for them any more. His standard line these days is that he hasn’t changed, the Dems have changed.
I’d like to suggest that maybe what’s really changed is creeping senility. Nothing undermines someone’s credibility as much as this kind of inconsistency and obvious courting of controversy in the interest of being newsworthy. He’s made many good points on his many “New Rules” segments at the end of each show, but this kind of fundamental dishonesty has really soured me on Maher. He’s a master of deceptive cherry-picking, using crazy outliers as definitive examples of some fundamental truth.
But it’s apparently working – HBO has renewed Real Time for another two seasons, through to the end of 2028, completing his 26th season.
A few episodes back, Maher complained about the unfairness of the income tax. He said billionaires apparently pay little or no taxes (in many cases, that’s true). Middle- and low-income earners pay relatively little or no taxes. Know who pays most of the taxes? According to Maher, it’s just ordinary everyday millionaires like himself, just trying to survive in an upscale gated community in Beverly Hills, and has to pay 60% of his income in taxes. The horror!
I got the distinct impression Mahr was saying his vote would be in play if the Democrats continued embracing the Marxist bullshit. i.e. If it starts becoming a significant force within the Democratic party then he’d be willing to consider voting Republican.
While I’m currently more worried about the fascist in front of me than I am about theoretical communist, I’m in agreement. Having the choice between Marxism and a Fascism is like deciding whether to snuggle next to a grizzly bear or a lion. Either way something is going to nibble on me.
Yes, this. (In this most recent episode he continues to characterize “Democrats” by the most extremist people claiming to be Democrats.)
That was massively annoying. He followed the Republican party line to the letter, by going on and on about Fauci being overly-impressed by celebrity encounters.
Yep.
I don’t blame a person for trying to make a living. But if they want my respect (and Maher does set himself up as an opinion-leader) then they have to do it with integrity.
Yep to that also.
There may be an issue with our culture as it has evolved in the Internet era: “authenticity” is prized (which is fine), but it’s most often interpreted to mean “combative and contemptuous” (which is less fine).
The far right has batshit ideas that they are implementing. The far left has some naive ideas that are at least designed to help people. And they have no chance of implementing the true “marxist” things you’re worried about. So, I’m not worried about them winning a few seats. It might move the needle in the right direction a smiggen.
I know this is the Pit, but I’m not going to be too rude about it. It’s like you missed the entire point of my fucking post. When I wrote, “While I’m currently more worried about the fascist in front of me than I am about theoretical communist,” what did you think I meant by that? Did you get the impression that I’m worried about Marxist winning anything right now?
Well, I think I focused on the last part of the sentence.
The “I’m in agreement” part.
Then there’s this.
Democratic Socialist are not, to my knowledge, trying to implement “Marxism” as it’s traditionally understood in modern political debates. (What Marx himself had in mind is the subject for a different thread.)
The choice between MAGA and the current crop of Social Democrats, is not at all like “deciding whether to snuggle next to a grizzly bear or a lion.” At least not to me. I have no concern if the Democratic Party or its voters move to the left of me. It won’t imperil our country or undermine its ideals. It’s part of the normal swinging of the political pendulum. MAGA, of course, is quite a different thing altogether.
Correct. “Democratic Socialism” isn’t “Socialism” any more than “Classical Liberalism” is “Liberalism”.
Not everything containing the word “Socialism” is the same. The National Socialists certainly weren’t pushing Marxism. (They were doing a lot worse, of course.) I mean, Marx was Jewish after all.
It’s like deciding whether to snuggle up to a rabid grizzly bear with explosive diarrhea and a sorta squirmy, particularly yappy fox terrier. I’ve never been a huge fox terrier fan - I’ve found them to often be high-strung, kinda snappy dogs. But I know which one I’d pick. IMHO, obviously.
I think it’s worth nothing how often, in the last few months, Heather Cox Richardson has pointed out just how far to the left of today’s Democratic Socialists of America General Dwight David Fucking Eisenhower was.
Maher has to let go of the Overton Window that’s been dragging him blithely to the far right.
That’s true of some DSA caucuses like the North Star caucus which was created to keep the DSA from becoming too Marxist and realign it with the ideals of founder Michael Harrington, but it’s absolutely not true of for example the Red Star caucus which is indeed explicitly Marxist-Leninist by their own definition.
Whoa! A more recent Bellingham band with almost the same name! (just like for some of my old bands, I would have been surprised if google would have had anything for the older one)