Bill Maher may be the only one who can save the left from itself
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
One day in 2019 while sitting in my LA home, I received a call from a familiar voice who said Bill could meet us at the Polo Lounge on Friday after his show.
"Bill, who?" I asked.
"Bill Maher," responded Ann Coulter. "Remember our discussion earlier in the week?"
I had forgotten she mentioned us having dinner with him.
As we waited for Maher to arrive, I already felt a rush of excitement from the robust conversation I knew we would have. And robust it was. If you could have been a fly on the wall and heard this conversation, you may have been shocked to learn how reasonable Maher is on some issues.
I know what you are probably thinking: Bill Maher is reasonable?
After all, this is the guy who has made a career of beating up on Republicans weekly, not to mention questioning values like faith in God.
Yet, despite all this, it appears Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," has become the most prominent voice of reason on the left — at a time when there doesn't seem to be many reasonable voices on the left at all.
Recently Maher spoke out against those who allege America has made no progress toward racial reconciliation. He used the term "progressophobia," calling it "a brain disorder that strikes liberals and makes them incapable of recognizing progress. It's like situational blindness, only what you can't see is that your dorm in 2021 is better than the South before the Civil War."
Bill Maher regularly engages people with opposing views like conservative pundit Ann Coulter.HBO
Maher is absolutely correct. The notion that America has made no progress toward a more perfect union is an absurd, false narrative. Yet the left, especially the Democratic Party, continues to push this poison on the American people. It seems the Democrats would, contrary to their rhetoric, rather keep the lie going to lock in a permanent base of African-American voters than tell the truth and seek national unity.
I discuss such hypocrisy of the Democratic Party regarding race in America with NFL Super Bowl winner and Republican Rep. Burgess Owens on a recent episode of my podcast, "Outloud with Gianno Caldwell."
In his important diatribe against progressivism run amok, Maher even goes after fellow comedian Kevin Hart, who is arguably the biggest star in the business.
"There's a recurrent theme on the far left that things have never been worse!" Maher exclaimed. "Kevin Hart expressed a view many hold when he told the New York Times, 'You're witnessing white power and white privilege at an all-time high.'
Maher shocked people when he defended Florida's GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying he got it right on COVID.Getty Images
"This is one of the big problems with wokeness," Maher continued, "that what you say doesn't have to make sense or jive with the facts or even be challenged lest the challenge be conflated with racism."
This wasn't the first time Maher attacked his own side. Back in April, Maher shocked people when he defended Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, from the media and the Democratic Party. In a segment on his HBO talk show, Maher said DeSantis is "a voracious consumer of the scientific literature" who got it right on COVID.
"And maybe that's why he protected his most vulnerable population, the elderly, way better than did the governor of New York," Maher added, knocking New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo. "Those are just facts; I know it's irresponsible of me to say them."
Maher may be a staunch liberal, but he's a voice of reason on the left, unafraid to call out wokeness run amok. If the above moments don't convince you, check out his take on progressives' push for free college.
"I know that free college is a left-wing thing, but is it really liberal for someone who doesn't go to college and makes less money to pay for people who do go and make more?" Maher asked. "Especially since colleges have turned into giant luxury day care centers with overpaid babysitters anxious to indulge every student whim."
When Lin-Manuel Miranda took heat for a lack of minority representation in his new film, Maher clapped back: "You're the guy who made the founding fathers black and Hispanic! I don't think you have to apologize to Twitter."WireImage
You may wonder why Maher has taken such a turn against his party and the media. Here's one answer: He's staunchly politically incorrect. Indeed, in an interview with Jordan Peterson, Maher said political correctness is the elevation of sensitivity over truth. He's right again.
I hope the left is listening, because Maher seems to be the only major voice on the left that still believes in common sense on several issues — even in the face of cancel culture, which he rightly views as ridiculous and stupid.
Last weekend Maher made another excellent point about director Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda, who is of Puerto Rican heritage, was slammed on Twitter because the cast of his movie, "In the Heights," about the Washington Heights area of New York City, did not represent the Afro-Latinx community. After Miranda issued a long, agonized apology, Maher clapped back: "You're the guy who made the founding fathers black and Hispanic! I don't think you have to apologize to Twitter." Maher said he doesn't think Miranda really believes an apology is in order but "he just wants to avoid the news cycle, and I don't blame him," adding, "This is why people hate Democrats; It's cringey." Once again, Maher couldn't be more correct in his assertion.
To be clear, Maher gets it wrong plenty of times, from Russiagate to his criticism of Sen. Joe Manchin, who is apparently the only Democrat in the Senate who believes bipartisanship should be more than a talking point.
But looking at the big picture, I have concluded that Bill Maher is the only person who can save the left from itself. Whether Democrats heed Maher's warnings or continue their descent into woke madness remains an open question.
Gianno Caldwell is a Fox News Political Analyst and the author of "Taken for Granted: How Conservatism Can Win Back the Americans That Liberalism Failed" (Crown Forum), out now.
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It was bound to happen. There is just too much to criticize the left for, but who would have thought it would be Bill Maher?
It seems the Democrats would, contrary to their rhetoric, rather keep the lie going to lock in a permanent base of African-American voters than tell the truth and seek national unity.
It would appear that a lot of African-Americans aren't buying the bullshit the Dems are selling.
Biden is becoming a real problem for the progressives...be interesting as to when the Dems will try to force him out
Any day we may hear rumors that he was found babbling to himself in a corner.
We know that #45 does that all the time.
Is there a Republican/conservative whom you would consider to be a kind of mirror-image for what you praise Bill Maher for? Liz Cheney perhaps, Colin Powell or Mitt Romney?
All of the above, plus the purists who either didn't vote in 2020 or actually voted against their own values. You have to admit Maher had an awful lot more to work with.
Voted against THEIR values? You mean voted against YOUR values. What set them apart from the rest of the crowd is that they HAD values, and voted THEIR values, not the "values" dictated to them.
THEY VOTED AGAINST THEIR VALUES!
The American left has no values. Values would mean standing against bullies and a cultural revolution, wouldn't it?
[removed]
Oh, come on Vic, you're more intelligent than to make such an ignorant unbelievably biased comment like: 'The American left has no values." It's on a par with the moon is made of green cheese.
[deleted] a lying delusional ex one term president that doesn't have any idea what values are and couldn't spell values if given the first four letters of the word.
I'll tell you what, Buzz, one day I'll do a nice article on their values!
Such as :
No taunting just pointing out a fact that he doesn't like.
Carry on
Anyone who has watched his show. Bill is entering the gripe about anything and everything years of living. There will soon come a day when Bill awakens and realizes that apart from a caravan of pundits on the right, he and they are the only people who use the term 'woke'.
I have watched his show, off and on, for years. He is a funny guy and he knows how to put the knife in and twist it on his various targets. It doesnt bother me that he often targets the left for ridicule. But I do think that calls into question his "liberal" credentials. I think he believes in Maherism above all.
And yes, he is getting crabbier with age.
Come, come now...the entire leftist media uses that term.
They don't, the only place I see it being used is in the articles you seed and the comments you and your fans post. [Deleted] Who knows, you might just convince someone to switch sides, although, what with the consistently connived correlations, I seriously doubt it.
Yup, it's the 'right' who uses that term. No one else.
Bill is a upmost a successful comedian. And all good comedians (worth their salt) have an edge to their jokes/statements. It is why Maher's documentary film, "Religulous" is a mocking of religious sincerity and a play on the word, ridiculous.
A 'serious' comedian use a brush that has a broad 'stroke' and yes it will seem like an attack at times for all who get coated by it. But, is it really an attack? Only time can tell for sure.
Me, and anyone who has been watching him for a little while. Ye she predominantly goes after conservatives, but he frequently calls out the left and is most often right when he does.
Who really cares what Bill Maher has to say? What is it that he's supposed to be 'saving us from'?
On one hand you have political correctness, where a Lin Manuel Miranda takes fleeting criticism because his movie basically left out dark skinned Puerto Ricans for prominent screen time in his song and dance extravaganza, and on the other hand we have Donald Trump , in the oval office, suggesting hopefully to his aides and underlings that civil rights protesters across the street from the White House should be shot.
We all know which of those two behaviors is an actual threat to the United States.
The 70 million Trump supporters, growing ever more cultish and enslaved to trumpism are the danger, not people who manifest political correctness on Instagram.
No he didn't.
Yes, he did.
Trump told top military officials to 'shoot' protesters in the leg and 'crack their skulls,' new book claims
After casting them in the role of the founding fathers. The radicals on the left should have praised him. I can remember when Rita Morena couldn't even play the part of Maria.
and on the other hand we have Donald Trump , in the oval office, suggesting hopefully to his aides and underlings that civil rights protesters across the street from the White House should be shot.
I don't know if he actually said that, but I firmly believe the Marxist/extremist violent protestors should have been shot and the governors, mayors and DA's who enabled them should have been prosecuted. If the leftist government could shoot and kill an unarmed veteran, the local police can surely do the same for violent rioters.
We all know which of those two behaviors is an actual threat to the United States.
That is a very dangerous standard, isn't it? I'm sure the unknown capitol cop whop shot and killed the unarmed woman felt he was loyal to American principles, as I'm also sure that the woman killed also felt such loyalty. As a matter of fact J Edgard Hoover felt it when he ordered an investigation of Martin Luther King based on a supposed connection to Communists as well as Jim Comey going along with multiple investigations of Donald Trump based on the belief that there has to be something nefarious about him. It may be best that people follow the letter and spirit of the law, rather that thinking that personal beliefs are good & pure pursuing and end based on such feelings.
The 70 million Trump supporters, growing ever more cultish and enslaved to trumpism are the danger,
The radical extreme left, which we have allowed to fester in all our institutions is the main danger to every American.
People spreading BS like you, are what the danger is, and the lies you forgive of Trump, are why [deleted]
Vic, will you please post an article praising Trump's rally speech last night? Because I really want to rip that shit to shreds.
I may only post the text of it on 437 River Street.
I'm afraid it's not high on the priority list. Right now it's Open Borders, unbridled crime & violence and the real threat of inflation.
Is that this site's "I could have been a somebody" cemetery?
I'd be ashamed of the speech too. Good call.
That's where the 2015 crime wave is happening.
It's where Charley Malloy met his demise.
Very good!
It's a great film, I've watched it many times.
O boy, an Ayers, Breitbart, Carlson redux dinner ... that one was a hoot.
He is right on quite a few things. I don’t agree with him on everything, but when it comes to the woke shit he is dead on.
I find myself making comments all the time that I later end up hearing almost verbatim from Bill Maher. The things we disagree on are pretty much inconsequential.
As is my norm, I arrive with 'footage.' Ah! I do love me some Bill Maher reasoning 99.99 percent of the time. Here goes:
@6 minutes 19 seconds in Bill does remember to be fair to his liberal 'family' too!
New Rule: Progressophobia | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
It's definitely the marijuana that helps this brother have an expanded mind (He goes deep)! Bill's right. Some liberals can be 'woke on steroids' and its just too much when you don't check your drives and aspirations. (Smile.)
Yeah. I like when he specifically pointed out Kevin Hart’s comment about white privilege being at an all time high. Cuz that isn’t the first time we have heard liberals say things like that, and it is clearly hyperbolic nonsense that just makes people sound completely unreasonable.
Does America still have some issues with racism? Absolutely. Do the various systems in our country still favor whites? I think the data shows that. Is it as bad as it was 10, 20, 60 years ago? Not even close. Things have gotten and are getting better, they aren’t perfect but liberals need to not let perfect be the enemy of the good.
We can keep fighting the good fight AND celebrate our victories and progress along the way.
What we have right now is an opportunity. I think that it somewhat surprised both blacks and whites when so many white people, probably in the tens of thousands across the country, took to the streets to protest the deaths of George Floyd and some of the others killed by police.
Suddenly BLM , and other civil rights advocates saw a larger opportunity, a chance to confront the racist history of this country WITH CONSIDERABLE NUMBERS OF WHITE ALLIES. Even suburban moms etc were said to be in sympathy with the black push for police reform and attempts to address systemic racism.
The 1619 Project undoubtedly grew from these same elements. Critical race theory was also brought up, although by the right trying to throw water on the new quest for racial honesty.
The point is the time is now. Now is when the opportunity is. If the right is allowed to hide racial injustice back under the sheets and blankets it will just postpone this reckoning and kick it down the road.
Don't want to discuss 1619 conservatives? then stop telling us the Founders were so great and requiring schoolchildren to pay homage to them. Stop telling us that the nation was founded on the statement that all men are created equal as if it comes down from heaven, because the reality of our history does not match that.
We can make things better, we can make things good, but only by being truthful about the past.
That’s all fine, but let’s not delve into hyperbolic bullshit. That’s just makes us look like idiots.
And we need to avoid saying shit like some on the left have that white people should feel guilty about racism/slavery or that there is some sort of collective guilt over the nations past. I know it is a select few who spout that crap but they need to be smacked down and hard by the rest of the left. All that is going to do is make those whites who came out in support of the protests turn their backs instead.
Kevin Hart reply to Bill Maher:
I hear you and can respect that, because I have wanted some of the protestors and 'talkers' to dial it down a notch too. On the other-hand, to be fair, it could be that 'dialing it up' pass regular galvanizes many more minds, hands, and feet into action.
But I feel you seeking the right 'mix' to suit all.
Just talking about it, like Bill Maher and Kevin Hart are doing is going to help (I hope) others in the audience and on-stage consider being more precise and clear in their statements and declarations when they speak and write!
Lastly, some of it is just "hype-talk" by uneducated, uninformed, and yet affected individuals by the latest tragedies du jour! We do have to take under consideration who is delivering a remark/s.
We will continue to push forward and wade through all the hostilities and lies; and, people of color are grateful for our White allies and friends. You guys are the real deal and don't you ever forget it. Without you in this country standing up and risking all, I do mean all, because we are surely aware of the forces inside and outside many white majority families that will tell you to "chill out" and "let it ride". And, those forces invent all types, forms, and rationales for why you all should not help: "Those people." Get out from under oppression from the larger white population.
But God! Gave us you (white allies and friends) throughout the history of this country; you all "Stand by Me." And do not think some conservatives have not noticed!
Even today, some conservatives are hard at work trying to de-link our togetherness" by lying on you all (white Liberals run a democratic plantation) to us; and lying on us (black America hates all white people) to you.
And yet, you all are truthful and faithful in all that you do. We are grateful!
NOTE: And that is kind of what Bill and Thrawn31 are warning minorities against. 1. Do not demoralize your allies. 2. Do not get "the big-head' because some of your chronic-long-term abuses are finally being attended to and straightened out. Watch what you say and how you say it, and what you do to people.
The thing is this is a sensitive issue for just about everybody, and making comments like that doesn’t help our side. Does he expect everyone to hear or read that comment and think “well naturally I am going to seek out the context of that statement before I form an opinion.”? Hell no, most people are going to take some level of offense to it.
It doesn’t help. Allies are needed, and as Dave Chappelle said a little while back, black folks are going to have to accept imperfect white folks as allies. In other words, don’t say and do shit to turn them off. If you don’t have a majority of white folks on your side in America nothing is going to happen.
It’s all about balance.
Hi Thrawn31, we've pretty much gone over this (below) already, but I want to share it (whole) while drawing attention at this time to t he top tweet :
As someone stated, I don't know to whom to give the credit - but to them thanks!
We want equity and justice for our people. We are not asking, looking, or wanting to make this country 'Wakanda.' (Smile.)
We need to say this more often, before our some conservative opposers latch on to a lie and spread it like wildfire!
I dont think any whites alive today need to feel personal guilt about slavery, or even Jim Crow in most cases, but if they dont acknowledge that whites benefited from aspects of our society and economy that blacks and other people of color could not, then that IS a problem.
We have massive denial of the history of this country. Massive. Because white people (not all but many) want to cling to the fairy tale that the founders were all wonderful and anything that was wrong was just a minor glitch.
Those days of blindly believing all that nonsense are GONE. Never to return. The sooner the vast majority of Americans realize and accept that the better.
Oh believe me I get it. I have mentioned it before, people have internalized American history waaaay too much. The reason it doesn’t bother me at all to acknowledge and talk about the fucked up things Americans and America have done is because that history and those events/actions are not me, they are not who I am. But a lot of people have incorporated that into their personal identity and thus when you point out all those things they feel like they are being personally attacked.
Frankly it’s sad, but it is the reality. Gonna take some of them a bit of time to face the reality. The founders weren’t perfect, the values america was founded on were only meant to apply to some people and definitely not all, and racism was written into the US Constitution. It doesn’t make America any better or worse, it just makes it a country, just like all the rest. Just gotta wait for them to move on from denial to acceptance.
Good, sensible, comment.
These are strange days indeed when conservatives are flailing around trying to co-opt a liberal icon as their new darling. There are mainstream elements of both parties that are corrosive and impossibly partisan. Maher smartly and honestly walks the lines around those contours. Would he be physically ill by the thought of himself being elevated on the side of conservatives? Absofuckinglutely.
In the following week (June 25, 2021) monologue, Bill tore conservatives a new "development zone." And Bill did "gay humour" (in scary quotes no doubt!)
CAUTION: Equal Opportunity Offender Ahead. Keep Lights On!
Monologue: Freedom! | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)