Bill Maher Disses The Daily Show Rally for Sanity

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Last night, Bill Maher criticized last week's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, saying, "If you're going to have a rally: you might as well make it about something," before detailing his specific problems with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's efforts. I think some of what Maher observes as shortcomings with the rally are completely valid, especially this idea there is craziness on both sides of the aisle. And even Jon Stewart told Chris Wallace last week, MSNBC can't come close to doing what Fox News is able to do.

“Try not to pretend the insanity is equally distributed through both parties. Keith Olbermann is right: he is not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. One reports facts, the other is very close to playing with his own poop. And the big mistake of modern media, has been this notion of balance for balance's sake. That the Left is just as violent and cruel as the Right, that unions are just as powerful as corporations, that reverse racism is just as bad as racism. The message of the rally, as I heard it, was that, if the media stopped giving voice to the crazies on both sides, then maybe we could restore sanity. It was all nonpartisan and urged cooperation with the moderates on the other side -- forgetting that Obama tried that and found out: there are no moderates on the other side. When Jon announced his rally, he said the national conversation was dominated by people on the Right who believe Obama’s a Socialist and people on the Left who believe 9/11’s an inside job, but I can’t name any Democratic leaders who think 9/11’s an inside job. But Republican leaders who think Obama’s a Socialist? All of them.”

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Comments

[nikoel.livejournal.com]

The point of a government is to facilitate society. Not to facilitate itself.

Well said.

[evildamsel.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

It's come as somewhat a surprise just how deeply dissatisfied I am with our government and its continued inaction.

I find myself nodding along when people comment about judicial activism because while I don't actually think judicial activism exists in the way that those that decry it do, the only major changes that seem to happen, seem to come straight out of the judiciary. Sometimes such things are negative, as with the latest corporations folly, but the judiciary is frequently on the front lines of MAKING SHIT HAPPEN [and actually that's party politics invading my last, best bastion of hope, thanks a lot for Roberts and Alito, Bush], when it should be the executive and legislative branches doing so but they pretty much sit around scratching their asses, gathering votes, smiling pretty for the camera.

And you know what, I was lukewarm about Obama in the first place and I'm frankly kind of embarrassed by how he's handled things since about a year into his Presidency. I recently read a NYT article that perfectly summarized the problem. (Have I veered hopelessly off topic yet?) If the point of government is to get things done then devise a plan that you think will work. Compromise where it is reasonable but when you see that compromise is getting you nowhere, RAM IT DOWN THEIR THROATS WHILE YOU HAVE THE BACKING OF THE POPULACE.

I don't know. I just feel like there are Americans out here in America and we have credit card debt and student loan debt and mortgages and car loans and jobs and lives and kids and then there's Washington. And Washington just doesn't care as long as we don't mess with their machine and it doesn't matter if we're R or D or even T so long as it's business as usual.

[dierdrae.livejournal.com]

IAWTC, very well said. I could see it being a rallying cry.

[evildamsel.livejournal.com]

Thanks. The flames of my discontent have me looking cross eyed at the local ballots...

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

You see, if more people thought like that there might actually be dialog worth listening to.