Below is taken from Bill Maher’s Real Time, June 18, 2009. (I’m a little behind on my Real Time.) Maher (or his writers) seem to have a good understanding of politics in 2009 America. I hear very few people who understand so well the real differences between the two parties and the ideas and aspirations of most Americans.
His most poignant words are “properly argued and defended.” There are many good, solid liberal and progressive positions that are easily defended by competent people, but far too often we get mealy-mouth appeasers like Max Baucus and Chuck Schumer, not to mention Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. These people haven’t a clue what we-the-people want. But we’ve been stripped of all choice, and are stuck with them.
Anyway, Maher did a bang-up job.
By the way, Maher would not even be known to us were it not for the fact that HBO is subscription-based. That network on occasion runs some truly controversial programming. He’d never be allowed to say what he says in an advertising-based medium like ABC, FOX, or NPR. In fact, ABC booted him in 2002 for saying something that was true.
Now last week in this space I criticized Obama for not fighting corporate influence enough. I made some liberals very angry. My phone rang off the hook, my email filled up, and Nancy Pelosi got so mad that her face moved.
Look, folks, I like Obama too. I’m just saying let’s not make it a religion.
And as far as you folks on the right who think that we’re now somehow in league, we’re not in league. I was criticizing Obama for not being hard enough on the corporate douche bags you live to defend. I don’t want to be on your team. Pick another kid.
So I stand by my words, but there is another side to this story, and that is that every time Obama tries to take on a progressive cause, there’s a major political party standing in his way – the Democrats. Now, people talk a lot about a third political party in America. We don’t need a third party. We need a first party. You go to the polls, and your choices are the guy who voted for the first Wall Street bailout, or the guy who voted for the next ten.
This week we’re hearing that a public option for health care is unlikely, because it doesn’t have the support of enough … Democrats. Even Ted Kennedy’s plan (Ted Kennedy – yeah) leaves 37 million uninsured. This is because we don’t’ have a left and a right party in this country anymore. We have a center-right party, and a crazy party. And over the last thirty-odd years, Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital.
So what we have is one perfectly good party for hedge fund managers, credit card companies, banks, defense contractors, big agriculture and the pharmaceutical lobby – that’s the Democrats. And they sit across the aisle from a small group of religious lunatics, flat-earthers and Civil War re-enactors who mostly communicate by AM radio and call themselves the Republicans. And who actually worry that Obama is a socialist.
Socialist? He’s not even a liberal.
I know he’s not, because he’s on TV. And while I see Democrats on television, I don’t see actual liberals. And if occasionally you do get to hear Ralph Nader or Noam Chomsky or Dennis Kucinich, they’re treated like buffoons. OK – these are not three of the world’s most charismatic men, but then no one is going to confuse Newt Gingrich’s for Zac Efron, and I have to look at his fat face on TV more than that free credit report song.
Shouldn’t there be one part that unambiguously supports cutting the military budget? A party that is straight-up in favor of gun control, gay marriage, higher taxes on the rich, universal health care, legalizing pot and steep direct taxing of polluters?
These aren’t radical ideas. A majority of Americans are already either for them, or would be if they were properly argued and defended. And what we need is an actual progressive party to represent the millions of Americans who aren’t being served by the Democrats.
Because, bottom line, Democrats are the new Republicans. It’s like when some Chinese company buys the name of some old American brand and slaps it on some cheap crap. You buy it out of reflex and it’s only later that you think Wow! I didn’t even know Woolworth’s made dildos!
Piece of Mindful 