I have watched multiple videos in which Bill Maher excoriates the absurdities of the contemporary Left, while still declaring himself to be a Liberal. But the counter-cultural liberalism that emerged in the 60s, which challenged many of the questionable aspects of American Culture that had prevailed in the past, has changed radically over the decades, to the point that today’s Conservatives are actually the defenders of true Liberal Values. Maher’s various denunciations of those who consider themselves liberals, would seem to validate this very point!
In a 2022 discussion with the now deceased Rob Reiner, Maher points out the naivete of the latter’s self-righteous contempt for the Republican Party, his notion that anyone who voted for Trump must be an idiot. When Maher cites the media’s suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story as the 2020 election approached, Reiner murmurs that he’s really not all that familiar with that issue. Of course, Maher responds, that’s because you probably get your news from MSNBC which stifled the story in an attempt to insure Joe Biden’s victory in the upcoming election. Several intelligence agents have since testified to the frantic behind-the-scenes efforts to hide what can legitimately be described as the corruption of the Biden family.
Reiner hated Donald Trump, and Maher is certainly no fan. And yet, he argues, simply denouncing one’s political opponents as Evil while refusing to engage in rational debate, is of no value whatsoever! Ironically, Reiner validates the irrationality of his own perspective by expressing his outrage with the Trump-inspired “armed insurrection” of Jan 6, an “insurrection” which in no way sought to overthrow the American government, a protest which was in fact an expression of outrage by ordinary Americans against the duplicity and dishonesty of the “liberal” ruling elite! What Maher’s talk with Reiner illustrated was the mindless intolerance of the latter for anyone who disagreed with him, an intolerance which has ironically become a central feature of the “liberal” Left.
In his comments on The View and his various appearances there, Maher has expressed considerable disdain for many of the opinions of its beloved hostesses. Of Sunny Hostin he famously said: “She’s a total joke!” Hoping he might continue to be a friend of Whoopi Goldberg, he nevertheless stated that he disagreed with her on most every issue. Denouncing the ladies’ empathy for the Palestinians in the conflict presently disrupting the Middle East, he pointed out the irony of the fact that it used to be the conservatives who were prone to Anti-Semitism! How could “liberals,” he wondered, support the barbaric terrorism of Hamas?
Critical as Maher was of the ladies of The View, he nevertheless supports their right to express their opinions. He clearly believes in Free Speech! As reluctant as he might be to admit it, his perspective has more in common with contemporary conservatism than with the “cancel culture” of the self-righteous Left. Dave Rubin’s explanation of how he abandoned his earlier “liberal” beliefs is truly revealing.
In a Rumble post of June 13, Dave Rubin explains to Dinesh D’Souza the process by which he became the staunch conservative he is today. Clearly beginning to doubt his youthful “progressivism,” he sought out figures such as Ben Shapiro, Thomas Sowell and Larry Elder, each icons of contemporary conservatism. What amazed him was that they were not only eager to explain the ideas underlying their politics, but that they continued to be kind and understanding even when he disagreed with them. As he explained in his 2017 video entitled “Why I left the Left,” the upshot of these interactions was that he came to loathe the absurdity of Identity Politics and the Fascist disdain for Free Speech of those who had the audacity to call themselves Liberals. Ironically, he sees his shift to the Right as an embrace of Classical Liberalism! That is the very point of this blog. While Bill Maher may not want to admit it, his views are more in line with those of today’s Conservatives than with those on the Left. No doubt his reluctance to admit as much is complicated by the presence of Donald Trump, who certainly is Not a champion of the sort of free and open debate celebrated by Dave Rubin and company.
Such is the dilemma of today’s American voter, left to choose between the lunacy of Identity Politics on the one hand, and the arrogance of a man seemingly not interested in the opinions of anyone other than his own! As Maher has implied in stating that the Republicans who voted for Trump were not necessarily idiots, many clearly did so while holding their noses, feeling they had no other option given the choices at hand.